Jane Stewart

[Aboriginal Nurses Day, May 12th, 1995]

Mr. Speaker, it is a pleasure for me to remind the House that tomorrow is Aboriginal Nurses Day. I extend to aboriginal nurses my congratulations and more particularly to the Aboriginal Nurses Association which is celebrating its 20th anniversary.

From a group of 41 nurses that came together in Montreal 20 years ago, this association has grown to a membership of 300 and continues to have a strong voice on behalf of aboriginal health. It serves as a great role model for Canadian youth.

The association strives to improve the health of aboriginal peoples and to encourage them to take responsibility for their own health and social problems.

The government strongly supports this initiative and I know all hon. members would like to join with me to congratulate aboriginal nurses on this important day.

[Grand River, May 1st, 1995]

Mr. Speaker, running through the centre of my riding is the beautiful Grand. On the shores of this heritage river is the flora associated with a rare and exotic Carolinian ecosystem.

Determined to sustain and improve our understanding of this ecosystem, the Grand Valley Trails Association applied to the federal government for support under the environmental partners fund so it could plant restorative vegetation and build pathways along the river front.

The Brantford environmental education project was approved and as a result we now have a remarkable partnership. The Brant Waterways Foundation, the Grand River Conservation Authority and the city of Brantford have all joined together to help manage this spectacular project in our community.

Last Thursday we all came together to celebrate the official opening of the pathways. They are marvellous. I congratulate the five partners in the project and invite everyone to come to Brantford to enjoy our Carolinian ecosystem along the Grand River.

[Alternative Fuels Act, April 26th, 1995]

moved that Bill S-7, an act to accelerate the use of alternative fuels for motor vehicles, be read the first time.

(Motion agreed to and bill read the first time.)

[Land Mines, April 26th, 1995]

Mr. Speaker, millions of land mines are buried in countries around the world, inhibiting post-war reconstruction and killing hundreds of men and women every month.

The UN will be convening in September to discuss strengthening its conventions regulating the trade and the use of land mines.

I ask the Minister of Foreign Affairs whether Canada, a world leader in de-mining activities, will support a ban and a moratorium on the use and international trade of land mines?

[Operation Home Front, April 6th, 1995]

Mr. Speaker, this past Christmas, residents of Brant, led by Sheila Enslev and the Dunsdon Legion organized Operation Home Front to send support packages to our peacekeepers overseas. This idea was inspired by a study trip to Bosnia during which Ms. Enslev saw firsthand the valuable contributions made by our peacekeepers.

The response from the community was overwhelming and 172 packages were sent to Canadian troops stationed in Bosnia. One soldier wrote back and said: "You showed me that there are people who care and know we exist".

As the Easter season approaches, Operation Home Front will be extending its services to include our troops in the Golan Heights and in Haiti.

In light of the negative media that has recently accompanied our military operations abroad, it is important that Canadians everywhere recognize and appreciate the good work our peacekeepers have done and continue to do.

I want to say on behalf of our community, thanks to Sheila and the members of the Dunsdon Legion, for giving us an opportunity to say thank you to our peacekeepers.

[Multiculturalism, April 5th, 1995]

Mr. Speaker, I would like to follow up on a question I asked the Minister of Justice on February 15. It regards the disturbing trend whereby defence lawyers subpoena private and confidential files and records from counsellors at sexual assault centres, from psychiatrists, doctors and other personal counsellors for use in the defence of their clients.

I thank the minister for his attention to this issue and for his informed response. However, I would like to share with the House the angst and concern that exists among constituents in my riding when they think of these personal documents being brought into the courtroom.

I like to share with the House some words from a constituent who wrote to me: "For many of us, the only safe place to talk about our injuries is in therapy. Therapy is a place where victims can learn to re-establish their own self-worth without being abused again. The counsellor offers the support that is desperately needed in order to learn how to set safe boundaries, learn about self-worth, the right to privacy, that it is okay to say no, it is okay to validate our own needs, it is okay to be angry and how to express that anger in a safe and constructive manner.

"In therapy, we learn that we are not powerless to our perpetrators and that it was not okay to be violated in the manner in which we were. We are given a place to safely express our emotions and validate our own feelings, even if we are the only ones that do. For many of us this is the only safe support that we have.

"This is a very sad day because now the defence lawyers want to take away what little privacy we as victims have and violate us all over again. My therapy is very personal to me. I can talk about my pain and my goals, my hopes and my fears. I pay good money for the right for that support to allow me to create my own boundaries. I urge you as a representative of my government to stop this injustice".

Those words are poignant and they are instructive. They tell us that victims of violence do not want these very private and therapeutic conversations to be part of the courtroom proceedings.

In 1992 the House passed very good legislation with the rape shield law. We know recently that in Nova Scotia the law was challenged and fortunately, the Minister of Justice intervened and the integrity of that law was maintained. With this right to subpoena we see a back door approach to get confidential information into the courtrooms where it should not be and where it creates difficulties for people like my constituent.

I know the minister is working very hard on this. I know he has intervened in the Supreme Court case that is reviewing the result of a B.C. appeal that would require strict controls over the use of this information in court. I thank the minister for that intervention. I hope the Supreme Court will judge in favour and allow the result of the appeal in the B.C. judgment to be available to all of us in Canada.

I ask the minister to continue his diligent review in this regard. I realize the issues are complex, but I ask him to find a balance between providing a fair trial for the accused and for the victim a right to privacy.

[Points Of Order, March 29th, 1995]

Mr. Speaker, earlier today in a statement to the House I inadvertently and mistakenly mentioned that there were 110 land mines buried in 62 countries across the world. In fact, there are not 110 and there are not 110,000. There are 110 million. I want to make it perfectly clear to the House the magnitude of this terrible plague.

[Land Mines, March 29th, 1995]

Mr. Speaker, one of the greatest barriers to international development efforts comes as a result of the devastating impact of buried land mines. I would like to draw to the attention of the House the fact that there are 110 land mines buried in 62 countries across the world. Each month 800 people, many of them children, die as a result of stepping on one of these.

The problem is getting worse because the international community can only clear about 100,000 mines in a year. In the same time frame nearly two million more are buried.

Land mines obstruct post-war reconstruction. In Angola, 25 per cent of the food production capacity is lost because farmers cannot get into the fields. In Mozambique, a serious drought has been exacerbated.

Land mines do not stop for foreign aid. They do not stop for development and they do not stop for peace. They are always at war. I call on our government to work carefully and closely with our international partners to find the solution to this modern day plague.

[Petitions, March 23rd, 1995]

Madam Speaker, I am tabling two petitions in which the petitioners request that Parliament support legislation which will improve public safety and reduce the criminal use of guns.

[Supply, March 16th, 1995]

Mr. Speaker, I know a number of the women who for many years have participated on the Advisory Council for the Status of Women and say that we have appreciated the work they have done over the last number of years.

I believe that the announcement made by the minister was a good one. It essentially brings together disparate sectors that have been focusing on improving the status of women in the country in a consolidated effort. In a consolidated way we will be able to make significant progress in effort and on behalf of women with her announcement.