Anne McLellan

[Canada-U.S. Border, October 6th, 2005]

Mr. Speaker, the hon. member quite rightly identifies the western hemisphere initiative as one of growing concern, not only to us in this country but obviously to more U.S. politicians, including Senator Hillary Clinton, Governor Pataki of New York and a growing list.

Due to the very fine work of our Canadian posts across the U.S., we are working with our American counterparts. I am working with my colleague, Mr. Chertoff, to ensure that we are able to work together in partnership to reach a resolution in relation to legitimate security concerns and that any resolution does not constitute a barrier to the facilitation of the movement of low risk goods--

[Softwood Lumber, October 6th, 2005]

Mr. Speaker, let me reassure the hon. member that tonight in his speech before the Economic Club of New York the Prime Minister is going to make some very strong statements in relation to the softwood lumber situation.

The Prime Minister has been a forceful defender of softwood lumber producers in this country. I can assure the House that no one in the United States of America, starting with the President of the United States of America, has ever been in any doubt as to where this Prime Minister and this government stand, which is firmly behind NAFTA and our softwood lumber producers.

[Canada Border Services Agency, October 4th, 2005]

Mr. Speaker, first of all, let me say that I am aware of the shutdowns. We take the security and safety of our border agents very seriously. That is why we have had Labour Canada do a number of reviews of border officers' safety, and time after time it would indicate that the conditions under which they operate are safe.

Clearly our goal is to ensure that we facilitate the movement of low risk travellers and goods across the border. We will continue to work with everyone in good faith to ensure that happens.

[Firearms Registry, October 3rd, 2005]

Mr. Speaker, as the hon. member probably is aware, that is not true. In fact, there are many security features built into the documents that the firearms centre issues.

The other issue to which the hon. member referred in relation to a website out of the United States, I have in my possession a letter sent April 15, 2004 from the firearms centre asking for the shutdown of that site. I have a response from homestead.com in which homestead.com said the following, “Based on your complaint, we have terminated the account in question”.

[Justice, September 27th, 2005]

Mr. Speaker, I want to assure everyone in this House that I have indeed talked to the families, but in particular Reverend Schiemann. Reverend Schiemann came to my office in Edmonton a month ago. He and I spent well over an hour together, talking about the work the families are in fact doing.

I have talked to my colleague, the Minister of Justice, about the concerns raised by Reverend Schiemann on behalf of the families. I have given my assurance and the assurance of the Attorney General that we will sit down with the families and we will work together with them to see how we can make sure this tragedy does not happen again.

[Question No. 173, September 26th, 2005]

Mr. Speaker, the response is as follows:

(a) MAXXAM Analytics Inc. of Mississauga, Ontario has provided forensic drug testing in its human toxicology department for Correctional Services Canada, CSC, for several years. The laboratory is assessed by two forensic toxicologists on a contractual basis annually.

Regular contact is maintained by CSC personnel and the two toxicologists with the laboratory to discuss any challenges that may arise. the laboratory is also evaluated by the substance abuse and mental health services administration, SAMHSA, forensic drug testing accreditation program. The SAMHSA program also has two on-site inspections annually and is considered the most rigorous laboratory drug testing certification worldwide since started in 1987-1988.

MAXXAM Analytics has always responded appropriately to any concerns from CSC on any aspect of the forensic drug testing program. CSC does not have any concerns about the quality of service provided by MAXXAM Analytics to CSC's urinalysis program.

The genetic identification division of MAXXAM Analytics does not provide analytical testing services for the urinalysis program.

(b) If an offender changes his or her name legally then the offender management system, OMS, tombstone information will be modified to reflect the new name. The old name will be moved into the alias field in OMS, which may also reflect other aliases that the offender has used.

This being said there is no flag in OMS that would allow identification of which inmates have legally had their name changed, in order to differentiate this from the aliases an offender might have recorded against him/her.

(c) Our records indicate that no inmate has had gender re-assignment surgery, also know as a sex change, or its reversal.

[Justice, June 28th, 2005]

Mr. Speaker, Bill C-13 was legislation that everybody came together on in the House. Bill C-13 speaks to the fact that when people actually focus on the real problems confronting Canadians in the House, we can work together. That legislation will be in full force and effect and will help us in our pursuit of dangerous criminals. It also will help us to achieve a higher degree of safety and protection for all Canadians.

[Border Security, June 28th, 2005]

Mr. Speaker, as I have said before, redeployment of RCMP officers and closures of detachments are operational matters for the RCMP and they are done in consultation with the provinces involved. It is my understanding from the RCMP that the Attorney General for Saskatchewan has been consulted on these closures.

[Border Security, June 28th, 2005]

Mr. Speaker, there are 71 million crossings in this country every year. Virtually every one of them stops legally at the border, either on our side or on the American side. In fact, these closings of single detachments are redeployments. They take place after consultation with the provinces involved. These redeployments ultimately lead to more effective policing.

[Border Security, June 28th, 2005]

Mr. Speaker, no, I do not admit that--