House of Commons Hansard #38 of the 37th Parliament, 3rd Session. (The original version is on Parliament's site.) The word of the day was land.
Anne McLellan LiberalDeputy Prime Minister and Minister of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness
Mr. Speaker, far from there being any whitewash, I have been informed by the RCMP that no funds are missing from the RCMP pension fund. I also have been informed by the RCMP that it has in fact called in the Ottawa police service to conduct a thorough investigation.
I suggest that we await the outcome of that investigation.
Louis Plamondon Bloc Bas-Richelieu—Nicolet—Bécancour, QC
Mr. Speaker, the Canadian agricultural income stabilization program only provides grain producers with compensation based on the average price of grain for the past five years, a depressed price because of U.S. and European subsidies. Unfortunately, Ottawa's rigidity forces Quebec and its farmers to apply blanket Canada-wide rules and precludes the development of truly suitable programs.
What is the Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food waiting for to relax the support program and the agricultural policy framework, and allow the money to be used to meet the needs of the agricultural industry?
Mark Eyking LiberalParliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food (Agri-Food)
Mr. Speaker, we have many programs available to help farmers throughout the country, whether in Quebec or out west, when margins go down in their income. There is money available for farmers right across the country, even in Quebec.
Judy Wasylycia-Leis NDP Winnipeg North Centre, MB
Mr. Speaker, at least two teenagers died this week in Quebec from inhaling butane gas. Many young people die or are permanently damaged every year from solvent abuse. Twenty per cent of Canadian kids will have tried sniffing by grade eight. Yet this is not a government priority.
There is so much it could do: additives to gasoline, penalties to merchants of misery, treatment for addicts.
Why has the government taken no action? Has it already forgotten the children of Davis Inlet? Why is the government just a spectator to this human tragedy?
Anne McLellan LiberalDeputy Prime Minister and Minister of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness
Mr. Speaker, let me say, in response to the hon. member's question, that it is in fact a very serious question and that is why this government has funded and renewed our national drug strategy.
The tragedies, of which the hon. member speaks, are happening in our communities, which is why our national drug strategy will not only deal with enforcement but will deal with education and treatment, and work with local communities all over the country to ensure we reach young people and their families in their schools and in their communities to deal with this.
Odina Desrochers Bloc Lotbinière—L'Érable, QC
Mr. Speaker, it has been three weeks since the Prime Minister's cabinet said it would be able to provide information on the secret national unity fund within 48 hours. On Monday, the Parliamentary Secretary to the President of the Treasury Board said he had no record of the events and that he had to prepare a list of these events.
What is the President of the Treasury Board waiting for to table the existing lists of events that received money through this fund?
Pierre Pettigrew LiberalMinister of Health
Mr. Speaker, the Treasury Board Secretariat is working with all the departments in order to gather information on the use of the national unity reserve. In order to obtain this type of information, it must scrutinize all government programs and activities that go back a number of years. A certain amount of time is needed to complete this process.
Stephen Owen LiberalMinister of Public Works and Government Services
Mr. Speaker, I have the honour to table two letters, in both official languages, one from a flag outlet in B.C. and the other from Les Scouts du Québec.
Jacques Saada LiberalLeader of the Government in the House of Commons and Minister responsible for Democratic Reform
Mr. Speaker, I have the honour to present, in both official languages, biographical notes on Bernard Shapiro. The government has recommended Mr. Shapiro for the position of ethics commissioner.
Pursuant to Standing Order 111.1(1), I have asked the chair of the Standing Committee on Procedure and House Affairs to consider the proposed nomination of Mr. Shapiro as ethics commissioner.
Pierre Pettigrew LiberalMinister of Health
Mr. Speaker, pursuant to Standing Order 32(2), I have the honour to present, in both official languages, the government's response to the report of the Standing Committee on Official Languages entitled, “Access to Health Care for the Official Language Minority Communities: Legal Bases, Current Initiatives and Future Prospects”.
Roger Gallaway LiberalParliamentary Secretary to the Leader of the Government in the House of Commons
Mr. Speaker, pursuant to Standing Order 36(8), I have the honour to table, in both official languages, the government's responses to 111 petitions.
John Williams Canadian Alliance St. Albert, AB
Mr. Speaker, I have the honour to present the fifth report of the Standing Committee on Public Accounts, which deals with the committee's request that legal fees for public servants called before this committee in relation to chapters 3, 4 and 5 of the November 2003 report of the Auditor General of Canada be paid for by the government.
Notwithstanding Standing Order 109, the committee requests that the government table a response to this report as soon as possible.
Marcel Gagnon Bloc Champlain, QC
moved for leave to introduce Bill C-515, an act to amend the Old Age Security (monthly guaranteed income supplement).
Mr. Speaker, the purpose of this bill is to oblige the government to reimburse the $3 billion it owes in guaranteed income supplements to the elderly from whom it has been withheld.
(Motions deemed adopted, bill read the first time and printed)
Greg Thompson Progressive Conservative New Brunswick Southwest, NB
moved for leave to introduce Bill C-516, an act to amend the Income Tax Act (Campobello Island, Deer Island, Grand Manan Island and White Head Island).
Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to introduce this bill, an act to amend the Income Tax Act, to recognize the special and isolated status of Campobello Island, Deer Island, Grand Manan Island, including White Head Island, by making each of them a proscribed northern zone, so that persons living there will be entitled to a residency deduction under section 110.7 of the Income Tax Act.
(Motions deemed adopted, bill read the first time and printed)
Jacques Saada LiberalLeader of the Government in the House of Commons and Minister responsible for Democratic Reform
Mr. Speaker, I move:
That, in accordance with subsection 3(5) of the Act respecting employment in the Public Service of Canada, chapter P-33 of the Revised Statutes of Canada, 1985, this House approve the appointment of Maria Barrados of Ottawa, Ontario, as President of the Public Service Commission for a term of seven years.
Public Service CommissionRoutine Proceedings
The Speaker
Is it the pleasure of the House to adopt the motion?
Public Service CommissionRoutine Proceedings
The Speaker
I declare the motion carried on division.
(Motion agreed to)
Rose-Marie Ur Liberal Lambton—Kent—Middlesex, ON
Mr. Speaker, pursuant to Standing Order 36 I wish to present eight petitions, each containing several hundred names of Canadians. They call upon Parliament to take whatever action is required to maintain the current legal definition of marriage in law in perpetuity, and to prevent any court from overturning or amending that definition.
John Reynolds Canadian Alliance West Vancouver—Sunshine Coast, BC
Mr. Speaker, I am presenting a petition today on behalf of my constituents of the Sunshine Coast Peace Group.
This organization opposes the participation and attack, invasion or occupation of foreign countries, and is calling upon Parliament to declare Canada's non-participation in such aggression, to urge the UN to seek peaceful solutions, and to forbid the export of arms to any nation involved in military attack.
Paul Szabo Liberal Mississauga South, ON
Mr. Speaker, I have three petitions today, all from my riding of Mississauga South.
The first is referring to matters under Bill C-250. The petitioners would like to draw to the attention of the House that all Canadians are appalled by hate motivated attacks and believe that promoting hatred towards any person or group is wrong.
They also point out that in accordance with religious texts, the petitioners believe that all people are worthy of respect and dignity as human beings, but they also believe that for moral and religious reasons, certain sexual practices are morally unacceptable.
The petitioners therefore call upon Parliament to take all necessary measures to protect the rights of Canadians to freely share their religious and moral beliefs without prosecution.
Paul Szabo Liberal Mississauga South, ON
Mr. Speaker, the second petition is on a related matter, the notwithstanding clause. The petitioners point out that the Ontario Court of Appeal has made a ruling in regard to Bill C-250 on the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. They also point out that the Constitution has provisions under section 33, a notwithstanding clause, to override the charter.
They therefore petition Parliament to invoke the notwithstanding clause to pass any law so that only two persons of an opposite sex can be married.
Paul Szabo Liberal Mississauga South, ON
Mr. Speaker, the final petition is with regard to stem cells.
The petitioners would like to draw to the attention of the House that all Canadians support ethical stem cell research, which has already shown so much potential. They petition Parliament to focus its legislative support on adult stem cell research to find the cures and therapies necessary for Canadians.
Judy Wasylycia-Leis NDP Winnipeg North Centre, MB
Mr. Speaker, I am very pleased and honoured to present a petition signed by hundreds of citizens in my constituency and residents throughout the province of Manitoba who are concerned about immigration policy. They are very concerned that the government has neglected to consider that the family remains a cornerstone of Canada's immigration policy.
They call upon the government to amend our present legislation to ensure that members of families not now included in the family sponsorship category have a way to come to this country. They specifically call upon Parliament to endorse and support the legislation before the House, Bill C-436, once in a lifetime legislation.