Elsie Wayne

[Contraventions Act, February 25th, 2004]

Do I want to repeat?

[Contraventions Act, February 25th, 2004]

I said, Mr. Speaker--

[Contraventions Act, February 25th, 2004]

What I did was I asked her if she was high.

[Contraventions Act, February 25th, 2004]

We never said it's all right. What you have done is wrong.

[Contraventions Act, February 25th, 2004]

Mr. Speaker, I rise today because I am really worried about what we have done in the House of Commons with regard to this bill.

I did a research paper from the University of California, Berkeley. That research paper, and others who helped me, showed that the first marijuana cigarette that a person smokes goes into the brain cells and stays there for nine days. It affects the way one thinks, the way one feels, and one's whole attitude.

Also, I had worked at a church before I came up here. There were 23 young people who came from the local high school every day at noon hour and a man gave them marijuana every day. He gave it to them until they became addicted, and it is addictive. This is something I do not think the government realizes.

I told the minister of my church that I was going to go out and tell those kids that I would buy them hot dogs and pop and that I would bring them in. However, they could not smoke up before this. If they smoked up afterwards, we would not call the police. I said that I wanted to see if we could get them out of the alleyway.

It took a few weeks, but we finally got them out of the alleyway and we were able to get them away from the man who wanted them to pay for their marijuana.

Five Christmas Eve's ago my doorbell rang back home. I went to the door and this gentleman was standing there. He said, “Mrs. Wayne, do you remember me?” I told him that his face was familiar. He told me that his mom and dad were in the car and that he had just came back from Toronto. I said, “Your Tony” and I asked him what he was doing. He told me that he was a draftsman in Toronto. He said that if I had not taken him out of that alleyway, he would be laying there now on cocaine.

If they do get caught with a small amount of marijuana, they should get a penalty, and they will be pardoned. We have been able to pardon some. I do not understand how anyone on the government side could say it is all right for them to have--

[Petitions, February 25th, 2004]

Mr. Speaker, I have three petitions to present.

The first petition has 326 signatures and they are from all across the country. It deals with the definition of marriage.

It states that whereas marriage, as the lasting union of a man and woman to the exclusion of others, cannot and should not be modified by a legislative act or a court of law, and whereas the recent rulings of the appeal courts of Ontario and B.C. redefining marriage to include same sex partners destroys traditional marriage in law and endangers Canada's social stability and future viability and health, we request that Parliament take whatever action is necessary to maintain the current definition of marriage in law and perpetuity and to prevent any court from overturning or amending that definition.

The second petition, with another 100 signatures, comes from out west to Ontario and into the maritime provinces. It contains the same statement with regard to marriage.

The third petition, with another 96 signatures, also calls upon Parliament to take whatever action is required to maintain the current definition of marriage in law and perpetuity and to prevent any court from overturning or amending that definition.

[National Defence, February 24th, 2004]

Mr. Speaker, a report by Queen's University and the Conference of Defence Associations has predicted the air force will likely disappear by the year 2013, and maybe the army and navy will disappear in the same timeframe. This occurred because of years of Liberal neglect of our military.

The current Prime Minister presided over the largest national defence cuts in recent history: over $20 billion since the Liberals took power in 1993.

The Canadian Forces are currently facing a half billion dollar shortfall. The situation is so dire that senior defence officials are talking about closing bases in the Atlantic provinces, Quebec, Ontario and western Canada.

Since 1993 our military has had to deduct funds from the equipment portion of the defence budget in order to pay for the maintenance and operations. The Liberals have sacrificed our future military force to pay today's bills.

Frankly, the Prime Minister's defence policy is casting doubt in the eyes of our allies and destroying the morale in the hearts of our soldiers, sailors and air personnel.

[Petitions, February 24th, 2004]

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to present a petition with 376 names from all across the country. The petition says that: whereas protecting the moral good of society is a natural and serious obligation of elected officials and cannot be left only to religious leaders and institutions; whereas the defence of traditional marriage as the bond between one man and one women is a serious moral good; whereas marriage as the lasting union of a man and a woman to the exclusion of all others cannot and should not be modified by a legislative act or a court of law; and whereas the recent rulings of the appeal courts of Ontario and B.C. redefining marriage to include same sex partners destroys traditional marriage in law and endangers Canada's social stability and future vitality and health, we request that Parliament take whatever action is required to maintain the current definition of marriage in law, in perpetuity and to prevent any court from overturning or amending that definition.

[Veterans Affairs, February 18th, 2004]

Mr. Speaker, last week Canadians were shocked to learn that 175 veterans' graves were without headstones because of a lack of funding.

Families of eligible veterans were told that their loved ones would be laid to rest without a headstone and that their names would be added to a six year waiting list.

The problem is that the federal government has not ensured that the last post fund has the money it needs to ensure a timely distribution of these important memorials.

Since this story first broke I am pleased to report that Canadians have banded together to answer the call. A flood of public donations from families and schools have come in, allowing project managers to say that the backlog will be eliminated by the end of the summer.

The Minister of Veterans Affairs has said that he will not increase funding and that he is happy to let the public pay.

These brave veterans are national heroes and their memory is being dishonoured each and every day that their graves go unmarked.

Why will the government not do the right thing and act now?

[Sponsorship Program, February 17th, 2004]

I am sorry, Mr. Speaker, yes indeed.

There is a hidden cost to this scandal. The $250 million lost in this scandal is the total annual tax of 30,000 Canadians. Thirty thousand Canadians had their pockets picked by the government. Their hard-earned tax dollars disappeared because of the culture of corruption in the Liberal Party.

If the Prime Minister is sincere in getting to the bottom of this issue, why has he waited 67 days to ask his ministers--