Debates of May 12th, 2004

Petitions

[Paul Szabo, Liberal, Mississauga South, ON]

Mr. Speaker, I have five petitions all on the subject of marriage.

The petitioners want to draw to the attention of the House that marriage is the foundation for families and raising children, that it is an institution as between a man and a woman and that it also is being challenged. The petitioners also point out that marriage is the exclusive jurisdiction of Parliament.

They call upon Parliament to pass legislation to recognize the institution of marriage in federal law as being the lifelong legal union of one man and one woman to the exclusion of all others.

[Deborah Grey, Canadian Alliance, Edmonton North, AB]

Mr. Speaker, this may be my last chance for me to present a petition. I would like to present a petition on behalf of many Canadians. I have presented thousands already for people who use alternative medicine, such as vitamins and supplements. They spend thousands of dollars out of their pockets.

Now it says in the Income Tax Act, “as recorded by a pharmacist”, but there should be licensed health food stores that allow that as well. Also, because they spend many thousands of dollars on vitamins and supplements, they believe they should be GST exempt. This of course would help us in the long run as we baby boomers grow older.

Therefore, these petitioners call upon Parliament to take necessary steps to change paragraph 118.2(2)(n) of the Income Tax Act and that these things should be GST exempt.

I would like to pay tribute to Stella Melnychuk and her group Citizens for Choice in Health Care for their tenacity in bringing this issue forward time and again to Parliament, and certainly pray that something would be done about it finally.

[Yvon Godin, NDP, Acadie—Bathurst, NB]

Mr. Speaker, I have two petitions to present. The first petition is on the employment insurance fund that now stands at $44 billion.

The petitioners request Parliament to call upon the government to make changes to the employment insurance program so that unemployed Canadian workers will have greater access to the program.

[Yvon Godin, NDP, Acadie—Bathurst, NB]

Mr. Speaker, my second petition reads as follows:

We, the undersigned residents of Canada, draw the attention of the House to the following:

That we, the undersigned support the Sentier Péninsule bicycle path project.

Sentier Péninsule is part of the NB Trail and needs to be maintained for the benefit of future generations. Therefore, the petitioners call on Parliament to provide funding to revitalize this project in the Acadian peninsula.

[Michel Guimond, Bloc, Beauport—Montmorency—Côte-De- Beaupré—Île-D'Orléans, QC]

Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to table a petition signed by several hundred citizens, most of whom are from the North Shore, but come also from the Upper North Shore, Forestville and Rivière-Portneuf RCMs.

The petitioners are asking the government to make extensive changes to the employment insurance program, to put an end to transitional measures, to increase workers' benefits and to adopt a universal employment insurance program.

I should point out that the petitioners signed this petition before the announcement made yesterday by the Minister of Human Resources Development and Skills Development. This announcement is deemed totally inadequate by the unemployed on the Upper North Shore, particularly seasonal workers. I am convinced that these people would immediately sign the same petition again.

[Pat O'Brien, Liberal, London—Fanshawe, ON]

Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to present a petition from some 200 citizens of London, Ontario calling upon the Government of Canada to uphold the traditional definition of marriage as it has been known throughout the centuries and since the start of this country. The petitioners note that marriage is understood as between one man and one woman, which predates any existing state and crosses all cultural and religious lines.

In presenting this petition, it concludes the presenting of petitions of some 25,000 citizens of London, Ontario calling upon the government to take action and be consistent in defending the traditional definition of marriage. I am most pleased to support it.

[Diane Ablonczy, Canadian Alliance, Calgary Nose Hill, AB]

Mr. Speaker, it is my honour to present a petition on behalf of over 500 constituents of my riding of Calgary—Nose Hill.

The petitioners pray that Parliament will pass legislation to recognize the institution of marriage in federal law as being a lifelong union of one man and one woman to the exclusion of all others.

[Serge Cardin, Bloc, Sherbrooke, QC]

Mr. Speaker, I am tabling a petition signed by several hundred persons. The petitioners are asking for the establishment of a regional passport office in Sherbrooke. This petition is in addition to the one that I tabled previously. This means that there are now over 13,000 people from Sherbrooke and the surrounding region who have signed a petition, which is a very clearly indication of the need expressed by the public.

[Bill Blaikie, NDP, Winnipeg—Transcona, MB]

Mr. Speaker, it is my honour to present two petitions, both of which contain many thousands of signatures gathered through the Beads of Hope Campaign, organized by the United Church of Canada.

The petitioners call upon Parliament to use its influence in international financial institutions to cancel multilateral debt of impoverished countries, to cancel bilateral debt that developing countries owe to Canada, to continue to increase Canada's official development assistance to meet the goal of 0.7% of gross national income, while increasing support for the United Nations global fund to fight AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria and to promote sustainable development strategies prepared in-country with a high level of civil society input and involvement.

The petitioners also call upon Parliament to ensure that patents or trade related intellectual property rights do not block access to public goods like life-saving medicines.

They further call upon Parliament to double funding to the federal government's domestic program, the Canadian Strategy on HIV-AIDS, to address HIV-AIDS in Canada.

[Werner Schmidt, Canadian Alliance, Kelowna, BC]

Mr. Speaker, a number of petitioners from my constituency pray that Parliament maintain Canada's multilateral approach to security and reaffirm this country's support for non-proliferation arms control and disarmament and that it reject any and all plans for weapons and war in space, including plans for missile defence. They seek Canada's withdrawal from any discussion or participation in missile defence and the weaponization of space.

[Cheryl Gallant, Canadian Alliance, Renfrew—Nipissing—Pembroke, ON]

Mr. Speaker, I have three petitions. The first is on behalf of the soldiers of Roto O Operation Athena, who served in Afghanistan between December 2003 and February 2004.

The petitioners ask that Parliament correct the mistake of the federal government budget 2004 so the soldiers of Roto O Operation Athena receive the same tax exemption as the soldiers of Roto 1 Operation Athena.

[Cheryl Gallant, Canadian Alliance, Renfrew—Nipissing—Pembroke, ON]

Mr. Speaker, the second petition calls for the repeal of Bill C-250 because the bill robs Canadians of their freedom of speech.

[Cheryl Gallant, Canadian Alliance, Renfrew—Nipissing—Pembroke, ON]

Mr. Speaker, the third petition calls upon Parliament to correct the mistake of 1982 and amend the Constitution Act to include the right to own, use and earn a living from private property, because current regulations, gun control, animal control, unnecessary pollution and waste control, farmland and bush land controls, are killing the rural way of life.

[Rob Anders, Canadian Alliance, Calgary West, AB]

Mr. Speaker, hundreds of law-abiding gun owners in Calgary and other places wish me to present a petition. The petitioners state that the gun registry has cost $1 billion, actually it is probably about $2 billion, that the gun registry is not supported by the provinces, that the gun registry has not reduced gun crimes and they would like a repeal of the gun registry.

[Rob Anders, Canadian Alliance, Calgary West, AB]

Mr. Speaker, my second petition is from some other constituents who want to see a Senate that is both elected and effective. It is something we have heard before in this place.

[Rob Anders, Canadian Alliance, Calgary West, AB]

Mr. Speaker, my last petition is from people who are very concerned about the issue of Tibet and China's invasion of that country. They are concerned with issues of unprovoked aggression, the thousands of Buddhist monasteries that have been destroyed, the banning of religious activity in Tibet and the cessation of practices that deprive the Tibetan people of their fundamental human rights and freedoms, including their right to self-determination.

Starred Questions

[Roger Gallaway, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Leader of the Government in the House of Commons]

Mr. Speaker, would you be so kind as to call Starred Question No. 84.

*Question No. 84

[Guy St-Julien, Liberal, Abitibi—Baie-James—Nunavik, QC]

What are the total costs to the government in relation to the Canadian firearms program for the following ridings: ( a ) Abitibi—Baie-James—Nunavik; ( b ) Roberval; and ( c ) Témiscamingue?

[Roger Gallaway, Liberal, Sarnia—Lambton, ON]

Mr. Speaker, I would ask that the answer to Question No. 84 be printed in Hansard as if read.

[The Speaker]

Is that agreed?

[Some hon. members]

Agreed.

[Roger Gallaway, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Leader of the Government in the House of Commons]

Mr. Speaker, the total amount disbursed to the province of Quebec related to the agreement with the Canada Firearms Centre is $45,172,268. This covers the period from fiscal year 1998-99 to 2001-02. The formal agreement for the fiscal years 2002-03 and 2003-04 is in the final approval process. The estimated costs related to these years are $10,436,957 and $8,600,000 respectively.

The agreement with the province of Quebec states that the province agrees that it will perform all the required services with respect to the administration of the Firearms Act within its jurisdiction. The baseline has been developed premised on a number of operating projections such as the various estimates with respect to the number of firearms and firearms owners, the anticipated entry rates, the structure and resources of future operating organizations, et cetera.

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

[The Speaker]

Is that agreed?

[Some hon. members]

Agreed.

Motions for Papers

[Roger Gallaway, Liberal, Parliamentary 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.