House of Commons Hansard #90 of the 39th Parliament, 1st Session. (The original version is on Parliament's site.) The word of the day was environment.
Response to Oral QuestionPoints of OrderOral Questions
Chilliwack—Fraser Canyon B.C.
Conservative
Chuck Strahl ConservativeMinister of Agriculture and Agri-Food and Minister for the Canadian Wheat Board
Mr. Speaker, the hon. member for Malpeque and I have a very good working relationship. I could have said that I did not like him moving so far to the right, but I did not want to say that. My comment was a lighthearted one. If there was any offence taken, I of course withdraw the comment.
Wayne Easter Liberal Malpeque, PE
Mr. Speaker, I do not take a lot of offence at what the minister said. I know he has no vision for agriculture, so maybe eyeglasses would help him see in the House.
The Speaker Liberal Peter Milliken
Every seat in the House is a good one, whether it is in the parking lot or not.
Government Response to PetitionsRoutine Proceedings
Regina—Lumsden—Lake Centre Saskatchewan
Conservative
Tom Lukiwski ConservativeParliamentary Secretary to the Leader of the Government in the House of Commons and Minister for Democratic Reform
Mr. Speaker, I have the honour to table, in both official languages, the government's response to 42 petitions.
Tony Martin NDP Sault Ste. Marie, ON
moved for leave to introduce Bill C-389, An Act to change the name of the electoral district of Sault Ste. Marie.
Mr. Speaker, it is a great privilege for me today to stand, if only for a few minutes, to highlight the wonderful attributes of the area of this country that I represent, that diamond in the rough, the gathering place among the Great Lakes, Lake Superior, Lake Huron and Lake Michigan, and to ask the House to consider a change that would recognize the growth in the geographic area that I represent and that this new riding represents in northern Ontario.
Certainly Sault Ste. Marie for the longest time has been represented with and held in high esteem in the House. I think it only proper to now recognize the fullness of that riding, which takes in an area that is diverse in its nature, with Lake Superior and the great outdoors to the north of the city and a lot of agricultural land to the east. I would ask the House, the Speaker and everybody involved to work with me to change the name of this riding to Sault Ste. Marie--Algoma.
(Motions deemed adopted, bill read the first time and printed)
Chris Charlton NDP Hamilton Mountain, ON
moved for leave to introduce Bill C-390, An Act to amend the Income Tax Act (travel and accommodation deduction for tradespersons).
Mr. Speaker, it is my great privilege today to introduce this bill that will at long last allow tradespersons and indentured apprentices to deduct travel and accommodation expenses from their taxable income so they can secure and maintain employment at a construction site that is more than 80 kilometres from their home. It makes no sense for tradespersons to be out of work in one area of the country while another region suffers from temporary skilled labour shortages simply because the cost of travelling is too high.
I want to thank the PAC of UA Local 67 as well as Joe Beattie and affiliated locals of the Hamilton-Brantford Building and Construction Trades Council of Ontario for encouraging me to bring this legislation forward and for their ongoing support for this important initiative. I am confident that all members of the House will want to work with me to ensure that this bill receives the speedy passage that it deserves through the remaining stages of the legislative process.
(Motions deemed adopted, bill read the first time and printed)
Ralph Goodale Liberal Wascana, SK
Mr. Speaker, I have the honour today to present a petition signed by a large number of people from across Saskatchewan, including my own riding of Wascana, noting the existence of a perfectly valid child care agreement between the Government of Canada and the Government of Saskatchewan, which was in place at the beginning of this year but which the current government is purporting to terminate. The petitioners call upon the government to change its mind and to fully honour it, including honouring the funding involved in the child care agreement between Canada and Saskatchewan.
Libby Davies NDP Vancouver East, BC
Mr. Speaker, I have the pleasure to rise in the House today to present a petition signed by hundreds of auto workers and citizens who are very concerned about the threatened loss of auto jobs as a result of expanding imports to the North American market from Asia and Europe. They call on the Canadian government to cancel negotiations for a free trade agreement with Korea, which would worsen the one-way flood of automotive products into our market, and to develop a new automotive trade policy that would require Korea and other offshore markets to purchase equivalent volumes of finished vehicles.
Leon Benoit Conservative Vegreville—Wainwright, AB
Mr. Speaker, in current criminal law, unborn children are not recognized as victims of crime. Last year, Olivia Talbot of Edmonton was shot and killed, and her unborn son, Lane Jr., 27 weeks old, was also killed as a deliberate target. The vast majority of Canadians support a law that protects unborn children from acts of violence against their mothers, acts that also injure or kill the unborn child. The petitioners call upon Parliament to enact legislation that would recognize unborn children as separate victims when they are injured or killed when an attack is also being made on their mother.
Andy Scott Liberal Fredericton, NB
Mr. Speaker, pursuant to Standing Order 36, I would like to present a petition from approximately 100 people from the Grand Lake area of the riding of Fredericton calling upon Parliament to take all measures necessary to immediately raise the age of consent from 14 to 16 years of age.
Christian Ouellet Bloc Brome—Missisquoi, QC
Mr. Speaker, I take this opportunity to thank my hon. colleague from Sherbrooke for this petition, which is from Frontier College, a not for profit literacy organization.
These people who have already been hit by the cuts to literacy are now afraid to see their homelessness funding cut. Frontier College has a unique program to reduce homelessness through education.
Lack of education is thought to sometimes exacerbate homelessness and vagrancy. These petitioners therefore ask that the government immediately provide them with assistance.
Alex Atamanenko NDP British Columbia Southern Interior, BC
Mr. Speaker, I have the honour to present a petition with over 700 names on behalf of Antonio Melgar and Santos Molina, refugees from El Salvador currently living and working in Oliver. They have been told they have to return while their hearing on their application for permanent residence on humanitarian compassionate grounds is reviewed. There are unstable conditions that are a danger to their lives if they go back. The petition is signed by the members of the community on their behalf.
Ron Cannan Conservative Kelowna—Lake Country, BC
Mr. Speaker, it is a privilege to rise in the House this afternoon to present a petition on behalf of 58 of my constituents from Kelowna—Lake Country. They would like our government to enforce fuel efficiency standards in motor vehicles and to take action on the environment.
Marlene Jennings Liberal Notre-Dame-de-Grâce—Lachine, QC
Mr. Speaker, I have the honour and privilege to submit to this House a petition signed by more than 10,000 Canadians who want to protect the victims of trafficking in women and children.
I will summarize the petition, because it is rather long. These petitioners urge Parliament to pass a bill to provide victims of trafficking with a temporary visa without requiring them to testify, to give them time get back on their feet. This visa would give them legal status in Canada, allowing them to seek legal assistance, social assistance, health care, social services, social housing, crime victims compensation and assistance, services without which they would not be able to be psychosocially, socially and economically rehabilitated.
Tony Martin NDP Sault Ste. Marie, ON
Mr. Speaker, I have several petitions that I would like to present to the House on behalf of practitioners of Falun Gong in my area. There are 200 names all told. I think we all know the issue, the challenge and what the petitioners are asking of this House, so I table these petitions here on their behalf.
Maurice Vellacott Conservative Saskatoon—Wanuskewin, SK
Mr. Speaker, this petition submitted by several hundreds of people is entitled “Condemn Chinese Communist regime's organ harvesting of living Falun Gong practitioners”.
The petitioners are urgently calling on our Canadian government and Parliament to help stop these atrocities. They ask that this Parliament make a public statement and pass a motion in the House to condemn the Communist regime for committing these crimes against humanity. They urge the Chinese regime to end the persecution of Falun Gong and release all Falun Gong practitioners immediately, to take active measures to help stop the mass killing and organ harvesting of Falun Gong practitioners, and to discourage Canadians from travelling to China for organ transplants.
Navdeep Bains Liberal Mississauga—Brampton South, ON
Mr. Speaker, I would like to present the following petition to the House. The petition was organized by grade 5 students at Homestead Public School in Brampton who worked relentlessly to get over 500 signatures for their cause. The students are concerned with the growing gun violence in our communities. They are asking the government to do more, not less, to strengthen Canada's gun laws.
As many people in the House know, I have always been an advocate for engaging our youth in the political process. With this petition, the students of Homestead Public School are going to have their voices heard.
Bill Siksay NDP Burnaby—Douglas, BC
Mr. Speaker, I have the honour to present three petitions today.
The first petition is signed by over 1,000 people, from Quebec, Ontario and British Columbia, who call on the House to pass Bill C-326, a bill which I have authored, to amend the Canadian Human Rights Act to include gender identity and expression as prohibited grounds of discrimination in order to fight discrimination and social exclusion of transgender, transsexual and genderqueer people.
Bill Siksay NDP Burnaby—Douglas, BC
Mr. Speaker, the second petition is signed by quite a few people in my own constituency of Burnaby—Douglas who call on the House of Commons and Parliament assembled to recognize that human and environmental health should take precedence in legislative decision making, as well as the product approval process in every jurisdiction in Canada.
The petitioners call on the government to enact legislation banning the use of chemical pesticides for cosmetic purposes until rigorous independent scientific and medical testing of chemical pesticides and parliamentary review of results is conducted for both existing and new products, and to enact legislation applying the precautionary principle in regard to restricting future allowable usage in order to minimize risk to human and environmental health.
Bill Siksay NDP Burnaby—Douglas, BC
Mr. Speaker, the final petition is also signed by people from the lower mainland of British Columbia, including some in Burnaby—Douglas.
The petitioners call on Parliament to achieve multi-year funding to ensure that publicly-operated child care programs are sustainable for the long term, to protect child care by enshrining it in legislation with a national child care act to be a cornerstone of Canada like the national health act, and to help end child poverty by using the $1,200 allowance to enhance the child tax benefit without taxes and clawbacks.
Raymond Simard Liberal Saint Boniface, MB
Mr. Speaker, I am pleased today to rise to table a petition with approximately 30 names from my riding. The petitioners call upon Parliament to reopen the issue of marriage in this Parliament in order to repeal or to amend the Marriage for Civil Purposes Act in order to promote and defend marriage as a lawful union of one man and one women to the exclusion of all others.
Mario Silva Liberal Davenport, ON
Mr. Speaker, once again I rise in the House on a very important and critical issue to draw to the attention of the House the issue facing undocumented workers.
I have presented thousands of petitions in the House to no avail. The government has yet to respond favourably to the concerns raised by people across this country that undocumented workers play a major role in the economy, have built families and lives in this country, and many of them deserve a chance.
The government is refusing, in any way, shape or form to regularize their situation and to deal with the problems facing undocumented workers. I am asking Parliament to immediately halt the deportation of undocumented workers and to find a humane and logical solution to this issue.
Derek Lee Liberal Scarborough—Rouge River, ON
Mr. Speaker, I have 10 separate petitions from petitioners in southwestern Ontario, namely from the Toronto, Woodstock and Kitchener area. They ask that Canada cease the negotiations for a free trade agreement with South Korea and develop a policy that would promote improved two-way automotive trade between Canada, South Korea and other nations.
Questions Passed as Orders for ReturnsRoutine Proceedings
Regina—Lumsden—Lake Centre Saskatchewan
Conservative
Tom Lukiwski ConservativeParliamentary Secretary to the Leader of the Government in the House of Commons and Minister for Democratic Reform
Mr. Speaker, if Question No. 104 could be made an order for return, this return would be tabled immediately.