David Kilgour

[Member for Calgary Southwest, January 31st, 2002]

Mr. Speaker, it is difficult to pay a fair tribute to our colleague from Calgary Southwest in two minutes. A man of vision, he has played an important role in building our national agenda.

How many current or past members of the House have founded not one but two successful political parties? Believe me, as someone who has campaigned against Reform and Alliance candidates in three elections in our province, I know how strong the appeal is for our dear colleague for Albertans of all ages and backgrounds.

He took a cloud on the western horizon and turned it into a political tornado felt across the country. “The west wants in” was more than an election slogan to our colleague. Having followed our colleague's career with much interest and at times much fear, I am convinced that the major reason he founded the Reform Party in 1987 was to advance the west's leadership in national affairs.

His goal was never to polarize the country. On the contrary, he fought passionately for a strong and united Canadian voice.

He comes from a family that is well respected in western Canada.

How many colleagues know that the late Ernest C. Manning, during his 25 years as premier of our province, was for a period simultaneously premier, treasurer and attorney general?

My own father, a Winnipeger, told me in the sixties that Ernest Manning ran the best and most honest provincial government in the country.

The man we honour grew up unspoilt, working every day on the family dairy farm milking cows.

When Sam Okoro came from Nigeria to study in Edmonton in 1975, knowing no one, he found himself sitting beside our colleague on a flight from Toronto. When they reached Edmonton he and his wife Sandra took Okoro to their home and gave him the best room in their home to sleep in. To this day they remain dear friends.

The accomplishments of our colleague's caring family are equally impressive. Sandra is a realtor and one of the most special people anyone could ever meet. Andrea is a lawyer in Calgary; we can forgive her for that. Avril is a registered nurse in Grande Prairie. Mary Joy is a Harvard MBA and works as a securities dealer in Manhattan.

Nathan is studying religious history in France.

David studies medicine at the University of Toronto.

The House and the country are better places because the hon. member has graced them.

I salute our colleague. We wish him the best for the future in Calgary, Vancouver and Toronto.

[Committees of the House, December 13th, 2001]

Mr. Speaker, what sort of surplus or deficit would the hon. member from Nova Scotia have given us in his budget? How does he think we have been doing in terms of managing the fiscal problems we inherited from his party in 1993?

[Zimbabwe, December 11th, 2001]

Mr. Speaker, we are very concerned about the worsening situation in Zimbabwe. The people of Zimbabwe deserve to live without harassment, violence and intimidation.

Canada will consider anything that might help to reduce that. These measures can probably only be done through international organizations such as the UN, the Commonwealth, or SADAC.

[The Budget, December 11th, 2001]

Mr. Speaker, will the hon. leader of the NDP tell us specifically what she would do in terms of overseas development assistance? What kinds of programs would she continue? What kinds of programs would she discontinue?

[The Budget, December 11th, 2001]

Mr. Speaker, I would like to ask a question to the leader of the New Democratic Party.

Can the leader tell us what she would do, what she would be prepared to do for developing countries, if she were the head of the government? What is her policy on issues concerning the countries of Africa, Central America and Latin America?

[Foreign Affairs, December 10th, 2001]

Mr. Speaker, the situation remains quite stable. Only last week the Eritrean ambassador to Canada and I discussed the question of the status of the forces' agreement.

The boundary commission is expected to demarcate the boundary between the two countries in February. We all hope that both countries will agree to respect that boundary in advance.

[Poverty, December 4th, 2001]

Mr. Speaker, 177 million people are living below the poverty line in this hemisphere, half of them in rural parts of the hemisphere.

We elected an outstanding Barbadian, Dr. Chelston Brathwaite, as the new executive director. With Canada's help we can now begin to deal with the appalling problems of rural poverty in this hemisphere.

[Prebudget Consultations, November 7th, 2001]

Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague most sincerely for her suggestions about the budget in areas like housing.

Would the member be kind enough to tell the House what she would like to see the government do with respect to overseas development assistance, for example, in countries in Africa, Latin America and the Caribbean? How would she like to see the government spend money on people with real problems in those parts of the world?

[Zimbabwe, October 29th, 2001]

Mr. Speaker, Canada insisted in Harare that civil society and independent stakeholders be heard and they were. Many said that the rule of law has not been followed in the constitution of Zimbabwe. The violence and unlawful occupation of farms continue. We were very disturbed by what we saw there. Canada strongly supports the deployment of election observers for the elections in March or April, 2002.

[Privilege, October 16th, 2001]

Mr. Speaker, if the hon. member for Vancouver East were to bring in a terrorism bill, what features would it have?