Dawn Black

[Petitions, April 3rd, 2008]

Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to rise today to present a petition that calls for the suspension of the security and prosperity partnership that is going on now. The petitioners, some 200 from the lower mainland region of Vancouver, are adding their names to the many thousands that have been presented by New Democrats here. They say that the implementation of the SPP further advances the goal of continental economic integration and that there is a very big concern around security, energy, food and health standards, and the shrinking opportunities for Canadian policy makers and governments.

They call on Parliament to stop further implementation of the SPP and ask for a democratic mandate from the people of Canada, for parliamentary oversight, and for consideration of its profound consequences on Canada's existence as a sovereign nation. They ask us to conduct transparent and accountable public debate on the SPP, involving meaningful public consultations and a full legislative review. These 200 names are added to the thousands that already have been presented by New Democrat members of Parliament on this very important issue for all Canadians.

[Afghanistan, April 1st, 2008]

Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister's position yesterday was clear until the Minister of National Defence suggested that a deal was not necessary by the end of the summit. Now, we have the Minister of Foreign Affairs suggesting that we have 11 more months to find the 1,000 soldiers.

Will the government be straight? Will it be straight with the Canadian people, with Parliament, with our brave troops, and with their families? Which is it: Does this decision for additional troops need to be made before the end of the NATO summit in Bucharest, or is there now a new deadline?

[Afghanistan, April 1st, 2008]

Mr. Speaker, yesterday, in response to a question from the leader of the NDP on the extension of the war in Afghanistan, the Prime Minister said, “I have always been clear that if our conditions are not met, we will withdraw”.

Reports indicate that French President Sarkozy will not deploy 1,000 troops to Kandahar. Will the government make it clear that, without an agreement from NATO member nations at the summit, Canada will withdraw from Kandahar as the Prime Minister said in this House yesterday?

[Afghanistan, March 13th, 2008]

Mr. Speaker, I and others have been trying for almost two years to access documents concerning possible torture and abuse in Afghan prisons, but the government has refused, on every occasion, everyone who has asked for the information. The chair of the MPCC has made it clear the government has refused to release documents to his investigation, documents that the commission has requested over and over again.

For the Minister of Public Safety, will Correctional Service Canada hand over all relevant documents requested by the MPCC without delay? Will it do that?

[Afghanistan, March 13th, 2008]

Mr. Speaker, for over a year now the government has been stonewalling its own Military Police Complaints Commission investigation of the treatment of detainees in Afghanistan. Now there are concerns that the government will not give the complaints commission the resources it needs to carry out its lawful investigation.

My question is for the President of the Treasury Board. Will the MPCC get the funds it needs to pursue the public investigation? Will the minister guarantee in this House today that the MPCC will get the resources it needs?

[Afghanistan, March 13th, 2008]

Mr. Speaker, I also listened to the member from Winnipeg and her speech today.

I met with the Afghan women parliamentarians that she spoke of in her speech and they told me that a week before they came here a woman was publicly stoned to death by her husband in Afghanistan. These kinds of abuses against women continue unabated.

In fact, they talked about the number of women who commit suicide in Afghanistan by setting themselves on fire. They talked about how forced marriages for young girls are still an ongoing practice. It is important to paint an accurate picture of what is happening in Afghanistan.

One said that when she was there after the fall of the Taliban, she could drive the highway to Kabul safely, and now, even though we have paved that road, she cannot drive on that road. She said that the Taliban shake down citizens in Kandahar at night and the police shake them down in the day time.

I would like to ask the member, exactly how does she advocate support for extending this war by three years when we cannot even get a cost assessment from the government on how much it is going to cost the Canadian taxpayer?

[Business of Supply, March 6th, 2008]

Mr. Speaker, does the hypocrisy of the Liberal Party know no bounds, none at all?

Blaming the opposition parties for the Liberals' defeat speaks to their own sense of entitlement. That is what Canadians got fed up with.

In the 2006 election, 70% of Canadians voted for parties other than the Liberal Party. I think the official opposition needs a little history lesson. In April 2005 the Liberal prime minister of the day went on television and told Canadians that he planned on calling an election in nine months. On November 28 of the same year, the Liberals lost a vote in Parliament and Parliament was dissolved. That was only 46 days earlier than the Liberal prime minister had indicated the election would be. It just defies any kind of common sense.

Is the member trying to tell Parliament and the Canadian people that in 46 days the Liberals would have solved the child care problem in this country, solved the environmental crisis in the country, and brought in changes to the environment programs that would have cleaned up the environment? Is the member trying to tell us that the terrible record of Canadian governments in terms of aboriginal people in this country, that in 46 days the Liberals would have solved all those problems if the opposition parties had not brought the Liberal government down?

[Business of Supply, March 6th, 2008]

Mr. Speaker, we can recall the 1993 election campaign, in which the official opposition campaigned on creating 150,000 child care spaces and made a solemn commitment in its first red book to do that. All these years later, we still have no national child care program in Canada. The Liberals did not do it. The Conservatives refuse to do it.

The member who just spoke talked about choice in child care and about how her government is reinstituting the old family allowance plan, essentially, in providing some funding directly to families who have young children. However, how does that create choice in child care if we do not have the spaces? It is well documented there is a dramatic shortage of child care spaces. Working families are panicking when parents need to get back to work and cannot find an adequate child care space for their children.

Specifically, can the member tell me how a pre-tax income of $100 a month helps families find an affordable, accessible child care space for their kids?

[Business of Supply, March 6th, 2008]

Mr. Speaker, perhaps it is important, then, to look at the timeline of the defeat of the Liberal government in 2005. In April of that year, the member for LaSalle—Émard said to Canadians on television that he planned to call an election in nine months.

The New Democratic Party agreed in the House to support the Liberals for the three months it took to rewrite the 2005 budget. We took $4.6 billion in Liberal corporate tax cuts and redirected that money into transit, housing and post-secondary education.

In 2005, my leader went to the leader of the government and asked for a working agreement on health care funding. The Liberal prime minister of the day refused.

On November 28, the Liberals lost a vote in the House of Commons. The so-called early election occurred only six weeks before the Liberal prime minister said he was going to call an election.

Now the Liberals say they were going to secure child care in 46 days. That is where--

[Business of Supply, March 6th, 2008]

Mr. Speaker, I would be delighted to address the whole issue of housing in this country.

Ten per cent of women who seek shelter are turned away due to lack of space in shelters for battered women in this country.

Canada is one of only two developed countries that does not have a comprehensive national housing strategy. The official opposition had the opportunity for 13 years while in government to ensure that we did have a national housing strategy and neglected to do anything about it.

It is true that the previous Mulroney government cut funding for social housing projects, but it was the Liberal government that eliminated the program altogether and took no action to reinstate a national housing program in this country.