Debates of Jan. 31st, 2005

Foreign Affairs

[The Speaker]

The Right Hon. Prime Minister.

[Paul Martin, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Yes, Mr. Speaker--

[Some hon. members]

Oh, oh!

[The Speaker]

The Right Hon. Prime Minister has the floor. Order, please.

[Paul Martin, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Yes, Mr. Speaker, I raised the question of human rights. We left 10 specific cases with the Chinese authorities to respond to. I raised the question of human rights with the President. I raised them with the Prime Minister. I raised them with every single member of the Chinese government that I met with. The issue is that when the hon. member had the opportunity to do so, he turned tail and ran.

Aerospace Industry

[Paul Crête, Bloc, Rivière-Du-Loup—Montmagny, QC]

Mr. Speaker, on January 13 the Minister of Transport confirmed that an aid proposal had been submitted to Bombardier for construction of its C series aircraft. Yet Bombardier CEO Laurent Beaudoin contradicted the minister by stating that he had no idea how the federal government was planning to help. New Mexico has indicated its readiness to welcome Bombardier, while the federal government is dragging its feet and refusing to disclose its intentions.

Does the Minister of Industry intend to present a concrete offer to Bombardier, or does he not?

[David Emerson, Liberal, Minister of Industry]

Mr. Speaker, I spoke to the President of Bombardier last Friday. We sent a letter on Friday. We have been in communications. We are having specific discussions. We are working on an aerospace strategy for all of Canada. We will continue to do that in consultation with industry members from across the country.

[Paul Crête, Bloc, Rivière-Du-Loup—Montmagny, QC]

Mr. Speaker, while the federal government was busy consulting, New Mexico made a concrete proposal and Mr. Beaudoin travelled there.

According to the Minister of Industry, 54% of aerospace jobs are concentrated in Quebec. Can the minister confirm that at least 54% of the jobs related to C series aircraft construction will be in Quebec, in keeping with the logic that the aerospace industry is to Quebec what the automotive industry is to Ontario?

[David Emerson, Liberal, Minister of Industry]

Mr. Speaker, this is not a centrally planned economy. That is going to be a private sector decision as to where those jobs are.

Citizenship and Immigration

[Diane Ablonczy, Conservative, Calgary Nose Hill, AB]

Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister has some explaining to do in the case of the former immigration minister's closest aide, Ihor Wons. There was talk of Wons resigning when it was discovered that he had conducted immigration business in strip joints and in the minister's election campaign office, but the Prime Minister told Wons to go on paid stress leave instead.

Why did the Prime Minister give these orders and then run for cover when it proved to be a poor judgment call?

[Joe Volpe, Liberal, Minister of Citizenship and Immigration]

Mr. Speaker, the hon. member opposite gives me an opportunity to begin to outline for members on both sides of the House a six point action plan on what we will do in immigration.

First, and she would be pleased to know, is to address the issue of undocumented workers and to regularize the system. Second, we would like to take a look at accelerating the processing times with a view to improving both the efficiency of service and the delivery time. Third, we would like to take a look at those inventory backlogs which I know are of importance to her, especially as associated with--

[The Speaker]

The hon. member for Calgary--Nose Hill.

[Diane Ablonczy, Conservative, Calgary Nose Hill, AB]

Mr. Speaker, here is one. There is growing evidence that the Liberals improperly use ministerial permits in exchange for campaign and voter support. It is also becoming clear that the government awards a disproportionate number of permits to Liberal cabinet ministers and caucus supporters. Of course, this is completely unfair to applicants across the country.

The Liberals are trying to hide this shameful misuse of ministerial power by refusing to be open and transparent about how permits are being distributed. Will the new immigration minister today come clean with those numbers?

[Joe Volpe, Liberal, Minister of Citizenship and Immigration]

Mr. Speaker, I have never heard anything so outrageous in my life. The member opposite already knows that the report is there. It was tabled in the House. She can read the stats. I will not accept those allegations, but I welcome the opportunity to finish the other three items of the six point program.

She will be pleased to know that we will taking a look at how to reform the temporary workers program, how to improve the program regarding student visas, et cetera, and then to pursue the regionalization of immigration, which is very important for her province of Alberta and for other provinces as well, and then finally--

[The Speaker]

The hon. member for Madawaska--Restigouche.

Iraq

[Jean-Claude D'Amours, Liberal, Madawaska—Restigouche, NB]

Mr. Speaker, at this time when Canadians and all the world are waiting for the final results of Sunday's election in Iraq, can the Minister of Foreign Affairs describe to the House Canada's reaction to this historic election?

[Pierre Pettigrew, Liberal, Minister of Foreign Affairs]

Mr. Speaker, Canada salutes the courage of the Iraqi people. We congratulate them for going to the polls despite difficult and dangerous conditions and for voting in Sunday's historic election. Millions of Iraqi voters, the election officials, the international observers and the candidates all deserve our recognition and our support, because they have all contributed to the successful organization of this very important vote. Their determination and commitment to the democratic process are a source of inspiration to us.

Natural Disasters

[Gordon O'Connor, Conservative, Carleton—Lanark, ON]

Mr. Speaker, in 1996 the Liberal government proudly boasted that the disaster assistance response team would be available for dispatch within 48 hours.

On December 26 one of the worst natural disasters in history occurred in Southeast Asia requiring immediate humanitarian assistance. Yet the Liberal government dithered for nearly two weeks deciding whether or not to dispatch the DART, eventually sending it in rented aircraft.

Will the minister explain why the government delayed its decision when help was so desperately needed?

[Bill Graham, Liberal, Minister of National Defence]

Mr. Speaker, the first thing I would like to make clear to the House is that we are all very proud of the work that the DART is presently doing in Sri Lanka. It is making a great contribution.

The government did not dither about sending the DART. The government considered all the options that it had to take into account including the costs. I worked with my colleagues, the minister responsible for CIDA, the Minister of Foreign Affairs and the Prime Minister. We had a coordinated position. We determined that sending the DART was the right thing to do after a reconnaissance team met with the Government of Sri Lanka and decided that it was correct. It is there. It is doing a great job and we should thank it for doing so.

[Gordon O'Connor, Conservative, Carleton—Lanark, ON]

Mr. Speaker, the government by its recent actions has proven that our military does not have sufficient airlift to transport the DART.

Today we are informed that the government intends to establish a DART plus. This is more political puffery. If the Canadian Forces cannot move the current DART, they will not be able to move the DART plus. This is typical of the Liberals who consistently make promises they cannot deliver.

Will the minister explain how the government will meet a bigger humanitarian commitment when the Canadian Forces cannot transport the current one?

[Bill Graham, Liberal, Minister of National Defence]

Mr. Speaker, the hon. member knows full well that whenever the Canadian Forces have had to move their troops or the DART or anything else, we have been able to do it by acquiring aircraft necessary for the job like most other countries do.

We will have a defence review. We will have an opportunity to discuss with the opposition what is the appropriate way to approach strategic lift. That is the way we should go into this very important discussion.

However, I can assure the hon. member that we have the capacity, we have always had it, to move our troops when we need to. We will continue to do that. We can do DART plus because we are capable of doing it and we are committed to doing it.

Lawrence O'Brien

[Paul Martin, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, Lawrence O'Brien was Alice's husband. He was Michael and Amanda's father. He was one of many brothers and sisters, and his family was the centre of his life.

For eight years, Lawrence O'Brien was a member of this House. Before that, he was a teacher of children and adults and worked as a municipal councillor.

In each of these positions, all through his life, Lawrence served the people. He was someone who gave more than he took, and whose deepest motivation was to help the people of Labrador.

Last fall when the time came for the vote on the Speech from the Throne, it was going to be close. Lawrence O'Brien was in a hospital in Labrador battling cancer. I spoke to him on the phone. He told me he was coming in for the vote. I told him not to come, but he came anyway. He never listened.

Lawrence O'Brien was a passionate and tireless advocate for his beliefs. Those who knew him will know what an understatement it is to call his interventions vigorous and spirited. When he was done telling someone what the virtues and the importance of CFB Goose Bay were, that person was ready not only to defend the base in cabinet but ready to pick up a hammer and saw to build a new mess hall.

Lawrence O'Brien was a Labradorian. I remember his speech during the debate on the amendment that would change the name of his province to Newfoundland and Labrador. With everyone's permission, I would like to read a passage from it:

There are still some who believe and will say that Labrador is just a part of Newfoundland. They fail or refuse to recognize our special character and our unique place. However, when we see the broad expanse of Lake Melville, nearly as large as Prince Edward Island, stretching through the horizon, when we stand at the bottom of theSaglek Fjord with 3,000 foot cliffs towering overhead, when 25,000 caribou come streaming over a barren hill in back of Double Mer, when we drive across the seemingly endless iron hills of the interior, a landscape that inspired the Group of Seven, or when we find an arrowhead or chip that was left by our aboriginal forefathers 5,000 years ago, it is hard to accept that this is just another part of Newfoundland.

Our land and our people make us unique, not better, just unique. Our identity, just like that of Newfoundland, Quebec, Nunavut or Alberta, is worthy of celebrating and recognizing.

It is a small thing, a simple thing, but from today on there will never again be any reason for forgetting

Such was the passion in his words and the conviction in his voice that when Lawrence finished speaking the deputy speaker rose and said, “For a moment I thought maybe we were leading to an amendment that would state 'the province of Labrador and Newfoundland'”.

Lawrence O'Brien was a man of honour and compassion. He was a man of principle. He was a man of character and integrity. He was a man of Labrador. He will be missed by the House. He will be missed by all of Labrador. He will be missed very, very much by his family. He was my friend and I will miss him.

[Norman Doyle, Conservative, St. John's North, NL]

Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to have the opportunity today to say a few words in tribute to our former colleague, a fellow Newfoundlander and Labradorian, Lawrence O'Brien.

I want to assure his wife, Alice and their family, Michael and Amanda, that our thoughts and prayers continue to be with them in these difficult days ahead.

I first met Lawrence O'Brien about eight years ago, in 1997. Immediately I was aware that even though we were on different sides politically, Lawrence was more of a friend than he was an adversary. It became evident very quickly to me that Lawrence was a result-oriented person. If political differences had to be set aside to achieve the greater good for Newfoundland and Labrador, then so be it, Lawrence was eager to accommodate.

Newfoundland in general, but Labrador in particular, has lost a great friend, a strong supporter, an individual whose commitment to his people was unprecedented.

When one reads about the political interests of Lawrence, as it relates to committee work here in the House of Commons, it soon becomes apparent that he was intensely interested in committee work that would advance the cause of his beloved Labrador. His membership on the Standing Committee on National Defence and Veterans Affairs assured him of keeping his finger on national defence issues in Goose Bay.

His membership on the Standing Committee on Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development assured aboriginal constituents that they were well represented.

His membership on the Standing Committee on Fisheries and Oceans was beneficial in no small way, not only to the great Labrador fishery, but to the Newfoundland fishery in general. When the time came for Lawrence to advance to parliamentary secretary, is it any wonder that he would lobby exclusively for parliamentary secretary to the minister of fisheries and oceans, which he carried out with dignity, with commitment and with enthusiasm.

Lawrence O'Brien has left a leadership void in his beloved Labrador, but his presence will also be missed in the House of Commons. His good nature, his friendly attitude toward his fellow Newfoundland MPs of all political persuasion has given all of us cause to reflect on the things that really matter in life, which is very difficult to maintain here in this adversarial role we have, namely, good relationships, working together for the common good and, regardless where our political allegiances may be, an awareness that hopefully we all come here ready to follow the good example of our friend and colleague whom we miss, Lawrence O'Brien.

[Claude Bachand, Bloc, Saint-Jean, QC]

Mr. Speaker, I am very pleased and honoured to rise today to pay tribute to Lawrence O'Brien, the hon. member for Labrador.

First of all, Lawrence O'Brien had all the qualities required of a great humanist as well as a very great member of Parliament. When I say humanist, I think that everyone agrees that he was very pleasant to work with. He also had remarkable interpersonal skills. He made friends easily with everyone, not only within his party but also in other parties.

I had the great privilege of happening upon him during the 1997 election campaign. I was responsible for aboriginal issues at the time, if memory serves, and was touring Labrador. I think I had gone to Nain, an Innu community in Labrador.

It was incredible. There was this gentleman who was not yet a member of Parliament—but would become one—and already the Innu had very great admiration for this man. It was clear from his record that he had always defended minorities and always paid special attention to people in a tough spot.

So, in my opinion, Mr. O'Brien was a great MP and a great humanist. He was also a good listener. I often saw him meet with aboriginals and listen attentively to them. He had another quality too, which was his outspokenness. Once he had listened and understood what people were telling him, he was not afraid to speak his mind and then take action. That was Lawrence O'Brien with his great qualities as a humanist.

He was close to people too. I think I mentioned this to some extent. I talked about my relationship with him on the Standing Committee on Aboriginal Affairs, Northern Development and Natural Resources but he was interested in National Defence too. He was an ardent defender of the military base in Labrador. He was devoted to the Liberal Party, naturally, but especially to people and to his constituents. No one can take that away from him. I think that he had the recipe for how to get as close as possible to his constituents.

Now, he was also a remarkable parliamentarian. He was extremely courageous and, as I mentioned earlier, extremely loyal. It takes a lot of courage and loyalty to leave the hospital and come vote in the House of Commons, accompanied by a nurse, when he was in terminal stage. I am happy to hear today that the Prime Minister had advised him not to come. However, his actions are proof of his extraordinary courage.

In closing, I want to say that we will all miss Lawrence. Lawrence, we will miss you.

[Peter Stoffer, NDP, Sackville—Eastern Shore, NS]

Mr. Speaker, I rise today on behalf our party to pay tribute to a person who I think was one of the finest constituency MPs I ever met.

When I came to the House in 1997, one of the first persons to greet me was this great big fellow from Labrador. He wanted to make sure it was correct. He did not say Newfoundland. He said “Labrador, oh and by the way, Newfoundland”.

He was a man who was really proud of the white, green and blue flag of Labrador. He wore it all the time. In fact, in my little pin collection the first one I got was from him. It was a little flag. He told me to wear it with pride every time I went to Labrador.

One of the honours I had was when the Standing Committee of Fisheries and Oceans was in Richmond, British Columbia for a committee hearing. My mother lived just about a block away from where the hall was, and she invited all of us over for breakfast that morning. Mr. O'Brien of course never could pass up a good bacon and egg breakfast. We were late for the committee by almost an hour because he sat with my mother. He asked her about coming to Canada, about the west coast and what it was like in a group home, et cetera. He was that interested and concerned about my mother, and he used that concern with his own constituents. He was a man who looked at Parliament in the way that it should be looked at, as being truly representative and of being a representative of his people.

For those of us who have had the privilege of working on the fisheries committee, there was no one who argued against ministers and their staff, even if they were from his own party, harder and tougher than Lawrence O'Brien. In fact, sometimes I got a little nervous for Lawrence because he went at them so ferociously, but he did it with a sense of respect and the fact that he knew of what he was speaking. That is something we will all miss in the House of Commons.

I say to the people of Labrador, to his wife and children and to his office and parliamentary staff, thanks very much for sharing Lawrence O'Brien with us in the House of Commons and for that matter, all Canadians.

We will sadly miss him. He is now in God's hands and I am sure he is talking to God right saying, “Now Labrador, let me tell you how beautiful it is down there”. As Lawrence once told me, when God created earth he created Labrador first and the rest of the planet came after.

On behalf of our leader, the New Democratic Party across the country and all the friends and people who knew Mr. O'Brien in a personal way, we will very much miss him, but he is in God's hands. We say God bless to the memory of Lawrence O'Brien and to all his friends and family.