Peter Adams

[Excise Tax Act, May 12th, 2004]

Mr. Speaker, I hesitate to ask this question because I have two daughters, a son and eight grandchildren, but are in fact disposable diapers disposable in the environmental sense? Has progress been made to make them truly disposable? I know they are called disposable but are they disposable?

[Petitions, May 10th, 2004]

Mr. Speaker, throughout this Parliament, I have presented petitions on behalf of people suffering from kidney disease, their families and researchers, and practitioners who try to help them.

Tens of thousands of people have exhorted Parliament to improve the situation for those with kidney disease in Canada: the fine work of the Kidney Foundation, the importance of organ transplants, the importance of the bioartificial kidney and the importance of good research in Canada for kidney disease.

In the second petition, the petitioners point out that kidney disease is a huge and growing problem. They know that real progress is being made in various ways of preventing and coping with kidney disease but they call upon Parliament to encourage the Canadian Institutes of Health Research to explicitly include kidney research as one of the institutes in its system to be named the institute of kidney and urinary tract diseases.

[Peterborough Co-op, May 10th, 2004]

Mr. Speaker, serving the rural and more recently the urban communities of the Peterborough area for more than 60 years, the Peterborough Co-op today presents a new, refreshed face to Peterborough county and city.

A larger building with many more products and services including an ice cream parlour, tuck shop, and a unique collection of antique farm equipment are only a few of the added features.

Rural Routes began and continues today to be a co-op, an organization where membership brings a patronage dividend, discounted purchases, and a say in the direction of business. The more one spends at a co-op the more one reaps. A farmer who spends $100,000 a year might get a cheque for $4,500 at the end of the year.

While all involved with our co-op are enthusiastic about the new look, they are adamant there is one thing that will never change and that is the co-op's reputation for quality and knowledgeable service.

My congratulations and best wishes for continued success to the management and staff of Rural Routes at the Peterborough Co-op.

[Gasoline Prices, May 6th, 2004]

Mr. Speaker, my question is for the Minister of Industry.

My constituents also are alarmed about the rising price of gas. Unpredictable and rising costs put a strain on everyone's budget. I know price control is a provincial matter. I know that most of the federal tax on gas is fixed so that it does not increase with the price.

Canada is an oil-rich nation. Surely there is something the federal government could do to ensure gasoline remains affordable for consumers in Peterborough and across Canada.

[Committees of the House, May 5th, 2004]

Madam Speaker, I apologize to you and to my colleagues for doing this in such a delayed way, but I presented a report with unanimous consent before and was grateful for that unanimous consent.

I have now confirmed it with all the parties and I move that the 27th report of the Standing Committee on Procedure and House Affairs, presented to the House earlier this day, be concurred in.

[Committees of the House, May 5th, 2004]

Madam Speaker, I have the honour to present the 27th report of the Standing Committee on Procedure and House Affairs, which recommends that the French language version of the Standing Orders be amended to reflect current usage by replacing “Orateur” with “Président”. I intend to move concurrence on this motion, but on another day.

[Mathieu Da Costa Day Act, May 5th, 2004]

Madam Speaker, I rise on a point of order. May I ask for unanimous consent to return to tabling of reports from committees?

[Budget Implementation Act, 2004, May 4th, 2004]

Good idea.

[Cruelty to Animals, April 29th, 2004]

Mr. Speaker, the animal cruelty legislation introduced years ago in another Parliament is now Bill C-22. In its previous form, it passed through this House to the Senate, where the Standing Senate Committee on Legal and Constitutional Affairs proposed several amendments.

After years of debate, this important legislation is still stuck in the Senate. This is legislation that is important to all those who care about animals. It is equally important to those who own pets as it is to farmers who care for their livestock.

This is not draconian legislation. It simply brings old provisions designed to protect animals into the 21st century. Enough is enough.

I urge the Senate to return this legislation to the House of Commons for immediate passage into law.

[Committees of the House, April 29th, 2004]

Mr. Speaker, I always listen with interest to the member for Beauport—Montmorency—Côte-de-Beaupré—Île-d'Orléans. I want to thank him and the member for Elk Island for their fine work over many years, as the member for Elk Island indicated, on this legislation.

With regard to my colleague from the Bloc, it seems to me one can always list particular examples of problems that occurred in the past or hypothetical problems which might occur in the future. I know my colleagues have worked on this in good faith, but if one tries to draw up a code, as we have tried to do here, it is absolutely impossible to list every possible contingency, circumstance or whatever. Human nature being what it is, things change. The code could be faced with problems, which we do not anticipate at the present time, so we should make it as strong as we can for the present time.

The member for Elk Island put it very nicely, but one thing that came out during our hearings, with respect to members of Parliament, was that this was not to address a particular problem. Members of Parliament, as far as we can tell, are honest, straightforward and all those things.

When we heard from commissioners in different provinces, they constantly made a point. We asked them what serious problems they had to deal with and what fires they had to put out. They very often said none. However, their role as commissioners and, therefore, the role of their codes were preventive.

The existence of the commissioner and the existence of the code, first, prevented people from doing things wrong because they knew there was a chance of being caught. Second, it gave the members of these different legislatures term of references and some rules at which they could look. Then it gave them a person to whom they could go and ask advice. Perhaps they and their families were engaged in a particular business and before a situation arose, they would seek advice on how they should behave in the House of Commons, or in their legislatures, or in the national assembly in Quebec, under those circumstances.

Would my colleague comment on the value of this code and the value of the commissioner as a preventive measure?