Art Hanger

[Petitioners, March 20th, 1995]

Madam Speaker, I have a petition on sexual orientation which I do not concur with but I will present and table.

The petitioners call upon Parliament to act quickly to amend the Canadian Human Rights Act to prohibit discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and to adopt all necessary measures to recognize the full equality of same sex relationships in federal law. It bears 39 names.

Madam Speaker, I have another petition on sexual orientation bearing 62 names. The petitioners pray and request that Parliament not amend the Canadian Human Rights Act or the charter of rights and freedoms in any way which would tend to indicate societal approval of same sex relationships or of homosexuality, including amending the human rights act to include in the prohibited grounds of discrimination the undefined phrase of sexual orientation.

[Petitioners, March 20th, 1995]

Madam Speaker, I have four petitions bearing 423 names. The petitioners pray that Parliament act immediately to extend protection to the unborn child by amending the Criminal Code to extend the same protection enjoyed by born human beings to unborn human beings.

[Petitioners, March 20th, 1995]

Madam Speaker, I also have two petitions bearing 115 names. The petitioners pray that Parliament not repeal or amend section 241 of the Criminal Code in any way and to uphold the Supreme Court of Canada's decision of September 30, 1993 to disallow assisted suicide, euthanasia.

[Petitioners, March 20th, 1995]

Madam Speaker. I have several petitions to table today. I understand there are several petitions being presented that equal approximately 64,000 names dealing with the Young Offenders Act and changes to toughen it up. This petition bears 73 signatures from people in my riding and nearby.

[Immigration And Refugee Board, March 15th, 1995]

Mr. Speaker, Mr. Bauer made it clear yesterday that the minister's single member panels are a step backward and will worsen the current mess.

Two former IRB members concluded that Canada accepts terrorists as refugees, that some lawyers are scripting refugee claims, and that in Bauer's opinion up to two-thirds of claimants are accepted under false pretences.

Why does the minister continue to put the interests of bogus claimants, refugee lawyers and advocates ahead of the interests of Canadians who pay $1 billion a year for this disgrace?

[Immigration And Refugee Board, March 15th, 1995]

Mr. Speaker, yesterday Mr. Bill Bauer and Mr. Gary Carson, both former members of the Immigration and Refugee Board, confirmed that half the IRB members may not be competent to hear refugee claims, that some cannot function adequately in either of Canada's official languages, and that members are being pressured to make positive decisions.

Will the minister listen this time, dismantle the IRB and start over, or will he ignore Bauer like he ignored us and other Canadians and even his own employees?

[Immigration, March 14th, 1995]

Mr. Speaker, if the minister needs more suggestions for change than those we have offered already, here is what his own employees have to say: "End inland refugee claims. Limit family reunification. End official multiculturalism and make personal suitability the key criterion for immigration to Canada".

Why did the minister hide this damning document? Will he admit that last summer's consultations were as bogus as the refugee system he so ardently defends?

[Immigration, March 14th, 1995]

Mr. Speaker, a shocking document has been released to the Vancouver Sun , the concluding document of immigration consultations in B.C. in which the minister's employees say the following: ``We go about congratulating ourselves for our overexuberant acceptance of bogus refugees while the rest of the world snickers at us for the suckers we are. The lawyers are making a circus out of refugee claims''.

The minister ignores Canadians, experts and the Reform Party. Will he also ignore his own employees or will he make change?

[Petitions, March 13th, 1995]

Mr. Speaker, I have a petition on euthanasia with 309 signatures. The petitioners pray that Parliament not repeal or amend section 241 of the Criminal Code in any way and uphold the decision of the Supreme Court of Canada on September 30, 1993 to disallow assisted suicide or euthanasia.

[Petitions, March 13th, 1995]

Mr. Speaker, I have several petitions to present. I will lump them together.

The first petition with 474 signatures is on sexual orientation. The petitioners pray and request that Parliament not amend the Canadian Human Rights Act or the Charter of Rights and Freedoms in any way that would tend to indicate societal approval of same sexual relationships.