Mark Warawa

[Petitions, April 22nd, 2010]

Mr. Speaker, I have two petitions to present. The first one relates to human trafficking. The petitioners indicate that the trafficking of women and children for the purpose of sexual exploitation should be condemned. The petitioners also indicate that whereas it is the duty of Parliament to protect the most vulnerable members of society from harm, they are requesting that Parliament amend the Criminal Code to include a minimum punishment of imprisonment for a term of five years for the offence involving trafficking of persons under the age of 18.

[Petitions, April 21st, 2010]

Mr. Speaker, the last petition deals with the long gun registry. It says that the long gun registry was originally budgeted to cost Canadians $2 million but the price tag has spiralled out of control to an estimated $2 billion a decade later and that the registry has not saved one life since it was introduced.

The petitioners are calling upon Parliament to support and pass any legislation that will cancel the long gun registry and to streamline the Firearms Act.

[Petitions, April 21st, 2010]

The second petition, Mr. Speaker,deals with skin cancer.

As melanoma is a very serious problem, the petitioners are calling for support of a national skin cancer melanoma initiative to provide much needed access to newer drug treatments and funding for research and educational programs.

[Petitions, April 21st, 2010]

Mr. Speaker, I have three petitions to present.

The first petition deals with life and states that Canada is a country that respects human life and includes in the charter the freedoms of everyone who has the right to life. They are calling upon Parliament to pass legislation for the protection of human life from the time of conception until natural death.

[April 20th, 2010]

Mr. Speaker, as the member well knows, this government is committed to clean drinking water for all Canadians. It is time that we as Canadians live up to the image that we have of ourselves, of Canada as a land of pristine waters. We need to protect those for this generation and future generations.

The NDP needs to do more than ask questions in the House and provide press releases. The NDP members need to vote in favour of money going to first nations. Their legacy is the party of no: no against the environment and no against cleaning up the mess left by the previous Liberal government.

This is the government that is taking action on the environment and cleaning up the environment. The member needs to do more than ask questions in the House. She needs to support good environmental legislation, as presented by this government.

[April 20th, 2010]

Mr. Speaker, the fact is that we have a comprehensive action plan for clean water. It includes investments in science and in monitoring our water resources. It provides resources to clean up the contaminated lakes and rivers. It is working with the provinces and territories to develop new regulations on waste water. It invests in clean water for aboriginal communities.

Through the infrastructure stimulus fund, we announced $740 million for 1,100 waste water projects across Canada. We have also made the gas tax permanent and doubled it to $2 billion per year. In total, the Government of Canada, under the leadership of the Prime Minister, has spent or committed $3.25 billion for waste water and water infrastructure.

We are taking the lead in proposing new regulations for municipal, community, federal and other waste water systems. This includes standards for national waste water effluent quality and provides regulatory clarity for rules on reporting for more than 3,700 Canadian facilities. On March 19, the Minister of the Environment announced publication of the proposed waste water systems effluent regulations in the Canada Gazette, beginning the formal 60-day comment period. Hopefully, the member will comment.

The government is also working with the United States to protect the Great Lakes through the binational Great Lakes water quality agreement. Over the next year, representatives from the Canadian and United States governments are meeting to amend this important environmental agreement. Much has changed since the agreement was last updated in 1987 and we must keep up with the times.

Furthermore, budget 2010 continues funding for the Great Lakes action plan, cleaning up the most severely contaminated and degraded areas of the Great Lakes. We are spending $50 million per year on the Great Lakes and almost $15 million per year to clean up the St. Lawrence River.

Under the action plan for clean water, the Lake Winnipeg basin initiative has received funding for $18 million over two years to promote the long-term sustainability of the lake. The initiative provides a new model for how the Government of Canada can support integrated basin-wise watershed management elsewhere in Canada. In addition to the millions of dollars to support stewardship projects, we are investing millions more to implement a comprehensive science program for Lake Winnipeg using Canada's federal scientific expertise.

As well, the Government of Canada is taking action to address water pollution issues in Lake Simcoe. We are investing $30 million over five years to help reduce the amount of phosphorous getting into streams and rivers feeding the lake, and to help restore fish and wildlife populations.

The government is committed to improving the health and quality of life for people in first nations communities, providing better water and waste water services for their residents. Budget 2010 extends the first nations water and watershed action plan for another two years, bringing the four-year total to $660 million over four years. The member needs to do more than speak on action. She needs to support the good environmental action of this government.

[Petitions, April 20th, 2010]

Mr. Speaker, the second petition is regarding counselling someone to commit suicide.

The petitioners state that people who experience depression and mental illness need to be protected by the law, that youth in Canada are just as vulnerable as youth from around the world, that predators are both encouraging and counselling suicide without penalty through the Internet and that predators can do this without fear of prosecution.

The petitioners call upon the House of Commons to enable the prosecution of those who encourage or counsel someone to commit suicide by updating the Canadian Criminal Code to reflect the new realities of the 21st century, and to fund educational programs that empower people who experience depression and mental illness and Canada's vulnerable youth to protect themselves from online predators and to find appropriate community support resources.

[Petitions, April 20th, 2010]

Mr. Speaker, I have two petitions to present today. The first petition deals with medical benefits.

The petitioners are concerned that a number of severe, potentially life-threatening conditions do not qualify for disability programs because they are not necessarily permanent, that the current medical EI benefits of 15 weeks do not adequately address the problem and that residents find themselves losing their homes and livelihoods while trying to fight these severe medical conditions.

They are calling upon Parliament to enact specific legislation to provide additional medical EI benefits to at least equal to maternity EI benefits.

[Petitions, April 16th, 2010]

Mr. Speaker, the second petition regards skin cancer.

One in seven Canadians will develop skin cancer in their lifetime. Melanoma is the most serious type of skin cancer. It is one of the most rapidly increasing cancers in Canada and is the second most common cancer in young adults.

The petitioners are calling for support on a national skin cancer and melanoma initiative to provide much needed access to newer drug treatments and funding for research and educational programs.

The third—

[Petitions, April 16th, 2010]

Mr. Speaker, I have four petitions to present.

The first petition is on the long gun registry. It says that the long gun registry was originally budgeted to cost Canadians $2 million, but the cost spiralled out of control to an estimated price tag of $2 billion a decade later. The registry has not saved one single life since its introduction.

The petitioners would rather see their taxpayer dollars being used to keep guns out of the hands of criminals. They are therefore calling upon the House of Commons to support any legislation that would cancel the long gun registry and streamline the Firearms Act.