Elinor Caplan

[Immigration, March 9th, 2004]

Mr. Speaker, my question is for the Minister of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness.

The Canada-U.S. 30-point smart border plan included a provision for a safe third country agreement. As the minister knows, up to 60% of refugee claimants arriving in Canada come from the United States, which is a Geneva signator country and offers safety to refugees in need.

I would ask the minister today if she could tell us if the safe third country agreement has been implemented.

[Contraventions Act, March 8th, 2004]

Madam Speaker, there is a question that I would pose to the member opposite. It would appear to me that his party's position is inconsistent with what he has had to say and that is because the law is being inconsistently applied today. We have a situation where in the big cities the police are, rightly, looking at grow operations as a priority and are often not clogging the courts and not charging young people with simple possession, while in the smaller towns across this country young people are ending up with criminal records that affect their lives and careers.

I would add to this analysis that at the very same time he and his party are very supportive of anti-smoking laws because he knows that smoking is bad, whether it is smoking tobacco, marijuana or any other substance. We know that cancer causing carcinogens are in marijuana as well as tobacco. Therefore, surely this legislation, which says marijuana is bad, should be supported by his party in that instead of having the criminal law applied inconsistently across this country, a series of fines and penalties hopefully will send out the message that smoking is bad.

[Middle East, February 26th, 2004]

Mr. Speaker, my question is for the hon. Minister of Foreign Affairs. It is about the events taking place in The Hague.

The Palestinian authority is currently challenging the legality of Israel's security fence in the International Court. Israel does not recognize the jurisdiction of the International Court to rule on matters of its internal security.

Many constituents and individuals would like to know, what is Canada's position regarding these proceedings?

[Committees of the House, February 13th, 2004]

Mr. Speaker, if the House gives its consent, I move that the second report of the Standing Committee on Procedure and House Affairs presented to the House earlier this day be concurred in.

[Committees of the House, February 13th, 2004]

Mr. Speaker, I have the honour to present the second report of the Standing Committee on Procedure and House Affairs regarding the review of radio and television broadcasting of the proceedings of the House. If the House gives its consent, I intend to move concurrence in the second report later this day.

[Yechezkel Goldberg, February 4th, 2004]

Mr. Speaker, on the morning of January 29, Canadians woke to the tragic news of another horrific incident of a bus blown apart in Israel.

Dr. Yechezkel Goldberg, of Blessed Memory, was on Jerusalem bus 19. He was murdered in a senseless and appalling act of terrorism which targeted, once again, the innocent.

Dr. Goldberg, of blessed memory, a Canadian, grew up in Toronto and sang with the Toronto Boy Choir which celebrated Jewish music. He was an observant Jew, graduated from the University of Toronto and was an internationally renowned psychologist who tried to help and specialized in helping troubled teenagers.

I paid a shiva visit to his family in Thornhill and I could not find any words of comfort because of the outrage and terrible sadness that is shared by all of the Jewish community and all civilized people everywhere.

I say to his wife Shifra, their seven children, his brothers, sisters and mother, that their unbearable pain is shared. We pray for an end to violence and bloodshed and pray as well for a return to sanity in our world and peace in Israel.

[Canada Customs and Revenue Agency, November 6th, 2003]

Mr. Speaker, everything I said yesterday in the House was correct.

I would say to the member opposite, he should be aware that in the year 2001 changes to the Customs Act, which were fully debated in the House, made a provision for an administrative review where errors had been made in seizures so they could be dealt with without going through the long and cumbersome adjudication procedures. That applies for all cases, and that law, after full debate, was passed in the House in 2001.

I will say very clearly, if people abuse our programs, they lose it.

[Canada-U.S. Border, November 5th, 2003]

No, Mr. Speaker. In fact, it is not intended that any security measures would seriously have an impact on traffic in Windsor. The original site that was discussed was the Windsor Walkerville site. We have now been informed that the other site has been looked at. We have been very clear that any solutions to the pre-clearance issue must not have a negative impact by blocking intersections or a negative impact on traffic. The matter is under review by all parties.

[Canada Customs and Revenue Agency, November 5th, 2003]

Mr. Speaker, the member knows that customs legislation and privacy legislation do not permit me to speak to any individual case.

But in all cases, for all Canadians, if proper procedures are not followed, then the agency has the authority, at the local level, to reverse a seizure decision that is in the interest of saving time and expense for the agency, and also for the individual; however, nobody gets a free ride. Taxes and duties must always be paid.

[Canada Customs and Revenue Agency, November 5th, 2003]

Mr. Speaker, not at all.

I want to be absolutely clear on this. I will not permit anyone to hurt the integrity of the customs program.

I also want to be clear that nobody gets a free ride. The seizure of goods, whether it be wine or anything else, is reversed if an error has occurred.

We make every effort to ensure that when individual rights or customs procedures are not followed, that the reversal happens expeditiously if we know we are not going to be successful through the adjudication process. If the seizure is reversed, the individual still has to pay taxes and duties.