John M. Cummins

[Petitions, February 11th, 2004]

Mr. Speaker, it is a pleasure for me today to present this petition. The signatures were collected by the Evangelical Fellowship of Canada and the petition addresses the issue of marriage.

The petitioners note that the best foundation for families and the raising of children is the institution of marriage and that it being the union of a man and woman. They call on Parliament to uphold the commitment it made in June 1999 to ensure that marriage be recognized as the union of one man and one woman to the exclusion of all others.

[Health, February 10th, 2004]

Mr. Speaker, when the government was elected in 1993, Delta, a community of 100,000 people, had a fully operational community hospital with 65 acute care beds.

Today the Delta hospital has no acute care beds at all. All patients with acute care needs must be loaded back into ambulances and driven to a hospital with available acute care beds. Often there is nowhere to send them.

The closure of acute care beds in the Delta hospital followed the unilateral cuts to hospital funding instituted by the Prime Minister when he was finance minister. His attack on medical care has put the Delta hospital and community hospitals like it across the country on life support.

Every Canadian living outside the largest urban areas have been adversely affected by the Prime Minister's cuts to their community hospital and the medical services they provide.

When will the Prime Minister fully reinstate the hospital funding that he took away so that the Delta hospital and community hospitals like it throughout the country can reopen their acute care beds?

[Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy, February 4th, 2004]

Mr. Chair, this is an important issue and not only for the agricultural industry. It also has implications elsewhere, including the fishing industry. Surimi is a fish product that is used to make artificial crab and shrimp. It is manufactured using beef plasma. Foreign buyers are not interested in buying Canadian surimi at this time. In Ucluelet on the west coast of Vancouver Island, the fish plant is shut down because they are unable to export, throwing 140 people out of work. I wonder if the minister is aware of this problem and of the extent of this problem. What does he intend to do about it?

[Petitions, February 4th, 2004]

Mr. Speaker, the second petition I have is one in which the signators call on Parliament to recognize the institution of marriage as a union of one man and one woman to the exclusion of all others.

[Petitions, February 4th, 2004]

Mr. Speaker, it is my pleasure to present a petition that calls on Parliament to fully reinstate the Canadian airborne regiment. The petitioners note that the regiment throughout its history exhibited exemplary skill and discipline and provided great service to Canada and that its disbandment was in fact political. They say that in the current situation in the world and with Canadian Forces involvement globally it would be wise to fully reinstate the Canadian airborne regiment.

[Question No. 245, October 23rd, 2003]

With regard to emamectin benzoate, the unlicensed drug used to treat infestations of sea lice in farmed salmon: ( a ) how many requests for emergency release have been received for each of the following years: 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003; ( b ) how many requests for emergency release have been approved for the following years: 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003; ( c ) what quantities of the drug were approved in the following years: 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003; ( d ) how many fish were treated with the drug during the following years: 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003; ( e ) what are the known effects of the drug if ingested by shrimp, prawns and lobster in the following years: 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003; ( f ) what are the known effects of the drug on humans ingesting seafood that has been treated with it; ( g ) how many times has the drug been used as a preventative measure against sea lice in the following years: 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003; and ( h ) what areas of Canada’s coastlines have been exposed to this drug?

(Return tabled.)

[Petitions, October 10th, 2003]

Madam Speaker, I am pleased to present a petition today with signatures gathered by the Wreck Beach community, friends and visitors. The petition relates to the Coast Guard and the purchase of a 20 year old British hovercraft for use at the Sea Island Coast Guard base. The petitioners note in regard to the purchase that this new hovercraft will not be able to effect medevac or to be used as a dive platform because it lacks a bow ramp. The petitioners call upon the government to provide the Coast Guard with the necessary new vessel capable of performing those operations.

[Fisheries, October 10th, 2003]

Mr. Speaker, I would like an answer on a Friday, this Friday, to the question. The question is quite simple. There is no authority to allow for these separate commercial fisheries, and treaty negotiations are not an excuse.

In last summer's decision, the court rejected including special commercial fishery rights and treaties, calling the notion rash and imprudent. Why does the minister continue to break the law?

[Fisheries, October 10th, 2003]

Mr. Speaker, in late August of this year, in an advertisement in the Prince George Citizen , an Indian band offered sockeye salmon for sale at the band office. It claimed the sale was authorized by DFO as part of treaty negotiations. By what authority was it authorized?

The House was advised a year and a half ago by the committee for the scrutiny of regulations that separate native commercial fisheries were illegal. A court in B.C. ruled such fisheries illegal this summer, so by what authority did the minister allow for this fishery?

[Petitions, October 9th, 2003]

Mr. Speaker, I have a petition from the Wreck Beach community, friends and visitors in Vancouver. There are over 700 signatures on the petition. The petitioners call on Parliament to bring to the attention of the government the folly of purchasing a 20 year old British hovercraft as a replacement for the 045 Hovercraft at Sea Island base in Vancouver. They call upon Parliament to direct the Minister of Fisheries and Oceans to purchase a new hovercraft, a vessel that would be capable of doing the medical evacuations that are sometimes required and capable also of serving as an adequate dive platform for the Coast Guard dive team.