Sarkis Assadourian

[Grandparents' Day Act, September 27th, 1994]

moved for leave to introduce Bill C-274, an act respecting a national grandparents' day.

Madam Speaker, the purpose of the bill is to recognize and celebrate grandparents in Canada. We have over four million grandparents living in North America. They take care of more than six million children.

It is extremely important that we celebrate this day by designating the second Sunday in September every year as national grandparents' day, as we do in many provinces and cities in the country.

(Motions deemed adopted adopted, bill read the first time and printed.)

[Immigration Act, September 22nd, 1994]

Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to have the opportunity to speak on the subject of Bill C-44 now before the House.

The bill marks advancement in the approach of the government toward enforcing the Immigration Act. It marks an advancement in our respect for people from around the world who come to this country. It also marks progress in the way we see Canada's role as a protector of individuals who are refugees from oppression.

Canada has been and continues to be built on the efforts and ingenuity of immigrants. They came, saw opportunity and settled. New Canadians became second generation, third generation or tenth generation Canadians. At some point in time they stopped being new Canadians and simply became Canadians.

The House has 295 members of Parliament. I submit 293 of them are new Canadians. Some are newer than I am. Some are older than I am. However new Canadians enjoy the prosperity and happiness the country provides to all.

Today at every port of entry, at Canadian embassies and consulates the world over, people ask to become the next group of new Canadians. They hope to join the rest of Canadians on our unique journey. They want to grow from who they are to whom they could become, if given the opportunities that Canada provides in abundance and that Canadians enjoy.

I believe that most people who have asked to become Canadians want to share the same feeling of pride many of our ancestors experienced when a judge, an immigration officer or a postman delivered the news of their new citizenship. They want to stand as Canadians and sing O Canada whether it is for the first time or the thousandth time. They want to be one of us, to contribute, to make a life, to create their future.

At this point I want to remind the House that every year April 17 to April 24 is Citizenship Week. This year for the first time members of Parliament in the House and the Senate and their staff gathered in the Hall of Honour to reaffirm their citizenship. When O Canada was sung I was amazed and happy to see tears in the eyes of many of the singers, including some members of Parliament, who were born here. They really enjoyed the atmosphere; there were tears in their eyes. That is the way Canada wants to have it. That is the way Canada wants to keep it.

Being a Canadian means having an open mind and an open heart. It means accepting each other's differences, celebrating them and not condemning their differences. Being a Canadian means sharing generously. Canada has much to offer those who come here. Canada offers a potential for self-development that exists in few other countries in the world. Tolerance, generosity and potential bind Canadians together, attract newcomers to our shores and brought our forebears to the country many centuries ago.

The first step on the road to obtaining Canadian citizenship is to become a landed immigrant or to be found to be a convention refugee. If we do not protect our immigration and refugee system from abuse we endanger the citizenship system, which demeans the concept of Canadian citizenship.

Bill C-44 is a manifestation of our government's responsibility to protect new, old and potential Canadians from hoodlums that would like Canadian citizenship under false pretences. A Canadian passport is a very precious possession. Inside the cover of every Canadian passport issued we can read these words:

The Secretary of State for External Affairs Canada requires that in the name of Her Majesty the Queen, all those whom it may concern to allow the bearer of this pass freely without let or hindrance and to afford the bearer such assistance as may be necessary.

And at the bottom of the facing page it reads: "The bearer of this passport is a Canadian citizen". There are people for whom these words mean nothing. The promise and protection they offer means nothing to them. They seem to come to this country to make deals, and they would abuse the system if they had the chance to do so.

Fortunately these people are few and far between. The overwhelming majority of newcomers to Canada see these words as a source of protection, pride and hope. They see these words as a chance to better themselves in a country that welcomes new Canadians. They see these words as a promise of freedom, both in Canada and abroad.

However for a tiny group of people who do not share this vision and who would abuse their status as immigrants the country has laws. We want to prohibit any serious and dangerous criminals from becoming fellow Canadians or from being able to stay here. We want to give enforcement officers the power to seize documents from international mail that might be used by people who do not deserve to have citizenship here.

We want to change some of the responsibilities of the Immigration and Refugee Board. We want to make sure that if there must be exceptions to the rule it is the minister who shall judge those exceptions and be accountable for them in the House. We want to close the loopholes that have been exploited by those who would pervert the process of becoming a Canadian citizen.

The tools to accomplish these things are in Bill C-44. It is as simple as that. By letting hoods and thugs into the country we tarnish what it means to be Canadian. We must never let that happen.

Canadians will not tolerate an abuse of our generosity. The Minister of Citizenship and Immigration said to Canada's chiefs of police last month: "No Canadian should have to accept such a slap in the face". Even a few abuses, and there are very few, destroy the trust of Canadians in our immigration system. Abuse erodes the acceptance of Canadians of a progressive immigration policy.

I call on hon. members of the House to act as Canadians want us to act, to apply the laws of Canada as Canadians want the laws applied and to continue Canada's long tradition of a tolerant, generous, progressive and enlightened immigration policy. I ask that we move swiftly to protect the integrity of the Canadian passport and give meaning to the words found inside.

To that end, I call on all members of the House to support Bill C-44. We owe it to the people of Canada who have placed their confidence in us as leaders and legislators. We owe it to our neighbourhoods, our families and our friends.

The safer Canada of tomorrow is in our hands today.

[Grandparents, September 20th, 1994]

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to pay tribute to that segment of our society we sometimes forget or overlook. With the United Nations having declared this year the International Year of the Family it is appropriate to recognize the importance of grandparents in the traditional family structure.

In provinces throughout Canada the second Sunday in September in each year has already been set aside as a day on which we honour grandparents.

I wish to extend my warmest wishes to all grandparents. We must not forget their importance to the structure of the family in the nurturing, upbringing and education of our children. Sometimes the greatest gift a child will receive will be the wisdom and experience offered by a grandparent.

I am certain many of us here today have experienced the joys of sharing a day or a special moment with a grandparent.

I urge the government to recognize the important role they play in society and set aside the second Sunday in September in each year as a day to remember grandparents.

[Goods And Services Tax, June 2nd, 1994]

Mr. Speaker, in keeping with the tradition of this 35th Parliament of providing open and constructive debates on major issues affecting Canadians such as the ones we had previously on peacekeeping and defence, I wish to ask the hon. government House leader the following question.

Will he consider the idea of a special debate in the House on the ways and means of replacing the GST so that MPs from all sides of the House will have a chance to voice their concern on this very important issue?

[Supply, June 2nd, 1994]

Mr. Speaker, I was following the remarks made by the hon. member and she demonstrated that there are no good and effective federal-regional development programs.

I was looking forward to examples from her province that would benefit the federal government so those could be implemented in all regions.

I wonder if the hon. member would be good enough to give us some examples of what the government in her province implemented for regional development within the province of Quebec.

[The Economy, May 27th, 1994]

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

Canada is beginning to see some improvement in its economy due to the promises of the government. Canadians are still worried, however, about reports of uncertainty in the financial markets and concerned over the highly unacceptable unemployment rate.

Would the Minister of Finance tell us what steps the government is taking to improve prospects for Canadians?

[Budget Implementation Act, May 26th, 1994]

Mr. Speaker, I am glad the hon. member had only 10 minutes within which to misrepresent the bill and mislead the Canadian public.

Earlier one of the speakers from his party used the phrase "my country, Quebec". I suggest if that is the case, he is in the wrong Chamber. If he wants to represent Quebec, Quebec is represented in the Senate. It is also represented by the premier of the province of Quebec. The hon. member only represents a riding in Quebec.

We are discussing Bill C-17. It deals with the unemployment insurance program which is a program for Canadians from coast to coast. We all contribute to this program to get the benefits.

Shortly after World War II, Winston Churchill was asked to make a distinction between communism and capitalism. He said: "If capitalism is the equal distribution of wealth, then communism is the equal distribution of misery".

If Canada is not good enough for some members of the Bloc, if Canada is not good enough for them to share in the prosperity of this country then no doubt their opposing the bill guarantees the people in Quebec the equal distribution of misery.

I ask my colleagues to support the bill because the bill is a job creation bill. In the last two months this government has created 115,000 jobs. This government is the only government to have 58 per cent popularity in Canada today. We have to continue with this progress until we get the maximum number of Canadians working again and bring the unemployment down, to the benefit of all Canadians.

[Gaza-Jericho Accord, May 5th, 1994]

Mr. Speaker, historical and joyous are two words which best describe the Gaza-Jericho accord, signed on Wednesday, May 4, between the PLO and Israel.

This unprecedented agreement offers new hope for a region which for many years was torn apart by bloodshed and religious differences. I wish to extend my warmest congratulations and best wishes for a lasting and progressive peace to all Palestinians and Israelis affected by the accord.

The true impact of the agreement can only be realized through honest and mutual co-operation from both sides.

It is my hope that the Government of Canada will continue to offer its support for lasting and constructive peace throughout the entire region of the Middle East.

[South Africa, May 2nd, 1994]

Mr. Speaker, Martin Luther King, one of the most prominent figures of the century, once said: "I have a dream". Today that dream is directed to South Africa and they are free again.

My question is for the Minister of Foreign Affairs. Can the minister indicate to this House what, if any, programs he is prepared to implement to help South Africa on its path to democratic and economic reform in the years to come?

[Armenian Genocide, April 22nd, 1994]

Mr. Speaker, I stand today to remember and pay tribute to 1.5 million Armenian men, women and children who were killed in the first major genocide of the 20th century, planned and executed by the government of Turkey on April 24, 1915 as a brutal final solution to the Armenian question.

My parents were not spared this tremendous suffering the Turkish government inflicted on so many individuals. As a result, like so many thousands of other Armenians, they were eventually forced to flee their homeland, leaving behind all their belongings.

As a citizen of Canada I wish to take this moment and condemn this unforgivable act of human aggression and ethnic cleansing.

Similarly I call upon the Government of Canada to recognize and condemn the Armenian genocide and formally request the Turkish government to assume responsibility for this atrocity once and for all as Germany did for the six million Jews in World War II.

In conclusion, I ask all MPs to join their fellow Canadians of Armenian descent at a demonstration on Parliament Hill on Sunday, April 24 at 12.30 p.m.