Jim Karygiannis

[Income Tax Act, September 18th, 1996]

moved for leave to introduce Bill C-324, an act to amend the Income Tax Act (entertainment expenses).

Mr. Speaker, the bill I am introducing today is aimed toward lowering our national deficit to some degree by amending the Income Tax Act. It will do so by eliminating the part of the act which includes entertainment as a tax deductible expense.

Tax loopholes cost the public treasury an estimated $36 billion a year. As it stands, the Income Tax Act includes provisions that allow business people to write off meals or corporate boxes in sport stadiums as entertainment expenses.

When the Liberal government lowered meal and entertainment expenses to 50 per cent from 80 per cent deductible there were cries from the restaurant industry that business would drop drastically, affecting its many employees. There is hardly a mark on that sector. I believe that this bill will have a similar outcome on stadium owners.

The net result, however, will be considerable revenue, a positive outcome for the government and a feeling of equity for the vast majority of Canadians who are not able to take advantage of these corporate perks and should not have to foot the bill for them.

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

[Petitions, June 11th, 1996]

Mr. Speaker, I have another petition from Armenians in my riding who request that Parliament change its policy of indifference toward the Armenian genocide and promote efforts to persuade the Republic of Turkey to recognize its crimes against humanity.

[Petitions, June 11th, 1996]

Mr. Speaker, I rise to present three petitions.

The petitioners request that the Canadian Human Rights Act not be amended to include the phrase sexual orientation as a prohibited ground of discrimination or to amend the charter of rights and freedoms to indicate societal approval of same sex relationships.

[Employment Insurance Act, May 13th, 1996]

Mr. Speaker, I want my vote to reflect that of my party.

(The House divided on Motion No. 189, which was negatived on the following division:)

[Tobacco Products, March 27th, 1996]

Mr. Speaker, today I rise to present a petition signed by numerous constituents of my riding.

The petitioners ask that the House not amend the Constitution, as requested by the Government of Newfoundland, and refer the problem of schools back to the Government of Newfoundland.

One of the instigators of the petition, Al Selinger, also states in an accompanying letter that such an amendment would abrogate the rights of a minority.

[Petitions, March 20th, 1996]

Madam Speaker, I rise today to present a petition signed by numerous constituents of my riding of Tamil descent. They ask the Government of Canada to take an active role in bringing an end to the turmoil and atrocities from all sides that are currently taking place in Sri Lanka.

The petitioners ask us to assist to bring an immediate ceasefire and peace with justice in that part of the world.

[Questions On The Order Paper, June 2nd, 1995]

With respect to the Interstate Unemployment Insurance Claims agreement since 1992 ( a ) how many non-Canadian citizens living outside of Canada have received benefits, ( b ) how much has been received by these beneficiaries, ( c ) how much was collected in U.I. premiums from these people, ( d ) in what states do the recipients live and ( e ) how many of the U.I. recipients collected maternity, parental, or sickness benefits?

[Immigration Act, February 6th, 1995]

Madam Speaker, I was following the speech given by the hon. member. He always refers to new Canadians other than his own race as immigrants. I want to know, the people he was talking to, the Vietnamese Canadians, are they still immigrants or are they Canadian citizens who have the right to express themselves? Just because they look different, we should not call them immigrants for the rest of their lives.

He quoted the figure of 24,000 deportees and mentioned that we have only 20 investigators. I am sure he knows that of the 24,000, not all of them are criminals. Some of these people are missing papers or documentation. One cannot call 24,000 refugees waiting for papers to be in order as criminals and ask them to be investigated.

Can he clarify those two points for me? I would appreciate it.

[Young Offenders Act, June 16th, 1994]

Madam Speaker, I have been working on amendments to the Young Offenders Act since the day I was elected. Some of the comments made by my hon. colleague across the way I certainly could not comprehend.

This particular act we are dealing with was first tested in 1985 when a young individual in my riding killed three people: a mother, a father and their seven-year old daughter. The young offender received three years in total. There are no words to describe the feelings of my constituents.

What I am hearing from the hon. member is that the Liberal Party wants to appease the Reform. I do not think the Liberal Party brought these changes about because of the Reform Party. For a long time the Liberal Party has been a beacon for changes to the Young Offenders Act. Certainly I disagree with what my colleague is saying.

My colleague is saying that in a civilized world we should have something which is called an adolescent. This young individual who snuffed three lives was not an adolescent; he had already moved into the adult world. He committed a crime. As the saying goes: You do the crime, you pay the time.

I heard with great interest my hon. colleague saying that we do not need prisons, that we need rehabilitation. I quite agree we need rehabilitation.

What in the hon. member's view should a young offender get for committing a severe crime, such as a killing or a rape? Do we say: "You are a nice adolescent so don't worry about it. We will give you a pat on the back because you are not old enough to do it", or: "You did the crime, you pay the time"?

Closer to home, if a young offender were to kill a member of the hon. member's family, how would she want to see justice served? What kind of time would that young offender be paying?

[Canada Student Financial Assistance Act, June 16th, 1994]

Put mine there, too, Mr. Speaker.