Carol Skelton

[Question No. 51, April 19th, 2004]

With regard to all contaminated sites in Saskatchewan known to the government, what, in each case, and with a detailed description of each, is the type and the scope of the contamination, including any clean-up action plans involving government departments or utilizing financial assistance from the government?

Return tabled.

[The Budget, March 29th, 2004]

Mr. Speaker, I would like to ask my hon. colleague, could he relate some of the things that seniors in his riding have been telling him about what the federal government has done for senior citizens in western Canada?

[Employment Insurance, March 25th, 2004]

Mr. Speaker, the Auditor General released her report which highlighted a number of significant problems in Canada's employment insurance program.

The program has a $43.8 billion surplus, a surplus created through the overcharging of workers. Workers who need to access the program get a busy signal 65% of the time. Those applying online have their forms filled out manually by bureaucrats after they apply.

Does the government care? No, the Liberals do not. If they did, I would not have been in committee this morning looking at empty seats on the government side before the meeting was cancelled by the Chair.

The committee has two parliamentary secretaries sitting on it. Where is the ministerial accountability? Shame on the Liberals for not showing up to discuss such serious issues.

[Petitions, March 25th, 2004]

Mr. Speaker, it gives me great pleasure to present petitions containing over 2,100 names. The petitioners are saying that marriage, as a lasting union of a man and a women to the exclusion of all others, cannot and should not be modified by a legislative act or a court of law.

The petitioners request that Parliament take whatever action is required to maintain the current definition of marriage in law in perpetuity and to prevent any court from overturning or amending the definition.

It gives me great honour to present these petitions.

[Criminal Code, March 24th, 2004]

Mr. Speaker, I want to talk a bit about what the whole issue does to families. I want to support my colleague from Lakeland for what he has brought forward. Over the years in Saskatchewan and working years ago with Mothers Against Drunk Driving, I have found out that we really must strengthen the laws. My colleague spoke about the province of Manitoba and what it has done to right the legislation that was wrongly written and to put forward laws that stop drunk driving.

We have to look at the death rate from drunk driving. Death by impaired driving is three times the national murder rate. Impaired driving kills three times as many people as those who are murdered every year. Approximately 75,000 Canadians are impacted by impaired drivers every year.

Impaired drivers get behind the wheel of a car 12.5 million times a year, but there are only 70,000 charges. Our justice department, our police officers, our RCMP officers across the country do not have enough staff to stop impaired driving the way they should. There is no way they can be out across the country stopping and charging impaired drivers.

We see people who have been charged with impaired driving released and allowed to travel again. As my hon. colleague from Provencher said, they go into court. I remember a person who went into court and said that because he served in the armed forces he could not blow in the breathalyzer, and he got off. To me, that is not safe and it is something we need to change.

My hon. colleague has brought forth valuable legislation that will help. We have to take and study this. It has to go to committee. It needs to be looked at very seriously because it is a huge problem and we have to ensure that it is looked after.

In the year 2000, 30% of the fatally injured drivers had been drinking prior to the collision. Note that this reflects driver deaths only, not injuries. Nor does it reflect those who may have been killed or injured as a result.

The House should seriously look at what my hon. colleague has brought forward, and I thank him on behalf of all Canadians country for what he has done.

[Question No. 22, March 24th, 2004]

With regard to the dredging of Wascana Lake in Regina: ( a ) what is the total financial contribution by the government to this project; ( b ) how much in total has been pledged by the government and its representative; ( c ) what is the total amount that has been transferred to date; and ( d ) from which department and agency budgets will this funding come?

[National Ovarian Cancer Month Act, March 24th, 2004]

moved for leave to introduce Bill C-496, an act to designate the month of September as National Ovarian Cancer Month.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today on behalf of thousands of Canadian women who have or will find out they have ovarian cancer. The bill would designate September as national ovarian cancer month, similar to those in other countries.

Each year 2,600 women are diagnosed with cancer and one in seventy will get this cancer in their lifetime. The good news is that when detected early, and treated, the survival rate is as high as 90%.

We need to fund research, testing and awareness of this dreadful disease. I sincerely hope my colleagues will support this initiative.

(Motions deemed adopted, bill read the first time and printed)

[Youth Criminal Justice Act, March 23rd, 2004]

Mr. Speaker, this government introduced the Youth Criminal Justice Act with much fanfare, but it has failed to impress my constituents living in Saskatoon's Caswell Hill area.

These residents support finding constructive, rehabilitating alternatives to prison, but point out that this government has failed to provide the necessary support. Without supporting alternatives to prison with adequate funding and services, the new act will not help our youth find proper direction.

As the members of the Caswell Community Eyez-Crimewatch Network have requested, I am calling on the government to properly fund and support the services needed to make the new Youth Criminal Justice Act work. Saskatoon already has crime challenges. Our youth and our community cannot wait any longer.

I wish to extend thanks to Jeanne, Stephanie, Kelly and Constable Kerry Ruddick for meeting with me on behalf of their community.

[Supply, February 26th, 2004]

Mr. Speaker, I would like to ask the hon. member if he can tell all the farmers in western Canada, who have had negative margins for the last three years, what and how effective this new program will be for those young producers who have had that situation.

[Supply, February 26th, 2004]

Mr. Speaker, I would like to say to the member opposite, after reading off all those provinces and stuff, that there is a sector of our industry that has been suffering for over five years and it has been neglected by the government. That is the cervid industry in this country. The government keeps saying that it will look at the BSE issue and it will go for the science base. The cervid industry has the science base but the government has not opened the borders to other countries for that industry.

If the government's agricultural policy is so good, could the hon. member tell us why it has not worked with the cervid industry?