Mauril Bélanger

[Official Languages, November 29th, 2010]

Mr. Speaker, in 2005, Parliament amended the Official Languages Act and made part VII enforceable, which means that all departments and agencies now have an obligation toward official language minority communities. At the time, there were plans to implement regulations to make the new legislation meaningful.

Today, the Leader of the Government in the House of Commons is saying that his government believes in a strong regulatory regime, but here we are five years later, and there are still no regulations. Why not?

[Questions Passed as Orders for Returns, November 19th, 2010]

With regard to the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI), how much money has Canada contributed to date for the implementation of the EITI in each fiscal year since its inception in 2002 and from which departments or agencies did these funds come?

[Rita Chenard, November 19th, 2010]

Mr. Speaker, Franco-Ontarian towns are filled with families that often originated in Quebec. That is the case with my hometown, Mattawa, and with one of its most well-known families, the family of the late Charles and Rita Chenard.

We lost Rita, née Bérubé, the matriarch of the family, on November 1, 2010, at the age of 90.

They say that good things come in small packages. Rita, a tiny woman with a huge strength of character, gave birth to 13 children—7 boys and 6 girls—all living and lively.

Rita was wise and always calm, welcoming everyone with a bowl of soup and a smile.

Though she enjoyed relaxing with her crosswords and her soap opera, her home and her time were filled with laughter and political and philosophical discussions with her many children and their friends.

On behalf of her 13 children, their spouses, her 23 grandchildren and 13 great-grandchildren, and on behalf of her friends and loved ones: goodbye, Rita, and thank you.

[Interparliamentary Delegations, November 17th, 2010]

Mr. Speaker, pursuant to Standing Order 34(1), I have the honour to present to the House, in both official languages, the report of the Canadian delegation of the Canada-Africa Parliamentary Association respecting its bilateral visits to Cotonou, Benin, and Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso, from September 5 to 12, 2010.

[Foreign Affairs, October 26th, 2010]

Mr. Speaker, that sounds like a yes.

Mr. Speaker, of the 10 embassies with the most Canadian or local employees, none are African. Of the 10 Canadian embassies that hired the most employees in 2009, none are in Africa.

Some embassies, such as the one in Nairobi, which serves four countries in addition to Kenya, can take up to twice as long to process files.

Can the minister assure us that his government will not close any embassies or high commissions in Africa, whether in Cameroon or elsewhere?

[Foreign Affairs, October 26th, 2010]

Mr. Speaker, in South America, there are 13 countries and Canada has embassies in 10 of them. There are 45 countries in Europe and we have embassies or high commissions in 35 of them. In Africa, where there are 250 million more people than in Europe, there are 54 countries and Canada has embassies in fewer than half of them, 23 to be exact.

Now we are hearing rumours that the Conservatives are thinking of closing more embassies in Africa. Would this be in reaction to not winning a seat on the UN Security Council?

[Petitions, October 20th, 2010]

Mr. Speaker, I am presenting the next in a series of petitions of importance to tens of thousands of Canadians who are afflicted with multiple sclerosis.

The petitioners call on the federal Minister of Health and provincial ministers of health to discuss allowing hospitals, private clinics and individual doctors to test for and treat CCSVI in all Canadians who so desire testing and treatment and to plan and implement a nationwide clinical trial for the evaluation of venography and balloon angioplasty for the treatment of CCSVI in persons diagnosed with MS.

[Petitions, October 18th, 2010]

Mr. Speaker, I have the pleasure of tabling another petition today signed by a number of individuals mostly from eastern Ontario but not only.

The petition requests that the federal and provincial Ministers of Health discuss allowing hospitals, private clinics and individual doctors to test for and treat CCSVI in all Canadians who so desire testing and treating, and to plan and implement a nationwide clinical trial for the evaluation of venography and balloon angioplasty for the treatment of CCSVI in persons who are diagnosed with multiple sclerosis.

[Petitions, October 8th, 2010]

Mr. Speaker, I want to table a petition today. This is the fourth such petition, following up also on the one tabled by my colleague from Random—Burin—St. George's. It is signed by a number of people from the National Capital Region, mostly on the Ottawa side.

They call on the Minister of Health of the Government of Canada to convene a meeting of the ministers of health of the provinces for the purpose of discussing allowing hospitals, private clinics and individual doctors to test for and treat CCSVI in all Canadians who so desire testing and treatment; and secondly, to plan and implement a nationwide clinical trial for the evaluation of venography and balloon venoplasty for the treatment of CCSVI in persons diagnosed with multiple sclerosis.

[Petitions, October 6th, 2010]

Mr. Speaker, I have a petition signed by a number of fellow citizens from the eastern Ontario region.

The petition calls on the federal and provincial ministers of health and the Government of Canada to discuss allowing hospitals, private clinics, and individual doctors to test for and treat CCSVI for all Canadians who so desire testing and treatment, and to plan and implement a nationwide clinical trial for the evaluation of venography and balloon angioplasty for the treatment of CCSVI in persons diagnosed with MS.