Debates of April 15th, 2005

Agriculture

[Wayne Easter, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food (Rural Development)]

Mr. Speaker, we always stand up for Canada and the safety of Canadians and food. The member has referred to but one program. The fact is that regulations north and south of the border are much the same. We abide by international protocols. We can absolutely assure Canadians that our products and our inspection system are among the best in the world. We have among the safest food in the world.

Privilege

[Françoise Boivin, Liberal, Gatineau, QC]

Mr. Speaker, I rise on a question of privilege pursuant to Standing Order 18, which states that “no member shall use offensive words against either House or any member thereof”.

Yesterday, in the context of a debate on the opposition motion by the hon. member for Laurier—Sainte-Marie, the Bloc Québécois member for Montmagny—L'Islet—Kamouraska—Rivière-du-Loup made some very offensive remarks about me. The Chair asked him to withdraw them but he refused, claiming he had not uttered them.

I would draw your attention to the remarks he himself made:

Why do we want to see this motion passed? To make sure that the member for Gatineau will not finance another electoral campaign with the dirty money collected by the Liberal Party of Canada. That is basically why.

That is what he said, though he denies having said anything that was directed at me personally. Judging by the attitude of the Bloc, Mr. Speaker, you will have no trouble seeing how much a comment such as this can be offensive to someone who has newly entered politics after an election campaign. Behaviour such as this casts a very wide net and attacks people's reputations. Perhaps he does not attach much importance to people's reputations, but I do, and so do the people of Gatineau.

[The Speaker]

I take this question of privilege as notice. I have listened carefully to the hon. member's comments and will take them into consideration.

Does the hon. member for Drummond wish to speak on this matter also?

[Pauline Picard, Bloc, Drummond, QC]

Mr. Speaker, the Bloc member referred to in this question of privilege is not here today. We will pass on to him the comments made by the member for Gatineau and he will be able to explain himself next week.

[The Speaker]

That is why I took the question of privilege under advisement and will report back to the House later.

Points of Order

[Brian Pallister, Conservative, Portage—Lisgar, MB]

Mr. Speaker, during question period, in response to a question regarding post office closures asked by my colleague adjacent, the minister denied that post offices were closing. I referred to him as the “Forrest Gump of the postal service”.

Mr. Speaker, you did not admonish me for that comment but you did for my comment “Stupid is as stupid does”. Despite the fact that in the minister's response he proved my point, I do withdraw those comments as I expect they were offensive to fans of Forrest Gump.

[Mauril Bélanger, Liberal, Deputy Leader of the Government in the House of Commons]

Mr. Speaker, I too rise on a point of order. During question period, representatives of the Bloc Québécois put certain questions which you ruled out of order because they dealt with a matter that did not pertain to the administration of government.

Following your rulings, the Bloc House leader accused you of having interpreted these questions in a partisan fashion. I would be remiss if I were to leave these remarks unchallenged. You received the unanimous support of the members of this House when you were elected as the Speaker of this assembly. You have always demonstrated a non-partisan attitude and a very thorough knowledge of our rules. I think it was inappropriate to accuse you of partisanship, when you had clearly used your best judgment in directing the debates in this House.

[Pauline Picard, Bloc, Drummond, QC]

Mr. Speaker, I believe there is likely a misunderstanding in the assessment you may have made of the questions we asked. In fact, we were referring to the new election financing legislation. It may be a matter of interpretation on your part, why you did not allow our questions.

Now, regarding the remarks the deputy government House leader attributed to our colleague from Roberval—Lac-Saint-Jean, the member in question is not here right now to explain himself. I suggest that, at some later time, he be asked to comment on the remarks attributed to him.

[The Speaker]

I could not hear what the hon. member for Roberval—Lac-Saint-Jean was saying, but I could see that he was perhaps a bit upset with what I had said. This happens from time to time in the House, but we will wait for him to comment some other time.

The hon. member for Lanark—Frontenac—Lennox and Addington is rising on a point of order.

[Scott Reid, Conservative, Lanark—Frontenac—Lennox and Addington, ON]

Mr. Speaker, during question period the hon. Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Justice seemed not to believe the truth of my statement that I had Beryl Wajsman's business card stating that he was special counsel to the Minister of Justice in the minister's capacity as a member of Parliament. That of course was why I had to give reference to the minister by name.

I would be happy to table that business card if there is the unanimous consent of the House, and also to table the public press release in which Mr. Wajsman makes reference to the fact that he was trying to fight against the Quebec wing of the Liberal Party's habit of treating members of ethnic communities as campaign slaves and ticket buyers.

I will post these on the website anyway at www.scottreid.com, but I would be happy to do this--

[The Speaker]

I am sure the hon. member is trying to be helpful. Is there unanimous consent for the tabling of these documents?

[Some hon. members]

Agreed.

[Some hon. members]

No.

Government Response to Petitions

[Paul MacKlin, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada]

Mr. Speaker, pursuant to Standing Order 36(8) I have the honour to table, in both official languages, the government's response to two petitions.

Interparliamentary Delegations

[Bryon Wilfert, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of the Environment]

Mr. Speaker, pursuant to Standing Order 34(1) I have the honour to present, in both official languages, the report of the Asia Pacific Parliamentary Forum on the 13th annual meeting held in Halong Bay, Vietnam from January 10 to 13, 2005.

Committees of the House

[Rob Merrifield, Conservative, Yellowhead, AB]

Mr. Speaker, I have the honour to present, in both official languages, the ninth report of the Standing Committee on Health.

Pursuant to Standing Order 108(2) and a motion adopted by the committee on Thursday, April 7, 2005, your committee recommends that the government present a new strategy on the prevention of fetal alcohol syndrome disorder.

[Alan Tonks, Liberal, York South—Weston, ON]

Mr. Speaker, I have the honour to present, in both official languages, the sixth report of the Standing Committee on Environment and Sustainable Development.

In accordance with its permanent mandate under Standing Order 81(4), your committee undertook a study of the main estimates 2005-06, tabled in Parliament on Friday, February 25, 2005, and agreed to reduce vote 25 under Privy Council on Thursday, April 14, 2005.

[Marlene Catterall, Liberal, Ottawa West—Nepean, ON]

Mr. Speaker, I have the honour to present, in both official languages, the eighth report of the Standing Committee on Canadian Heritage.

Following the meeting with the Auditor General of Canada on February 8, 2005, your committee adopted the following motion and agreed to present it to the House:

That the committee report to the House of Commons on the Auditor General of Canada report, requiring each entity involved in audit report on the Protection of Cultural Heritage in the Federal Government chapter 6, November 2003 (Canadian Heritage, Treasury Board Secretariat, Parks Canada Agency, Library and Archives Canada) report to the Committee on the development of a strategy and action plan, including timeframes in response to the Auditor General recommendations addressed to them.

[Don Boudria, Liberal, Glengarry—Prescott—Russell, ON]

Mr. Speaker, I have the honour to present the 33rd report of the Standing Committee on Procedure and House Affairs.

In accordance with its order of reference of February 25, 2005, the committee has considered vote 5 under Parliament in the main estimates for the fiscal year ending March 31, 2006, less the amount voted in interim supply, and reports the same.

Petitions

[Darrel Stinson, Conservative, North Okanagan—Shuswap, BC]

Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to present two petitions on behalf of constituents of Okanagan—Shuswap.

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

In the second petition the petitioners believe that fundamental matters of social policy should be decided by elected members of Parliament. They request that Parliament 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.

[Charlie Penson, Conservative, Peace River, AB]

Mr. Speaker, I have five petitions today. The first one calls upon Parliament to protect our children by taking all steps to outlaw the materials promoting or glorifying pedophilia and sado-masochistic activities involving children.

[Charlie Penson, Conservative, Peace River, AB]

Mr. Speaker, the other four petitions call on Parliament to define marriage in federal law as a lifelong union of one man and one woman to the exclusion of all others.

[Rick Casson, Conservative, Lethbridge, AB]

Mr. Speaker, I have a couple of petitions I would like to present pursuant to Standing Order 36. These are from the good citizens of Lethbridge in southern Alberta.

The petitioners pray that Parliament 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.

[Daryl Kramp, Conservative, Prince Edward—Hastings, ON]

Mr. Speaker, I am honoured today to table two petitions. The first petition has been endorsed by in excess of 450 residents of Prince Edward—Hastings and the surrounding area.

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

[Daryl Kramp, Conservative, Prince Edward—Hastings, ON]

Mr. Speaker, the second petition requests Parliament to support federal funding for juvenile type 1 diabetes research.

Canada has one of the highest rates of type 1 diabetes in the world. We must secure federal funding to target specifically juvenile type 1 diabetes research.