Hec Clouthier

[Diocese Of Pembroke, June 2nd, 1998]

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to pay tribute to the Diocese of Pembroke in my great riding of Renfrew—Nipissing—Pembroke on the occasion of its 100th anniversary.

It was on May 4, 1898 that Pope Leo XIII raised the Vicariate of Pontiac to the status of a diocese with Bishop Narcisse Lorrain presiding. Since Bishop Lorrain there have been five bishops appointed to oversee the Diocese of Pembroke: Bishop Ryan, Bishop Nelligan, Bishop Windle, Bishop Smith and the current Bishop Brendan O'Brien.

On June 7, 1998, this Sunday, a mass of thanksgiving will be offered at the Pembroke Memorial Centre to celebrate this very auspicious occasion, to recognize the contributions of pioneers such as Bishop Lorrain and to reflect on the courage and generosity of our diocesan ancestors.

I congratulate Bishop O'Brien, Monsignor Barry and all those connected with this centennial celebration.

Congratulations, my friends.

[Criminal Records Act, May 15th, 1998]

Mr. Speaker, I am rushing on. There was a lead up to Bill C-284.

We are talking about pardoning. I have to bring a subject up because we have had some people—and I hate to say this being their federal member of parliament—of disrepute who on occasion have gone through the pardoning system, or have attempted to go through the pardoning system, or on occasion perhaps should have used or taken advantage of the system of pardoning as distributed by the solicitor general.

One person was a man in Stonecliffe, Ontario by the name of Wild Willie Buckshot. It is too bad that the hon. member from Souris is not here because as the story goes with this pardoning, he actually rode with the notorious outlaw Jesse James. This is a true story. He said that Jesse James fell off his horse while robbing a bank and he went back and picked up Jesse James and rescued him. For this very humane act he was charged under the Criminal Code with aiding and abetting a robbery. He believed that he should have received a pardon.

I am not sure whether or not he did get a pardon but the gist of the story is that Wild Willie Buckshot turned out to be a very respectable member of that community. As a matter of fact he became known as one of the premier lumbermen in that area. He happened to also have a chicken farm. I do not know how they both relate but it is just to show the system of pardoning.

We then had a former mayor of the city of Pembroke by the name of Angus A. Campbell who believed that he was wrongly done by because they put a bypass around the community of Petawawa. It went through his farm.

If the hon. member listens and pays strict attention he will see the end of where I am coming to in this pardoning system. I understand this is a private members' bill and that I am at a luxury here to go about this in a roundabout way. On occasion many of the members speaking have been rather abrupt with it, giving all the nuances of this bill. I am just taking a different cut on it.

When I speak about the former mayor of the city of Pembroke, what he did was very appropriate. He stood in the middle of Highway 17 with a shotgun and stopped all traffic on both sides of the king's highway. As a result of that there was a possibility that he would be charged. He wanted an outlet into his property because it was hurting his place of business.

Would that person be an offensive person to the community? I do not think he would be. I do not believe that he would. Perhaps the members opposite would think so. He became the vice-president of the Canadian Association of Mayors.

Then we had a lawyer called Maloney. Members may be interested in this. He was a criminal lawyer of note. He went into the court system. He had a person who had been charged. In his presentation before the judge he clearly indicated to the judge that the person had not lied since he was rocked in a cradle. As a result of that the judge dispensed justice in the appropriate manner. He pardoned his sins, if we want to look at it in that regard. How this lawyer pulled this grandiose feat off was he rocked the person in a cradle in his chambers before he went into the court system.

I realize that my time is running out and I want to get to the real point. Apparently one in ten Canadians have a criminal record. That would lead me to believe that, and perhaps I should not extrapolate from this, but the loyal opposition has 60 members and perhaps six of them have a criminal record. If they have done something of disrepute and want to be pardoned for that, they can appeal to the solicitor general. I cannot see any problem in that if there is some justification to the pardoning process.

When we come to sexual offences concerning young children, the basis of my talk has been that we cannot take a broad brush and paint the entire society in a negative fashion because of things done in a repugnant manner by a small minority. I believe Bill C-284 is going to address the concerns of the people who can take advantage of the pardoning system in a fair and equitable manner.

Rest assured, Mr. Speaker, and hon. members opposite, that it will be the Liberal Party of Canada that will continue to look after and care for the benefits of all people irrespective of age, gender and nationality. Goodness gracious, we will even look after members of the Conservative Party if they so desire.

[Criminal Records Act, May 15th, 1998]

Mr. Speaker, it gives me great pleasure to speak about Bill C-284 regarding amending the Criminal Records Act. Before I get into the nuts and bolts of the act I will give a little background information to the whole system of pardoning in not the entire history of civilization but since ancient times, which perhaps only the member from Surrey North might remember considering the colour of his hair. I think he is much more antiquated than I.

In ancient times apparently it was a monarch's privilege to distribute these pardons to anyone who had committed an atrocious act. I am thinking of King Zeus. He was a very compassionate person, much like Mr. Speaker sitting on the throne dispensing justice wisely and profoundly to all of us mere peons.

Then I rush ahead to merry old England, which was not merry old England to tell the truth, when King Henry VIII was the monarch. He was not so compassionate in his distribution of justice to those who disagreed with him or who had the misfortune of marrying him; almost as unfortunate as some person having the misfortune of marrying the member for Calgary Southeast. However that is food for thought for another time.

I go on to think about what kings we have in Canada who perhaps could distribute this justice. The only king I can think of in Canada is the King of Kensington. If anyone has been to Toronto's Kensington market on a Friday afternoon, I would think that the King of Kensington would most certainly be distributing justice and fairness and pardoning my sins if he could somehow prevent me from being at that market.

I would much sooner appear at the Calabogie market as you perhaps, Mr. Speaker, might indulge in doing on Saturday, knowing full well that you happen to be travelling up to the great riding of Renfrew—Nipissing—Pembroke. The Calabogie flea market as you may or may not know, Mr. Speaker, as you very infrequently leave your humble abode on the beautiful shores of the Madawaska River, dispenses all sorts of goodies, the most common and famous of which would be the maple syrup. If you desire to go to that market, Mr. Speaker, I am sure that somehow we could arrange that for you, not by a chauffeured limousine but by a horse and buggy.

Let us rush on to the system of pardoning. When I speak about pardoning I am talking—

[Supply, May 14th, 1998]

Mr. Speaker, the member has a problem with the way he sees money.

My apologies. I speak French like an Ottawa valley logger. My French is not as clear as that spoken in Paris.

The hon. member has a big problem with money. Permit me to point out that, before the last election, the Progressive Conservative Party was talking about cutting $800 million from the defence budget. The member said the Liberal Party showed no respect in its handling of the helicopter and submarine acquisitions, but it is the Conservatives who decided to cut some $800 million.

I might ask my colleague to comment on that.

[Supply, May 14th, 1998]

I am getting to the question. I just had to set the record straight. I will rush to the conclusion.

With regard to the veterans he would be interested to know that the veterans in Canada have without a doubt the best compensation of any veterans in the entire world. I would ask him, if he would care to do so, to respond to my question.

[Supply, May 14th, 1998]

Mr. Speaker, I congratulate the hon. member for West Nova especially the genesis of his talk. He seemed to be using all the correct terminology when speaking about our military being honourable, dedicated, devoted and hard working. Then he reached a certain point in his discourse where he went downhill faster than an Ottawa valley otter could slide into the local creek, on his belly I might add.

The hon. member raised the case of the helicopters and was rather creative in his methodology. I had a math teacher in high school who certainly would disagree. In the first instance he was talking about $5 billion with the Conservative government, and then the Liberal government did the right thing and put the helicopter bidding process out for public bid. It received the best bid that it possibly could get, although personally I was a little disappointed that Boeing, which is in my riding of Renfrew—Nipissing—Pembroke, was not the successful bidder. We saved literally hundreds of millions of dollars in the awarding of that contract.

The member said there were certain reprisals for people who appeared before the defence committee which has been travelling throughout the country. Many people do not realize that committee members from all political parties have been doing an absolutely outstanding job.

I might say to the member for West Nova that even a member from his particular party has not been real conservative in his thinking when it comes to looking after the spouses and members of the military. He should inquire from his colleague in his own caucus. All people who appeared before the committee have been told very explicitly that there will be no reprisals whatsoever.

[International Trade, May 14th, 1998]

Mr. Speaker, this is for the benefit of the member for Calgary East. I rise today to reflect on the Leader of the Opposition's comments concerning the Prime Minister's team Canada missions.

The trip to Latin America included representatives from more than 180 Canadian companies, 80% of them small and medium size businesses generating more than 300 deals worth $1.7 billion. That is some photo op.

The Summit of the Americas marked the launch of negotiations for a free trade area involving 34 countries, a market of 800 million people and about $10 trillion. That is some photo op.

Many members of the opposition could be called frequent flyers. However their travel ends in no op as in no opportunity for Canadians.

Team Canada missions led by the Prime Minister have secured deals worth close to $24 billion. That is the photo op as in opportunities for Canadians and Canadian business—

[Francophones Outside Quebec, May 11th, 1998]

Mr. Speaker, last Thursday when the Reform Party released its so-called new Canada act, its leader said it contained some of Reform's best ideas for strengthening the federation.

If Reform wants to know what Canadians think of its best ideas, the francophone communities outside Quebec, including mine in the riding of Renfrew—Nipissing—Pembroke, have responded with a big no thank you.

These groups have told the Reform Party that there must continue to be a strong role for the federal government in ensuring that the rights of the official language minorities are safeguarded. Canada's francophones recognize this would not be possible if the federal government were to simply abdicate its responsibility to the provinces as Reform would have us do.

Reform's old ideas about abandoning official language minorities do not look any better now that they have been reprinted with a fancy new cover. They are still bad news for francophones outside Quebec. That is why Canadians continue to reject them.

You have another think coming, my friends.

[Michel Lachance, April 30th, 1998]

Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to salute a super star of the horse racing world.

Michel Lachance was born on a farm, close to the small village of Saint-Augustin, in Quebec. He has won over 8,000 races, and he is the only Quebec horseman to have won more than $100 million in purses, which is a tremendous accomplishment.

I know him personally, since I had the privilege of racing against him. Michel Lachance is also a man of great qualities, who has worked very hard to reach the pinnacle of his profession.

Thank you Michel Lachance for representing your family, your province and your country so well. We wish you all the best in the future.

[Natural Disasters, April 29th, 1998]

Mr. Speaker, when I looked at the news today I was appalled to see the member for York South—Weston trivialize the damage and suffering caused by the ice storm and floods to millions of Canadians.

To say that their hardship consisted of the lights going out and the occasional flooded basement is as callous as it is uninformed.

Do I need to remind the member that families were without light, without heat, without water in the dead of a Canadian winter? Do I need to remind him of the human toll? The ice storm and floods caused damage to many of my constituents in the riding of Renfrew—Nipissing—Pembroke.

I cannot accept this type of cheap politics. Obviously the member is a dork—oh, I am sorry, Mr. Speaker, is in the dark.