House of Commons Hansard #96 of the 41st Parliament, 1st Session. (The original version is on Parliament's site.) The word of the day was drugs.

Topics

Presence in GalleryOral Questions

3:05 p.m.

Some hon. members

Hear, hear!

Statements by MembersPoint of OrderOral Questions

3:05 p.m.

NDP

François Lapointe NDP Montmagny—L'Islet—Kamouraska—Rivière-du-Loup, QC

Mr. Speaker, had my colleague from Lotbinière—Chutes-de-la-Chaudière had the decency to speak to me, he would have known that we took the initiative to protect democracy in our riding several days before Elections Canada issued any public instructions.

I would be glad to accept his apology today and I would ask that, in future, he speak to me before making such statements.

Government Response to PetitionsRoutine Proceedings

3:05 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, pursuant to Standing Order 36(8), I have the honour to table, in both official languages, the government's responses to 25 petitions.

Interparliamentary DelegationsRoutine Proceedings

3:10 p.m.

Conservative

Leon Benoit Conservative Vegreville—Wainwright, AB

Mr. Speaker, pursuant to Standing Order 34(1), I have the honour to present to the House, in both official languages, the following report of the Canadian-NATO Parliamentary Association respecting its participation in the 77th Rose-Roth Seminar held in Tromso, Norway from June 21 to 24, 2011.

Interparliamentary DelegationsRoutine Proceedings

3:10 p.m.

Conservative

Gord Brown Conservative Leeds—Grenville, ON

Mr. Speaker, pursuant to Standing Order 34(1), I have the honour to present to the House, in both official languages, the following reports of the Canadian Delegation of the Canada–United States Inter-Parliamentary Group respecting its participation in the following two meetings: the National Governors Association annual meeting that was held in Salt Lake City, Utah, July 15 to 17, 2011; and the 77th annual meeting of the Southern Governors' Association that was held in Asheville, North Carolina, August 19 to 21, 2011.

International TradeCommittees of the HouseRoutine Proceedings

3:10 p.m.

Conservative

Rob Merrifield Conservative Yellowhead, AB

Mr. Speaker, I have the honour to present, in both official languages, the second report of the Standing Committee on International Trade in relation to the main estimates 2012-13.

HealthCommittees of the HouseRoutine Proceedings

3:10 p.m.

Conservative

Joy Smith Conservative Kildonan—St. Paul, MB

Mr. Speaker, I have the honour to present, in both official languages, the sixth report of the Standing Committee on Health. I am pleased to report that the committee has considered the votes of the main estimates 2012-13 under health, and reports the same.

Environment and Sustainable DevelopmentCommittees of the HouseRoutine Proceedings

3:10 p.m.

Conservative

Mark Warawa Conservative Langley, BC

Mr. Speaker, I am honoured to present, in both official languages, the second report of the Standing Committee on Environment and Sustainable Development. We have been busy. In accordance with its order of reference on Tuesday, February 28, the committee considered votes 1, 5, 10, 15, 20, 25 and 30 under environment in the main estimates for the fiscal year 2012-13, and reports the same.

National DefenceCommittees of the HouseRoutine Proceedings

3:10 p.m.

Conservative

James Bezan Conservative Selkirk—Interlake, MB

Mr. Speaker, I have the honour to present two reports, in both official languages, the second report of the Standing Committee on National Defence.

I am pleased to inform the House that the Standing Committee on National Defence has considered the votes in the supplementary estimates (C) 2011-12, and reports the same.

As well, I have the honour to present, in both official languages, the third report of the Standing Committee on National Defence. I am pleased to report that the committee has considered the votes in the main estimates 2012-13 under national defence, and reports the same.

Toxic Substances Labelling ActRoutine Proceedings

3:10 p.m.

NDP

Peter Julian NDP Burnaby—New Westminster, BC

moved for leave to introduce Bill C-408, An Act to ensure that warning labels are affixed to products containing toxic substances.

Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank the member for Jeanne-Le Ber for seconding this bill.

The act, in ensuring that warning labels are affixed to products containing toxic substances, ensures that when Canadian families are buying products containing toxic substances they know what kinds of toxic substances are in those products. We would think that would be a very simple proposition. Of course many other countries, including European ones and the United States, have already adopted this type of legislation, but in Canada we do not have this protection for Canadian families.

The bill takes very simple lists of toxic substances established by the Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment of the California EPA, the United States' National Toxicology Program, and the European Chemicals Agency and ensures that these substances are put on the labels of products available in Canada.

It is very simple. It is a fact. Canadians have the right to know when toxic ingredients are in the products they buy.

I would like to conclude by saying that both Toxic Free Canada and Option consommateurs in Quebec have endorsed this particular bill.

We hope it will get support from both sides of the House so that Canadians will finally know what substances are in the products they buy.

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

AbortionPetitionsRoutine Proceedings

March 14th, 2012 / 3:15 p.m.

Conservative

Candice Bergen Conservative Portage—Lisgar, MB

Mr. Speaker, I have two petitions to present today on behalf of my constituents of Portage—Lisgar.

Both petitions state that Canada is the only western nation, along with North Korea, to have no laws protecting unborn children.

The petitioners call on the House of Commons to enact legislation that would extend protection to unborn children in Canada.

AsbestosPetitionsRoutine Proceedings

3:15 p.m.

NDP

Pat Martin NDP Winnipeg Centre, MB

Mr. Speaker, I am proud to present a petition signed by literally tens of thousands of Canadians who call upon the House of Commons and Parliament to assemble to take note that asbestos is the greatest industrial killer that the world has ever known. They say that more Canadians now die from asbestos than from all other industrial and occupational causes combined and yet Canada remains one of the largest producers and exporters of asbestos in the world. They also point out that Canada spends millions of dollars subsidizing the asbestos industry and blocking international efforts to curb its use.

Therefore, the petitioners pray that Parliament bans asbestos in all of its forms and institutes a just transition program for asbestos workers and the communities in which they live, end all government subsidies of asbestos both in Canada and abroad and stop blocking international health and safety conventions designed to protect workers from asbestos, such as the Rotterdam Convention.

The EnvironmentPetitionsRoutine Proceedings

3:15 p.m.

Liberal

Frank Valeriote Liberal Guelph, ON

Mr. Speaker, I rise to present a petition from residents of Guelph and across southwestern Ontario who are deeply concerned with climate change.

The petitioners call on Parliament to sign and implement a binding international agreement committing nations to reduce carbon emissions and set fair and clear targets to keep global average temperatures below a 2°C increase.

Furthermore, in making this rightfully a national responsibility, the petitioners are calling on Parliament to implement climate justice and to assist internationally in mitigating the effects of climate change.

AbortionPetitionsRoutine Proceedings

3:15 p.m.

Conservative

Randy Hoback Conservative Prince Albert, SK

Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to present a petition from 25 people in Nipawin, Saskatchewan, a community in my riding.

The petitioners call upon Parliament to confirm that every human being is recognized by Canadian laws as human by amending section 223 of the Criminal Code in such a way as to reflect 21st century medical evidence.

Canadian Broadcasting CorporationPetitionsRoutine Proceedings

3:15 p.m.

NDP

Tyrone Benskin NDP Jeanne-Le Ber, QC

Mr. Speaker, I am proud to rise as official opposition heritage critic to add another petition from people who want to protect the CBC.

The petitioners wish to bring to the attention of the Canadian government that the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, be it radio, television or Internet, is part of our lives. We only have to think of Mr. Dress-Up, Anne of Green Gables, Friendly Giant, Hockey Night in Canada, This Hour Has 22 Minutes, Marketplace, Da Vinci's Inquest, The Nature of Things, The National, Little Mosque on the Prairie, George Stroumboulopoulos, Tonight, Bye Bye at the end of the year and many others to realize that the CBC/Radio-Canada is practically a member of this family.

JusticePetitionsRoutine Proceedings

3:15 p.m.

Conservative

Joy Smith Conservative Kildonan—St. Paul, MB

Mr. Speaker, I have hundreds of petitions that were sent to my office in support of Bill C-310, my private member's bill. I will be presenting my bill in the justice committee tomorrow. I would like to submit these petitions to the House of Commons.

Search and RescuePetitionsRoutine Proceedings

3:15 p.m.

NDP

Jack Harris NDP St. John's East, NL

Mr. Speaker, I am honoured to present a petition from a large number of residents of St. John's and other parts of Newfoundland and Labrador who are opposed to the decision to close the marine rescue coordination centre in St. John's. They are concerned that the government needs to understand and acknowledge that the closure of the centre will mean the service will suffer and lives will be put at risk.

As I was looking through the list of names, I noted that one of the petitioners was actually a survivor of a marine rescue at sea and also appeared before the defence committee when it visited St. John's last year.

This search and rescue centre in St. John's is responsible for 900,000 square kilometres of ocean and 28,000 kilometres of coastline, and that is just in the Newfoundland and Labrador region. This is a big and important country and we need to protect our citizens. These rescue coordinators have local knowledge of the coastlines, of the people involved and of the dialect and language that has been spoken. It is very important that this rescue centre be kept open. The petitioners so ask this honourable House.

Search and RescuePetitionsRoutine Proceedings

3:15 p.m.

Conservative

The Speaker Conservative Andrew Scheer

I see there are several members rising for petitions and there is a limited amount of time so I would urge all members to provide a very brief summary of the petition they are presenting so we can accommodate all the members.

The hon. member for Bonavista—Gander—Grand Falls—Windsor.

Canada Post CorporationPetitionsRoutine Proceedings

3:20 p.m.

Liberal

Scott Simms Liberal Bonavista—Gander—Grand Falls—Windsor, NL

Mr. Speaker, I want to add verbal support for the petition just presented by the hon. member for St. John's East about the rescue centre in St. John's.

My petition is about post offices. Established in 1994, a Liberal government imposed a moratorium on post office closures. The presence of the federal government, I fear, is not as prevalent as what it used to be across the country in the smallest of communities for legions or other branches of organizations regarding the Canadian military, but there is one institution that certainly is present and that would be the Canadian post office. I present this petition signed by a lot of people from the community of Loon Bay about the protection of their post office in their community.

The EnvironmentPetitionsRoutine Proceedings

3:20 p.m.

Conservative

David Tilson Conservative Dufferin—Caledon, ON

Mr. Speaker, I have a petition signed by people from all over Canada who are concerned about the megaquarry in Melancthon township in Dufferin county, which would be the largest open pit quarry in Canada at over 2,300 acres. They are concerned about a number of things, one of which is that the proposed megaquarry would put at risk the drinking water of over one million Canadians.

The petitioners are asking that the Government of Canada conduct an environmental assessment on the authority of the Canadian Environmental Assessment Act on the proposed Highland Companies' megaquarry development.

Foreign InvestmentPetitionsRoutine Proceedings

3:20 p.m.

NDP

Claude Gravelle NDP Nickel Belt, ON

Mr. Speaker, I have two petitions to present today.

My first petition is signed by dozens of people from the community of Nickel Belt who would like the facts made public when Vale took over Inco and when Xstrata took over Falconbridge. As we know, these conditions were kept secret and the people would like to know under what conditions these two companies were purchased. They ask the Minister of Industry to make these conditions public.

Service CanadaPetitionsRoutine Proceedings

3:20 p.m.

NDP

Claude Gravelle NDP Nickel Belt, ON

Mr. Speaker, my second petition is from hundreds of people in the Sturgeon Falls area. It concerns the closing of the Service Canada office in Sturgeon Falls. Unfortunately, when bureaucrats make decisions involving Service Canada in northern Ontario, they do not take into consideration the fact that these places do not have public transportation and that this office being moved to North Bay will limit the number of people who can go to the office. This particularly affects seniors and young people looking for employment.

AbortionPetitionsRoutine Proceedings

3:20 p.m.

Conservative

Phil McColeman Conservative Brant, ON

Mr. Speaker, I have six petitions to present from my constituents asking the House of Commons to determine when a fetus becomes a human being.

Radio-Canada and CBCPetitionsRoutine Proceedings

3:20 p.m.

Green

Elizabeth May Green Saanich—Gulf Islands, BC

Mr. Speaker, it is my honour to rise today to present two petitions.

The first petition is signed by many voters in my riding, who are calling on the Government of Canada to protect Radio-Canada and CBC from budget cuts.

The EnvironmentPetitionsRoutine Proceedings

3:20 p.m.

Green

Elizabeth May Green Saanich—Gulf Islands, BC

Mr. Speaker, my second petition is from residents of British Columbia, Ontario, Saskatchewan and Nova Scotia, all banding together to urge the House to press Conservative ministers involved to cease and desist from promoting the so-called northern gateway pipeline, what I now refer to as the great pipeline of China, bringing supertankers into unsafe waters. They ask the government to stand back and stop acting as a public relations arm of the oil industry.