Debates of June 9th, 2006

Extension of Sitting Hours

[Dennis Bevington, NDP, Western Arctic, NT]

Mr. Speaker, it is very important that we move ahead with the debate on Bill C-2, somewhat for selfish reasons. I work on my party's energy and environment file. I am concerned. The Conservatives plan to introduce work on a climate change plan in the fall. I do not want Bill C-2 to be hanging over our heads in the fall. I want it to be out of the way. I want us to move on. I do not want to have to listen to excuses from the government why it is not moving ahead on greenhouse gas emissions.

If I had my way, we could sit all summer if it meant getting a greenhouse gas reduction plan from the Conservative government which could serve Canadians and reduce the cost of energy for Canadians in their homes next winter. That would suit me better than going on the barbecue circuit throughout the country.

The issue of accountability has dogged this country for the last two years. I would like to know what the loss of productivity in the government has been through the problems that have come out, through the corruption that showed up in the Liberal Party over the last number of years.

We need to move on. The accountability act needs to be put in place. Parliament needs to resume its work on the more important issues that face Canadians rather than the issues faced inside the House. We need to get over those. We are elected to provide leadership. Leadership implies moral leadership as well.

I am proud that the NDP stood up in November last year and caused the demise of the Liberal government. I was proud of that. We made a move that needed to be done. I do not agree with all the things the current government is doing right now, but we needed to make that move. We needed to clean up the House of Commons. We needed to move on. Canadians needed to know that we were moving on. We have a chance to do that now before we break for the summer. Let us do it. Let us make the effort. Let us get it done.

I fully support the motion. I would urge the member to consider the importance of other legislation that he may want to see move forward in the fall session.

[Mauril Bélanger, Liberal, Ottawa—Vanier, ON]

Mr. Speaker, I have to say that I did not exactly grasp the question in the remarks by the member for Western Arctic.

I said at the beginning of my speech that I intended to support the motion before us. That is essentially what I will do.

As for that pitiful attempt to justify the New Democrats' actions last fall, one consequence of those actions is that many programs that addressed the issue of greenhouse gas emissions have disappeared. The Canadian people will judge in the end.

I can tell him, for my part, that whether I am in government or in opposition, I will continue to work as I have always done and do my best to improve the bills on which I am asked to pass judgment and to monitor the government, because it must be held accountable.

[Paul Dewar, NDP, Ottawa Centre, ON]

Mr. Speaker, I want to raise a couple of points. As a member who has sat on the committee looking at Bill C-2, I think it is important to underline a couple of the reasons why I would like to support the motion and also why all members should support it.

It really comes down to the fact that we in the NDP have made a commitment to make sure that the intention and the substance of Bill C-2 are going to see the light of day, quite frankly. My colleague for Winnipeg Centre put it straightforwardly. This is the kind of thing that Canadians have asked for. This is the kind of thing that Canadians demand.

We in the NDP believe there is more that can be done. We are going forward in committee with amendments to make sure that is done. As for anything that is not done with the bill, we will make sure that we do more than oppose; we will make sure to propose solutions to those deficiencies. In fact, there are many things we have already pointed out in the area of being responsible and accountable to the public at large. We see those in areas of democratic reform.

I gladly and wholeheartedly support the motion. I encourage all my colleagues to do so. It is the right thing to do. It is what Canadians expect from us.

[The Acting Speaker, Conservative, Royal Galipeau]

Is the House ready for the question?

[Some hon. members]

Question.

[The Acting Speaker, Conservative, Royal Galipeau]

The question is on the motion. Is it the pleasure of the House to adopt the motion?

[Some hon. members]

Agreed.

[The Acting Speaker, Conservative, Royal Galipeau]

(Motion agreed to)

Citizenship and Immigration

[Myron Thompson, Conservative, Wild Rose, AB]

Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to table a petition on behalf of 75 residents of the great town of Cochrane in my riding of Wild Rose. The petitioners are calling for support for “welcome a stranger in need”, to significantly increase the number of refugees in Canada, to substantially lift the barriers that prevent refugees from reaching Canada, to provide international leadership to address the causes that force people from their homes and prevent them from returning, to reform Canada's refugee and immigration program to ensure full access to due process and fundamental justice, to speed up the immigration process for reuniting refugees and their families, and to take further measures for newcomers integrating into our society.

Canadian Broadcasting Corporation

[Ralph Goodale, Liberal, Wascana, SK]

Mr. Speaker, I have the privilege today to present a petition signed by a number of people from the province of Saskatchewan. The petitioners draw attention to a recent television mini-series called Prairie Giant, which was referred to earlier today in the House. The petitioners note their concern about the program, which in their opinion, and I share that opinion, seriously compromised the distinguished reputation of a very well-known Canadian, the Right Honourable James G. Gardiner.

The petitioners call upon the CBC to take a number of steps to correct the record with respect to Mr. Gardiner. The petitioners urge the House to be diligent in ensuring that the CBC does take the appropriate action, not treading upon artistic freedom, but making it abundantly clear that this was a work of fiction and not a documentary.

Child Care

[Alex Atamanenko, NDP, British Columbia Southern Interior, BC]

Mr. Speaker, I have three petitions. The first is from the residents of Osoyoos and Nelson in my riding of British Columbia Southern Interior. They have signed a petition in regard to child care, requesting that Parliament work together in this minority Parliament to provide the provinces and territories with annual funds of at least $1.2 billion to build a high quality, accessible, affordable, community based child care system and to ensure fair and effective income support for Canadian families.

Autism

[Alex Atamanenko, NDP, British Columbia Southern Interior, BC]

Mr. Speaker, the second petition deals with autism. This petition was signed by residents of the West Kootenay area of my riding, from Trail, Castlegar, Rossland, Montrose, Robson, Fruitville, Warfield and South Slocan.

The petitioners ask Parliament to amend the Canada Health Act and corresponding regulations to include intensive behavioural intervention and applied behaviour analysis therapy for children with autism as a medically necessary treatment and require that all provinces provide or fund this essential treatment for autism, and also to contribute to the creation of academic chairs at universities in each province dealing with this in this regard.

National Defence

[Alex Atamanenko, NDP, British Columbia Southern Interior, BC]

Mr. Speaker, my third petition is from residents of British Columbia Southern Interior, other areas of B.C., and Saskatchewan. These petitioners are calling upon the Government of Canada to remove Canadian soldiers from Afghanistan immediately. They feel that it should not be the policy of our Department of National Defence to support the government of Afghanistan, which is dominated by warlords, opium producers and former Taliban commanders, and they feel that we should not be there.

Taxation

[Pierre Poilievre, Conservative, Nepean—Carleton, ON]

Mr. Speaker, I rise to present two petitions. The first petition calls upon the Parliament of Canada to urge the adoption of recommendation 2.5 in the report of the technical advisory committee on tax measures for persons with disabilities. They would like to see that tax credit applied with greater fairness to people who have certain kinds of disabilities, including those with juvenile diabetes.

Human Rights

[Pierre Poilievre, Conservative, Nepean—Carleton, ON]

Mr. Speaker, secondly, I rise to speak up in favour of the human rights of Egyptian Christians, who are the minority in that country and who are systematically discriminated against and face constant intimidation by terrorist elements in that country. It is time that Canada took a strong stand against terrorism and thuggery all over the world, including in Egypt.

[The Acting Speaker, Conservative, Royal Galipeau]

I would like to remind hon. members that it is okay to read the preamble to petitions but not to make speeches about them.

I recognize the hon. member for Beauséjour.

Child Care

[Dominic LeBlanc, Liberal, Beauséjour, NB]

Mr. Speaker, I have the honour today to present a petition signed by a number of people in my province, New Brunswick. They are very concerned that the Conservative government has abolished the early learning program and child care.

These petitioners are calling upon Parliament to urge the government to continue the agreements signed with provinces to invest valuable resources in early learning and child care, not to simply reduce taxes and pretend it is a national child care program.

Citizenship and Immigration

[Paul Dewar, NDP, Ottawa Centre, ON]

Mr. Speaker, I will read the contents of the preamble of this petition I am presenting on behalf of my constituents: whereas Canada has been a land of hope for newcomers, particularly refugees, and Canadians are proud of our multicultural society, Canada has an international reputation of commitment to protecting human rights as a signatory to numerous international treaties on refugees and human rights, including the convention relating to the status of refugees, the convention against torture, the convention on the rights of the child and the international covenant on civil and political rights.

Millions of people around the globe are refugees fleeing war, persecution, torture and other forms of violence, the vast majority of whom are hosted by poorer nations. Canada accepts just a tiny percentage of the world's refugees, and refugees are less than one-tenth of our total immigration. The petitioners call upon Parliament to do the following: to “welcome the stranger in need” and significantly increase the number of refugees that Canada accepts annually; to lift barriers that prevent refugees from reaching Canada; to provide international leadership to address the causes that force people from their homes and prevent them from returning; to reform Canada's refugee and immigration program to ensure full access to due process; to speed the immigration process for reuniting refugees and their families; and finally, to take further measures to help newcomers integrate into Canadian society.

[The Acting Speaker, Conservative, Royal Galipeau]

The hon. member for Ottawa Centre is new to the House, as is the current occupant of the chair. I would like to draw his attention to page 395 of House of Commons Procedure and Practice by Marleau and Montpetit. Perhaps next time the presentation of his petitions will be shorter.

I recognize the hon. member for Saskatoon—Wanuskewin.

Freedom of Religion

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

Mr. Speaker, this petition is from 25 residents of Saskatchewan. They did not want Parliament to pass the hate crime bill, Bill C-250, because of the threat that it posed to Canadians' charter rights of freedom of speech and freedom of religion. Since that bill is now law, the petitioners would presumably want it repealed or amended so that Parliament is protecting the rights of all Canadians.

Health

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

Mr. Speaker, I have another petition from some residents in Saskatchewan calling on parliamentarians to recognize the advances of modern science, which have irrefutably established that a human being begins to exist at the moment of conception. Therefore, they call on the government to bring in legislation to define a human fetus or embryo as a human being from the moment of conception.

Agriculture

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

Mr. Speaker, my last petition is from some 28 residents of Saskatchewan. They would like to call the attention of the House to the inconsistent foreign restrictions on the importation of beef products, which have resulted in a severe financial strain on the Canadian beef industry. They want Parliament to immediately constitute internationally accredited protocols to reinforce international confidence in Canada's healthy beef products.

Child Care

[Michael Savage, Liberal, Dartmouth—Cole Harbour, NS]

Mr. Speaker, I have the pleasure to present two petitions on child care, as I have at least 20 times in this session. The people in my community are very concerned about the abandonment of child care. I must mention that one of the signatories is Sue Wolstenholme, who for decades has been a advocate of child care, particularly for those most in need in our communities. Last year she saw such hope and was so optimistic about the child care agreement that we had brought forward and which was agreed to by all the provinces. She is very concerned, as are many, that it has been abandoned. That is reflected in these petitions.

Taxation

[Helena Guergis, Conservative, Simcoe—Grey, ON]

Mr. Speaker, it is a pleasure for me to rise and present a petition on behalf of residents across the entire province of Ontario who are calling for the government to change the Income Tax Act and allow for income splitting so that spouses can pay taxes as if the total family income were earned equally.

Questions on the Order Paper

[Tom Lukiwski, Conservative, Parliamentary Secretary to the Leader of the Government in the House of Commons and Minister for Democratic Reform]

Mr. Speaker, I thank all my colleagues who have been breathlessly waiting the last hour and a half to hear me ask you to please allow all questions to stand.