CANADA VOLUME 133 S NUMBER 258 S 1st SESSION S 35th PARLIAMENT OFFICIAL REPORT (HANSARD) Thursday, November 9, 1995 Speaker: The Honourable Gilbert Parent CONTENTS (Table of Contents appears at back of this issue.) The House of Commons Debates and the Proceedings of Committee evidence are accessible on the Parliamentary Internet Parlementaire at the following address: http://www.parl.gc.ca 16399 HOUSE OF COMMONS Thursday, November 9, 1995 The House met at 10 a.m. on public accounts. In its sixteenth report, the public accounts committee studied chapter 9 of the auditor general’s annual _______________ report for 1994 on the overall management of federal science and technology activities, chapter 10 of that same report on the Prayers management of departmental science and technology activities, _______________ and chapter 11 on the management of scientific personnel in certain federal research establishments. ROUTINE PROCEEDINGS Pursuant to Standing Order 109, the committee is asking the government to table a comprehensive response to the report. [English] GOVERNMENT RESPONSE TO PETITIONS * * * Mr. Peter Milliken (Parliamentary Secretary to Leader of D (1010) the Government in the House of Commons, Lib.): Mr. Speak- er, pursuant to Standing Order 36(8) I have the honour to table, CONTRACTORS PROTECTION ACT in both official languages, the government’s response to two petitions. Mr. Jean–Paul Marchand (Québec–Est, BQ): moved for leave to introduce Bill C–356, an act to protect contractors who * * * disclose government wrongdoing. INTERPARLIAMENTARY DELEGATIONS He said: Mr. Speaker, we know that a number of private Mr. Derek Wells (South Shore, Lib.): Mr. Speaker, pursuant companies do business with the government. Contracting out to Standing Order 34(1) I have the honour to present to the accounts for close to $10 billion of business, and we also know House, in both official languages, the report of the Canadian that there are a great many irregularities in contracting with the group to the interparliamentary union which represented Canada private sector. There are sometimes illegalities and waste. This at the 1995 interparliamentary conference held in Bucharest, bill would protect private contractors who decide to disclose Romania, from October 7 to 14, 1995. government wrongdoing, waste or other irregularities. * * * (Motions deemed adopted, bill read the first time and printed.) COMMITTEES OF THE HOUSE JUSTICE AND LEGAL AFFAIRS * * * Ms. Beth Phinney (Hamilton Mountain, Lib.): Mr. Speaker, [English] I have the honour to table, in both official languages, the 11th report of the Standing Committee on Justice and Legal Affairs. PETITIONS Pursuant to the order of reference of Thursday, October 5, 1995, the committee has considered Bill C–78, an act to provide ASSISTED SUICIDE for the establishment and operation of a program to enable certain persons to receive protection in relation to certain Ms. Beth Phinney (Hamilton Mountain, Lib.): Mr. Speaker, inquiries, investigations or prosecutions. The committee has pursuant to Standing Order 36 I am pleased to present two agreed to report it with amendments. petitions signed by over 100 residents of Hamilton and nearby towns on the subject of euthanasia and assisted suicide. [Translation] The petitioners request Parliament to ensure the present PUBLIC ACCOUNTS provisions of the Criminal Code prohibiting assisted suicide be Mr. Richard Bélisle (La Prairie, BQ): Mr. Speaker, I have retained without changes and enforced in order that Parliament the honour to present the 16th report of the standing committee not sanction or allow the aiding of suicide or euthanasia. 16400 COMMONS DEBATES November 9, 1995 Government Orders JUSTICE [Translation] Ms. Beth Phinney (Hamilton Mountain, Lib.): Mr. Speaker, QUESTIONS ON THE ORDER PAPER I also have thousands of signatures from across Canada on the subject of crimes of violence. The petitions are part of a petition, Mr. Peter Milliken (Parliamentary Secretary to Leader of begun by Mrs. Priscilla de Villiers, which has already collected the Government in the House of Commons, Lib.): I ask that over three million signatures. the other questions be allowed to stand. The petitioners ask Parliament to recognize that crimes of The Speaker: Is that agreed? violence against a person are abhorrent to society and ask the government to continue to amend the Criminal Code of Canada, Some hon. members: Agreed. the Bail Reform Act, 1972 and the Parole Act of Canada accordingly. _____________________________________________ [Translation] GOVERNMENT ORDERS EMPLOYMENT CENTRES Mr. Osvaldo Nunez (Bourassa, BQ): Mr. Speaker, I would [English] like to present a petition signed by 356 persons in my riding of Bourassa and the Montreal region, concerning closure of the MANGANESE BASED FUEL ADDITIVES ACT Canada Employment Centre on Papineau Street, which services The House resumed from November 8 consideration of the my riding of Bourassa North as well as neighbouring ridings. motion that Bill C–94, an act to regulate interprovincial trade in and the importation for commercial purposes of certain manga- D (1015) nese based substances, be read the third time and passed. This is a centre that provides exceptional service to a very Mr. Keith Martin (Esquimalt—Juan de Fuca, Ref.): Mr. large population. Those working in the centre along with unem- Speaker, it is a pleasure once again to speak to Bill C–94, an act ployed persons and community organizations are therefore to regulate interprovincial trade in and the importation for petitioning the government not to close this employment centre, commercial purposes of certain manganese based substances. and I strongly support this petition. I trust that the government will reconsider its decision and that this centre will be able to The purpose of the bill is to ban the import and interprovincial continue its operations. trade of MMT, an octane enhancer. Essentially MMT reduces [English] emissions from motor vehicles. The government claims that MMT damages the onboard devices in new 1996 cars. It is going JUSTICE to be obligatory for cars used in Canada not to use MMT. This was at the prompting of the Motor Vehicle Manufacturers Mr. Bob Ringma (Nanaimo—Cowichan, Ref.): Mr. Speak- Association. er, I am pleased to present a petition, in accordance with The Ethyl corporation that makes MMT and the petroleum Standing Order 36, on behalf of constituents who say that we products group claim that first, MMT is not a health hazard to should be aiming for a just and safe society, that the safety and Canadians and second, does not damage onboard devices. protection of the public should precede the protection of danger- ous criminals and that the rights of victims should precede the If the minister wishes to ban MMT, then she has to prove that rights of criminals. Many things are listed here. MMT is a health hazard to Canadians. The contrary has been proven by the Ministry of Health which has shown that MMT The petitioners are asking for legislation to reform the justice does not damage the health of Canadians. I have heard some system and the Corrections and Conditional Release Act. spurious allegations by members across the way who have ASSISTED SUICIDE actually claimed that since the health department said what it did, maybe MMT really does harm Canadians. Those are state- Mr. David Chatters (Athabasca, Ref.): Mr. Speaker, in ments made off the top of their heads without any factual basis. accordance with Standing Order 36, I present a petition on If we look at the facts, MMT does not harm the health of behalf of the citizens of the community of Athabasca. Canadians. The petitioners request that Parliament continue to reject Central to the bill is the question, does or does not MMT euthanasia and physician assisted suicide, that the present damage onboard devices? There is ample evidence showing that provisions of section 241 of the Criminal Code which forbids onboard devices are not damaged by MMT. It is wise to look at the counselling, procuring, aiding or abetting of a person to the situation in the United States. We say we want a common commit suicide be enforced vigorously, and that Parliament gasoline for our vehicles, but the United States is bringing back consider expanding palliative care that would be accessible to MMT. It is bringing MMT back for a couple of very important all dying persons in Canada. reasons: First, it is not a health hazard to people; second, it does November 9, 1995 COMMONS DEBATES 16401 Government Orders not damage onboard devices; and, third, if it is removed from cannot do it now, we must look to the future and develop the gasoline nitrous oxide emissions will be increased by more that research and technology so that we can do that. 20 per cent. Nitrous oxide is a very important component of smog. Smog exacerbates respiratory problems in people who Another interesting concept is the hydrogen fuel cell which suffer from asthma or chronic obstructive pulmonary diseases. works on the electrolysis of hydrogen sulphide or water. Al- though these systems are too bulky right now to use this might D (1020) be an alternative form of power for vehicles in the future. Another is photovoltaic cells which take energy from the sun. If MMT is to be banned another substance will have to take its The Holy Grail of all energy sources is the concept of fusion. place. That will make gasoline more expensive. It will translate into more expense at the pump and in turn will cost the industry As a country we do not have the finances to engage in more. It would act as a depressant on the economy, which means extensive projects in this area. By working with our neighbours fewer jobs. to the south and some Europeans that are doing some fascinating work on fusion technology, we can provide our scientific expertise to them to try to make this into a reality in the future.