Pest Control Products Act  Mr. Speaker, I want to ask the hon. member about the comments he made with regard to children suffering from asthma who may or may not have been affected by pesticides, causing them to have a higher incidence of asthma. He made reference to children lining up to use their puffers at local hockey games and so on.

Contraventions Act and Controlled Drugs and Substances Act (marijuana)  Madam Speaker, whenever the occasion permits I try in my remarks to the House to develop arguments that form part of a larger, more coherent whole than is permitted by the 10 minute speaking slots that are assigned to us under the Standing Orders. A larger, more complete picture on an issue under debate in the House can be developed by means of public addresses, published papers, opeds or other media.

Grants and Contributions  Mr. Speaker, we all know that Groupaction has been a generous donor to the Liberal Party of Canada. We all know that Groupaction was paid several hundred thousand dollars to produce a second report that was virtually a mimeograph of the first. What is new is the revelation as to how this came about.

Grants and Contributions  Mr. Speaker, a document provided by officials of the minister's department in response to a motion for the production of papers placed by the Alliance includes a history of the contract prepared by the president of Groupaction. It states that on May 1 contract was received by Groupaction; that on June 1 there was a meeting with Mr.

Species at Risk Act  Mr. Speaker, it is a pleasure to speak to the Group No. 4 amendments to Bill C-5. As a way of developing a theme in which to frame my remarks I make the observation that there are concerned members of parliament on both sides of the House. There are those opposed for a variety of reasons who express, as many do on this side of the House, the concerns of rural Canadians, in particular, farmers, fishermen and people who make their living in and from nature.

Species at Risk Act  Unfortunately it will be much harder to tie them in because of the fact that some of my time has been eaten up by the intervention of the hon. member. The point I was driving at was that this former piece of private member's legislation served as a thematic link to the amendments I have proposed in this group as well as some other groups of amendments.

Species at Risk Act  Mr. Speaker, I want to address my comments today to the amendments in Group No. 3. The amendments have been divided into several groups. Group No. 3 deals with amendments on the theme of socioeconomic interests and public consultation. A great deal of the work I have done in putting forward amendments to the bill was based upon public consultations in which I engaged in my own constituency on the subject of Bill C-5.

Act to amend the Criminal Code (cruelty to animals and firearms) and the Firearms Act  Madam Speaker, I am privileged to speak to Bill C-15B which contains unfortunately provisions that are continuations of some of the greatest flaws in the legislative drafting practices of the current government. It behooves us to look at what some of these themes are and to think about what could be done to avoid doing them both in this law and other laws in the future.

Supply  Mr. Speaker, I will be dividing my time with the member for Calgary Southeast. In my presentation I will talk first about some directing principles of the Canadian Alliance policy in this area. Second, I will talk about health care and how the motion applies to health care. Third, I will talk about the spending power.

Supply  Madam Speaker, I thank the member for Yukon for his speech. I know he cares a great deal about this issue. I learned a lot from his speech. I had no idea that there was a softwood lumber industry in Yukon. I have a series of questions out of personal curiosity I would be interested in asking with regard to the industry in Yukon, the size of the industry, the employment, the impact on the industry, and where the market is for the industry.

Health Care  Mr. Speaker, the primary victim of the federal-provincial fiscal inequity that the finance minister is always so anxious to deny is the health care system. The minister knows full well that the needs of our health care system will continue to grow as the population ages. He also knows full well that these needs could be met in the future if the government would agree to alter the CHST formula to allow for greater transfers of tax points since this would lead to a predictable and expanding supply of funds as the economy and tax base grows.

Health Care  Mr. Speaker, the minister's policy is evidently that if we withhold money from all provinces this would somehow benefit the poorer provinces. Let me draw the attention of the finance minister to the remarks of Canada's academic authority on fiscal federalism. Thomas Courchene recently observed that by denying adequate health care funding, the Liberal government is engaged in the practice of: --forcing the provinces to transfer resources away from all other programs into health will lead to a situation where there is a willing and receptive citizenry for Ottawa's spending in areas...which are...under provincial jurisdiction.

Benoît Lécuyer  Mr. Speaker, it is with sorrow that I rise in the House today to pay tribute to a brave man who gave his life to protect our roads and our freedom. Constable Benoît Lécuyer, who was shot down in cold blood on February 28 during a routine arrest for speeding, will not be forgotten.

Species at Risk Act  Mr. Speaker, I rise today to speak in favour of the several amendments I have put forth which seek to remedy the glaring absence of mens rea in Bill C-5. Allow me to explain a bit about mens rea in Canadian criminal law. Our criminal justice system is based upon several fundamental principles such as the right to be presumed innocent until proven guilty.

Species at Risk Act  moved: Motion No. 122 That Bill C-5, in Clause 100, be amended by replacing lines 16 and 17 on page 57 with the following: “100. A person is not guilty of an offence under this Act unless the person knowingly committed the act that is the subject of the offence.” Debate arose on the motions in Group No. 2.