Thursday, February 17, 1994
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VOLUME 133 NUMBER 024 1st SESSION 35th PARLIAMENT OFFICIAL REPORT (HANSARD) Thursday, February 17, 1994 Speaker: The Honourable Gilbert Parent HOUSE OF COMMONS Thursday, February 17, 1994 The House met at 10 a.m. result, 16–year–olds and 17–year–olds would be held responsi- ble for their criminal acts and prosecuted in adult court. _______________ Presently, 16–year–olds and 17–year–olds are subject to the Prayers Young Offenders Act and not the Criminal Code of Canada in adult court. In my view, 16–year–olds and 17–year–olds are old _______________ enough to understand the nature and consequences of their acts and should be held responsible as adults. ROUTINE PROCEEDINGS The second purpose of the bill would be to increase the maximum, I stress maximum, penalty for first and second degree murder from five years to ten years. I believe Canadians [Translation] want to see some changes to the maximum penalty provisions COMMITTEES OF THE HOUSE for murder under the Young Offenders Act. Any persons be- tween the ages of 10 and 15 who commit first or second degree FINANCE murder would face a maximum penalty of 10 years. Mr. Nick Discepola (Vaudreuil): Mr. Speaker, the Standing Finally, the bill would allow for the publication of the name of Committee on Finance has the honour, this morning, to present the young offender after the young offender’s second conviction its first report. for an indictable offence. [English] In conclusion, I believe if this bill is carried by this House it will go a long way to satisfying some of the very serious and In accordance with its order of reference of Friday, February reasonable concerns of Canadians with regard to problems in 4, 1994 your committee has considered Bill C–2, an act to our criminal justice system. amend the Department of National Revenue Act and to amend (Motions deemed adopted, bill read the first time and certain other acts in consequence thereof, and has agreed to printed.) report it without amendment. * * * * * * (1010) YOUNG OFFENDERS ACT [Translation] Mr. John Nunziata (York South—Weston) moved for leave to introduce Bill C–217, an act to amend the Young Offenders UNEMPLOYMENT INSURANCE ACT Act, the Contraventions Act and the Criminal Code in conse- Mrs. Pierrette Venne (Saint–Hubert) moved for leave to quence thereof. introduce Bill C–218, an act to amend the Unemployment He said: Mr. Speaker, first I would like to thank the hon. Insurance Act (excepted employment). member for Leeds—Grenville for seconding the motion to She said: Mr. Speaker, first of all, I would like to thank the introduce this bill. hon. member for Laurentides for supporting this bill and would During the election campaign Canadians made it clear that also like to give a short explanation about this legislation. they would like to see some fundamental changes to our crimi- The purpose of this bill is to exclude from the excepted nal justice system. It would appear that the Young Offenders Act employment category those jobs that are characterized by a has acted as a lightning rod for a lot of the concerns in the dependant relationship between the employer and the employee. community. This bill in my view would address some of the very At this time, the employment of women collaborators is not serious flaws in the Young Offenders Act. insurable unless, as it says in clause 3(2)(c) of the Unemploy- The bill has three purposes. First, it would lower the age ment Insurance Act, these women can prove they would have limits that define a young offender. A young offender would be gotten into a similar work contract had they not been their defined as a young person between the ages of 10 and 15. As a employers’ spouses. 1461 COMMONS DEBATES February 17, 1994 Government Orders This clause of the Unemployment Insurance Act is discrimi- WAYS AND MEANS natory, because it creates a different burden of the proof, especially for women collaborators. EXCISE TAX ACT That is why I hope that my bill will be debated as soon as Hon. Fernand Robichaud (for the Minister of Finance) possible. moved that a ways and means motion to amend the Excise Tax (Motions deemed adopted, bill read the first time and Act, laid upon the table Monday, February 14, 1994 be con- printed.) curred in. (Motion agreed to.) * * * [English] _____________________________________________ PETITIONS GOVERNMENT ORDERS OFFICIAL LANGUAGES [English] Mrs. Marlene Cowling (Dauphin—Swan River): Mr. Speaker, pursuant to Standing Order 36(1), I would like to table DEFENCE POLICY this petition which has been duly certified by the clerk of petitions. Hon. David Michael Collenette (Minister of National De- fence and Minister of Veterans Affairs) moved: The citizens of Dauphin—Swan River are asking the federal That a Special Joint Committee of the Senate and of the House of Commons be government to seek approval from the Canadian people for appointed to consider Canada’s Defence Policy; Canada’s policy with reference to official languages. That the document entitled ‘‘Review of Canadian Defence Policy, Minister of National Defence Guidance Document’’, be referred to the Committee; SUPERMAILBOXES That the Committee be directed to consult broadly and to analyze the issues discussed in the above–mentioned document, and to make recommendations in their Mr. Randy White (Fraser Valley West): Mr. Speaker, pur- report concerning the objectives and conduct of Canada’s Defence Policy; suant to Standing Order 36(1), I rise to present a petition from That eleven Members of the House of Commons and five Members of the Senate concerned citizens of the township of Langley in the riding of be Members of the Committee; Fraser Valley West, British Columbia. That the Members of the House of Commons Standing Committee on National Defence and Veterans Affairs be appointed to act on behalf of the House as Members This petition of well over 1,000 names expresses the concern of the said Committee; of installing supermailboxes in our heritage community of Port That the Committee have the power to sit during sittings and adjournments of the Langley, the birthplace of British Columbia. Supermailboxes House; would not be in keeping with the historical traditions of this That the Committee have the power to report from time to time, to send for heritage community. persons, papers and records, and to print such papers and evidence from time to time as may be ordered by the Committee; Therefore, the petitioners request that Parliament designate That the Committee have the power to retain the services of expert, professional, Canadian heritage communities to be exempt from Canada technical and clerical staff; Post’s supermailbox program. That the Committee have the power to adjourn from place to place inside Canada and abroad and that, when deemed necessary, the required staff accompany the This petition is submitted with my full support. Committee; That a quorum of the Committee be nine Members, whenever a vote, resolution or * * * other decision is taken, so long as both Houses are represented and that the Joint Chairmen be authorized to hold meetings, to receive evidence and authorize the printing thereof, whenever six Members are present, so long as both Houses are QUESTIONS ON THE ORDER PAPER represented; That the Committee or its representatives meet on occasions it deems fitting with Mr. Peter Milliken (Parliamentary Secretary to Leader of the parliamentary committee or its representatives charged with reviewing Canada’s the Government in the House of Commons): Mr. Speaker, I foreign policy; would ask that all questions be allowed to stand. That notwithstanding the usual practices of this House, if the House is not sitting when an interim or final report of the Committee is completed, the Committee shall The Speaker: Shall all questions stand? report with the Clerk of the House and that it shall thereupon be deemed to have been laid upon the Table; Some hon. members: Agreed. That the Committee present its final report no later than September 30, 1994; and 1462 February 17, 1994 COMMONS DEBATES Government Orders That a message be sent to the Senate requesting that House to unite with this House In something that will be unique and to avoid unnecessary for the above purpose, and to select, if the Senate deems it advisable, Members to act on taxing of individual members who will be very busy with a the proposed Special Joint Committee. number of committees, we are going to have the House of Commons membership in this special joint committee mirror (1015 ) the Standing Committee on National Defence and Veterans Affairs to join with nominees from the Senate. That means the He said: Mr. Speaker, I am very pleased to have this opportu- same members involved in daily defence related matters, those nity to address the House formally and launch the defence policy studying the estimates, will be dealing with the defence review. review. The most knowledgeable people on defence matters will be carrying through both exercises. For the next few minutes I will outline the terms of the process that will be involved in the final product which will be the new Through this committee we hope to receive the broadest input defence policy for Canada. possible; in other words, not just from experts and interest groups, but from a wide variety of Canadians concerned with [Translation] this vital national issue. The need for a thorough review of Canada’s defence policy is generally recognized. In fact, during the election campaign, all Ever mindful of the somewhat travelling road show that parties called for a review of the present policy to ensure that it became a circus on the Constitution which the previous Conser- really meets the needs of today.