Debates of April 30th, 2014

Canada Post

[Jinny Sims, NDP, Newton—North Delta, BC]

Mr. Speaker, I rise on behalf of my constituents of Newton--North Delta to present two petitions, each protesting the Conservative government's decision to end door-to-door mail delivery for Canadians, increase postal rates, and close post offices across this country.

Via this petition, my constituents are asking the government to reverse these job-killing changes—

[The Speaker, Conservative, Andrew Scheer]

I am going to have to interrupt the hon. member. There are still many members rising, and we are now down to about eight minutes. I would ask members to redouble their efforts to be brief.

The hon. member for Brossard—La Prairie.

Blood and Organ Donation

[Hoang Mai, NDP, Brossard—La Prairie, QC]

Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to present a petition to the House today. The petitioners are asking that the sexual preference of people not be an instant refusal of the right to donate. They request that the government return the right of any healthy Canadian to give the gift of blood, bone marrow, and organs to fill the need. No matter race, religion, or sexual preference of a person, the right to give blood or donate organs is universal for any healthy man or woman.

Sex Selection

[Mark Warawa, Conservative, Langley, BC]

Mr. Speaker, I am honoured to present two petitions. The first petition is from a number of Canadians, representing 92% of Canadians, calling on Parliament to condemn the practice of discriminating against girls through sex-selective pregnancy termination.

Impaired Driving

[Mark Warawa, Conservative, Langley, BC]

Mr. Speaker, the second petition highlights that Kassandra Kaulius was killed by a drunk driver. The petition from Families for Justice is calling for much more stringent sentencing, actually mandatory minimum sentencing, for anyone found convicted of driving while impaired and causing death.

Fraudulent Robocalls

[Elizabeth May, Green, Saanich—Gulf Islands, BC]

Mr. Speaker, today, I have the honour to rise to present two petitions.

The first petition is from residents of Ontario calling for a full investigation into the 2011 misuse of telephone calls to mislead voters, called the robocall scandal. Despite recent reports from Elections Canada, the ruling of Mr. Justice Mosley to the Ontario court leaves many questions unanswered, and an inquiry is called for.

The Environment

[Elizabeth May, Green, Saanich—Gulf Islands, BC]

Mr. Speaker, the second petition is from residents of my own riding in Saanich—Gulf Islands, primarily from Pender Island, calling for the government to fully study any proposal for tankers and pipelines along the B.C. coast and to reject those that pose excessive risk.

Canada Post

[Mike Sullivan, NDP, York South—Weston, ON]

Mr. Speaker, the residents in my riding have signed, and continue to sign, a number of petitions protesting the loss of home mail delivery by Canada Post. They call upon the Government of Canada to reject Canada Post's plan for reduced services and to explore other options to update Canada Post's business plan.

Blood and Organ Donation

[Mike Sullivan, NDP, York South—Weston, ON]

Mr. Speaker, as well I have the pleasure of tabling petitions in support of the iCANdonate campaign to permit blood, bone marrow, and organ donations from any healthy Canadian, no matter his or her race, religion, or sexual preference.

Lyme Disease

[Patrick Brown, Conservative, Barrie, ON]

Mr. Speaker, I rise to present two petitions on Bill C-442, the national Lyme disease strategy.

Agriculture

[Patrick Brown, Conservative, Barrie, ON]

Mr. Speaker, I also rise to present three petitions on Bill C-18 and the Seeds Act.

Proportional Representation

[Patrick Brown, Conservative, Barrie, ON]

Mr. Speaker, I rise to also present a petition from numerous constituents on proportional representation.

Human Rights

[Patrick Brown, Conservative, Barrie, ON]

Mr. Speaker, finally I rise to present a petition from several hundred constituents, on human rights abuses in Venezuela.

Canada Post

[Linda Duncan, NDP, Edmonton Strathcona, AB]

Mr. Speaker, I am rising to present two petitions from residents of Alberta and Saskatchewan asking the government to reverse the cuts to postal service.

Blood and Organ Donation

[Linda Duncan, NDP, Edmonton Strathcona, AB]

Mr. Speaker, the second petition is also on the campaign calling on the Government of Canada to reverse its policy denying the donation of blood based on sexual preference.

[Ron Cannan, Conservative, Kelowna—Lake Country, BC]

Mr. Speaker, I rise to table seven petitions for the iCANdonate campaign. The petitions are from numerous Canadians asking the government to review thoroughly and change its policy on blood and organ donation in Canada.

Consumer Protection

[Andrew Cash, NDP, Davenport, ON]

Mr. Speaker, I rise on behalf of residents in my riding of Davenport in the great city of Toronto. These are folks from streets like Dufferin, Lindsey, Rusholme, and Macklem. The petitioners want the government to ban pay-to-pay fees. These are the fees that companies charge, largely seniors and those on fixed incomes, to get their bills in the mail.

Blood and Organ Donation

[Irene Mathyssen, NDP, London—Fanshawe, ON]

Mr. Speaker, I have a petition from residents of Canada who call on the Government of Canada to review thoroughly and change the policy on blood and organ donation in Canada. They understand absolutely that people should be pre-tested for disease, and if they fail, they cannot donate. However, the petitioners request that the Government of Canada return the right of any healthy Canadian to give the gift of blood, bone marrow, and organs to those in need, no matter what the race, religion, or sexual preference of that person.

Algoma Central Railway

[Carol Hughes, NDP, Algoma—Manitoulin—Kapuskasing, ON]

Mr. Speaker, I rise in the House to present a petition signed by residents of Chapleau, Dubreuilville, Hearst, Mattice, Wawa and Hawk Junction regarding the Algoma Central Railway. The government created a crisis when it took away this railway's subsidy. The government provided some funding for this year, but people are still concerned.

The petitioners want to ensure that if there are any other such changes, the government will consider holding extensive consultations with the parties concerned.

Consumer Protection

[Carol Hughes, NDP, Algoma—Manitoulin—Kapuskasing, ON]

Mr. Speaker, I have another petition. It is about unfair extra fees and consumer ripoffs. Unfortunately, the clerk has said that the petition cannot be tabled in the House. However, I know that about a month ago, we did ask for unanimous consent to table a petition on the government side, so I am hoping we can do the same today.

[The Speaker, Conservative, Andrew Scheer]

Does the hon. member have consent to table a petition that does not seem to be in the proper form?

[Some hon. members]

Agreed.

Employment

[Laurin Liu, NDP, Rivière-des-Mille-Îles, QC]

Mr. Speaker, today, I have the pleasure of presenting a petition that calls on the Government of Canada to develop a national urban workers strategy in order to find solutions to the challenges facing those workers.

VIA Rail

[Guy Caron, NDP, Rimouski-Neigette—Témiscouata—Les Basques, QC]

Mr. Speaker, I would like to present two petitions signed by nearly 400 people. The petitioners are calling on the Government of Canada to contribute to the funding necessary for the repair and maintenance of the track between Bathurst and Miramichi in order to keep the line open and maintain rail service in eastern New Brunswick and Quebec.

Seeds Act

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

Mr. Speaker, I rise to present two petitions.

The first petition is from residents of Rossland, B.C., asking us to refrain from making any changes to the Seeds Act or the Plant Breeders Rights' Act through Bill C-18.