Eleni Bakopanos

[Questions On The Order Paper, April 27th, 1999]

The Department of Justice's central registry of divorce proceedings has existed since the implementation of the Divorce Act in 1968. This registry was set up as a mechanism to detect and to inform courts and the parties of two divorce applications in different provinces with respect to the same couple.

This registry will ensure a court's jurisdiction in deciding on divorce cases as contained in subsections 3(2) and 3(3) of the Divorce Act.

The records of the registry indicate that the following number of divorces were granted without hearing by the court, by the calendar year are: 1994, 66,197; 1995, 66,200; 1996, 58,405; 1997, 56,258; and 1998, 57,335.

[Crimes Against Humanity, April 22nd, 1999]

Mr. Speaker, due to the work of my colleague the member for Brampton Centre three years ago, April 20th to 27th is officially the week of remembrance of the inhumanity of people toward one another.

Today I would like to greet all those who are of Armenian heritage, and all members of the Armenian community in Montreal. My congratulations for their exceptional efforts to raise a monument in my riding of Ahuntsic.

This monument is dedicated to 1.5 million Armenians who were victims as well as to all the martyrs of crimes against humanity. It is a fine example, especially under today's events, of what can be achieved in remembrance and in reconciliation. It is also symbolic of the tolerance and social harmony that we all wish to achieve.

I call upon all Canadians to remember the legacy of this past century, especially in these times of the Kosovo crisis. In doing so, we must work together to write a new legacy which will be marked by reconciliation, peace and co-operation.

[Criminal Code, April 20th, 1999]

Mr. Speaker, I certainly share some of the views that were raised by the hon. member from the Reform Party. We certainly know his ongoing concern for conditional sentencing. I have two questions for the member.

Should the member not be looking at the fact that the Minister of Justice has asked the justice committee to study this issue? Should he not be helping the members of his party who sit on the justice committee to ensure that the justice committee does not have 100 private members' motions before it so that the committee does not have to deal with the private members' motions before it deals with conditional sentencing?

I encourage the hon. member to help the committee expedite the work in terms of arriving at conditional sentencing and making some recommendations to the minister in terms of conditional sentencing and to bring amendments forward.

The second question I have for the hon. member has to do with family violence. It was rather interesting that the member talked about statistics. Does the member know how many of those women were killed by guns used by their spouses? His party did not support the gun control legislation. When the member does bring those statistics forward, he should be talking about the type of violence that women face in society. The member should be supporting the government on initiatives such as gun control.

[National Textiles Week, April 19th, 1999]

Mr. Speaker, this week marks National Textiles Week in Canada, which is organized by the Textiles Human Resources Council, to focus and acknowledge the innovation and excellence within the Canadian textile industry.

In my riding of Ahuntsic, there are two dozen textile manufacturing firms, including Silver Textiles, Doubletex and Montreal Fast Print, to name but a few.

Since 1988, exports have tripled, capital investments have reached unprecedented levels and, in the past five years, the number of jobs has increased steadily, from 53,000 in 1993 to 56,000 in 1997.

The programs established by Human Resources Development Canada such as the Canada jobs fund and programs aimed at youth as well as Industry Canada's initiatives focusing on science and technology and the federal guidelines defining professional standards are but another example of the way the government helps the Canadian industrial sector to compete on an international scale.

I would like to congratulate the Canadian textile manufacturers, especially those in my riding, for their important contribution—

[Law Day, April 15th, 1999]

Mr. Speaker, I would like to draw to your attention that today is law day. We in Canada are celebrating the 17th anniversary of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms. The theme for law day is access to justice, a theme I strongly support.

Public legal information and education activities have been organized across Canada by the Canadian Bar Association involving hundreds of lawyers. The aim is to make the law more accessible to all Canadians and to expand their knowledge of their rights within Canada's justice system.

I offer my encouragement and my support to the Canadian Bar Association as well as to the many community groups here in Ottawa and across Canada in their endeavours on Law Day.

I invite all members to join me in extending best wishes to all involved for a successful law day and especially the members of the Canadian Bar Association who, with their president, Mr. Barry Gorlick, are here in the gallery today.

[Petitions, April 14th, 1999]

Mr. Speaker, the third petition concerns pornography.

[Petitions, April 14th, 1999]

Mr. Speaker, the second petition deals with pay equity.

[Petitions, April 14th, 1999]

Mr. Speaker, I will be presenting three petitions on behalf of the Minister of Justice.

The first petition calls upon parliament to enact legislation to amend the Criminal Code to provide increased penalties for serious cases of animal abuse and to make illegal the practice of inhumane euthanasia for companion animals.

[Greek Independence Day, March 25th, 1999]

Mr. Speaker, today, Canadians of Hellenic origin join with 17.5 million Hellenes around the world in celebrating the most important day in the history of Greece, my country of origin, that is March 25, 1821, Greek Independence Day.

Today I welcome to Ottawa and to Canada a group that has travelled from Greece to participate in the various celebrations organized in Montreal and Ottawa: Mrs. Maria Lambrou, deputy mayor of Chalkidos; Ms. Pagona Theodorou and Ms. Fevronia Kastani, members of the provincial chamber of commerce of Evoia; and the Hellenic national organization whose goal is to preserve and promote the authenticity of Greek dance and the genuineness of Greek traditional dress.

I am proud of my roots. More important, I am proud of Canada which allows for the respecting of the cultures and traditions of all Canadians. I invite all members of the House to join in the celebrations to celebrate this important day.

[Division No. 363, March 25th, 1999]

Mr. Speaker, considering that I have great respect for this institution I withdraw the words.