Sheila Finestone

[Privacy, February 2nd, 1998]

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

Health cards, credit cards, smart cards, all types of electronic commerce and the trade and sale of the information that they hold directly affects our privacy. Our study here in the House showed that once privacy is lost, it can never be regained.

What is the government doing in this new high tech world to protect the privacy of our personal information particularly in the private sector?

[Land Mines, December 4th, 1997]

Mr. Speaker, as hon. members are aware, history is being made in Ottawa this week. More than 120 nations have signed a treaty to ban land mines.

Joining us in the gallery today are several land mine survivors. Judy and Bruce Isfeld from Courtney, B.C. lost their son Mark, a Canadian peacekeeper, to a land mine. They are here representing Canadian survivors. Mines Action Canada has brought here for this conference people from around the world who have been disabled by land mines. In the gallery are Song Kosal, Tun Chunarreth and Sokeng, all from Cambodia.

I invite my colleagues to join in paying tribute to the courage and the remarkable will demonstrated by these land mine survivors here in our gallery, and to come to Room 200 West Block to meet them after question period and to bring their staff. They deserve our support.

[Interparliamentary Delegations, December 4th, 1997]

Madam Speaker, as chairman of the Canadian group of the Interparliamentary Union, I have the honour to present to the House in both official languages the report of the Canadian group of the Interparliamentary Union which represented Canada at the 98th interparliamentary conference held in Cairo, Egypt from September 10 to 16, 1997.

[Land Mines, December 2nd, 1997]

Mr. Speaker, a recent trip to the Middle East with the foreign affairs minister gave me occasion to see firsthand the devastation caused by the use of anti-personnel land mines, particularly to our peacekeepers and innocent children. Unlike other military weapons, land mines lie in wait buried in the ground for innocent unsuspecting victims, killing and maiming every 22 minutes every day.

The Ottawa round tables are planning the substance for concrete measurable actions to secure limbs, lands and lives. Ottawa is hosting more than 120 countries today ready to sign a treaty banning the use, production, transfer and stockpiling of anti-personnel mines, as well as to destroy existing stockpiles and to demine within 10 years.

All countries will have to co-operate with a compliance regime. The Canadian government and NGO organizations aim for a total ban of these mines. We must mobilize not simply to sign the treaty but to ratify it, to give aid to victims and proceed to demine, stopping these crimes against humanity.

[Jacques Parizeau, November 26th, 1997]

Mr. Speaker, Jacques Parizeau said yesterday that his money and ethnic votes statement is not a claim, it is a statistic.

Statistics or not, we live in a country with freedom of expression and with the right to feel that we are full citizens. As citizens who have and do contribute to the well-being of our city, province and country, we are entitled to our ethnic views, our vote and our choice for a future in Canada.

Mr. Parizeau is not an ordinary citizen. He was the premier of our province and as such had an obligation to include, with respect, all citizens regardless of their perspective. His xenophobia is unacceptable.

The same goes for Mr. Bouchard who stated that he is “a fervent admirer of Mr. Parizeau and that he is one of the most brilliant political figures of his generation, an extraordinary man”. Sadly Mr. Bouchard is entitled to his narrow vision but it is not the opinion shared by the majority of Quebeckers. We have the right to our opinions, our choice for our future and that of our families and our children.

Enough is enough, Mr. Parizeau and Mr. Bouchard.

[Anti-Personnel Mines Convention Implementation Act, November 24th, 1997]

Madam Speaker, I have a supplementary question for the hon. member. I am pleased he mentioned emotion.

Exhibits are being planned for either the railway room or the reading room. I hope the member will invite people he knows to come here. He should even welcome to Canada those parliamentarians he does not know. He should be a host in the name of the Minister for Foreign Affairs.

The exhibits will make us heartsick. We will see dreadful little mines in the form toys that attract children so that they will pick them up to have them explode in their hands.

We saw children with lost hands, lost legs and damaged limbs. It is very easy to speak with the emotion the member referred to. I am happy he raised it.

We have a truly international cause. I believe Canada could do an excellent job, certainly our parliamentarians and our international parliamentary organizations. One day I hope the Reform Party decides to join to find out what is going on outside the boundaries of Canada and to learn about the world.

I thank the member for that observation. Would he care to respond about the Reform Party in particular?

[Anti-Personnel Mines Convention Implementation Act, November 24th, 1997]

Madam Speaker, I have listened to the debate today in the House. It has really been a pleasure to hear honest and concerned parliamentarians address issues found in a civil society that are very disturbing and detrimental to the well-being and health of ordinary children, farmers and our peacekeepers. We see land mines of all shapes and forms.

I had the distinct privilege to go with the Minister of Foreign Affairs. His manner is profoundly founded in a belief of the importance of ridding the world of land mines. It is not only a matter of de-mining but also a matter of education and sensitization. First and foremost it is a matter of having the world agree that unacceptable mines which destroy the lives and the limbs of young children and others in society do not reflect the best interests of anybody.

I listened to what my hon. colleague had to say. What role does he think each and every one of us could play internationally as well as nationally? In our ridings we have a right and responsibility to indicate to people how devilish these instruments are as we do to colleagues we have had the privilege of meeting around the world through the international associations with which we are affiliated.

We should encourage our members to be in touch with members in other countries to enable legislation, this treaty or this declaration, to be put forward in a way that would be expeditious and constructive and to ensure the financing is behind it in each of country of the world, even countries which at the moment are not prepared to sign but have the means to rehabilitate, educate and train those who have been affected and those who could be affected.

How would the hon. member look at that issue?

[Interparliamentary Delegations, November 19th, 1997]

Mr. Speaker, pursuant to Standing Order 34(1), I have the honour to present to the House, in both official languages, the report of the Canadian group of the Interparliamentary Union which represented Canada at the International Conference on Governance for sustainable growth and equity held at the United Nations headquarters in New York July 28 to July 30, 1997.

[Quebec, November 4th, 1997]

Mr. Speaker, allow me to explain the difference between real and false humiliation.

False humiliation is that claimed by separatist leaders when Jacques Villeneuve proudly displayed the Canadian flag after his racing victory.

False humiliation is what Quebeckers are told they feel when Canada's ambassador to France, Jacques Roy, is dubbed a political commando because he toured Quebec and spoke of the world's high regard for the way Canadians of all backgrounds work together to continue to build our great country.

False humiliation is what they are supposed to feel when Mr. Roy argues that Quebec has maintained a strong independent voice in this federation, which is quite different from the situation faced by many countries in the European Union.

Now let me talk about real humiliation. That is what Quebeckers are subjected to when their mean spirited leaders make them a laughing stock with small petty words.

Real humiliation is when we forget why we fought as Canadians on many occasions to defend principles of tolerance and peace.

I ask the leaders of the separatist movement how the people of Quebec can be humiliated by showing—

[Linguistic School Boards, October 31st, 1997]

Mr. Speaker, yesterday the members of the parliamentary committee responsible for examining the bilateral constitutional amendment to facilitate the creation of linguistic school boards had the pleasure of welcoming the Quebec ministers of intergovernmental affairs and of education as witnesses.

Their purpose for appearing was to reiterate their unequivocal support for this bill and to explain the reasoning behind the creation of two systems, one French and one English, and the importance of consolidating these resources.

There is a strong consensus for this undertaking across Quebec which has been in the making over the past three decades. We are an evolving a flexible federation able to modernize ourselves, thereby reflecting our diversity in multicultural and multiracial reality. Co-operation between the federal and provincial governments always serves the best interests of Canadians and that of course includes all Quebeckers.