Criminal Code  Mr. Speaker, I understand what the hon. member is addressing. I cannot support the complete elimination of this section of the Criminal Code. We have to look at how to deal with the issue in a different way. We cannot just look at how the law deals with specific individuals. The

Criminal Code  Madam Speaker, I rise today obviously to speak in favour of Bill C-27, an act to amend the Criminal Code. At the outset I congratulate my colleague, the Minister of Justice, for championing a bill designed to improve the Criminal Code provisions in four key areas vital to the he

Tobacco Products Control Act  Mr. Speaker, this is an interesting statement made by the hon. member. I do not know if he has been present for the last two and a half years around this place or not. If the hon. member would recall when the tax on tobacco was lowered, not by 50 per cent I might add, some other

Tobacco Products Control Act  Let me answer your question. If the hon. member would allow me to answer he might learn something. The government increased the tobacco health tax that went straight into health funding. That has been something for which anti-smoking advocates have asked for a long long time. We

Tobacco Products Control Act  Mr. Speaker, I think that is an excellent question and I thank the hon. member for asking it. Before I came here, as a physician I was passionate about smoking cessation and anti-smoking legislation and used every single tool in the arsenal I could think of to stop smoking. Wha

Tobacco Products Control Act  Mr. Speaker, it is a pleasure for me as the member of Parliament for Vancouver Centre and as a physician to speak in support of Bill C-24. Members have heard the hon. parliamentary secretary speak about the details of the bill. On the surface it might seem the bill is just about

Canada Pension Plan  Mr. Speaker, I thank the hon. member for that question. In fact 60 per cent of seniors are women and this number is going to increase as the years go by. This issue is very important to their economic independence. The Status of Women Canada, with the Caledon Institute, has look

Supply  Mr. Speaker, the concept of accountability is obviously very foreign to the Reform Party. In discussing the issue of women's programs we have been meeting as a department with women around the country for the last two months to discuss how we can change our programs so that they

Supply  Mr. Speaker, perhaps I did not speak clearly enough or perhaps I did not enunciate the principles well enough. I thought that is exactly what I just answered in my speech, that the two Houses are separate and that they are accountable and autonomous within their own right. I sup

Supply  Mr. Speaker, no one, least of all the government, disagrees with accountability. We have practised it ever since we came into power. What we speak to is that the other place is accountable within its own right and within its own jurisdiction. This House is also accountable withi

Supply  Mr. Speaker, I rise today to debate the motion which I will not repeat because of its verbosity. This is a motion brought forward by the Reform Party which clearly demonstrates yet again how out of touch that party is with the issues of concern to Canadians. Today we could be l

Status Of Women  Mr. Speaker, as Secretary of State for the Status of Women, I am very pleased that women are marching across the country for bread and roses, jobs and justice. When we went to Beijing last year we brought many of the objectives these women are marching for. We agreed in Beijing

Referendums  Get to the question.

Employment Insurance Act  Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to speak in support of the employment insurance legislation before the House. The bill is key to our government's commitment to the reform of the social security system. As Secretary of State for the Status of Women and as a B.C. MP, I am pleased to say

1996 Census  Mr. Speaker, Canada is very well recognized around the world as the leader in measuring and valuing unpaid work. It was decided at Beijing that we would strengthen that commitment and that all the other United Nations countries would more accurately examine the amount of unpaid w