House of Commons Hansard #12 of the 40th Parliament, 1st Session. (The original version is on Parliament's site.) The word of the day was leader.

Topics

Canada Water Export Prohibition ActRoutine Proceedings

3:40 p.m.

NDP

Pat Martin NDP Winnipeg Centre, MB

moved for leave to introduce Bill C-250, An Act to prohibit the export of water by interbasin transfers.

Mr. Speaker, there are people who say that water is the oil of the 21st century, but I put it to you, and I believe the House of Commons agrees, in fact by consensus to a motion put forward in 2004, that the interbasin transfer of water is environmental folly. It is an affront to nature. It is an affront to the natural order of things. Yet time and time again we see the irresistible temptation in trade agreements with our trading partners that other people want Canada's water.

We in the House of Commons need to recognize that water, in fact, is Canada's most valuable natural resource and that Canada must be committed to preserving water resources within its boundaries, and therefore, that Canada will continue to promote adherence to the Boundary Waters Treaty by Canadian and the United States when managing boundary water matters.

This short bill would protect at least in principle the notion that the interbasin transfer of water should be opposed even when put forward by Conservative governments, as they often do.

(Motions deemed adopted, bill read the first time and printed)

Food and Drugs ActRoutine Proceedings

3:45 p.m.

NDP

Pat Martin NDP Winnipeg Centre, MB

moved for leave to introduce Bill C-251, An Act to amend the Food and Drugs Act (trans fatty acids).

Mr. Speaker, in November 2004 the House of Commons passed a motion put forward by the NDP to ban the use of trans fatty acids for human consumption. The motion was not to reduce the use of trans fatty acids. It was not to regulate the use of trans fatty acids. It was to ban the use of trans fatty acids.

Then the blue ribbon task force made up of representatives from food manufacturers, the Heart and Stroke Foundation, the restaurant association and Health Canada concurred with the will of Parliament and after 18 months agreed that trans fats should in fact be banned.

One gram of trans fat increases the risk of heart disease by 10%. Canadians eat over 10 grams a day. Some people eat a lot more than 10 grams per day. We need to ban trans fatty acids before they poison another generation of children and cabinet ministers.

(Motions deemed adopted, bill read the first time and printed)

Food and Drugs ActRoutine Proceedings

3:45 p.m.

Conservative

The Deputy Speaker Conservative Andrew Scheer

I remind hon. members that when introducing a private member's bill members are supposed to give a brief explanation of the bill and not engage in a long speech.

Currency ActRoutine Proceedings

3:45 p.m.

NDP

Pat Martin NDP Winnipeg Centre, MB

moved for leave to introduce Bill C-252, An Act to amend the Currency Act and the Royal Canadian Mint Act (abolition of the cent).

Mr. Speaker, 2008 is the 100th birthday of the Canadian penny in its current form. Many Canadians believe that it should be its last birthday. In fact, we believe it should have a birthday party and a funeral at the same time because the penny has no commercial value. It does not circulate any more. They all wind up under my bed. In fact, it costs more to produce a penny than it is worth.

There are 20 billion pennies in circulation in Canada today and every year the minister who is responsible for the mint prints 1.2 billion more pennies, pennies that no one needs and no one wants.

This simple bill calls for the stopping of the production of the penny and the introduction of a rounding formula so that all commercial transactions would be rounded off to the nearest nickel so that we would not have a bunch of pennies in our pockets and under our beds.

(Motions deemed adopted, bill read the first time and printed)

Canada Post Corporation ActRoutine Proceedings

3:45 p.m.

NDP

Pat Martin NDP Winnipeg Centre, MB

moved for leave to introduce Bill C-253, An Act to amend the Canada Post Corporation Act (mail free of postage to members of the Canadian Forces).

Mr. Speaker, this is a very simple bill that will find broad agreement. In fact, I will ask at the end of my introduction if we could seek unanimous consent to simply pass this bill on what could be one of the final days of this session of Parliament.

Canadians can send a member of Parliament a letter any time free of charge. This bill would amend the Canada Post Corporation Act so that any Canadian could send mail to any member of the Canadian armed forces serving outside Canada at no cost and with no postage charges. It would further allow free postage to any member of the Canadian armed forces who is currently serving outside Canada to any person within Canada.

(Motions deemed adopted, bill read the first time and printed)

Canada Post Corporation ActRoutine Proceedings

3:50 p.m.

NDP

Pat Martin NDP Winnipeg Centre, MB

Mr. Speaker, I would like to ask for unanimous consent to pass this bill as it stands within the House of Commons today.

Canada Post Corporation ActRoutine Proceedings

3:50 p.m.

Conservative

The Deputy Speaker Conservative Andrew Scheer

The hon. member for Winnipeg Centre is seeking unanimous consent of the House to read the bill a second time now. Is there unanimous consent?

Canada Post Corporation ActRoutine Proceedings

3:50 p.m.

Some hon. members

Agreed.

No.

Procedure and House AffairsCommittees of the HouseRoutine Proceedings

3:50 p.m.

Conservative

Joe Preston Conservative Elgin—Middlesex—London, ON

Mr. Speaker, there have been consultations and I believe you would find unanimous consent of the House to allow me to propose a motion to concur in the first report of the procedure and House affairs committee, regarding the memberships of the standing committees, which was tabled yesterday.

Procedure and House AffairsCommittees of the HouseRoutine Proceedings

3:50 p.m.

Conservative

The Deputy Speaker Conservative Andrew Scheer

Does the hon. member have the unanimous consent of the House to move the motion?

Procedure and House AffairsCommittees of the HouseRoutine Proceedings

3:50 p.m.

Some hon. members

Agreed.

No.

Human TraffickingPetitionsRoutine Proceedings

3:50 p.m.

Conservative

Joy Smith Conservative Kildonan—St. Paul, MB

Mr. Speaker, I continue to get petitions in my office around the issue of the rising crime of human trafficking in Canada. There are many signatures of people from all across Canada. They state that the trafficking of women and children across international borders for the purposes of sexual exploitation should be condemned. They state that it is the duty of Parliament to protect the most vulnerable members of society from harm, those being the victims of human trafficking. I respectfully submit this petition.

Interprovincial BridgePetitionsRoutine Proceedings

3:50 p.m.

Liberal

Mauril Bélanger Liberal Ottawa—Vanier, ON

Mr. Speaker, I rise to present yet another petition from people in the riding I have the honour of representing and beyond, people from the national capital region, concerning the matter of heavy trucks crossing the nation's capital right in the middle of the city and the need for two bridges and to eventually have a ring road around the national capital region. They are concerned that there is a proposal afoot now to build a bridge which would bring trucks into another established community.

The petitioners call upon the Government of Canada to instruct the National Capital Commission to proceed with the detailed assessment of an interprovincial bridge linking the Canotek industrial park to the Gatineau airport, which is option seven of the first phase of the interprovincial crossing environmental assessment.

Seasonal Farm WorkersPetitionsRoutine Proceedings

3:50 p.m.

Bloc

Michel Guimond Bloc Montmorency—Charlevoix—Haute-Côte-Nord, QC

Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to table a petition about improving the lot of seasonal farm workers with regard to employment insurance. This is a concern, especially in three areas in our riding: Charlevoix, which is a large area, Côte-de-Beaupré and Île d'Orléans.

The petitioners point out that the employment insurance program does not reflect the demands and realities of today's labour market, that all workers who pay into the program deserve to be treated equitably when they use it and that seasonal workers have specific problems, such as a work season limited by the temperature, irregular work periods and, in some areas, a shortage of good jobs.

Consequently, they call on Parliament to amend the Employment Insurance Act in order to create a special category for seasonal farm workers.

Volunteer Service MedalPetitionsRoutine Proceedings

3:50 p.m.

Conservative

Harold Albrecht Conservative Kitchener—Conestoga, ON

Mr. Speaker, I have the honour today to present a petition on behalf of the residents of Kitchener—Conestoga and the greater Kitchener-Waterloo area. The petitioners are asking the government to introduce a new volunteer service medal to be known as the Governor General's volunteer medal to acknowledge and recognize volunteerism by Canadian troops.

Their petition is as follows: “To the Government of Canada, whereas during a specified period of service to their country, Canadians from September 3, 1939 to March 1, 1947 received the Canadian Volunteer Service Medal, and during a specified period of service to their country, Canadians from June 27, 1950 to July 27, 1954 received the Canadian Volunteer Service Medal for Korea, we, the undersigned residents of Canada, respectfully call upon the Government of Canada, to recognize by means of the issuance of a new Canadian Volunteer Service Medal to be designated “The Governor General's Volunteer Service Medal” for volunteer service by Canadians in the Regular and Reserve Military Forces and Cadet Corps Support Staff who are not eligible for the aforementioned medals and who have completed 365 days of uninterrupted honourable duty in the service of their country Canada, since March 2, 1947”.

It is an honour to present this on behalf of the residents of the Kitchener-Waterloo area.

Employment InsurancePetitionsRoutine Proceedings

3:55 p.m.

Langley B.C.

Conservative

Mark Warawa ConservativeParliamentary Secretary to the Minister of the Environment

Mr. Speaker, it is an honour to present a petition on behalf of my constituents in beautiful Langley. It reads that there are a number of severe potentially life-threatening conditions which do not qualify for disability programs because they are not necessarily permanent. The current medical employment insurance benefits of 15 weeks do not adequately address the problem.

Residents find themselves losing their homes and livelihoods while trying to fight these severe medical conditions. Precedence has been set within medical EI to compensate new mothers for up to a year. They are calling upon the House of Commons to enact legislation to provide additional medical EI benefits to at least equal maternity EI benefits.

Child PornographyPetitionsRoutine Proceedings

3:55 p.m.

Conservative

Bruce Stanton Conservative Simcoe North, ON

Mr. Speaker, this afternoon I have the pleasure to introduce a petition signed by numerous citizens in my riding. The petitioners are seeking the will of Parliament to do all that it can to prevent the terrible scourge of child pornography, particularly as it relates to being spread through use of the Internet, this terrible victimization of families and children.

Flood ReliefPetitionsRoutine Proceedings

3:55 p.m.

Conservative

Bruce Stanton Conservative Simcoe North, ON

Mr. Speaker, my second petition is quite weighty. It is from citizens in the area of the Severn River, an area in North Simcoe County, that in fact borders my riding with the District of Muskoka. Last fall this region experienced severe flooding because of the heavier than normal runoff from the winter snows. They are seeking the assistance of the Minister of the Environment in this case. They are petitioning the minister to seek all and any measures that would assist to alleviate the flooding should those conditions occur this season or any thereafter.

Questions on the Order PaperRoutine Proceedings

3:55 p.m.

Regina—Lumsden—Lake Centre Saskatchewan

Conservative

Tom Lukiwski ConservativeParliamentary Secretary to the Leader of the Government in the House of Commons

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

Questions on the Order PaperRoutine Proceedings

3:55 p.m.

Speaker

Is that agreed?

Questions on the Order PaperRoutine Proceedings

3:55 p.m.

Some hon. members

Agreed.

Motions for PapersRoutine Proceedings

3:55 p.m.

Regina—Lumsden—Lake Centre Saskatchewan

Conservative

Tom Lukiwski ConservativeParliamentary Secretary to the Leader of the Government in the House of Commons

I ask that all notices of motions for the production of papers be allowed to stand.

Motions for PapersRoutine Proceedings

3:55 p.m.

Speaker

Is that agreed?

Motions for PapersRoutine Proceedings

3:55 p.m.

Some hon. members

Agreed.

The House resumed from December 2 consideration of the motion, and of the motion that this question be now put.