House of Commons Hansard #18 of the 37th Parliament, 3rd Session. (The original version is on Parliament's site.) The word of the day was turkey.

Topics

PetitionsRoutine Proceedings

3:20 p.m.

Bloc

Gérard Asselin Bloc Charlevoix, QC

Mr. Speaker, pursuant to Standing Order 36, I am tabling a petition signed by 330 people and dealing with the budget cuts imposed on CBC's radio station CBSI, in Sept-Îles.

The petitioners are asking Parliament to see that the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation give back to North Shore residents the full service provided by CBSI before August 2003, and that the CBC allocate the necessary funds to produce and broadcast, on the radio waves and the Web, regional content, as is done everywhere else in Canada. I want to thank Louise Saint-Pierre, a constituent of mine, for giving me this petition.

PetitionsRoutine Proceedings

3:25 p.m.

Canadian Alliance

John Duncan Canadian Alliance Vancouver Island North, BC

Mr. Speaker, I have several petitions signed by more than 5,000 individuals from my riding of Vancouver Island North. The petitioners are members of the Vancouver Island Regional Library which serves more than 400,000 people.

They are asking Parliament to ensure that the Department of Canadian Heritage and Canada Post renegotiate the library book rate with no increase and that it be expanded to include all materials loaned by public libraries.

PetitionsRoutine Proceedings

3:25 p.m.

Liberal

Peter Adams Liberal Peterborough, ON

Mr. Speaker, I rise to present yet another petition on behalf of the thousand farm families and thousands upon thousands of Canadians directly affected by the BSE crisis.

The petitioners point out that the Canadian beef cattle, dairy, goat and sheep industries are in a state of crisis due to the bovine spongiform encephalopathy, BSE, problem. They point out that the aid packages to the industry are inadequate because they do not deal with the disastrously low prices experienced and the imminent collapse of key sectors of the rural economy.

These citizens urge that Parliament open the border as soon as possible, develop a long term solution and provide economic relief that is fair and reflects the importance of these industries in Canada.

PetitionsRoutine Proceedings

3:25 p.m.

Canadian Alliance

John Williams Canadian Alliance St. Albert, AB

Mr. Speaker, I have a number of petitions to present this afternoon, starting with a couple of petitions signed by people in and around my riding calling on Parliament to protect the rights of Canadians to be free to share their religious beliefs without fear of prosecution.

PetitionsRoutine Proceedings

3:25 p.m.

Canadian Alliance

John Williams Canadian Alliance St. Albert, AB

Mr. Speaker, I also have a petition from people in and around my riding who are asking that Parliament protect our children by changing the age of consent laws to age 18 so that no adult can engage in sexual activity with a child under the age of 18 years of age.

PetitionsRoutine Proceedings

3:25 p.m.

Canadian Alliance

John Williams Canadian Alliance St. Albert, AB

Mr. Speaker, I have six petitions signed by people in and around my riding, asking that marriage be protected as an institution between a man and a woman to the sole exclusion of all others.

PetitionsRoutine Proceedings

3:25 p.m.

Canadian Alliance

John Williams Canadian Alliance St. Albert, AB

Mr. Speaker, I have more petitions from people in and around my riding, calling upon Parliament to protect our children by taking all necessary steps to ensure that all materials which promote or glorify pedophilia or sado-masochistic activities involving children are outlawed.

PetitionsRoutine Proceedings

3:25 p.m.

Canadian Alliance

John Williams Canadian Alliance St. Albert, AB

Finally, Mr. Speaker, I have one more petition regarding Canada Post and the rural route mail couriers, who asking that section 13(5) of the Canada Post Corporation Act be repealed to allow them a decent living.

PetitionsRoutine Proceedings

3:25 p.m.

Canadian Alliance

Bob Mills Canadian Alliance Red Deer, AB

Mr. Speaker, I have a petition signed by members of my constituency. The petitioners call upon Parliament to immediately hold a renewed debate on the definition of marriage and to take all necessary steps to preserve marriage as the union of one man and one woman to the exclusion of all others.

PetitionsRoutine Proceedings

3:25 p.m.

Canadian Alliance

Scott Reid Canadian Alliance Lanark—Carleton, ON

Mr. Speaker, I have a petition signed by 600 members of my constituency and several adjoining constituencies, calling upon the government to repeal the long gun firearms registry. This brings to over 12,000 the number of signatures on petitions that I have given on this subject, making it the largest subject that I have ever given petitions on.

PetitionsRoutine Proceedings

3:30 p.m.

Canadian Alliance

Scott Reid Canadian Alliance Lanark—Carleton, ON

Mr. Speaker, the second petition is on the subject of natural health products. The petitioners call upon the government to allow for greater access to natural health products and to restore freedom of choice in personal health care.

PetitionsRoutine Proceedings

3:30 p.m.

Canadian Alliance

Scott Reid Canadian Alliance Lanark—Carleton, ON

Mr. Speaker, the third petition, which is also signed by close to 1,000 people, in addition to many others who have signed earlier petitions on this subject, calls upon the government to take prompt action with regard to the BSE crisis in Canada. The petitioners point out that Canadian beef is unrivalled in quality in the world and is completely safe and ask the government to provide adequate funding for public education on this subject to ensure that consumer demand for Canadian beef is maintained.

They also call upon the Minister of International Trade to renegotiate our international trade treaties to ensure that the shutting down of the border and the maintaining of shut borders for safe product cannot happen again in the future. Finally, they also call upon the federal government to ensure that relief funding is provided for agricultural producers affected by the crisis.

Questions on the Order PaperRoutine Proceedings

3:30 p.m.

Sarnia—Lambton Ontario

Liberal

Roger Gallaway LiberalParliamentary Secretary to the Leader of the Government in the House of Commons

Mr. Speaker, I ask that all questions be allowed to stand.

Questions on the Order PaperRoutine Proceedings

3:30 p.m.

Canadian Alliance

John M. Cummins Canadian Alliance Delta—South Richmond, BC

Mr. Speaker, I rise on a point of order. On September 24, 2003, I put forward a question, No. 257 on the Order Paper, regarding halibut and sablefish aquaculture. Parliament prorogued and the question slid off the table. I asked the same question on February 2, 2004. It is now Question No. 13.

Through access to information, I got a number of documents. One of those documents, a December 4, 2004 memo from the Director of Policy, Office of Sustainable Aquaculture, stated that the response to my first question was completed and left their office three weeks ago. In a December 5, 2003 memo, Paul Lyon, Policy Analyst, Office of Sustainable Aquaculture, stated:

I understand the response to Mr. Cummins' Question 257 was completed and would like a copy. While I recognize the House has prorogued, and the response is no longer required the information could still be used to respond to future inquiries on the subject.

He further stated:

I suspect [Mr.] Cummins will raise it again. Having it ready to advance for final approvals might not be a bad idea.

It was six months ago that I asked the question. If we have open and transparent government, as the Prime Minister has suggested, I am wondering why that question I asked so long ago has not been answered.

Questions on the Order PaperRoutine Proceedings

3:30 p.m.

Liberal

Roger Gallaway Liberal Sarnia—Lambton, ON

Mr. Speaker, the member has already acknowledged that questions would have died with prorogation. If he has filed another question, he knows there are 45 days to respond from this side. If indeed he is correct in terms of his discussion with someone, somewhere, then it will indeed come within the 45 day period and it will not be a problem.

Questions on the Order PaperRoutine Proceedings

3:30 p.m.

The Speaker

Shall the remaining questions stand?

Questions on the Order PaperRoutine Proceedings

3:30 p.m.

Some hon. members

Agreed.

Motions for PapersRoutine Proceedings

3:30 p.m.

Sarnia—Lambton Ontario

Liberal

Roger Gallaway LiberalParliamentary Secretary to the Leader of the Government in the House of Commons

Mr. Speaker, I ask that all Notices of Motions for the Production of Papers be allowed to stand.

Motions for PapersRoutine Proceedings

3:30 p.m.

The Speaker

Is that agreed?

Motions for PapersRoutine Proceedings

3:30 p.m.

Some hon. members

Agreed.

The House proceeded to the consideration of Bill C-18, an act respecting equalization and authorizing the Minister of Finance to make certain payments related to health, as reported (without amendment) from the committee.

Federal-Provincial Fiscal Arrangements ActGovernment Orders

3:30 p.m.

Brome—Missisquoi Québec

Liberal

Denis Paradis Liberalfor the Minister of Finance

moved that the bill, be concurred in at report stage and read the second time.

Federal-Provincial Fiscal Arrangements ActGovernment Orders

3:30 p.m.

The Speaker

Is it the pleasure of the House to adopt the motion?

Federal-Provincial Fiscal Arrangements ActGovernment Orders

3:30 p.m.

Some hon. members

Agreed

Federal-Provincial Fiscal Arrangements ActGovernment Orders

3:30 p.m.

Some hon. members

No