Svend Robinson

[Points Of Order, November 18th, 1998]

Mr. Speaker, I will obey your injunction and be very brief.

I want to associate myself with the eloquent arguments that were made initially by the member for St. Paul's and thank her for bringing this important legislation before the House. I also want to pay tribute to Senator Colin Kenny who has travelled tirelessly across this country, in the shared objective of members on all sides of this House, to deal with the human tragedy of 40,000 deaths each year, too many of which are teenagers and young people.

While there have been a range of arguments on the issue of a tax versus a levy and the constitutional acceptance of this legislation, I suggest an alternative which might meet with the approval of members on all sides.

I have consulted with the Table. There is another option, other than a ruling at this stage which may or may not preclude debate on the substance of this bill. I appeal to members to consider seriously this option.

I make it very clear that this argument is without prejudice to the position that I, the member for St. Paul's, my colleague from Winnipeg North Centre and others would take, which is that the bill is in order and should proceed.

I suggest to members that the House is in a position, should it agree not to give unanimous consent to allow this bill to proceed through all stages, to give consent to allow this bill to proceed through second reading and committee stage. The House can give that consent now. Members can give that consent. Should that consent be forthcoming, then Canadians would be in a position to be heard on this issue through members on all sides, both in the House and in committee.

At the same time the government could consider the advisability or the wisdom of proceeding with a ways and means motion, should it believe that necessary.

Obviously, Mr. Speaker, procedurally I would suggest that should consent be granted, your ruling would be postponed until necessary to rule on the specific issue of the necessity for a ways and means motion.

I want to appeal to members of the House. There is a will on all sides of the House to allow the merits of this very important legislation to be heard. Therefore, I want to ask members on all sides of the House for unanimous consent to allow Bill S-13 to proceed through second reading and committee stage.

Should consent be granted, then obviously it would still be very much within the purview of the government to consider the wisdom of proceeding with a ways and means motion. But what this would allow—and, as I say, I have consulted with the Table—is for the merits of this very important legislation to be considered in the House and in committee. Therefore, I seek that consent.

[Petitions, November 18th, 1998]

Mr. Speaker, I have the honour to present a second petition which notes that the Constitution Act of Canada guarantees freedom of conscience and religion in the charter of rights, and that even before this the recognition of conscientious objection existed in Canada. The petitioners urge parliament to establish peace tax legislation by passing into law the conscientious objection act which I have tabled.

This bill recognizes the right of conscientious objectors to not pay for the military and within which the government would declare its commitment to apply the portion of taxes that was to be used for military purposes toward peaceful purposes such as peace education, war relief, humanitarian and environmental aid and housing.

A message was delivered by the Usher of the Black Rod as follows:

Mr. Speaker, it is the desire of His Excellency the Governor General that this honourable House attend him immediately in the Senate chamber.

Accordingly, the Speaker with the House went up to the Senate chamber.

And being returned:

[Petitions, November 18th, 1998]

Mr. Speaker, I have the honour to present two petitions today. The first petition is signed by residents of British Columbia and expresses concern about APEC involving an economic relationship with countries that have deplorable records of human rights abuses.

The petition notes that APEC provides no forum for discussion of social conditions, including human rights and labour, that APEC is undemocratic and involves only business and political elites who meet behind doors.

Therefore, the petitioners call on parliament to discontinue APEC and its discussions until APEC includes issues of human rights, labour and other social concerns, and to democratize the process by including representatives from labour and other segments of society to participate in the discussions.

[Human Rights, November 18th, 1998]

Mr. Speaker, the minister knows the Prime Minister did not raise those issues with Mahathir.

My supplementary question is for the solicitor general. Today is the day of truth for this minister at the APEC inquiry. My colleague, the hon. member for Palliser, has sworn under oath an affidavit documenting the minister's prejudging of the outcome of the inquiry.

Will the minister swear his own affidavit and finally come clean with Canadians about exactly what he did say on that Air Canada flight?

[Human Rights, November 18th, 1998]

Mr. Speaker, my question is for the Minister of Foreign Affairs.

United States Vice-President Al Gore spoke out strongly at the APEC summit in support of Malaysians like Irene Fernandez fighting for democracy and fighting against the repressive internal security act and other gross human rights violations.

Why is Canada's Prime Minister silent on these issues and is instead defending Malaysia's great democratic elections? Does Canada support Gore's call for democracy, or will we let Bombardier and other corporate interests silence the prime minister in Malaysia just as they have done in China and in Asia?

[Petitions, November 4th, 1998]

Mr. Speaker, I have the honour to present a petition signed by hundreds of residents of the Edmonton, Alberta, area.

It notes that Mrs. Leyla Zana, a duly elected member of the Turkish parliament, is serving a 15 year prison sentence in that country solely for her peaceful efforts to resolve the Kurdish issue. This is a violation of the universal declaration of human rights and she has been declared a prisoner of conscience by Amnesty International.

Therefore the petitioners urgently request the Parliament of Canada to endorse the nomination of Mrs. Leyla Zana for the Nobel Peace Prize this year by a formal resolution of the House and to exert all reasonable efforts to secure the release of Mrs. Zana and all other prisoners of conscience from incarceration in Turkey.

[Royal Canadian Mounted Police, October 27th, 1998]

Mr. Speaker, my question is for the solicitor general.

The solicitor general's unilateral $8.5 million cut in funding for the RCMP in British Columbia and the Yukon means less money to fight organized crime, less money to fight drug trafficking and less money to fight white collar crime. It hits small detachments especially hard.

Will the minister now listen to the people of British Columbia and the Yukon? Will he restore to the RCMP the funds that were cut, give them back the ability to fight crime in our communities and stop turning them into bean counters?

[Questions On The Order Paper, October 26th, 1998]

Mr. Speaker, I have a point of order. I would ask the indulgence of the parliamentary secretary if he could look into the status of question No. 32 which was tabled almost a year ago, October 28 of last year. It was a detailed question concerning expenditure around the then upcoming APEC summit.

We have been waiting for almost a year for an answer. I would ask the parliamentary secretary if he would look into that and come back with an explanation for the delay.

[Petitions, October 26th, 1998]

Mr. Speaker, I have the honour to present a petition which is signed by hundreds of residents of the constituency I have the honour of representing, Burnaby—Douglas. It notes that freedom of choice in health care is becoming increasingly curtailed and further threatened by legislation and statutory regulations of the Government of Canada.

The petitioners urge that Canada's Food and Drug Act be revised in a number of ways, including that the definition of food include dietary supplements and food for special health uses, and that the definition of drug be amended to read that drug includes any substance other than food. They go on with a number of other proposed changes to the Food and Drug Act.

Finally, they urge that only foods the Government of Canada may restrict from a market are those that are proven unsafe or fraudulently promoted and that in all cases the burden of proof shall be on the Government of Canada to establish that such foods are either unsafe or fraudulently promoted.

[East Timor, October 26th, 1998]

Mr. Speaker, my question is for the Minister of Foreign Affairs. This morning the minister met with the Timorese leader and Nobel prize winner José Ramos-Horta who has urged our government to support the right of the people of East Timor to self-determination and an internationally supervised referendum.

Will the minister honour the promise his party made in 1991 or will he continue to attack the East Timor alert network, to apologize for Canadian protesters and to put embarrassment to Indonesian dictators ahead of the rights of the people of East Timor?

Will he now support East Timor's right to self-determination, yes or no?