Carmen Provenzano

[Workplace Safety, April 28th, 1998]

Mr. Speaker, today, April 28, is the national day of mourning for workers who are killed or injured as a result of their jobs. In honour of this solemn occasion the Canadian flag flies at half mast on Parliament Hill and in cities and towns across the country.

According to the Canadian Labour Congress, nearly 1,000 workers die each year because of their workplaces. A million more are injured or contract some form of occupational sickness. Federal and provincial labour laws have gone a long way to protect Canadian workers, but as the numbers indicate workplace injuries and fatalities continue to occur with tragic frequency.

On this solemn occasion I wish to offer my sincere condolences to those who have lost loved ones in workplace accidents and my best wishes to those who have been injured on the job. The number of Canadians killed and injured at work must be reduced. I call on hon. members to keep this in mind today and throughout the year.

[Foreign Affairs, April 23rd, 1998]

Mr. Speaker, my question is for the Minister of Foreign Affairs. The United States has continuously relied on Canada as an ally in international disputes. Yet as quick as the Americans are to call on us for assistance, they long delay in giving Canada an exemption to the United States' invasive new entry laws.

Will the minister advise if the U.S. government has offered any explanation for its delay in acting on this matter which is of great importance to my riding of Sault Ste. Marie and all Canadians?

[Nunavut Act, April 20th, 1998]

Madam Speaker, I rise further to my question to the Minister of Justice concerning the relatively new phenomenon of violent group crime by teenagers and young adults of both sexes.

Violent group crime by teenagers and young adults of both sexes is by all accounts a growing problem in Canada. This disturbing new phenomenon has revealed itself in communities across the country including my hometown of Sault Ste. Marie.

In fact as I stand here today a young man from my riding is undergoing intense physical therapy in a Sudbury hospital after apparently falling victim to a brutal hatchet beating by a group of attackers composed of teenagers and young adults. Two of those alleged attackers are young offenders. One of them who at 17 only narrowly qualifies as a young offender is attempting to have his case transferred from adult court to youth court. One of the questions being asked right now in Sault Ste. Marie is why should a 17-year old charged in such a savage crime even have the option of applying for trial in a youth court.

In my opinion and that of a great number of Saultites and Canadians, such accommodations to persons charged with such violent crimes are an insult to the victims. They are inappropriate and in effect amount to a further attack upon them and their families. In fact, they are an insult to the very notion of basic criminal justice.

To illustrate how strongly my constituents feel about this matter, I refer to a petition I recently collected in my riding. This petition called upon Parliament to commission a Canada-wide study of violent group crime by young people and to invoke tough punitive measures to combat such criminal activity.

Five thousand Saultites signed this petition over a three week period. In doing so they voiced their concerns about youth crime and asked the government to address this growing problem before it becomes epidemic. These people clearly recognize, as I do, that we know very little about the phenomenon of youth group crime, that we need to examine what dark antisocial impulses motivate and compel some young people to act in concert and to commit senseless acts of violence without forethought or remorse. They recognize that in order to attempt a solution to the problem we need to establish not only tougher laws but gain a better understanding of the causes and effects of youth crime.

We need to have a meeting of the minds across the country between educators, psychologists, police and legislators to arrive at some understanding of this phenomenon and to formulate a deterrent to violent youth crime.

We need to find answers to basic questions before we offer solutions. The first questions we need to answer are the ones that begin with why.

Why are some young people so desensitized to violence that they band together and commit unspeakable crimes, often without provocation? Why are they not apparently concerned about or at least aware of the consequences of their actions? Why are these young people clearly unable to identify with the victims of their crimes? Why do they appear to be so unattached or non-attached to the consequences of their actions? Why are these consequences not more harsh for young people who go well beyond the bounds of youthful misadventure into the world of violence and even murder?

[Mackenzie-Papineau Battalion, March 19th, 1998]

Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to rise today to discuss private member's Motion No. 75.

I congratulate the hon. member for Kamloops on his efforts in bringing this important matter before the House. He like many hon. members understands that Canadian veterans of the Spanish civil war have not received the recognition they deserve.

Many of those brave men fought and died in defence of a democratically elected government. A great many of the 1,300 Canadians who went to fight for republican Spain between 1936 and 1939 did not live to see their Canadian homeland again.

Members of the Mackenzie-Papineau Battalion were the first Canadians to take up arms against the fascist forces of Hitler and Mussolini. It appears in hindsight that they knew what others only suspected, that 1930s Europe was being pushed closer and closer to a full scale war by the spread of fascism in general and Nazism in particular.

However, having said all this, I feel obligated to oppose Motion No. 75. My reasons for this are simple and straightforward. The Mackenzie-Papineau Battalion was not a recognized unit of the Canadian Armed Forces. Its soldiers were not authorized members of a Canadian fighting force. The Mac-Paps, as they came to be known, fought in Spain against the express wishes of the Canadian government which took a neutral position early in the Spanish civil war along with Britain, France and the United States.

I therefore find unacceptable the hon. member's assertion that we should retroactively make the Mackenzie-Papineau veterans members of the Canadian Armed Forces. I am not alone in holding this position. Previous committees and subcommittees of the House of Commons have expressed similar views. So too has the Royal Canadian Legion.

It is not that I do not value the sentiments of the hon. member for Kamloops. On the contrary, I welcome any and all dialogue concerning ways this country can recognize Canadian veterans of the Spanish civil war. However, in Motion No. 75 there seems to be a leap in logic.

The hon. member will know that in addition to the many Canadians who fought on the republican side in Spain, a handful of Canadians also took up arms in the name of Dictator Franco. Would the hon. member for Kamloops suggest that these men as well who fought to re-establish fascism in Spain should be recognized as veterans? Would the hon. member say that these men and their widows should receive veterans benefits? I think not.

I think the hon. member realizes that what he is asking for is both illogical and untenable. Canadians have at times chosen to go off on their own and fight in various wars, conflicts and uprisings. This is true today and it will, no doubt, continue to be true in the future.

Some Canadians volunteer their military services for money, others do so out of ideological conviction, but never have Canadian mercenaries and freedom fighters asked to be designated veterans, nor will they unless the hon. member's motion is granted.

This is not to pass judgment on the role of the Mac-Paps in the Spanish civil war. It is simply to say that we cannot and should not rewrite history.

My colleague, the hon. member for Pontiac—Gatineau—Labelle, brought to the attention of the House last hour the similar findings of the standing committee on veterans affairs.

That committee stated a decade ago that its decision not to grant veteran status to the Mac-Paps was “without regard to the rights or wrongs of the actions of those Canadians who are veterans of the Spanish civil war”.

This cuts right to the heart of the matter. The member for Kamloops is proposing that the political correctness of the Mac-Paps cause should qualify them for veteran status.

Similarly, the member for Chateauguay questioned why Canadians who served in a politically incorrect war like Vietnam should be considered veterans when the Mac-Paps are not.

What both members seem to forget is that Canada recognizes as its veterans only those who serve Canada or its allies in a war in which Canada was a combatant.

The Mac-Paps did not meet this criterion in 1936 and they do not meet it now. However valiant they may have been in their defence of Spanish democracy, the members of the MacKenzie-Papineau Battalion fought as civilians in the eyes of the Canadian government.

It matters not that they are now only few in number or that it would not involve significant sums of money should this motion succeed. In my mind there is nothing that would justify changing this situation 60 years after the fact.

There are, however, compelling reasons to honour the Mac-Paps in other ways. The member for Kamloops mentioned in his speech that a memorial was erected recently at Queen's Park and that similar plans are under way in Vancouver.

It is my belief that many members of this House would be more than happy to support some kind of federal initiative that would not only preserve but promote the proud history of the Mac-Paps. I will not endorse the politically motivated revision of history that is called for in Motion No. 75.

In closing, I oppose the motion before the House but would like to commend the hon. member for Kamloops for his efforts to increase public awareness of Canadian involvement in the Spanish civil war.

[Trade, March 16th, 1998]

Mr. Speaker, team Canada trade missions really work, and a Sault Ste. Marie architectural firm has the contract to prove it.

On the most recent team Canada mission to Latin America, Ellis and Pastore Architects Incorporated was engaged to design a $30 million hospital in Buenos Aires, Argentina.

Partner Franco Pastore said the trip was a phenomenal success. He told a local newspaper that the presence of high level federal representatives improved his company's credibility and gave it greater opportunities.

This is a good example of what can happen when we match the entrepreneurial spirit of Canadian business people with the job creation techniques of the federal government.

I say thanks to the Prime Minister and the rest of the team Canada delegation for helping to bring this contract to Sault Ste. Marie.

[Young Offenders Act, March 12th, 1998]

Mr. Speaker, my question is for the Minister of Justice.

Violent group crime by young Canadians appears to be growing. This alarming phenomenon has reared its ugly head in large and small cities and towns throughout Canada.

Will the minister commission a Canada-wide study of group violence by teenagers, and will she reform the Young Offenders Act to establish further deterrents to such crime?

[Canada Labour Code, February 20th, 1998]

Madam Speaker, I would like to ask the hon. member how Bill C-19 might impact on private sector unions in my riding of Sault Ste. Marie.

[Petitions, February 20th, 1998]

Madam Speaker, pursuant to Standing Order 36, I rise to present a petition to the House signed by 47 residents of Sault Ste. Marie.

The petitioners believe that explicit nudity in public is becoming more common and that such displays are harmful to children. They call on Parliament to amend the Criminal Code to make public female toplessness an indecent act.

[Violence, February 20th, 1998]

Mr. Speaker, something must be done about the growing problem of group violence among young Canadians. My riding of Sault Ste. Marie, like so many across the country, has witnessed a recent example of this brutal and frightening phenomenon. Two immediate courses of action are necessary.

First, we must initiate an in depth study of violence by young people. We need to find out what dark motives compel groups of teens to commit such heinous acts and what anti-social impulses allow others to take a passive role as spectators to these gruesome events.

Second, we need to reform the Young Offenders Act to establish greater deterrents to violent group crime. The Minister of Justice is preparing a response to the government review of young offenders legislation. I ask the minister to pay special attention to the rise of group violence by young people. We need to send a clear message to Canadians that we recognize the seriousness of this problem and that we are ready to take decisive action to address it.

[Flag Protocol, February 10th, 1998]

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to propose an important amendment to protocol as it relates to the lowering of flags at federal government buildings.

Currently the lowering of such flags to half mast is an honour reserved for a small group of public officials.

However, in recognition of the important work federal public servants do for our communities and our country, I encourage the Minister of Canadian Heritage to allow the lowering of flags at federal government facilities where workers are mourning the death of a colleague.

Several federal government employees in my riding of Sault Ste. Marie have requested this measure, and I fully support their proposal. In my opinion such a move would be a fitting gesture of respect and appreciation for those men and women who, without the media fanfare afforded to elected officials, perform vital services to Canadians on a daily basis.