Maurice Vellacott

[Questions on the Order Paper, February 15th, 2005]

Madam Speaker, I have three quick questions here and he may need to take notes so he can give me intelligent and wise responses.

Earlier today, we heard the minister talk about the whole issue of parents needing to suppress the guilt. It is a given that parents would feel guilty because they do not have enough to time to spend with their kids. Parents have to live with that and it is par for the course. In effect, he was inferring that we need to suppress the guilt.

When there is guilt about something in a person's life, and I know the Liberal minister's Ph.D. is not in psychology, I would have thought the person should do something about the root cause that is creating the guilt. He is inferring that we simply suppress that guilt. Do we not try to nudge or move to the ideal of spending more time with our children instead of just living with it, going with the flow and suppressing the guilt, as he put it?

I believe that parents would like the choice. Maybe there will continue to be many families where both parents work full time outside the home. Some will choose full time, some part time and some not at all. I would like the member's response to those questions.

[Questions on the Order Paper, February 15th, 2005]

Mr. Speaker, I rise on a point of order. I ask the House for unanimous consent for a five minute extension of the period for questions.

The minister is present and it is a great opportunity to pose questions of the guy who will be drafting the bill.

[Petitions, February 9th, 2005]

Mr. Speaker, this petition is from a number of people in my own riding of Saskatoon--Wanuskewin.

The petitioners draw the attention of the House to the fact that since the dawn of civilization marriage has been the union of one man and one woman, and that in 1999 Parliament voted in favour of an opposition motion that marriage is and should remain the union of one man and one woman to the exclusion of all others.

The petitioners therefore call upon Parliament to support the traditional, historic and sacred definition of marriage.

[Petitions, February 2nd, 2005]

Mr. Speaker, it is my honour to present a petition from a number of people in my riding of Saskatoon--Wanuskewin in Saskatchewan.

The petitioners call on Parliament to support the traditional historic and sacred definition of marriage.

[Supply, December 9th, 2004]

Mr. Speaker, my hon. colleague got cut off because of time and I know he had other wise and valuable insights for the House. I wonder if there are additional insights that he could divulge to us with respect to the end of his speech.

[Marriage, December 9th, 2004]

Mr. Speaker, in Saskatchewan people licensed as marriage commissioners have been told that they have to perform same sex marriages or turn in their commissioner licences. This is clearly an infringement of their religious and conscience rights protected by the charter. All these commissioners want is to be able to provide the same services that they have faithfully provided for these many years.

Will the federal government correct this discrimination to ensure that the appointment of any commissioner, who objects to performing same sex marriages on the basis of religious beliefs and conscience, will not be terminated?

[Petitions, December 9th, 2004]

Mr. Speaker, this petition is from 230 people in my Saskatchewan riding of Saskatoon—Wanuskewin.

The petitioners call upon Parliament to support the traditional, historic and sacred definition of marriage.

[Corrections and Conditional Release Act, December 3rd, 2004]

moved for leave to introduce Bill C-308, an act to amend the Corrections and Conditional Release Act and the Criminal Code (truth in sentencing).

Mr. Speaker, today I am introducing a bill that would require truth in sentencing.Victims of crime are being abused by our justice system. Violent offenders are constantly being let out of prison early, and far too many of them are reoffending. We need truth in sentencing to restore a measure of credibility to our justice system and to give back some dignity to victims of crime.

One specific provision of the bill is that persons who reoffend after being let out of prison on conditional release will be required to serve the remainder of their original sentence as well as at least two-thirds of their new sentence.

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

[Criminal Code, December 3rd, 2004]

moved for leave to introduce Bill C-307, An Act to amend the Criminal Code to prevent health care practitioners from being coerced into taking part in medical procedures that offend the practitioner's religion or belief that human life is inviolable.

Mr. Speaker, the bill would prohibit coercion in medical procedures that offend a person's religion or belief that human life is inviolable. The bill seeks to ensure that health care providers will never be forced to participate against their will in procedures such as abortions or acts of euthanasia.

Canada has a long history of recognizing the rights of freedom of religion and of conscience in our country. Yet health care workers and those seeking to be educated for the health care system have often been denied those rights in medical facilities and educational institutions. Some have even been wrongfully dismissed.

The bill would make those conscience rights explicit in law and would safeguard health care workers' fundamental human rights.

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

[Citizenship and Immigration, December 3rd, 2004]

Mr. Speaker, this summer a hard-working Romanian family in Saskatoon was kicked out of Canada by the immigration minister. These people had settled in Saskatoon and contributed to our city while they waited for a decision on their refugee claim.

Because Mr. Pascu was an ethnic minority, he was subject to persecution in Romania. The Romanian police harassed and threatened to rape Mrs. Pascu. Clearly, they should have qualified on compassionate and humanitarian grounds.

Why does a Romanian stripper get to stay in the country on compassionate grounds while a persecuted Romanian family is kicked out?