Dan McTeague

[International Transfer of Offenders Act, September 23rd, 2010]

Mr. Speaker, I have heard a lot of rhetoric from the member and his party, but I want him to understand. When we do not bring Canadians back at the end of their sentence and the country which has incarcerated them has said to please take them back, how are we going to correct the behaviour of those individuals if they do not get a chance to re-adapt to society?

What the hon. member is doing is ignoring the case before him this morning, which is no longer before the courts, as a Federal Court decision has been made and the legislation as being proposed is dangerous and gives irresponsible powers to a minister to make a decision based on whim, without any due regard for the facts.

We hear the rhetoric and the nonsense coming from that party and the Conservative members over there who think that everything can be turned into a law and order issue. If the hon. member believes so much in law and order, why was he not standing four-square with the police in this country on the legislation proposed by his colleague?

It is important for Canadians to understand that when an individual is incarcerated and has the right to return as a result of being a Canadian citizen, false arguments cannot be used, as the hon. member has just done, in defence of a piece of legislation that is not worth the paper it is written on.

No one in this House, no minister, should have those kinds of arbitrary powers, especially when it comes to undermining the citizenship of any Canadian in this country or those who happen to live abroad.

[International Transfer of Offenders Act, September 23rd, 2010]

Mr. Speaker, I heard the comments by the hon. member in regard to this very controversial piece of legislation.

I wonder if the hon. member had the opportunity this morning to pick up the Ottawa Citizen. On the front page he would have seen an article referring to a federal court decision yesterday in which the Minister of Public Safety and this bill have been put to serious question.

It would appear that the minister of public safety in 2008 decided to ignore the advice on the transfer of a particular offender coming from the United States. Brent James Curtis did not represent a threat to Canadians, was not a terrorist, was not involved with organized crime. He was a minor player. The minister used discretion which a judge in this country has determined to be the wrong discretion and now the member is advocating for that same discretion to be used holus-bolus.

I wonder if the member could reconcile the absolute embarrassment that the government has had to endure as a result of this case and why he believes that this legislation should pass when giving the minister those kind of arbitrary powers leads to the wrong consequences, even when he knows, as the minister knew, the decision was wrong and that he ignored his own staff on this particular subject.

[Questions Passed as Orders for Returns, September 20th, 2010]

With regard to expenditures for the G20 and G8 summits, what are the details of all expenditures related to the summits but not accounted for in either the 2010-2011 Main or Supplementary Estimates, providing for each expenditure (i) the value of the expenditure, (ii) the goods or services consumed, (iii) the department under which the expenditure is accounted for, (iv) whether or not the contract was tendered through an open bidding process if the goods or services were purchased from an outside source?

[Questions Passed as Orders for Returns, September 20th, 2010]

With regard to the G20 Summit in Toronto, what are the details of all contracts for goods or services relating to the G20 meetings, providing for each contract (i) the name of the contractor, (ii) a description of the goods or services provided, (iii) the value of the contract, (iv) whether or not there was an open bidding process for the contract?

[Questions Passed as Orders for Returns, September 20th, 2010]

With regard to the G8 Summit in Muskoka, what are the details of all contracts for goods or services relating to the G8 meetings, providing for each contract (i) the name of the contractor, (ii) a description of the goods or services provided, (iii) the value of the contract, (iv) whether or not there was an open bidding process for the contract?

[Questions Passed as Orders for Returns, September 20th, 2010]

With regard to the Abousfian Abdelrazik case: (a) what are the names of any outside contractors hired by the government; (b) what is the value of any contracts awarded; (c) what services were rendered by the contractor; and (d) when was the contract awarded and during what time period were the services carried out?

[Foreign Affairs, June 17th, 2010]

Mr. Speaker, for three years, Mohamed Kohail has been incarcerated in Saudi Arabia for a crime that he did not commit. At his initial trial, he was found guilty and sentenced to death, but the supreme council overruled that verdict and ordered a new trial on the basis of irregularities that denied Mohamed a fair and impartial hearing. Nonetheless, Mohamed could yet again face the death penalty.

Will the Prime Minister use the occasion of the G20 summit to ask King Abdallah if Saudi officials will indeed closely monitor the proceedings of the new trial and if Mohamed could at least be released on bail while the second trial is conducted. Could he do the very same for our friend Pavel Kulisek, who is facing the same situation in Mexico?

[Questions Passed as Orders for Returns, June 8th, 2010]

With respect to the Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Transport: (a) who has the Parliamentary Secretary met with in his capacity as Parliamentary Secretary since October of 2008; (b) what were the dates and locations of each meeting; (c) what was discussed at each meeting; (d) which funds or programs were discussed; and (e) what were the names of all individuals present at each meeting?

[Questions Passed as Orders for Returns, June 8th, 2010]

With regard to advertising in video games for Canada’s Economic Action Plan: (a) in what video games did the government purchase advertising space; (b) for which video game systems was the advertising space purchased; (c) which aspect of the Action Plan was advertised; (d) what is the total value of the ads purchased in (a) and (b); and (e) for what length of time did the ads run?

[Questions on the Order Paper, May 31st, 2010]

With regard to Measurement Canada’s retail gasoline pump inspection program: (a) what is the number of government inspectors, by province; (b) what is the number of private corporations authorized to provide inspections; (c) are individual private inspectors accredited by the government to inspect pumps; and (d) is there any follow-up testing of private inspectors?