Dan McTeague

[Eid-Ul Adha, March 29th, 2000]

Mr. Speaker, Canadians of the Muslim faith are celebrating Eid-Ul Adha, one of the major festivals of Islam. The festival is held each year to coincide with the pilgrimage to Mecca which itself is a major tenet of the Islamic faith.

Eid-Ul Adha is also a time for cultural and social gathering with family and friends. In that vein I am pleased once again to invite members of the House and the other place to attend the fifth annual Eid-Ul Adha ceremony on Parliament Hill. The event will be taking place this evening in Room 200 West Block starting at 6 p.m.

I hope members will be able to join the celebration and recognize the important contribution the Muslim community makes to Canadian society. To them we say insh'allah they will continue to prosper, as-salaam alaikum .

[Gasoline Prices, March 20th, 2000]

Mr. Speaker, it is nice to be questioned by members opposite, who of course had very little interest in the issue of gasoline pricing for such a long period of time. Obviously it took a lot of members on this side to discover the issue long before it was an issue at the gas pumps.

Could the Minister of Industry tell the House the details about the Conference Board and its ability to review this industry from an independent point of view and give Canadian consumers who are constantly being fleeced at the pumps some decent answers which they certainly are not getting from the opposition?

[Criminal Code, February 7th, 2000]

Madam Speaker, I am very pleased and very honoured as a member to be speaking to the first bill to be debated in this House in the new millennium.

I would be remiss in saying that it is certainly a proud moment for all of us as parliamentarians but it is struck on a sad note. The extraordinary circumstances which bring us together and unite us as parties are underlined by the fact that extraordinary sacrifices and the sad loss of family, friends and loved ones are really at the root of creating this bill. With the help of the justice minister and her department we have been able to craft a piece of legislation which will send out an important message which I believe transcends politics and ensures a greater measure of public security.

Rick McDonald, whose wife and sister are here today, Richard Sonnenberg, Sarah Bowman, Dominique Courchesne, Ilce Miovski of my riding are all individuals who have paid the ultimate price in order to ensure that this bill passes. There is no pride nor pleasure in knowing that while we pass a bill unanimously, which I believe I am hearing from all members of parliament, it nevertheless does not take away from the tragedy that has taken place.

I suspect what we are trying to do here for the love of God and for the love of humanity and mankind and all those around us is to do our very best as legislators to ensure that this parliament is relevant not just on the front benches or in the discourse and the debates at two o'clock in the afternoon, but also here on the backbenches from which we rarely hear. Politics in this country can be relevant if we work hard to understand the pain and anxiety which people go through day in and day out.

I want to thank my two colleagues who from the word go were very helpful to me in crafting this legislation. I am referring to the hon. member for Leeds—Grenville and the hon. member for Nickel Belt. It is not always the case that politics and policies are top down; sometimes they are bottom up. Indeed when they are bottom up they receive the consent of the House.

I am honoured to know that several individuals also worked very hard to make sure this legislation could pass. I am referring to people like Sergeant Charlie Green, Doug Corrigan, a good friend of mine from the Toronto Police Association, and others in the Durham police and right across the country who have spoken so eloquently to this need. Words cannot replace the tragedy and indeed the investment of the blood of thousands of people and hundreds of injuries in order to make this bill what it is today.

As we send this bill to the Senate there will be equal concerns and equal considerations. Because the House of Commons speaks with one voice, and it is extraordinary circumstances under which it does so, I think that the Senate too will see in its wisdom the importance of ensuring this parliament passes relevant laws for the people whom we represent.

I am honoured that we are going to proceed with the bill. It sends a very important message that this is a parliament that will achieve extraordinary ends if we only work together.

With that in mind I hope this will be the final speech on Bill C-202 and that with the consent of the House we may heretofore pass it into its rightful place in terms of sending it to the Senate and making it relevant public policy from the backbenches of this parliament.

[Criminal Code, February 7th, 2000]

moved that the bill be read the third time and passed.

[Criminal Code, February 7th, 2000]

moved that the bill be concurred in.

(Motion agreed to)

[Standing Committee On Finance, December 16th, 1999]

Mr. Speaker, I rise on a point of order. I understand that this may be one of the last few days or minutes that we have in the House.

A great amount of work has been expended by members from all sides of the House in committee to come to an agreement on Bill C-202, which is currently at report stage. It is a private member's bill which deals with high speed chases. Given that there is unanimity among the parties and the members, I would seek unanimous consent to have the bill now read and determined at third reading to pass on to the Senate.

[Committees Of The House, December 15th, 1999]

Mr. Speaker, I rise on a point of order. I was wondering if it might be possible to receive this evening the approval of the House on a bill that has been before the House on a private members' issue, Bill C-202, dealing with high speed chases.

I realize this is one of the last few sittings that we have. Under the circumstances, given that there may be some people who will actually be injured or die, I am looking for the unanimous consent of the House that Bill C-202 be reported, given third reading and presented to the Senate.

[Competition Act, December 13th, 1999]

moved for leave to introduce Bill C-402, an act to amend the Competition Act (abuse of dominant position).

Mr. Speaker, this bill would amend section 78 of the Competition Act with respect to the anti-competitive act of abuse of dominant position. Under this section the competition tribunal may make an order prohibiting certain persons from engaging in anti-competitive acts. The bill expands the definition of anti-competitive act currently listed in section 78.

The bill will permit the competition tribunal to prohibit a person holding a dominant position in the wholesale or retail market from engaging in certain practices that will now be viewed as being anti-competitive, as well as any other abusive anti-competitive practice directed toward a competitor or a supplier.

(Motions deemed adopted, bill read the first time and printed)

[Criminal Code, October 14th, 1999]

moved for leave to introduce Bill C-202, an act to amend the Criminal Code (flight).

Mr. Speaker, I am honoured to reintroduce the bill. I am sorry about monopolizing the time in the context of my former bill C-235. I thank the House leader for the Reform Party.

The bill was presented in the last session. It deals with a specific provision in the Criminal Code dealing with those who evade police in pursuit. The bill provides severe penalties for anyone using a motor vehicle to escape from the police and in the process kills, injures or maims another person.

Over the summer Canadians once again saw the tragic outcome caused by those who use motor vehicles to evade the police. In Toronto another family no longer has a loved one. In Sudbury another police officer was added to the list of those killed in the line of duty.

The bill has the support of the Minister of Justice, the Government of Ontario and the Canadian Police Association. I am confident that given its previous reception by the justice committee the bill will also obtain the support of the House in the very near future.

The bill is in the same form as the previous bill in the last parliament.

(Motions deemed adopted, bill read the first time and printed)

[Competition Act, October 14th, 1999]

Mr. Speaker, the bill itself is a votable bill under the procedures that have been changed as a result of last year. The bill is in virtually the same form. It is in the same form as it was in the previous Parliament.