That is not a federal law.
House of Commons photoWon his last election, in 1993, with 71% of the vote.
Supply April 18th, 1994
That is not a federal law.
Supply April 18th, 1994
Mr. Speaker, I listened to the hon. member give his speech. He said that the present law was unjust because in part it was asymmetrical with respect to the anglophones in Quebec. He said that the provisions of the federal Official Languages Act did not protect the anglophones of Quebec as they did the francophones outside Quebec.
I am an anglophone from Quebec. I know of no provision that applies in a lesser way to the anglophones of Quebec than it does with the francophones outside Quebec. I was surprised to hear him say that.
Our problem in Quebec as anglophones has not been with the federal law. The federal law has protected our rights and enhanced those rights. Our problems have been with Quebec Bill 101, Bill 178, Bill 22 and others, not with the federal law.
I would like him to tell the House where the federal law provides lesser rights to the anglophones in Quebec than to the francophones outside Quebec. I doubt that he can provide the House with that information.
Supply April 18th, 1994
Mr. Speaker, I listened very closely to the hon. member and I am afraid what he proposed is not very clear.
If I understand correctly he rejected a territorial language policy which would have all of Quebec French and the rest of the provinces all English. He seemed to propose a territorial bilingualism in which he said he would accept the extension of the provisions of the Official Languages Act to the minorities in eastern and northern Ontario, into northeastern New Brunswick and into the west island of Montreal and that there would be unilingualism for the rest of the country.
If I understood him correctly, he was rejecting official bilingualism for any part of the west, including Manitoba. He was rejecting it for the eastern townships where I lived as a child in Sherbrooke and have roots. He was rejecting it for the Gaspé. He was rejecting it for the Outaouais, Aylmer and Papineau county and so on. Is this what I understand?
If that is what he is proposing, it is not as bad as the territorialism which would have all the provinces English except Quebec, but it approaches that. I want to be absolutely clear in what he is proposing. "Where numbers warrant" seem to be exceptionally large "warrants", leaving out francophone minorities in different parts of the country and anglophone minorities in Quebec where they have had long historical roots. I think particularly of the Gaspé and the eastern townships.
Co-Operative Housing April 14th, 1994
Madam Speaker, on March 24 the member of Parliament for Saint-Hubert and I presented a petition in Parliament with over 200,000 signatures asking that handguns be banned for private use.
This petition was sponsored by Concordia University following the murders with a handgun of four professors at the university in 1992. The murderer, who was also a professor, was able to acquire three handguns legally without much difficulty, indicating a serious weakness in the law. Later on March 24, I asked the Minister of Justice if he would give serious attention to the demands in the petitions. I asked that same question again today.
Handguns are not used for hunting and have no other legitimate use by ordinary citizens. Some members of the House and some Canadians allege that the present gun laws are not effective because we still have crimes with guns.
No laws are 100 per cent effective. On the other hand, there is no doubt that without our present laws the situation would be much worse. It has been proven over and over again that where guns are less available and more difficult to obtain, there is less crime with guns. That is an indisputable fact.
The simplistic slogan spread about by the gun lobby that if one bans guns only criminals will have guns is total nonsense. The professor murderer at Concordia University was not a criminal until he easily and legally acquired his guns and carried out his killings.
Marc Lépine, who killed 14 women at the École Polytechnique, had no criminal record before he easily and legally acquired his automatic rifle and carried out his massacre. When guns are easily and legally available some, perhaps the majority, will obtain them and use them legally. Unfortunately some will obtain them and use them criminally.
The only logical action if we are truly interested in reducing crime with guns is to make them and ammunition more difficult to obtain. This means a total ban on handguns for private use.
Official Languages April 14th, 1994
Mr. Speaker, this week the Commissioner for Official Languages presented his annual report and with it we have heard proposals from the Reform Party and the Bloc Quebecois to cut back provisions in the act or abolish it altogether. The Reform Party is suggesting that official language rights should be put entirely under provincial jurisdiction.
History shows that would be a complete disaster. The Bloc Quebecois supports the act for francophones outside Quebec but not for anglophones in Quebec. In this case there is a double standard.
The purpose of the act is to protect minority language rights in Canada and provide linguistic justice to the more than one million francophones outside Quebec and the more than 800,000 anglophones in Quebec.
As the commissioner points out in his report, the act is not always applied as it should be and there have been some setbacks. Without the act and without the commissioner things would be much worse. We should work to improve the Official Languages Act, not to destroy it.
Petitions April 13th, 1994
Mr. Speaker, I have petitions sponsored by the Community Council of Notre-Dame-de-Grâce which contains over 200 names. The petitioners refer to the critical need for more social, co-operative and non-profit housing in Montreal and ask Parliament to lift the budget restraints imposed on CMHC for the development of social and co-operative housing.
Privilege April 12th, 1994
Mr. Speaker, I want to raise a point of privilege with respect to a statement made by the hon. member for Crowfoot in the House on March 25, the last sitting day before the Easter recess. This is the first opportunity I have had to raise the matter.
In a question to the Minister of Justice the hon. member stated that I had said: "that convicted murderers like Clifford Olson should not have to serve more than 15 years for their crimes."
Mr. Speaker, I want to make it absolutely clear that I never made such a statement. The statement by the member is absolutely false and I would ask him to apologize and withdraw his statement.
Gun Control March 24th, 1994
Mr. Speaker, my question is for the Minister of Justice.
Earlier today I presented a petition to Parliament with 200,000 signatures asking that handguns be banned for private use. This petition was initiated by Concordia University where in 1992 four professors were murdered by an individual who easily acquired three handguns.
Since handguns are not used for hunting and have no other legitimate use for ordinary citizens, would the minister give serious consideration to the demands made in these petitions: "Where guns are less available there is less crime with guns"?
Petitions March 24th, 1994
Madam Speaker, I am presenting a petition signed by 100,000 Canadians. It is part of a 200,000 name petition that asks Parliament to ban the private ownership of handguns.
This petition was launched by Concordia University after four of its professors were murdered in 1992 with an easily obtained handgun.
The petition has been endorsed by 200 broadly based organizations, including the police, which come from all across Canada.
In the petition they state that the rights of society associated with the possession of handguns far outweigh any potential benefits derived from their possession.
This is a petition asking Parliament to ban the possession of handguns for private purposes.
Committees Of The House March 24th, 1994
Madam Speaker, I have the honour to present, in both official languages, the second report of the Standing Committee on Justice and Legal Affairs.
Pursuant to the order of reference, on Monday, February 14, 1994, your committee has considered Bill C-8, an act to amend the Criminal Code and the Coastal Fisheries Protection Act (force), and your committee has agreed to report the bill without amendment.