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Several key government bills die as Chretien era ends abruptly By Frank Stirk OTTAWA, ON -- Besides C-250, there are also a number of government bills that have left in a state of suspended animation, both in the House of Commons and the Senate. In the House of Commons, the legislation that was left unpassed includes: • C-20 -- This would toughen up the law forbidding child pornography by making it harder for the accused to claim that the materials in their possession have "artistic merit." While supported by pro-family and children's rights advocates - - despite its flaws -- artists, naturists (nudists) and the Canadian Bar Association object that it could criminalize legitimate activities. • C-38 -- If passed, it would no longer be a crime in Canada to possess small amounts of marijuana. Instead, alleged offenders would be fined, much like getting a parking ticket. Critics warn that this would send Canadians the wrong message about the illegal use of drugs. In the Senate, the bills that died there include: • C-23 -- Passed unanimously by MPs, this would establish a long-awaited registry that would aid law enforcement in keeping track of convicted sex offenders following their release from prison. • C-13 -- This complex legislation seeks to regulate assisted human reproduction technologies such as in-vitro fertilization and embryonic stem-cell research, while banning human cloning and surrogacy-for-profit. Pro-lifers object that allowing research on human embryos is tantamount to murder. Although the House of Commons has the authority to revive these and other bills, it is not yet clear which -- if any -- Prime Minister Paul Martin will wish to see become law. REAL Women national vice-president Gwen Landolt believes it is "highly unlikely" that Martin will bring back any of them, "if only for the fact that he wants to make it crystal clear that his is a new government that is worthy of being re-elected." "There are also lots of problems with all of them," she adds. "But more importantly, they are all controversial -- not only among the public, but within his own caucus. And he probably does not want to bring them up before the 2004 election." SOURCE: CanadianChristianity.com, Canada http://www.canadianchristianity.com/cgi-bin/na.cgi?nationalupdates/031120key * * * ---------------------------------------------------------------------- To sign-off Parkinsn send a message to: mailto:[log in to unmask] In the body of the message put: signoff parkinsn