Maurice Vellacott

[Petitions, November 7th, 2014]

Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to present a petition to the House today.

The petitioners draw the House's attention to the fact that a high percentage of prostitutes are forced into the sex trade and trafficking and that the demand for sex with women and children is not addressed in present legislation.

The petitioners want Parliament to legislate that it be a criminal offence to purchase sex with a man, woman, or child and be a criminal offence for pimps, madams, and others to profit from the proceeds of the sex trade.

[Petitions, October 10th, 2014]

Mr. Speaker, the second important petition I present is with respect to the fact that in Canada, a lot of people are now using ultrasound so they can tell the sex of a child, and if the unborn child is a girl, they abort that little girl.

Most Canadians are against this abhorrent practice. The Society of Obstetricians and Gynecologists is as well. It is also the official policy of the Conservative Party of Canada to condemn discrimination of this sort. Therefore, the petitioners are calling upon members of Parliament to condemn discrimination against girls occurring through gender-selective abortion.

[Petitions, October 10th, 2014]

Mr. Speaker, I have two petitions to present. The first petition is with respect to the fact that our law in Canada has been declared unconstitutional with respect to the current prostitution laws.

Because a lot of women are forced into the sex trade and trafficked, the petitioners do not want our country to be without a law in this respect, so they are asking that it be a criminal offence to purchase sex with a woman, man, or child and that it be a criminal offence for pimps, madams, and others to profit from the proceeds of the sex trade.

[Marriage, October 8th, 2014]

Mr. Speaker, there is a myth out there that the divorce rate is close to 50%.

Shaunti Feldhahn found some startling and encouraging things in the research for her new book, The Good News About Marriage.

The divorce rate for first marriages is actually around 30%. Christians have between a 30% and 50% lower divorce rate than the general population. Although these are American figures, we Canucks can likely shave a few points off of that.

If people were to realize these facts and that most marriages do make it, they would be less skittish about tying the knot. When troubles come, they can say that most people have challenges in a marriage, but most people get over them and get through those problems and they will too.

As the Institute of Marriage and Family Canada pointed out in a recent study, married couples tend to live longer. They tend to be wealthier. They tend to have a much easier time getting out of poverty. Their kids do better in school, are less likely to take drugs and alcohol, and are more likely to delay sexual activity. Of course, they are also happier.

There is good news out there about marriage, and we need to spread the word. The vast majority of marriages happily thrive. Marriage is a still a wonderful thing.

[Petitions, October 3rd, 2014]

Mr. Speaker, I rise to present these petitions.

In view of the fact we now no longer have a law, or the law relating to prostitution has been declared unconstitutional by the Supreme Court, the petitioners are calling on the House to legislate that it is a criminal offence to purchase sex with a woman, a man or a child, and that it also be a criminal offence for pimps, madams and others to profit from the proceeds of the sex trade.

[Agriculture, June 13th, 2014]

Mr. Speaker, earlier today Canadians were once again forced to witness another New Democratic Party filibuster on Bill C-18, the agricultural growth act. In the many times our government has brought this bill forward, the NDP has used every trick in the book to block its passage.

What benefits are the NDP preventing farmers from receiving? One, the NDP is preventing the explicit right to save seed on the farm, a right farmers currently do not have. Second, the NDP is preventing access to new and innovative seeds that will allow farmers to plant and harvest better-yielding crops. Third, the NDP is preventing modern farm inputs, like fertilizers and feeds, that will increase farm profitability. Fourth, the NDP is standing in the way of an expanded advance payments program with less red tape and bureaucracy, which will save farmers time and money.

The NDP do not have to take my word for it. Let this bill get to committee and let us hear from farmers. What is the NDP afraid of?

[Petitions, June 6th, 2014]

Mr. Speaker, these petitioners from British Columbia also indicate that the current impaired driving laws are too lenient. They want to see that changed and toughened up so we have some new mandatory minimum sentences for persons convicted of impaired driving causing death.

The petitioners want the Criminal Code to be changed to redefine the offence of impaired driving causing death to vehicular manslaughter. They have some other good suggestions in their proposal as well.

[Iran, June 6th, 2014]

Mr. Speaker, Canada's Minister of Foreign Affairs has said:

Despite the electoral promises made by President Hassan Rouhani to improve people’s lives, Iranians continue to live in fear of arbitrary imprisonment, torture and execution by the clerical regime.

Even more recently, the minister said:

All of us, who have long despaired about the Iranian regime, want to believe that Iran is genuinely committed to positive change. But we do not have the luxury of being naive, nor do the Iranian people, who have suffered for far too long under the regime’s nuclear ambitions. Human rights, particularly executions, are actually getting worse under his watch and at the hands of Iran’s so-called “Minister of Murder”.

I am equally concerned about the safety and security of approximately 3,000 Iranian dissidents in Camp Liberty in Iraq who are under constant threats of annihilation, missile attacks and inhumane medical siege.

Our Minister of Foreign Affairs has said:

Canada deplores Iran’s continued disregard for due process and human rights violations against its people. The Iranian people deserve the dignity, respect and freedom that they have been denied for too long.

[Petitions, May 30th, 2014]

Mr. Speaker, I have a second petition. These petitioners from B.C. indicate that the current impaired driving laws are too lenient. They want to see that changed and toughened so we have new mandatory minimum sentences. They want the Criminal Code to be changed to redefine the offence of impaired driving causing death to vehicular manslaughter.

It is my privilege to present these good petitions from citizens of British Columbia.

[Petitions, May 30th, 2014]

Mr. Speaker, these undersigned petitioners are drawing the attention of this House of Commons to the fact that children ordinarily thrive best when being raised by both parents, their father and their mother, even when those parents divorce, so the petitioners are calling on Parliament to amend the Divorce Act, as in my Bill C-560, to require equal shared parenting to be treated as the rebuttable presumption in custody decisions, except, of course, in cases of proven abuse or neglect.