Debates of Oct. 6th, 2006

Robert Bourassa

[Pablo Rodriguez, Liberal, Honoré-Mercier, QC]

Mr. Speaker, October 2 marked the tenth anniversary of the death of the 22nd Premier of Quebec, Robert Bourassa. I had the privilege to know that great man, and that is why I want to pay tribute to him today by reminding this House of some of his greatest achievements.

In 1970, Robert Bourassa led the Liberal Party in Quebec to victory in an election that made him, at the age of 38, the youngest premier in the history of Quebec.

The father of the James Bay hydroelectric projects, Robert Bourassa developed the renewable, non-polluting hydroelectric resources in northern Quebec. A great democrat, he promoted access to health care for all Quebeckers by supporting health insurance reform.

A great Quebecker and a great Canadian, Robert Bourassa worked his whole life to win recognition for Quebec's distinct character, while strengthening Canadian unity.

By commemorating him in this House, we are recognizing his outstanding contribution and clearly saying that without him, Quebec would not have become what it is today.

Aboriginal Affairs

[Nina Grewal, Conservative, Fleetwood—Port Kells, BC]

Mr. Speaker, on October 8, 1971 the Federal Court of Appeal passed a ruling on the issue of matrimonial real property rights for Indian women on reserve and helped to set aside a section of the Indian Act that had disrupted the lives of first nation women and their families.

Jeanette Corbiere Lavell, a first nation women's rights activist, married a non-Indian man in 1970 and lost her official identity as a status Indian. Ms. Lavell challenged the Indian Act on the grounds of gender discrimination since Indian men did not lose their status if they married non-Indian women. The Supreme Court of Canada upheld the decision of the Federal Court of Appeal in favour of Ms. Lavell.

The courageous efforts of this woman led to the repeal of this section of the act in 1985 as part of historic Bill C-31.

We must exercise special care in reviewing and revising laws that are more than a century old to better reflect the practical conditions and needs of today that affect the lives of first nations people.

Afghanistan

[Dawn Black, NDP, New Westminster—Coquitlam, BC]

Mr. Speaker, last night the NDP held a non-partisan round table discussion on Canada's role in Afghanistan. The event was attended by a number of my caucus colleagues, including our leader, and hundreds of concerned Canadians. It was standing room only.

Ironically, early in the day the Liberals and Conservatives in the other place issued a report which blasted Liberals and Conservatives in this chamber for their failure to have answers on Canada's current mission in Afghanistan. The report pointed to the failings of the government to explain: What is the purpose of this mission? Is the mandate clear and realistic? Can the success of the mission be measured and how? These are the very same questions the NDP has been asking. They are the very same questions Canadians are asking.

The Prime Minister got it wrong in Calgary this morning. The price of leadership in the world and the price of moving forward is not measured by the number of casualties Canada endures. Rather, it is measured by its efforts to bring about enduring peace, not enduring war.

Post-Secondary Education

[Tina Keeper, Liberal, Churchill, MB]

Mr. Speaker, this week a group of committed student leaders from across the country travelled to Ottawa on behalf of the Canadian Federation of Students to raise awareness of a number of pressing issues concerning post-secondary education in Canada.

The students I met with spoke about the troubling reality for students on the accessibility issue for Canadian youth due to rising tuition costs. The previous Liberal government had committed to a 50% cut to tuition on the first and final years of post-secondary study.

For many Canadians, education is the necessary means to break out of poverty and into a better life. Education is an investment in the future of our children. Therefore, Canada must commit to the principle of accessible education for all Canadians.

The other deeply troubling issue for students is the cuts by the minority Conservative government to the summer career placement program. Fifty per cent, or in other words, 22,000 placements have been eliminated. Again, this program was an investment in our great country.

I ask all the hon. members in the House to join me in commending the Canadian Federation--

[The Speaker, Liberal, Peter Milliken]

The hon. member for Ahuntsic.

Status of Women

[Maria Mourani, Bloc, Ahuntsic, QC]

Mr. Speaker, on September 18, 2006, the labour and justice ministers informed the Standing Committee on the Status of Women that the government was refusing to legislate on pay equity. On September 25, 2006, the Conservative government announced that it not only was cutting more than 30% from the budget of Status of Women Canada, but also eliminating the court challenges program, which is the only means women have to assert their constitutional rights to equality.

Yesterday, the Minister of Canadian Heritage and Status of Women confirmed that she was cutting funding for advocacy by women's groups. Yet on January 18, 2006, the Prime Minister promised in writing to “support women's human rights and...take concrete and immediate measures, as recommended by the United Nations”.

Today, we know that the Prime Minister deceived the women of Canada and Quebec on January 18, 2006.

Literacy

[Bryon Wilfert, Liberal, Richmond Hill, ON]

Mr. Speaker, this is Thanksgiving weekend.

Unfortunately, Canadians have nothing to thank the government for regarding literacy programs after it cut $17.7 million. The government has taken away the rights from those individuals who want to better themselves in society by hacking their programs and still boasting about a $13 billion surplus which was given by the previous Liberal government.

Residents in Newfoundland and Labrador are not going to succumb to these cuts. They are making their voices heard through the information highway. Beginning in Newfoundland this morning an email campaign called the “Wave for Literacy” will be launched and will sweep right across this country. Letter writers have been asked to send a j-peg file to the Prime Minister and members of the government to voice their concerns on the recent cuts.

Funding for literacy programs helps these individuals in many ways. It promotes strong self-esteem, confidence and purpose in fulfilling their personal goals. We know the literacy rate in this country is important. We need to strengthen it. Such programs as York region literacy in my riding deserve our voice and our support to stand up for them and their rights.

The Liberal Party supports literacy.

Afghanistan

[Ted Menzies, Conservative, Macleod, AB]

Mr. Speaker, yesterday the Minister of International Cooperation and Minister for la Francophonie and Official Languages announced that Canada, through the Canadian International Development Agency, would allocate $5 million to immunize over seven million children in Afghanistan. These funds will be allocated to the World Health Organization and UNICEF as part of the global polio eradication initiative. This initiative seeks to eliminate polio so no child will ever again suffer permanent polio paralysis.

The conflict in southern Afghanistan has hindered vaccination of all children, resulting in a resurgence of this disease, especially in Kandahar and Helmand provinces.

During his visit to Canada, President Karzai requested Canada's assistance in helping to eradicate polio from Afghanistan. Canada heard the call and acted swiftly.

Government Programs

[Ralph Goodale, Liberal, Wascana, SK]

Mr. Speaker, despite diversionary tactics, careful packaging, warm and fuzzy language and all its efforts to muzzle itself, the true nature of the right-wing government is dribbling out. Ideological zealots are planted in key positions. Secret legislation is planned to undermine the charter, judicial independence is devalued, access to the courts for low income Canadians is blocked and federal funding for the underprivileged is cut off.

How is this meanspirited attitude consistent with the values the vast majority of Canadians have cherished for generations?

[Jason Kenney, Conservative, Parliamentary Secretary to the Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, I find that richly ironic, coming from a member of a cabinet that cut health care for Canadians by $25 billion. Talk about meanspirited.

This week those members criticized the government for having decided that a particular dance festival was not an efficient use of money, but they found money for that. They did not find $25 billion for health care, which they cut out of our health care system.

The opposition House leader should apologize for the meanspiritedness of the Liberal government.

Government Appointments

[Ralph Goodale, Liberal, Wascana, SK]

Mr. Speaker, we raised the transfers for health care to the highest level ever in Canadian history.

The Charter of Rights and Freedoms is a defining characteristic of our country, much valued by the vast majority of Canadians. However, appointees of the minority government do not share that view, like the chief of staff to the Minister of the Environment. He attacks the charter and the judiciary. He argues for discrimination and against tolerance. He labels those who disagree as Nazis, like “Adolf Hitler and his bunch”.

Would the government at least take this opportunity to disavow that former Conservative candidate?

[Jason Kenney, Conservative, Parliamentary Secretary to the Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, what I disavow is the arrogance of the Liberal Party, which thinks it has a monopoly on virtue.

It was a Conservative government that introduced the Bill of Rights. Conservative prime ministers led the international fight against apartheid. The first woman cabinet minister was a Conservative. The first Chinese Canadian member of the House and the first Muslim member of the House were Conservatives. This party brought about a redress for the Japanese internment which was instituted by a Liberal government, and a redress for the Chinese head tax.

We will not take any lessons on human rights from the party of the War Measures Act.

[Ralph Goodale, Liberal, Wascana, SK]

Mr. Speaker, the lesson from the head tax is that trampling on human rights is never acceptable, not 100 years ago and not today.

The focus here is precisely and undeniably on the chief of staff for the Minister of the Environment. His intolerance is broadly published and unmistakable, and now he is heading up the minister's office in charge of the government's most important policy file.

The House deserves an answer. Does the government agree or disagree with this individual's intolerant views?

[Jason Kenney, Conservative, Parliamentary Secretary to the Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, perhaps the opposition House leader could tell us whether he agrees with comments made by members of his backbench, who share many opinions with the person that he has cited.

The opposition House leader ran for Pierre Trudeau in 1974, four years after the Liberal government had brought in the War Measures Act, a violation of Canadian civil rights.

This is a party with a tradition of defending human rights, of defending diversity, both here and abroad. We are proud of that tradition. We will take no lectures from the Liberal Party when it comes to human rights.

The Environment

[Pablo Rodriguez, Liberal, Honoré-Mercier, QC]

Mr. Speaker, during an important vote this week, the House reiterated its desire to support the Kyoto protocol. In a panic, the Prime Minister thought it was more important to go see a hockey game. In his absence, the Minister of the Environment, surrounded by her team of right-wing cheerleaders, voted against Kyoto.

The Kyoto protocol is an international law and Canada is bound by that law. By voting against Kyoto, the minister sent a message to the entire world that her government would break that law.

Is intentionally breaking the law what the new government is all about?

[Loyola Hearn, Conservative, Minister of Fisheries and Oceans]

Mr. Speaker, for a number of years the former Liberal government talked about Kyoto and did absolutely nothing. We are the reverse of that. We are doing something and doing very little talking. That is the way to get things done.

[Pablo Rodriguez, Liberal, Honoré-Mercier, QC]

Mr. Speaker, as always, the Minister of the Environment is swimming in contradictions. She says she wants to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, but she has no targets. She says she wants to act quickly, but she has no implementation schedule. She says she wants a made in Canada plan, but she consults with George Bush. She says she had a plan, but now she has lost it.

If the minister has no targets, no implementation schedule, not even a plan, why does she not just admit that she feels the same about climate change as she does about Quebec: she just does not care?

[Loyola Hearn, Conservative, Minister of Fisheries and Oceans]

Mr. Speaker, we all know what a breath of fresh air the new environment minister was when she came into the House. If she can clean up the air in the House compared to what we had, is it not only fair that we give her time to clean up the air in the country?

Royal Canadian Mounted Police

[Monique Guay, Bloc, Rivière-du-Nord, QC]

Mr. Speaker, there are new revelations about Commissioner Zaccardelli's management of the Maher Arar case. After acknowledging that the evidence against Maher Arar was incorrect and that he was convinced that Mr. Arar was innocent, Mr. Zaccardelli did nothing and left Mr. Arar to rot in a Syrian prison. In committee, he suggested that he informed his political superiors, but all the former ministers are saying the opposite.

Does the Minister of Public Safety not agree, in light of these disturbing facts, that it is time to call for Commissioner Zaccardelli's resignation?

[Jason Kenney, Conservative, Parliamentary Secretary to the Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, I thank the hon. member for her important question. She raised some very disturbing revelations that are part of Justice O'Connor's report, a report that is 1,400 pages long.

The government has accepted the 23 recommendations made by Justice O'Connor. We are in the process of working on all of them. Discussions are being held with Mr. Arar to reach an agreement that is worthy of him and fair to him.

[Monique Guay, Bloc, Rivière-du-Nord, QC]

Mr. Speaker, in committee when we asked Commissioner Zaccardelli whether he informed the ministers, he made reference to dates, suggesting that information sessions were held with the ministers. We have a serious problem: the RCMP refuses to provide these dates, and all the former ministers maintain these meetings never took place. Conclusion: Zaccardelli lied to the committee.

What is the minister waiting for to fire him?

[Jason Kenney, Conservative, Parliamentary Secretary to the Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, the Minister of Public Safety was clear: the government has confidence in all RCMP officers. Obviously we are quite concerned about the injustice and tragedy Mr. Arar experienced. That is why we accepted all the recommendations in Justice O'Connor's report. We are working on all these recommendations.

[Meili Faille, Bloc, Vaudreuil—Soulanges, QC]

Mr. Speaker, in an attempt to reassure us, Commissioner Zaccardelli says that corrective action has been taken and that raw data is no longer sent to the United States. Yet we have learned that unprocessed information is still accessible to American authorities, since they attend RCMP meetings before the information is verified. Thus, there is no guarantee that the information used by the FBI is reliable and that what happened to Mr. Arar will not happen to someone else.

Does the Minister of Public Safety not feel that Zaccardelli's resignation is now imperative, since he has lost all credibility?

[Dave MacKenzie, Conservative, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Public Safety]

Mr. Speaker, I think the hon. member is referring to a report that came out recently. RCMP officers and foreign agencies meet regularly. That is part of international policing, and it does occur.

[Meili Faille, Bloc, Vaudreuil—Soulanges, QC]

Mr. Speaker, despite Commissioner Zaccardelli's claims, it is clear that he failed to put in place the filters and safeguards he had promised in order to prevent arbitrary treatment such as that suffered by Maher Arar. Nothing has been corrected. The proof is that unverified information is still used at joint meetings of the FBI and RCMP.

Given everything that has gone wrong, why does the minister not demand the commissioner's resignation?