John M. Cummins

[Government Response to Petitions, December 11th, 2002]

Mr. Speaker, I rise on a point of order. The Minister of National Defence is sitting on a report from the military ombudsman concerning Corporal Christian McEachern, whose trial is ongoing in Edmonton at this time. I believe that this particular document could have an influence on that trial.

Corporal McEachern is a young military man who was administered the anti-malarial drug mefloquine. It may bear on this issue. The ombudsman promised in his report of last February that he would have this document available in nine months. I understand that the minister has it and I would ask that this document be tabled.

[Privilege, December 11th, 2002]

Don, you sound like you need a weekend away.

[Question No. 17, December 9th, 2002]

With regard to the establishment of salmon farm operations in Canada's coastal waters and the requirements of the Fisheries Act and Navigable Waters Protection Act: ( a ) how many net pen salmon farm operations are located in the coastal waters adjacent to (i) British Columbia, (ii) New Brunswick, (iii) Nova Scotia, (iv) Prince Edward Island, and (v) Newfoundland; ( b ) what is the location and who is the owner or operator of each of these sites; ( c ) how many net cages are in operation, what is the weight or level of biomass and what is the annual amount of wastes or debris deposited on an annual basis at each site; ( d ) how many authorizations or approvals under section 5(1) of the Navigable Waters Protection Act have been issued for net pen salmon farm operations in the coastal waters adjacent to each of the provinces listed in part (a); ( e ) what is the location of each of these authorizations; ( f ) how many net cages were approved for each of these sites; ( g ) how many authorizations or approvals under section 5(1) of the Navigable Waters Protection Act have been denied for net pen salmon farm operations in the coastal waters adjacent to each of the provinces listed in part (a); ( h ) what is the location of the salmon farm applications that were denied; ( i ) how many net pen salmon farm operations have been established without first seeking the authorizations or approvals under section 5(1) of the Navigable Waters Protection Act for operations in the coastal waters adjacent to each of the provinces listed in part (a); ( j ) what is the location of each of these operations; ( k ) how many Ministerial orders have been issued under section 6 of the Navigable Waters Protection Act with regard to unauthorized salmon farm operations in the coastal waters adjacent to each of the provinces listed in part (a); ( l ) what is the location of each of these operations; ( m ) how many authorizations or approvals under section 35(2) of the Fisheries Act have been issued for net pen salmon farm operations in the coastal waters adjacent to each of the provinces listed in part (a); ( n ) what is the location of each of these authorizations under section 35 (2) of the Fisheries Act; ( o ) what is the approved weight or level of biomass and the approved annual amount of wastes or debris deposited on an annual basis at each site; ( p ) how many applications for authorizations or approvals under section 35(2) of the Fisheries Act have been denied for net pen salmon farm operations in the coastal waters adjacent to each of the provinces listed in part (a); ( q ) what is the location of the section 35(2) application for authorizations or approvals under the Fisheries Act for salmon farm operations that were denied; ( r ) how many net pen salmon farm operations have been established without first seeking the authorizations or approvals under section 35(2) of the Fisheries Act for operations in the coastal waters adjacent to the provinces listed in part (a); ( s ) what is the location of each of these operations; ( t ) how many orders under section 37(2) of the Fisheries Act have been issued requiring modifications, restrictions, or the closing of salmon farm operations that could result in harmful alteration to fish habitat, or the deposit of deleterious substances in the coastal waters adjacent to each of the provinces listed in part (a); and ( u ) what is the location for each site where an order was issued under section 37(2) of the Fisheries Act?

Return tabled.

[Petitions, December 9th, 2002]

Mr. Speaker, my second petition has to do with petitioners from Powell River. The petitioners are concerned for the shrimp fishery on the west coast of British Columbia.

The petitioners note that in the terms of union of British Columbia with Canada, they require the federal government to assume and defray costs for the protection and encouragement of fisheries. They say that the fee structure the department is putting in place for shrimp fishermen will prohibit or make it financially impossible for people to fish this year. They suggest that the issue should be addressed in light of the terms of union.

[Petitions, December 9th, 2002]

Mr. Speaker, I have two petitions to present today. The first one has to do with citizens concerned about the Coast Guard. The petitioners point out that there is an ongoing list of problems with the Coast Guard; the failure of the government to provide it adequately with the equipment to do the job, the questions arising from the Cap Rouge II sinking and the failure to provide a hovercraft from the Vancouver airport.

The petitioners have an additional concern that the Coast Guard be separated from the Department of Fisheries and Oceans.

[Coast Guard, December 9th, 2002]

Mr. Speaker, the minister does not get it. The agreement to backstop one another's vessel traffic control was put in place because of Canada's concern about supertanker traffic in American waters adjacent Victoria and the Gulf Islands. The agreement is now cancelled because Canadian Coast Guard personnel lack the training and equipment to take over in the event of an American system failure.

Why has the government decided to risk supertanker collisions and oil spills on the west coast? Why has the government allowed the system to deteriorate to the point where supertankers could be playing bumper cars in the Strait of Georgia?

[Coast Guard, December 9th, 2002]

Mr. Speaker, in February a fully loaded tanker was travelling in American waters near Victoria. An earthquake shut down the American vessel traffic control in Seattle. The Canadian Coast Guard took over and averted disaster, clearing a passage for the huge tanker through a narrow channel. But not any more. The agreement to backstop one another's traffic control has been cancelled because Canada can no longer do the job. Supertankers are now on their own.

How could the government contemplate a fully loaded supertanker operating on Victoria's doorstep without any--

[Question No. 26, December 6th, 2002]

With regard to the risk management of the antimalarial drug mefloquine by Health Canada and the Department of National Defence: ( a ) what deployments since 1990 involved administration of the drug to members of the Canadian Forces; ( b ) did Health Canada receive from the Canadian Forces adverse drug event reports for each such deployment either during or immediately following deployment; ( c ) how many Canadians received the drug under Health Canada’s Lariam Safety Monitoring Study; ( d ) how many patients were the subject of monitoring reports received by Health Canada directly or indirectly from Roche under the Lariam Safety Monitoring Study; ( e ) what types of adverse events were identified by the Lariam Safety Monitoring Study up to the time the drug was licensed in 1993; ( f ) what is the total number of adverse events reported to Health Canada since the commencement of marketing in 1993; ( g ) how many adverse events were reported to Health Canada since the commencement of the marketing of the drug in 1993 involving each of the following reactions - hallucinations, panic reaction, hyper alertness, extreme excitability, convulsions, aggressive reaction, marked restlessness, suicide, suicidal tendency, suicide attempt, thoughts of self harm, abnormal dreams, emotional disorder, irritability, nightmares, abnormal thinking, anxiety, depressed state, aggravated depression, light-headedness, anxiety attack, mood swings, abnormal crying, psychosis, delusion, speech disorder, concentration impaired, fear, euphoria, hysteria, paranoid psychosis, memory impairment, emotional disorder, murder; ( h ) what measures have been taken by Health Canada to ensure that it receives notice of such adverse drug events from doctors administering the drug; ( i ) what changes to the product monograph have been approved by Health Canada since licensing of the drug in 1993; ( j ) how many Canadian Forces members deployed on special missions abroad since 1990 have committed suicide (i) during the mission, (ii) following the mission, (iii) of these how many had been required to take mefloquine; and ( k ) what action has been undertaken to investigate the nature and extent of combined mefloquine exposure and post traumatic stress disorder in current and former members of the Canadian Forces members both regular and reserve who have at one time been deployed on special missions abroad?

Return tabled.

[Petitions, December 4th, 2002]

Mr. Speaker, the third petition has to do with the Coast Guard. The petitioners note that the government is no longer providing the Coast Guard with the necessary funds to fulfill its obligations, either with regard to the hovercraft at Vancouver or for search and rescue operations. They call upon Parliament to separate the Coast Guard from the Department of Fisheries and Oceans and provide it with adequate funding.

[Petitions, December 4th, 2002]

Mr. Speaker, the second petition has to do with the protection of wild fish. The petitioners draw to the attention of the House of Commons the fact that the Minister of Fisheries and Oceans has a constitutional obligation to protect wild fish and their habitat. They point out that he is not doing his job and they call on Parliament to require that the Minister of Fisheries and Oceans fulfill his constitutional obligation to protect wild fish and their habitat from the effects of fish farming.