Hon. Wayne Easter (Solicitor General of Canada, Lib.)

moved for leave to introduce Bill C-40, an act to amend the Corrections and Conditional Release Act and the Criminal Code.

(Motions deemed adopted, bill read the first time and printed)

Hon. Wayne Easter (for the Minister of State and Leader of the Government in the House of Commons)

moved for leave to introduce Bill C-41, an act to amend certain Acts.

(Motions deemed adopted, bill read the first time and printed)

Mr. Bernard Patry (Pierrefonds—Dollard, Lib.)

Mr. Speaker, I have the honour to present, in both official languages, the seventh report of the Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs and International Trade concerning the crisis in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

Mr. David Pratt (Nepean—Carleton, Lib.)

Mr. Speaker, I have the honour to present, in both official languages, the second report of the Standing Committee on National Defence and Veterans Affairs.

In accordance with its order of reference of Monday, May 5, 2003, your committee has considered and held hearings on Bill C-35, an act to amend the National Defence Act (Remuneration of Military Judges) and agreed on Monday, June 2, 2003, to report it without amendment.

Mr. Kevin Sorenson (Crowfoot, Canadian Alliance)

Mr. Speaker, pursuant to Standing Order 36 I have the privilege to present to the House a petition signed by well over 200 concerned constituents from Drumheller, Hanna, Three Hills, Trochu, Morrin, Munson and Carbon.

This petition calls upon Parliament to ensure that Junior A hockey league players and teams be treated like Olympic sports participants, and that billeting costs and modest reasonable expenses and allowances not be treated as taxable income under provisions of the federal tax legislation.

It is a pleasure to present a petition like this in the House.

Mr. Geoff Regan (Halifax West, Lib.)

Madam Speaker, on behalf of the member for West Nova, I am pleased to present a petition from 30 residents of West Nova who call upon Parliament to focus its legislative support on adult stem cell research to find the cures and therapies necessary to treat the illnesses and diseases of suffering Canadians.

Mr. Rex Barnes (Gander—Grand Falls, PC)

Madam Speaker, I am pleased to present a petition today signed by over 15,000 individuals.

The people in Newfoundland and Labrador are very concerned about the relocation of the weather forecasting service from the Gander weather centre to Halifax and Montreal. The petitioners firmly believe this will jeopardize lives and property in the province of Newfoundland and Labrador because of the severe and erratic weather patterns on Canada's east coast.

The petitioners call upon Parliament to reverse the decision the government has made to relocate the weather forecasting services provided by the Newfoundland weather centre in Gander.

Mr. Paul Steckle (Huron—Bruce, Lib.)

Madam Speaker, it is my privilege to present a petition on behalf of the people from the riding of Huron—Bruce and subsequent neighbouring ridings.

The petitioners have signed a petition on the issue of abortion. The petitioners believe that one Canadian child in four dies before birth as a result of induced abortion and that in the absence of Canadian law, abortion on demand is available during all months of pregnancy. They believe that while residing in the mother's womb, the Canadian child has neither legal recognition nor legal protection.

Therefore they call upon Parliament to enact legislation that will provide legal recognition and protection of Canadian children from fertilization to their birth.

Mr. Paul Steckle (Huron—Bruce, Lib.)

Madam Speaker, I have two more petitions. The second one has to deal with the institution of marriage.

The petitioners believe that the majority of Canadians believe that fundamental matters and social policy should be decided by elected members of Parliament and not the unelected judiciary. They also believe that the majority of Canadians support the current legal definition of marriage as the voluntary union of a single, that is unmarried, male and a single, that is unmarried, female.

They call upon Parliament to use all possible legislative and administrative measures, including invoking section 33 of the charter, the notwithstanding clause, if necessary, to preserve and protect the current definition of marriage as between one man and one woman.

Mr. Paul Steckle (Huron—Bruce, Lib.)

Finally, Madam Speaker, I have a huge number of petitioners who are asking the Government of Canada, as they have many times in the past, to call upon Parliament to abolish the national firearms registry for long guns and redirect our tax dollars to programs in support of health care and of the enforcement of that.

Mrs. Betty Hinton (Kamloops, Thompson and Highland Valleys, Canadian Alliance)

Madam Speaker, I have petitions signed by constituents of my riding of Kamloops, Thompson and Highland Valleys.

The petitioners are asking Parliament to ensure the protection of our children by taking all necessary steps to ensure that all materials which promote or glorify child pornography and exploit children be met with swift punishment.

Ms. Diane St-Jacques (Shefford, Lib.)

Madam Speaker, I would like to table a petition signed by more than 500 citizens of the ridings of Shefford and Brome—Missisquoi, calling on Parliament to amend section 163.1 of the Criminal Code of Canada by making sure that pornographic pictures of children are not considered as having artistic merit.

Mr. Joe Comartin (Windsor—St. Clair, NDP)

Madam Speaker, pursuant to Standing Order 36 I am pleased to present this petition on behalf of residents on Toronto Island who are very concerned that the Toronto city airport is about to be expanded without the proper assessment for environmental and health effects.

They call upon Parliament to request that the project be referred to an environmental review panel by either the Minister of Transport or the Minister of the Environment.

Mrs. Rose-Marie Ur (Lambton—Kent—Middlesex, Lib.)

Madam Speaker, pursuant to Standing Order 36 I wish to present my first petition on behalf of the constituents of Lambton--Kent--Middlesex who upon Parliament to protect the health of seniors and children and to save our environment by banning the disputed gas additive MMT as it creates smog and enhances global warming.

Mrs. Rose-Marie Ur (Lambton—Kent—Middlesex, Lib.)

Madam Speaker, my second petition, pursuant to Standing Order 36, has over 500 signatures from the riding of Lambton--Kent--Middlesex. The petition calls upon Parliament to pass legislation to recognize the institution of marriage in law as being a lifelong union of one man and one women to the exclusion of all others.

Ms. Judy Wasylycia-Leis (Winnipeg North Centre, NDP)

Madam Speaker, I am pleased to present three petitions signed by several hundred individuals from all over Canada, including British Columbia, Alberta, Nova Scotia and other places.

The petitioners are very worried about the future of medicare and very concerned about a government that would appoint a royal commission on the future of health care and then ignore its findings.

They call upon Parliament to request that the findings of the Romanow commission be considered a blueprint for the immediate action by the government. They call on Parliament to reject any move toward investor owned, for profit systems of delivery in the Canadian health care system, and they call on Parliament to ensure that the recommendations of the royal commission on the future of health care in Canada are adopted as the best prescription for Canada's ailing health care system.

Mr. Dominic LeBlanc (Beauséjour—Petitcodiac, Lib.)

Madam Speaker, I rise on behalf of the member for Markham to present a petition signed by residents of Markham who call upon Parliament to focus its legislative support on adult stem cell research and to find the cures and therapies necessary to treat the illnesses and diseases of suffering Canadians.

Hon. Lorne Nystrom (Regina—Qu'Appelle, NDP)

Madam Speaker, I have a petition this afternoon signed by 117 people who want to keep the Hubbard post office open in my riding.

What the petitioners say is that the government across the way imposed a moratorium on rural post office closures several years ago. Now there are rumours that there are some postal outlets, such as the one in Hubbard, Saskatchewan, that are slated for closure.

The closure of rural post offices will do harm to the continued viability of many of our rural communities. Therefore, the petitioners are asking us to, one, keep the Hubbard post office open, and two, retain the moratorium on rural post office closures across the country.

Mr. John Bryden (Ancaster—Dundas—Flamborough—Aldershot, Lib.)

Madam Speaker, I have three petitions.

In the first petition the petitioners request that the government do everything it can to prevent child pornography.

Mr. John Bryden (Ancaster—Dundas—Flamborough—Aldershot, Lib.)

Madam Speaker, the second petition asks the government to not do anything to change sections 318 and 319 of the Criminal Code which would introduce homosexual as part of the definition of hate crime. I believe that arises from Bill C-250 that is before the House. The petitioners are very concerned about that legislation.