CANADA 1st SESSION · 37th PARLIAMENT · VOLUME 139 · NUMBER 20 OFFICIAL REPORT (HANSARD) Tuesday, March 27, 2001 THE HONOURABLE DAN HAYS SPEAKER CONTENTS (Daily index of proceedings appears at back of this issue.) Debates and Publications: Chambers Building, Room 943, Tel. 996-0193 Published by the Senate Available from Canada Communication Group — Publishing, Public Works and Government Services Canada, Ottawa K1A 0S9, Also available on the Internet: http://www.parl.gc.ca 438 THE SENATE Tuesday, March 27, 2001 The Senate met at 2 p.m., the Speaker in the Chair. champions. With one more step to climb, albeit a steep one, their dream of a world championship became a reality Saturday night Prayers. in Ogden, Utah. With Islanders in the stands and hundreds of others watching on television at the Silver Fox Curling Club in Summerside, SENATORS’ STATEMENTS these young women put on a show that was at once both inspiring and chilling. It was certainly a nervous time for everyone because those of us who have been watching all week QUESTION OF PRIVILEGE knew that the team Canada was playing in the finals was not only the defending world champion but the same team that had UNEQUAL TREATMENT OF SENATORS—NOTICE defeated Canada earlier in the week during the round robin. With steely determination, the young Canadian team overcame that The Hon. the Speaker: Honourable senators, I wish to inform mental obstacle and earned the world championship in the you that, in accordance with rule 43(3) of the Rules of the Senate, process. the Clerk of the Senate received, at 10:52 this morning, written notice of a question of privilege by the Honourable Senator The welcome the Canadian team received last night on their Carney, P.C. In accordance with rule 43(7), I recognize Senator return to Prince Edward Island was quite emotional. I can only Carney at the appropriate place on the Order Paper. imagine what the official welcome-home celebrations will be like on Wednesday evening at their home Silver Fox rink in Hon. Pat Carney: Honourable senators, as was indicated in Summerside. my notice to the Clerk of the Senate, I wish to inform you that I will raise a question of privilege later today dealing with the Honourable senators, I trust that you will join with me in unequal treatment of senators under the Rules of the Senate.Ifa recognizing this wonderful achievement. It is something these prima facie case is found, I will move that the matter be referred young women will remember for a lifetime, as will those who to the Rules Committee for consideration and report. watched it unfold. • (1410) PRINCE EDWARD ISLAND WORLD JUNIOR CURLING CHAMPIONSHIPS— NEWFOUNDLAND CONGRATULATIONS TO FEMALE CHAMPIONS WORLD JUNIOR CURLING CHAMPIONSHIPS— Hon. Elizabeth Hubley: Honourable senators, I am proud to CONGRATULATIONS TO MALE CHAMPIONS rise in this chamber today to recognize the recent and quite astonishing achievement of a group of young people from my home province of Prince Edward Island. In what was one of the Hon. Joan Cook: Honourable senators, I should like to add most thrilling events I have ever witnessed in sport, the Suzanne my congratulations to the women’s team from Prince Edward Gaudet rink of Summerside, Prince Edward Island, won the Island. For me, of course, the pleasure is mine today because the Women’s World Junior Curling Championship Saturday evening. Newfoundland junior curling team also won the championship in Ogden, Utah. The team of skip Suzanne, third Stefanie Richard, second Robyn MacPhee, lead Kelly Higgins, along with Coach Paul On Sunday the best young curler in Newfoundland stepped up Power and alternate Carol Webb, stunned the curling world with to the plate, and with the 2001 World Junior Curling their exciting win over Sweden in the final. To be in the position Championship on the line, skip Brad Gushue delivered, giving of attaining recognition as a world champion is obviously Newfoundland its first ever official world championship in a something most people never achieve. To do so at such a young team sport with a win of 7-6 over Denmark. The other members age only adds to the honour. of the St. John’s Curling Club rink are third Mark Nichols, second Brent Hamilton, lead Mike Adam, fifth Jamie Korab and coach Jeff Thomas. In the words of Mike Adam: I and all Islanders are so proud of what this group of young women has accomplished in the last few weeks. Their road to the world championships started at the provincial level, where they It’s been an emotional week and when it’s over, earned the right to represent Prince Edward Island at the everything comes out, especially when they played the nationals. From there, it was on to the Canadian championships National Anthem. It’s an incredible feeling, something I in St. Catharine’s, Ontario, where they became national can’t even describe. I’m still overwhelmed. March 27, 2001 SENATE DEBATES 439 Honourable senators, special about their win was the fact that shipbuilding firm Smith & Rhuland, of Lunenburg, and niece of each of the curlers won the championship in front of friends and the ship’s legendary Master, Captain Angus J. Walters, also of family. One of those was Ray Gushue, father of the skip. I am Lunenburg. told that countless times during the week, the elder Gushue would shout, “Who let the dogs out?”, and the appropriate Young Audrey was the only woman aboard Bluenose that response would echo from the Canadian section. morning, and little did she and all those in attendance know that they were witnessing the start of one of the most compelling Honourable senators, on Sunday there were no Great Danes sagas of maritime heritage — not just of Nova Scotia but of out in Ogden, just the Newfoundland pedigree and the Labrador Canada and, indeed, the world. The ship and the pride she retrievers. brought to Canadians is recognized by her image on the reverse side of our 10-cent coin. CANADIAN INTERUNIVERSITY ATHLETIC UNION As I mentioned to the townsfolk of Lunenburg during HOCKEY CHAMPIONSHIPS my address at a commemorative reception yesterday morning, we must continue to honour the design genius of CONGRATULATIONS TO THE William J. Roué, of Halifax, the skills of the shipwrights of UNIVERSITÉ DU QUEBEC À TROIS-RIVIÈRES Smith & Rhuland, and the high seamanship of the men who fished and raced in the Bluenose under Captain Walters. Hon. B. Alasdair Graham: Honourable senators, last weekend proved to be an extraordinary period for pure amateur By defeating all American challengers to win and retain the sport in Canada. I join Senator Hubley and Senator Cook in coveted International Fishermen’s Trophy, these men sailed their congratulating those great curling teams from Prince Edward magnificent ship into the hearts of Canadians forever. The legacy Island and Newfoundland that captured the ladies’ and men’s of Bluenose is one of pride and excellence, which continues World Junior Curling Championships in Ogden, Utah. today in her replica, Bluenose II, Nova Scotia’s sailing ambassador of goodwill and Canada’s recognized tall ship At the same time, I extend heartiest best wishes and a huge worldwide. “Well done!” to the Université du Quebec à Trois-Rivières, which captured the Canadian University Hockey Cup by [Translation] defeating the X-men of St. Francis Xavier 5-4 in sudden-death, gut-wrenching, heart-stopping double overtime. HEALTH Honourable senators, I was physically present at the final game on Sunday in Kitchener. At the end of the first REPRODUCTIVE TECHNIQUES sudden-death overtime period, with the score still tied, I received a cell phone call from one of my sons who had caught a glimpse Hon. Lucie Pépin: Honourable senators, just recently there of me on TSN. “Sit down, Dad,” he said, “and if by some miracle have been media reports that the federal Department of Health Dr. Keon is in the building, stick close to him.” was making plans to introduce a bill, probably this May, on reproductive techniques. It will focus on a timely issue, that of I was obviously disappointed that the X-men did not capture the cloning of human beings, that is, the possibility of producing their second straight national championship in one week. an identical reproduction of an individual without combining sperm and egg. [Translation] I am delighted to learn of this initiative planned by our The Patriotes de Trois-Rivières merit congratulations from all government. Some international experts have in recent weeks, Canadians on their well-deserved victory. under the guise of a desire to help sterile couples to have children, confirmed their intention to be the first researchers to [English] clone human beings, within the next two years. This is not very reassuring, when we know that cloning is still in its very early Again, we congratulate the CIAU, the hosts in Kitchener and stages. Waterloo, and all the participating teams from the University of Alberta, Western Ontario, Wilfrid Laurier, UQTR, St. Thomas Unlike other countries, Canada does not yet have a legal and University, New Brunswick and St. FX. “Well done!” to all the scientific framework to regulate genetic and reproductive university athletes and their coaches. manipulations. It cannot be other than reassuring that it has finally reached a decision on this. It is time we decided to take action in this important area. Far be it from me to state that these NOVA SCOTIA advances in biotechnology represent nothing but disadvantages to humanity. Acceptable as it may seem to be to use embryonic BLUENOSE—EIGHTIETH ANNIVERSARY cells for therapeutic and scientific purposes, it is equally unacceptable for human beings to be cloned.