House of Commons photoWon his last election, in 2000, with 54% of the vote.
Members Of Parliament Retiring Allowances Act June 6th, 1994
Mr. Speaker, I simply want to repeat what my colleague the Minister of Finance said.
The government is committed to legislating the matter of members' pensions. He said we would be dealing with the matter after receiving the report of the commission which is studying issues involving the pay and pensions of members which has to be set up after every election. The government will be proceeding along those lines as soon as it gets the report, has a chance to study it and reach some conclusions.
Young Offenders Act June 3rd, 1994
Mr. Speaker, any law after it has been in place for a number of years can be updated and often improved in the light of experience. That is what we are doing, because we want to respond to the concerns of Canadians with respect to the safety of their homes and their streets. At the same time we want to make sure, as part of our broader strategy, to get at the root causes of criminal behaviour.
We want to update the law, but we want to have a more fundamental review. I hope we have the support of this House in this activity.
Sexual Offenders June 3rd, 1994
Mr. Speaker, we are dealing with a situation which involves both federal and provincial jurisdictions under our Constitution. While the Constitution says that criminal law is something that is dealt with in the House of Commons and the Senate of Canada, the
administration of justice according to the Constitution is a provincial responsibility.
Therefore, in order to deal seriously with the problem and go beyond mere words and into the field of meaningful action, we need a co-operative effort involving both the federal government and the provinces. That co-operative effort will, I am sure, involve legislation that will be dealt with in the House leading, as I have said, to action rather than words.
That is what Canadians want and that is what they are going to get: not just words but real action.
Sexual Offenders June 3rd, 1994
Mr. Speaker, the law at present does not permit the detention of prisoners beyond the sentence imposed by the courts.
We recognize there are prisoners whose situation is such that they may continue to provide a serious risk to the public after the end of the sentence imposed by the courts. We are examining with the provinces how we can deal with that situation in a way that is consistent with the Constitution of Canada and will be upheld by the courts.
We are proceeding through a federal-provincial task force which is expected to report shortly. On the basis of that report we will formulate proposals which will be discussed in the House.
I look forward to the discussion leading to a response with which we will deal with the kinds of concerns we have expressed and which have been expressed on the other side of the House as well.
Justice June 3rd, 1994
Mr. Speaker, we answered the concerns of Canadians everywhere in the country. They expressed the desire for more secure homes and streets. This is also a commitment we made in the red book, and I believe we have the support of a majority of Canadians.
Justice June 3rd, 1994
Mr. Speaker, I can guarantee that the minister has considered the points of view of his provincial counterparts. I am also convinced that these various points of view will be considered during the debate on this major bill.
Arms Smuggling June 3rd, 1994
Mr. Speaker, I have discussed the situation with my colleague and I am aware of the information he has received from one of his constituents. This information has been passed on to Customs and the RCMP which are responsible for appropriately investigating this matter.
Arms Smuggling June 3rd, 1994
Mr. Speaker, if the hon. member can confirm that these freight cars contained firearms, I hope he will pass this information on to the RCMP. Again, the secretariat in my department insists that it has no knowledge whatsoever of such a briefing note, but it is up to the RCMP to enforce the law throughout the country, including the Kanawake reserve.
Electoral Boundaries Readjustment Suspension Act, 1994 June 3rd, 1994
I move:
That the amendments made by the Senate to Bill C-18, an act to suspend the operation of the Electoral Boundaries Readjustment Act, be concurred in with the exception of amendment 1 in clause 2 to which this House proposes the following amendment:
Strike out "the sixth day of February" and substitute "June 22".
And that a Message be sent to the Senate to acquaint Their Honours therewith.
Madam Speaker, in proposing the motion I wish to take the opportunity to reaffirm the government's intention and desire to have in place an impartial readjustment of electoral boundaries based on the 1991 census for any election to be held at the end of a normal life of a Parliament with a majority government. I am speaking of an election in 1997 or 1998.
We think the original timetable proposed in Bill C-18 would have permitted this to happen. Bill C-18 proposed a two-year suspension of the process while the entire process was itself being reviewed by a parliamentary committee. We did not consider this to be a minimum time for such a review but a maximum time setting an outside limit for completing the review and passing the necessary legislation.
By order of the House, the Standing Committee on Procedure and House Affairs has been instructed to bring in legislation to update this process, with an ultimate deadline for a report for this purpose of December 16, 1994. This is the date when the House is scheduled to begin its winter adjournment which, under the rules of the House, ends on February 6, 1995.
It would be only after that date that the rest of the legislative process on any bill would be undertaken. I am speaking of a further committee stage, report stage and third reading in the House. Then there would have to be consideration in the Senate.
It was our opinion, given the always unpredictable nature of demands on parliamentary time, that a two-year timetable for new legislation was not unreasonable even though, as I said, we regarded this not as a minimum but a maximum time.
It has since become clear, however, that there is some considerable concern in parts of the country that this maximum would become a minimum and therefore that the provision for a two-year suspension appeared to make it impossible for an election in 1997 or 1998 to be held on the basis of new boundaries.
The amendments proposed by the Senate do attempt to address this concern. The amendments in effect would provide that the suspension of the process would last only until February 6, 1995, and if no change to the process were legislated by that date the existing process would automatically be resumed where it left off.
It is the government's intention to reassure the public of our desire that a general election taking place at the end of the normal term of the present Parliament be held on the basis of the 1991 census. Therefore we are prepared to accept the Senate formulation except on one point, and that is we do not view the date of February 6, 1995 as being appropriate or realistic.
As I have said, this date does not recognize the timetable already ordered by the House for the preparation of new legislation on this matter. It does not recognize the provisions of the rules of the House for an adjournment between December 16, 1994 and February 6, 1995. It represents, it could be said, an inappropriate involvement by the Senate in the right of the House of Commons to set its own agenda. After all, the House ordered on April 19 that a committee prepare legislation no later than December 16 of this year, the date on which as I have said under the rules of the House we will be adjourning until February 6.
It must be emphasized that it is already the stated intention of the House of Commons, expressed by its order, not just the intention of the government, to have the procedure committee bring in legislation to reform and update the process of redistribution.
There are many areas the committee will likely want to consider. Some have been raised already when the bill was before the House at earlier stages of debate. I am sure they will be discussed again in detail in the committee hearings and when the committee reports. However today I do not intend to anticipate what may be in the report or presume to suggest what the committee may have in the report in question.
I intend to conclude by saying that the government concurs in the Senate amendments but asks for one amendment to them, that is that the legislation have a more realistic timetable in it for the completion of the review, a June 22, 1995 date rather than a February 6, 1995 date.
Therefore the government asks the House to accept the Senate amendments subject to the amendment I have put forward to create a more realistic timetable.
Business Of The House June 2nd, 1994
Madam Speaker, I am pleased to provide the weekly business statement. Tomorrow we will begin with Bill C-18 concerning the Electoral Boundaries Readjustment Act. I will have a motion on the Order Paper by six o'clock this evening with respect to certain amendments. If the House deals with the matter quickly enough we will return to Bill C-34 regarding Yukon native self-government, followed by Bill C-33 respecting Yukon land claims.
Next Monday, as already announced and as already agreed to by the House, the House will commence its sitting at two o'clock in the afternoon rather than eleven o'clock in the morning in order to permit members to attend the service at the National War Memorial commemorating the 50th anniversary of D-Day.
The government business for Monday when we come back will be the amendments to the Young Offenders Act. We will begin debate on second reading of the bill to carry out those amendments.
Tuesday and Wednesday shall be allotted days. Wednesday being the last allotted day for the present supply period, the House will sit late pursuant to the rules, with any questions necessary to dispose of the main estimates and the supplementary estimates being voted on starting at ten o'clock in the evening.
Subject to further discussions and to the progress in debate made earlier I would hope to call the bill reorganizing the Department of Citizenship and Immigration on Thursday. I will confirm the business for the latter part of next week at the regular weekly House leaders meeting early next week.