Presentation of Petition~ April 30th, 2003

Mr. Paul Steckle (Huron-Bruce, Lib.): Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to present a number of petitions here from residents within my riding.

These petitioners express disappointment in the future direction of safety net programs under the APF, and request that Parliament direct the Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food and the cabinet to use some of the APF promotion budget to inform Canadians that investment in adequate safety nets is a food security issue.

They also request that Parliament direct the Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food and cabinet to maintain current programs until the new APF safety nets are designed adequately to move agriculture beyond crisis management, not deeper into crisis management.

Mr. Speaker, the second group of petitions are representative of people right across this province. I have people from Beamsville, Port Perry, Ancaster, Toronto, and Brantford. They are not rural people necessarily, but they believe that the government has failed to provide any conclusive or verifiable evidence that the registration of long guns is preventing crime or keeping guns out of the hands of criminals.

They are calling upon Parliament to abolish the national firearms registry for long guns and redirect our tax dollars to programs in support of health care and law enforcement.