Nelson Riis

[Petitions, November 5th, 1997]

Mr. Speaker, it is a pleasure to present a petition, pursuant to Standing Order 36, containing well over 12,000 signatures. All the petitioners are from the Kamloops constituency.

They call upon the government to do away with section 745 of the Criminal Code, the section which in a sense does not mean that a life sentence is a life sentence. It means it is only a shortened sentence and it allows criminals like Clifford Olson and so on to make appeals. Thousands of people from my constituency are saying that this does not seem right at all and should be repealed.

I have another petition that has to do with section 43 of the Criminal Code of Canada. That is the section that permits people to violently beat their children. I suppose we could put it that way.

The petitioners feel that it is not right for parents to inflict physical pain on children at young ages. When they are determining their values and the basic morals of society it is not right for parents to inflict pain on children for disciplinary purposes and goes against the spirit of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms. They are asking for a repeal of section 43.

[Petitions, October 29th, 1997]

Mr. Speaker, the next petition is again about taxes. A great number of people from the city of Kamloops as well as the city of Clearwater, British Columbia point out their concerns that our tax system is unjust, biased and unfair and ought to have a complete and total overhaul.

I again endorse the comments of these constituents.

[Petitions, October 29th, 1997]

Mr. Speaker, it is my honour to rise, pursuant to Standing Order 36, to present a petition on behalf of a number of constituents, as well as a number of individuals from the Guelph—Wellington constituency, who have signed a petition which states they are deeply concerned about the government's decision to continue taxing reading with the GST.

They go on and on about all the reasons why we need to encourage people to buy books to practise their reading skills, and to encourage young people to buy books.

In particular, a young person points out that she has to pay the GST on her bibles that she sends off to people in developing countries. She is very determined to have that changed.

[Education, October 27th, 1997]

Mr. Speaker, I could not agree with the Minister of Finance more. As a result of the mindless decision to cut taxes in the province of Ontario, the result has been the complete abandonment of its young people who are students who want to study.

Will the Minister of Finance stand up and show that he stands behind what he actually says, speak out against the Harris government and join us on the picket lines tomorrow to stand shoulder to shoulder with the students and teachers of this province?

[Education, October 27th, 1997]

Mr. Speaker, the Minister of Finance will know that the Harris government has turned its back on the province's students, creating havoc in the provincial educational system as a result of draconian cuts to the funding of education.

Would the minister not agree that it is the federal Liberal government that is responsible for the mindset of tax cut downloading that is hurting Ontario's students today?

[Petitions, October 10th, 1997]

Finally, Mr. Speaker, petitioners are concerned about the debt load faced by students. They point out that students graduating from university on average have a debt load of $25,000.

Considering that so many young people have a difficult time finding employment, particularly employment at a decent salary, to enter their working life with this kind of debt load is wrong. They ask the government to give more consideration to changing the Canada student loan program and to coming up with a number of programs to support students.

As a personal comment, perhaps this is the time to consider doing away with tuition fees as many other countries have done in an effort to provide equal access for all students regardless of their level of income.

[Petitions, October 10th, 1997]

The third petition concerns the increase in gas prices. I notice gas prices in this part of Canada are on the increase.

The petitioners ask the federal government to step in and establish a board to oversee the price of fuels, recognizing that Canada is a northern country and the cost of fuel is factored into the cost of living for every Canadian citizen.

They also suggest that the government give some consideration to Canada's crumbling national highways.

[Petitions, October 10th, 1997]

Mr. Speaker, I have another petition which I wish to present.

The petition is signed by a long list of students at the University College of the Cariboo who point out that the government is presently taxing reading materials. They believe the 7% GST on reading materials to be unfair, unjust, wrong, stupid, dumb, and the list continues. Actually they do not use the words stupid and dumb, but that is what they are saying.

The students quote Newfoundlander Brian Tobin, who says “It is a violation of the concept of freedom of speech to tax the written word, to tax the ability of people to communicate with each other”. They simply agree with Mr. Tobin on that point.

They ask that the government come to its senses and back off from taxing reading materials.

[Petitions, October 10th, 1997]

Mr. Speaker, it is my pleasure to rise pursuant to Standing Order 36 to present a number of petitions on behalf of the residents of the city of Kamloops and a number of surrounding communities.

The first petition deals with a concern of constituents regarding our present tax system. I do not want to go through the long list, but they point out half a dozen areas of major concern in its unfairness, its bias and so on.

The petitioners call on the Government of Canada to undertake a fair tax reform process so that consumers do not continue to suffer financial security and unfair costs at this point in time.

[Employment, October 10th, 1997]

Mr. Speaker, how can the Minister of Finance stand there, let alone his colleagues cheer, when we have 1.4 million unemployed people? There is a 9% unemployment rate, continuing month after month after month, 64 consecutive months at 9% or worse, and he says the government is doing a decent job. That is simply not right.

Will he at least tell the Governor of the Bank of Canada that he will not tolerate an increase in interest rates? He knows the recovery is consumer led and that even a half per cent increase will result in that being thwarted.