Debates of Feb. 9th, 2005

Petitions

[Tony Martin, NDP, Sault Ste. Marie, ON]

Mr. Speaker, pursuant to Standing Order 36, I would like to present a petition on behalf of approximately 3,000 people who say that the grievous situation in Darfur, Sudan has resulted in the deaths of at least 70,000 civilians, with more than 10,000 dying each month and close to two million forcibly displaced from their homes, and that action be taken to provide protection for the people of Darfur by bolstering the mission of the African Union and widening its mandate to include the protection of civilians.

Further, they call upon the Canadian government to exercise greater leadership in the United Nations to energize the international community to take seriously its responsibility to protect the people of Darfur.

[Jean Crowder, NDP, Nanaimo—Cowichan, BC]

Mr. Speaker, pursuant to Standing Order 36, I have two petitions to present today. The first petition urges Parliament to implement the motion on eliminating trans fats from Canada's food supply.

[Jean Crowder, NDP, Nanaimo—Cowichan, BC]

Mr. Speaker, the second petition, as other members have noted, is a petition with respect to autism. The petitioners urge Parliament under regulations to implement the therapies and the academic chairs as outlined in the petition.

[Cheryl Gallant, Conservative, Renfrew—Nipissing—Pembroke, ON]

Mr. Speaker, I have one petition to present to the House today.

The petitioners recognize that the best foundation for society, families and children is marriage in the traditional sense.

The petitioners ask that since it is the exclusive domain of Parliament to uphold the traditional definition of marriage, they want to ensure that marriage in federal law is defined as the union of one man and one woman to the exclusion of all others.

[Leon Benoit, Conservative, Vegreville—Wainwright, AB]

Mr. Speaker, I have two petitions to present on behalf of Canadians who believe that in fundamental matters of social policy, it should be people elected to Parliament who make decisions on those issues.

The petitioners also support the current definition of marriage which is supported by a majority of Canadians. They urge Parliament to use all possible legislative and administrative measures to uphold the definition of marriage as the union of one man and one woman.

[Lynne Yelich, Conservative, Blackstrap, SK]

Mr. Speaker, my constituents from Guernsey, Drake, Jansen, Watrous, Plunkett and Lanigan are asking us as parliamentarians to protect the definition of marriage.

The petitioners urge that the definition of marriage be defined as the lifelong union between one man and one woman. They state that it is the best foundation for families and for raising children.

The petitioners pray that Parliament will define marriage in federal law and that it be the lifelong union of one man and one woman.

[Garry Breitkreuz, Conservative, Yorkton—Melville, SK]

Mr. Speaker, it is a privilege for me to submit a large number of petitions from residents right across Canada with regard to the issue of marriage.

The petitioners draw the attention of the House to the fact that the majority of Canadians believe that fundamental matters of social policy should be decided by elected members of Parliament and not the unelected judiciary; that the majority of Canadians support the current legal definition of marriage as the voluntary union of a single man and a single woman; and that it is the duty of Parliament to ensure that marriage is defined as Canadians wish it to be defined.

They therefore petition Parliament to use all possible legislative and administrative measures, including invoking section 33 of the charter if necessary, to preserve and protect the current definition of marriage as between one man and one woman.

[Paul Szabo, Liberal, Mississauga South, ON]

Mr. Speaker, pursuant to Standing Order 36, I am also pleased to present a petition signed by a number of Canadians, including some from my own riding of Mississauga South.

The petitioners point out that the majority of Canadians believe that the fundamental matters of social policy should be decided by members of Parliament and not by unelected judges. They also point out that the majority of Canadians support the current legal definition of marriage as the voluntary union of a single male and a single female.

They therefore petition Parliament to use all possible legislative and administrative measures, including invoking section 33 of the charter, known as the notwithstanding clause, if necessary, to preserve and protect the current definition of marriage as between one man and one woman as two-thirds of Canadians agree.

[Maurice Vellacott, Conservative, Saskatoon—Wanuskewin, SK]

Mr. Speaker, this petition is from a number of people in my own riding of Saskatoon--Wanuskewin.

The petitioners draw the attention of the House to the fact that since the dawn of civilization marriage has been the union of one man and one woman, and that in 1999 Parliament voted in favour of an opposition motion that marriage is and should remain the union of one man and one woman to the exclusion of all others.

The petitioners therefore call upon Parliament to support the traditional, historic and sacred definition of marriage.

[James Moore, Conservative, Port Moody—Westwood—Port Coquitlam, BC]

Mr. Speaker, I have three petitions.

I am pleased to present a petition signed by constituents from my riding of Port Moody—Westwood—Port Coquitlam and neighbouring communities.

The petition cites the Chinese detainment and torture of Falun Gong practitioner, Kunlun Zhang, who is a Canadian citizen.

The petitioners wish to draw Parliament's attention to the human rights abuses against Falun Gong practitioners in China and call upon the government to prosecute those who torture Falun Gong practitioners.

[James Moore, Conservative, Port Moody—Westwood—Port Coquitlam, BC]

Mr. Speaker, in the second petition that I am pleased to present, the petitioners cite children suffering from autism spectrum disorder as being among the weakest and most vulnerable citizens in Canadian society.

The petitioners believe that until a cure is found, children with autism can benefit from the provision of intensive behavioural intervention therapy treatment based on the principles of applied behavioural analysis.

Therefore the petitioners from my riding call upon Parliament to amend the Canada Health Act and regulations to include different forms of therapy as a medically necessary treatment and to require that provinces provide funding for this autism treatment, and to contribute to the creation of a university chair in order to provide this treatment.

[James Moore, Conservative, Port Moody—Westwood—Port Coquitlam, BC]

Mr. Speaker, my third and final petition from my constituents recognizes that date rape drugs, GHB and Rohypnol, as drugs used in common sexual assault.

They call upon Parliament to amend the Criminal Code to treat these drugs as date rape drugs, establish a national initiative to educate women on the dangers of date rape drugs and to establish a national task force to develop new guidelines in the collection and documentation of evidence in sexual assault investigations.

[John Cummins, Conservative, Delta—Richmond East, BC]

Mr. Speaker, I have a petition here today from residents of British Columbia concerned about the mismanagement of the Fraser River fishery in 2004 and the committee that the minister has appointed to investigate the mismanagement. The committee is not functioning as it should. The chairman has failed to disclose conflicts that he has which could affect the result of that review.

The petitioners are calling upon Parliament to require the minister to have a judicial inquiry into the mismanagement.

[Rob Merrifield, Conservative, Yellowhead, AB]

Mr. Speaker, it is a pleasure for me to stand, pursuant to Standing Order 36, to present three petitions on behalf of the residents of Yellowhead.

The petitioners say that a strong family is the foundation of a strong country. They ask that the government preserve the definition of marriage as between a man and a woman.

All three petitions say the same thing and all are from very concerned citizens of Yellowhead.

Questions Passed as Orders for Returns

[Dominic LeBlanc, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Leader of the Government in the House of Commons]

Mr. Speaker, if Question No. 47 could be made an order for return, the return would be tabled immediately.

[The Speaker]

Is that agreed?

[Some hon. members]

Agreed.

Question No. 47

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

Since 1993: ( a ) what parcels of land owned by the Department of National Defence have been cleaned up; and ( b ) what were the clean-up costs for each parcel?

(Return tabled)

[Dominic LeBlanc, Liberal, Beauséjour, NB]

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

[The Speaker]

Is that agreed?

[Some hon. members]

Agreed.

Motions for Papers

[Dominic LeBlanc, 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.

[The Speaker]

Is that agreed?

[Some hon. members]

Agreed.

The House proceeded to the consideration of Bill C-12, an act to prevent the introduction and spread of communicable diseases, as reported (with amendment) from the committee.