House of Commons Hansard #130 of the 41st Parliament, 1st Session. (The original version is on Parliament's site.) The word of the day was human.

Topics

Private Member's BusinessRoutine Proceedings

3:30 p.m.

Conservative

The Speaker Conservative Andrew Scheer

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

Private Member's BusinessRoutine Proceedings

3:30 p.m.

Some hon. members

Agreed.

Private Member's BusinessRoutine Proceedings

3:30 p.m.

Conservative

The Speaker Conservative Andrew Scheer

The House has heard the terms of the motion. Is it the pleasure of the House to adopt the motion?

Private Member's BusinessRoutine Proceedings

3:30 p.m.

Some hon. members

Agreed.

Private Member's BusinessRoutine Proceedings

3:30 p.m.

Conservative

The Speaker Conservative Andrew Scheer

(Motion agreed to)

Government of IranRoutine Proceedings

3:30 p.m.

Calgary Nose Hill Alberta

Conservative

Diane Ablonczy ConservativeMinister of State of Foreign Affairs (Americas and Consular Affairs)

Mr. Speaker, there have been consultations and I believe you would find unanimous support for the following motion.

I move, seconded by the members for Beaches—East York and Mount Royal:

That this House urgently appeals to the Government of the Islamic Republic of Iran to grant clemency to Hamid Ghassemi-Shall on compassionate and humanitarian grounds, calls for his release and return to his family and spouse in Canada, and urges Iran to reverse its current course and to adhere to its international human rights obligations.

Government of IranRoutine Proceedings

3:30 p.m.

Conservative

The Speaker Conservative Andrew Scheer

Does the hon. minister have the unanimous consent of the House to propose the motion?

Government of IranRoutine Proceedings

3:30 p.m.

Some hon. members

Agreed.

Government of IranRoutine Proceedings

3:30 p.m.

Conservative

The Speaker Conservative Andrew Scheer

The House has heard the terms of the motion. Is it the pleasure of the House to adopt the motion?

Government of IranRoutine Proceedings

3:30 p.m.

Some hon. members

Agreed.

Government of IranRoutine Proceedings

3:30 p.m.

Conservative

The Speaker Conservative Andrew Scheer

(Motion agreed to)

KatimavikPetitionsRoutine Proceedings

3:30 p.m.

NDP

Charmaine Borg NDP Terrebonne—Blainville, QC

Mr. Speaker, I am eager to present this petition because it is yet another petition in support of Katimavik.

Many young people across Canada are very disappointed in the government's decision to stop funding this program, which was good for youth and for communities across Canada.

The petitioners are asking the government to keep funding Katimavik and to send the 600 young people who were supposed to participate in the program this summer. I hope that the government will respond favourably to the petitioners.

Protection of ChildrenPetitionsRoutine Proceedings

3:30 p.m.

Conservative

David Anderson Conservative Cypress Hills—Grasslands, SK

Mr. Speaker, I have petitions to present on three different subjects. First, the Catholic Women's League for Notre Dame Parish in North Battleford calls on the House of Commons to consider a solution to the problem in regard to the exploitation of children through the Internet. They are asking Parliament to put pressure on the CRTC to establish regulations to protect the most vulnerable of our society.

AbortionPetitionsRoutine Proceedings

3:30 p.m.

Conservative

David Anderson Conservative Cypress Hills—Grasslands, SK

Mr. Speaker, I have two petitions from Burstall, Saskatchewan and the North Battleford area that call on the House of Commons to speedily enact legislation that restricts abortion to the greatest extent possible.

Rights of the UnbornPetitionsRoutine Proceedings

3:30 p.m.

Conservative

David Anderson Conservative Cypress Hills—Grasslands, SK

Mr. Speaker, I have several petitions, with over 250 signatures on one petition, from Alberta and Saskatchewan communities, from the Kindersley area, from Grayson, Lloydminster, Lashburn, other communities and my riding.

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

PensionsPetitionsRoutine Proceedings

3:30 p.m.

Liberal

Judy Sgro Liberal York West, ON

Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to present a petition today signed by thousands of people from Moose Jaw and various places in the western part of our country.

The petitioners are calling on the Prime Minister to maintain the current retirement age at 65 when it comes to the old age security benefits.

International Co-operationPetitionsRoutine Proceedings

3:30 p.m.

Conservative

Michael Chong Conservative Wellington—Halton Hills, ON

Mr. Speaker, I have a petition signed by people who live in my riding of Wellington—Halton Hills.

The petition has been signed by some 50 of my constituents living in the Hillsburgh and Erin areas. It calls on the government to do three things: to commit to contribute 0.7% of GDP to overseas development; to re-prioritize the way in which CIDA funds these Canadian NGOs; and to restore the funding for the Canadian Catholic Organization for Development and Peace.

International Co-operationPetitionsRoutine Proceedings

3:35 p.m.

NDP

Dennis Bevington NDP Western Arctic, NT

Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to have the opportunity to present a petition from quite a number of constituents in the western Northwest Territories in regard to Development and Peace, formerly known as the Canadian Catholic Organization for Development and Peace, which is an important Canadian development organization. It works with partners in Africa, Asia, Latin America and in the Middle East.

The work of Development and Peace is supported by Canadians across the country. The Canadian International Development Agency has been an important funding source for Development and Peace, giving $44.6 million from 2006 to 2011. CIDA recently announced significant cuts to this funding and it will provide only $14.5 million over the next five years.

The petitioners continue to support the work of Development and Peace and object to the significant cut in funding by CIDA . They are asking the Government of Canada to reconsider augmenting its contribution levels to Development and Peace to 2006 levels or more.

PensionsPetitionsRoutine Proceedings

3:35 p.m.

Liberal

Judy Foote Liberal Random—Burin—St. George's, NL

Mr. Speaker, I rise today on behalf of petitioners from the Seal Cove-Fortune Bay area of my riding of Random—Burin—St. George's who call on the government to reconsider the terrible decision to raise the age of OAS eligibility from 65 to 67. They are saying that even though it will not impact seniors today, it will impact those who are 54 years or younger. They say that we all have a responsibility to ensure that we realize the impact that this will have on everyone. Those today who are seniors realize that it will be their children and grandchildren who will be impacted. Therefore, to suggest that this will not have an impact on seniors today is erroneous. It will have an impact on their immediate families.

The petitioners are asking the government to reconsider this terrible decision.

Canadian Broadcasting CorporationPetitionsRoutine Proceedings

3:35 p.m.

Green

Elizabeth May Green Saanich—Gulf Islands, BC

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to present two petitions. The first petition is from residents in Vancouver, Winnipeg and Prince Albert, Saskatchewan. It is a wide-ranging group of petitioners but they are bound together, as we all are in Canada, by our dependence and reliance on our national public broadcaster. The CBC has brought us together for many years. It lets us share our stories.

The petitioners call on the Government of Canada to provide stable, secure and predictable funding for the CBC.

The EnvironmentPetitionsRoutine Proceedings

3:35 p.m.

Green

Elizabeth May Green Saanich—Gulf Islands, BC

Mr. Speaker, I am grateful, as a British Columbia member of Parliament, to be sent petitions from people in the Montreal area and Winnipeg who are calling on the government to cease and desist from acting as promoters for oil and gas expansion through British Columbia, to Kitimat, to supertankers on our coastline.

The petitioners call on the government to allow a full, fair and not rushed environmental assessment process before any pipelines or tankers are put on the B.C. coastline.

Rights of the UnbornPetitionsRoutine Proceedings

3:35 p.m.

Conservative

Rob Merrifield Conservative Yellowhead, AB

Mr. Speaker, on behalf of my constituents, I would like to present a petition.

The petitioners call on the House to confirm that every human being is recognized under Canadian law as a human by amending sections 22 and 23 of the Criminal Code in such a way that recognizes medical evidence of the same.

Human RightsPetitionsRoutine Proceedings

3:35 p.m.

NDP

Rathika Sitsabaiesan NDP Scarborough—Rouge River, ON

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to present petitions on behalf of constituents in my riding, as well as the greater Toronto area.

Based on Canada's reputation around the world for the protection of strong humanitarian rights and human rights laws around the world and Canada's international championship of human rights and justice, the petitioners call upon the Canadian government to urge the United Nations to immediately establish an independent, international and impartial mechanism to ensure true accountability and justice in Sri Lanka following the human rights violations that were identified by the United Nations panel of experts.

Fishing IndustryPetitionsRoutine Proceedings

3:35 p.m.

Liberal

Dominic LeBlanc Liberal Beauséjour, NB

Mr. Speaker, I have the honour to present a petition on behalf of a group of lobster fishers who work in this resource sector on the Atlantic coast.

I had the privilege of being at a large community meeting in the great community of Stratford, Prince Edward Island where hundreds of inshore fishermen joined us to express a real concern with the government's proposal to remove the fleet separation and the owner-operator principle as a cornerstone of the management of inshore and midshore fisheries. Thirty thousand jobs in Atlantic Canada depend to a great extent on these policies.

These inshore fishermen, including those in my riding, are concerned that the government is heading in a direction that will be very harmful and they are asking the government to reconsider.

Rights of the UnbornPetitionsRoutine Proceedings

3:40 p.m.

Conservative

Stephen Woodworth Conservative Kitchener Centre, ON

Mr. Speaker, it is my honour today to present a petition to the House from quite a large number of people in Victoria, British Columbia.

The petitioners point out that Canada is the only nation in the western world, in the company of China and North Korea, in having no laws whatsoever protecting children before birth. They point out that Canada's Supreme Court has said that it is Parliament's responsibility to enact legislation protecting children before birth.

The petitioners, therefore, call upon the House of Commons to do so.

My simple request is that we look at the law which falsely misrepresents children before birth as not human beings. I hope that all parliamentarians will agree that we should study the scientific evidence on that.