House of Commons photoLost his last election, in 2011, with 38% of the vote.
Petitions April 16th, 1997
Madam Speaker, the second petition comes primarily from the Mississauga South area of this great country. It calls on Parliament to amend the Divorce Act to reflect the desire by families, in particular grandparents, to have access to their grandchildren.
Petitions April 16th, 1997
Madam Speaker, I also have the honour of tabling two petitions, and I will do so now.
The first petition deals with the issue of taxing reading material.
It is from the Canadian coalition Don't Tax Reading. It is one I support.
It urges Parliament to remove forthwith the GST from books and all reading material. It is signed by 150 people from the Durham region.
Canadian Volunteer Service Medal For United Nations Peacekeeping Act April 7th, 1997
Mr. Speaker, I was wondering if I could seek your guidance on the validity of a vote when the actual mover of this motion saw fit not to be here on this occasion.
War Criminals March 19th, 1997
Mr. Speaker, my question is for the Minister of Justice.
On this the 10th anniversary of the release of the Deschenes commission report on war criminals in Canada, will the minister inform the House about the status of his department's efforts to bring to justice suspected Nazi war criminals who have sought to avoid persecution for their acts and who obviously believe that Canada is a safe haven?
Goods And Services Tax March 19th, 1997
Mr. Speaker, I would like to obtain the co-operation of the Bloc Quebecois.
Petitions March 12th, 1997
Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to follow the hon. member for Parry Sound-Muskoka. We are doing a very good job of getting some air time today.
The petition deals with the subject of impaired driving. The petitioners from the Durham region call on the government to ensure that future penalties reflect the severity of the crime of impaired driving.
Canadian Radio-Television And Telecommunications Commission Act March 12th, 1997
moved for leave to table Bill C-384, an act to amend the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission Act.
Mr. Speaker, I have the honour to table an act respecting the membership of the CRTC.
It is quite clear to me that the timing of the bill could not be any better given the decision today by the CRTC to go after consumers as it relates to various rates.
I am presenting a bill that will amend the Canadian Radio-Television and Telecommunications Commission Act to provide for representation of Canadian consumers on the executive board of the commission, to require reports of commission decisions to detail the way each commission member voted in respect to those decisions, and to ensure that the commission generally has regard to the cost effectiveness and the rights of Canada consumers, particularly as they relate to the cable production fund and the cable revolt of two years ago.
(Motions deemed adopted, bill read the first time and printed.)
Petitions March 10th, 1997
Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to present a petition signed by many of the constituents of my riding from Pickering, Ajax and Whitby who call on Parliament to adopt legislation which would require gasoline companies to give 30 days notice to the appropriate minister of an impending
significant increase in the price of gasoline and that such notice also contain the reasons for the increase and when it will take effect.
Competition Act March 10th, 1997
moved for leave to introduce Bill C-381, an act to amend the Competition Act
(protection of those who purchase products from vertically integrated suppliers who compete with them at retail).
Mr. Speaker, it is a great honour for me to present and table this bill entitled Act to amend the Competition Act (protection of those who purchase products from vertically integrated suppliers who compete with them at retail).
The evolution of this bill follows the recognition that small business is the backbone of our economy and the recognition that there is certainly ample evidence of abuse of dominant predatory pricing going on in this country but we seem to have a lack therein or a shortage of legislative levers in order to address this reality, particularly in the oil industry.
This enactment will give a basis for the enforcement of fair pricing for a manufacturer who sells a product at retail, either directly or through an affiliate, and also supplies the product to a consumer who competes with the supplier at the retail level in order to give the customer a fair opportunity to make a similar profit.
As I indicated, other provinces, such as Quebec, are proposing the same bill in their jurisdiction. The text also states that a supplier forcing or trying to force a client to establish a retail pricing policy or a marketing policy for retail sales is guilty of anticompetitive practice.
(Motions agreed to, bill read the first time and printed.)
Criminal Code February 13th, 1997
Mr. Speaker, I am privileged to speak today on Bill C-353 presented by a colleague. He is someone the House has grown to know as one of its foremost members in terms of generating ideas. Many people talk about creating ideas, but in the context of the private sector it is interesting to know that the hon. member who earlier styled himself as a techno peasant. He should not be so willing to deprecate himself with such terms. He has earned the esteemed role of the wizard of ideas within the House of Commons.
It is interesting the House would be seized with an idea that is of the 21st century. The Internet is something that we all know is one of the most interesting modes of communication. It has gripped every country and can be translated for many people around the world in various forms, whether music, sending information, raw data or transmitting important information to people.
Every month the growth on the Internet worldwide is anywhere from 15 per cent to 20 per cent. The current world usage is some 50 million. That number will be closer to 250 million as we reach the advent of the next millennium.
The hon. member has taken a personal experience and tried to contextualize it, to make it relevant to the House of Commons. He has given the House of Commons and the committee that will hopefully treat this with relative speediness an opportunity to understand the importance of how we are to regulate.
My hon. colleague from Dartmouth indicated earlier how we need to get above and beyond allowing the mob, the underworld or unsavoury elements from taking control of the growing area of gambling. There are certainly ethical considerations dealing with gambling as there are ethical considerations dealing with the Internet in terms of pornography and the dissemination of hate literature.
The House must at some point quickly come to grips with those issues, lest Parliament be treated as irrelevant in the age of cyberspace. Compliments of the help of the hon. member for Broadview-Greenwood, we are allowed to begin to look very seriously at the question of the Internet. We can also look at the question of where the federal government can best use its authority.
Because the Internet is interprovincial-it is also extraterritorial-it makes no sense to have the provinces look into it from a regulatory point of view and to regulate those companies which would receive information so that those who are gambling not only within Canada but around the world might have an opportunity to know they are doing so within a trustworthy context.
Trust is very important in this context. Canada is considered a leader not only among the G-7 but certainly around the world. It is important to note that because we are basically a country that has a high degree of trust when it comes to relationships and transactions of various types. We are in the very unique position of being able to actually look forward to a day when we might be able to regulate this industry.
Other members will have an opportunity in the next few minutes to relate their interests in the bill. However I will summarize mine as being the ability to license it, to regulate it and ultimately in the interests of the taxpayer to tax it so that billions of dollars that might potentially be leaving the country might remain here.
Let us follow the wisdom of the hon. member for Broadview-Greenwood. Let us get the bill into committee and let us keep the bad guys out of it. I applaud the hon. member for his wisdom, foresight and his ideas. May the wizard live long.