James Lunney

[Petitions, April 30th, 2004]

Mr. Speaker, I have 10 petitions, all on the same subject. They are on the traditional definition of marriage. These petitions come from across the country, many from my own riding from the city of Nanaimo. Others come from across B.C., Manitoba and Toronto. Some come from New Brunswick and some from Quebec: Sainte-Anne-du-Lac, Charlesbourg, Prince Édouard, Montreal, Gatineau, and even from francophone communities in St. Boniface and St-Norbert in Manitoba.

They are all calling on the government to preserve the traditional definition of marriage. They claim that elected members of Parliament should decide the marriage issue, not appointed judges. They call upon Parliament to take all necessary steps to preserve marriage as the union of one man and one woman to the exclusion of all others.

[Canada National Parks Act, April 30th, 2004]

Mr. Speaker, Esowista is in Pacific Rim National Park, which is in my riding. We certainly support the initiative. However the big disappointment is the fact that when the memorandum of understanding, which was worked out between the Tla-o-qui-aht Band and parks officials with a lot of hard work, was signed back in June, nobody bothered to inform the local MP, myself, or our party about this agreement being reached until on the eve of our last break when there was no time for our party to discuss this issue. I know the local band was really upset about this because now we are trying to get this bill through quickly on the eve of an election.

I want to ask the parliamentary secretary why his government does not see fit to involve the local MP, especially once an agreement is signed. Does he think this is a good way to establish a collaboration of doing what is right for Canadians and advancing good work that has been done by Parks Canada?

[Port Security, April 28th, 2004]

Mr. Speaker, years of neglect and yet here the government comes again at the last minute saying that it will provide the details some day.

Port security will be linked with the Coast Guard's Marine Communication and Traffic Services, but the government has been cutting Coast Guard services since 1995.

When the fisheries committee toured MCTS facilities, we found chronic underfunding, understaffing, rust out, failed transmitters, cancelled training programs and dedicated officers under great stress. Hundreds of kilometres of Canadian coastline are not even monitored by radar.

Does the government expect to reverse 10 years of systematic abuse and neglect with last minute pre-election announcements?

[Port Security, April 28th, 2004]

Mr. Speaker, the federal port police were axed by the government in 1998. Now it wants to bring them back but only in Vancouver, Halifax and Montreal.

On the west coast we have other deep sea ports, including Prince Rupert, Port Alberni and Nanaimo-Duke Point. There are dozens of other harbours that could be vulnerable.

When will the government commit to protecting all of our harbours and give our ports the resources they need to protect Canadian security?

[Fisheries and Oceans, April 23rd, 2004]

Mr. Speaker, the U.S. has prudently decided to harvest only half of its total allowable catch. Local communities, the union and my own office have all asked the minister to do the same.

Why would the minister put the interests of foreign offshore commercial fleets ahead of our coastal communities, the environment and sustainability of the resource?

[Fisheries and Oceans, April 23rd, 2004]

Mr. Speaker, onshore processing of Pacific hake marketed as Pacific whiting means hundreds of jobs to Canadians, most of whom live and work in Ucluelet and Port Alberni, coastal communities in my riding. It also means spinoff employment and improved environment through proper waste management and optimal management of a fragile biomass.

At this crucial time the Minister of Fisheries and Oceans is under pressure to reinstate foreign offshore factory ships and to double the total allowable catch. This would benefit a small cadre of commercial fishing interests but it would endanger our plants, our local economies and sustainability of the fishery.

Will the minister honour his commitment to shore base processing by continuing the moratorium on offshore foreign fleets?

[The Budget, March 29th, 2004]

Mr. Speaker, I am glad to hear the member's enthusiastic support for budget 2004. Sadly, I do not share her enthusiasm. I want to raise a few concerns.

She talked about promises to help students with education and the nice language in the budget about helping students get an education. However the promise in 1998 was to help 12,000 students with their massive debts accumulated from the Canada student loans. In the first year how many were delivered? Forty-four students actually received help when they were targeting 12,000. By 2001, approximately 600 students were helped when the government had promised 12,000. By 2003, 1,300 students were helped when the government had targeted 12,000.

How can Canadians have confidence in promises such as this when the 1998 promises have not been delivered beyond a maximum of 10%?

My final point has to do with the students and this education grant for low income families. Low income families making less than $30,000 are only surviving and yet the government puts this great program forward to put up $500 and then $100 a year so that in 15 years they will have $2,000. Student tuition is increasing by almost 40% a year. Students are on survival. This is a cynical joke that it will help--

[Petitions, March 29th, 2004]

Mr. Speaker, I have two more petitions on the subject of the definition of marriage. About 500 petitioners are calling upon Parliament to recognize the defence of traditional marriage as the bond between one man and one woman as a serious, moral good, and that marriage as the lasting union of a man and a woman to the exclusion of all others cannot and should not be modified by a legislative act or by a court of law.

They are calling upon Parliament to take whatever action necessary to maintain the current definition of marriage in law in perpetuity and to prevent any court from overturning or amending that definition.

[Petitions, March 29th, 2004]

Mr. Speaker, I rise to present a petition to the House of Commons on behalf of the Vancouver Island Regional Library and 400,000 people living on the west coast of Canada. It has to do with proposed changes to the Canada Post library book rate.

The petitioners are asking that the agreement be renegotiated to continue to allow books to be transported between libraries. If that fails to be renewed, it will cost about $250,000 for many remote communities to make up for this book rate that has been subsidized. They are therefore asking that this be renegotiated to continue to supply the books to remote communities.

Also they are asking that there be an expansion to include all materials loaned by public libraries. It has been signed by about 1,900 constituents.

[Older Adult Justice Act, March 29th, 2004]

Mr. Speaker, I want to make a brief intervention here to say that in my own community we have had headlines just this week about sentencing in a case that involved a young man abusing a senior with disabilities for sexual purposes. Frankly, the community is very outraged by this incident.

I think that making the abuse of seniors or targeting the vulnerable in the seniors' community an aggravated offence is something that will certainly receive broad support on this side of the House. It is a measure that needs to be considered so that courts take these events seriously and make sure that the offenders are adequately dealt with in a way that sends a message to the community that this is not acceptable and will not be tolerated.

I applaud the member for bringing forth this private member's bill and I encourage all members to stand with her and see it go to committee.