House of Commons Hansard #143 of the 39th Parliament, 1st Session. (The original version is on Parliament's site.) The word of the day was rights.

Topics

Motions in AmendmentCriminal CodeGovernment Orders

1:55 p.m.

NDP

The Deputy Speaker NDP Bill Blaikie

The hon. member has eight minutes remaining in his time, which he can pursue when we resume debate on this later in the day.

We will now proceed to statements by members.

Lake SimcoeStatements By Members

2 p.m.

Conservative

Bruce Stanton Conservative Simcoe North, ON

Mr. Speaker, citizens and environmental advocacy groups are hailing our government's commitment to provide $12 million over the next two years to clean up Lake Simcoe in central Ontario. This fragile ecosystem and watershed has been in a perilous state for over the last decade. It requires decisive and immediate attention and our government is acting to get the job done where the previous government did not.

The Lake Simcoe Region Conservation Authority said, “We congratulate the hon. members of YorkYork—Simcoe and Simcoe North and the Conservative members of Parliament for their vision and leadership, and for bringing federal attention to an ecosystem so in need of financial support”. One of the many e-mails I received from the Ladies of the Lake reads, “We're very grateful for your attention and support of helping Lake Simcoe and its watershed remain a vital and precious resource”.

When it comes to the environment, we are past the time for talking. We are taking action. We are cleaning up Lake Simcoe.

Ukrainian CanadiansStatements By Members

2 p.m.

Liberal

Borys Wrzesnewskyj Liberal Etobicoke Centre, ON

Mr. Speaker, Ukrainian Canadian settlers transformed the bush of the North-West Territories into the golden wheat fields of Manitoba, Saskatchewan and Alberta. They are one of Canada's founding peoples, yet during World War I over 5,000 were interned in concentration camps, 80,000 declared enemy aliens and over 100,000 disenfranchised by the Conservative government of Prime Minister Borden.

On August 24, 2005 the Liberal government signed a historic agreement for $12.5 million with the Ukrainian Canadian community for the acknowledgement, commemoration and education of this dark episode in our common history.The ACE program was to be administered by the Shevchenko Foundation. The Conservative government not only cancelled this agreement, incredibly it claims it did not exist.

The Conservative government likes to reannounce Liberal programs under new names. Will the government finally reannounce this program while 98-year-old Mary Haskett, the sole survivor of the internment, is still with us?

2007 Europe Theatre PrizeStatements By Members

2 p.m.

Bloc

Maka Kotto Bloc Saint-Lambert, QC

Mr. Speaker, like Harold Pinter, Michel Piccoli, Giorgio Strehler and other renowned creative talents before him, the man whose name is synonymous with Quebec theatre, Robert Lepage, has received the 2007 Europe Theatre Prize. This prestigious prize, awarded yesterday in Greece, recognizes work in theatre.

This artist was born in Quebec City and has become world renowned through his films and shows, of which there are far too many to mention. With his incredible talent he has worked and toured here and throughout the world: Europe, Great Britain, United States and Japan. In 1993, he founded a multidisciplinary production company called Ex Machina. He is the recipient of a number of awards here and abroad.

The Bloc Québécois is thrilled with his most recent awards and can say about Robert Lepage what France said about Molière, “Nothing is wanting to his glory; but he is wanting to ours”.

DarfurStatements By Members

2 p.m.

NDP

Paul Dewar NDP Ottawa Centre, ON

Mr. Speaker, yesterday marked the Global Day for Darfur. Here in Canada and all across the world, citizens joined together to show solidarity with the civilians of Darfur and to call on the international community to take the urgent action needed to halt the worst humanitarian crisis in the world today.

The recent agreement between the United Nations, the African Union and the Government of Sudan for the deployment of international troops has presented a window of hope for Darfur that, as Canadian parliamentarians, we must not ignore. We must seize this opportunity to protect the millions of war affected civilians in Darfur and show the leadership that everyday Canadians expect of their government.

Canada can demonstrate our commitment to the people of Darfur and take action now by contributing to the UN mission and by exploring economic sanctions and policies such as divestment.

This week, humanitarian organizations such as Save Darfur Canada--

DarfurStatements By Members

2 p.m.

NDP

The Deputy Speaker NDP Bill Blaikie

The hon. member for Ancaster—Dundas—Flamborough—Westdale.

AsthmaStatements By Members

2 p.m.

Conservative

David Sweet Conservative Ancaster—Dundas—Flamborough—Westdale, ON

Mr. Speaker, tomorrow, May 1, is World Asthma Day. In Canada this day reminds us of three million Canadians who suffer with asthma.

One in five children make up that number, causing an estimated 10 million missed school days every year. That is a significant impact on our nation's ability to educate tomorrow's leaders.

As we know, those who suffer from asthma have their condition exacerbated from rising levels of air pollution and smog. It is this government that is taking action not only to reduce greenhouse gases but also to cut levels of air pollution in half by 2015.

As part of World Asthma Day, the doors will be open at the Lung Association office in my home community of Hamilton tomorrow. Sandy Lee, the volunteer coordinator, will be there to welcome all, raise awareness and get the word out on how Canadians can make a positive difference in the lives of asthma sufferers. In fact, Lung Association offices all across Canada will be doing the same.

I call upon all Canadians who want to help make the lives of the three million Canadians and 600,000 children who suffer from asthma a bit easier to stop by their local Lung Association office tomorrow to learn more and to make a generous contribution to asthma research.

Softwood LumberStatements By Members

2:05 p.m.

Liberal

Navdeep Bains Liberal Mississauga—Brampton South, ON

Mr. Speaker, on April 19 the United States and Canada met for formal consultations on the softwood lumber agreement to try to resolve their differences. Seven months into the agreement, the U.S. is questioning whether certain Canadian federal and provincial assistance programs violate the agreement. It has been reported that little was accomplished at the meeting and that it remains likely that the U.S. will request arbitration.

The Conservative government rammed the softwood lumber agreement down the throats of the industry and through the House of Commons. It did so by selling out the softwood lumber industry. It negotiated away our dispute settlement mechanisms. It threw away past NAFTA and WTO rulings that were in Canada's favour. It even left $1 billion in illegally collected tariffs on the U.S. table to use against us in consultations, litigation and arbitrations.

The minister stated on June 12, 2006, “What the agreement does is constrain the U.S. protectionists' ability to attack our industry”. A billion dollars was lost and now we are headed for potential arbitration. When will--

Softwood LumberStatements By Members

2:05 p.m.

Liberal

The Speaker Liberal Peter Milliken

The hon. member for Edmonton-Leduc.

DarfurStatements By Members

2:05 p.m.

Conservative

James Rajotte Conservative Edmonton—Leduc, AB

Mr. Speaker, Canada continues to be very concerned about the human rights, humanitarian and security situation in Darfur.

Canada reiterates its urgent appeal to all parties to the conflict to immediately cease attacks against the civilian populations and to ensure safe and unhindered access by humanitarian agencies to affected populations.

We continue to play a leading role in efforts to end the suffering of the people of Darfur.

Through CIDA, Canada provides critical humanitarian assistance to affected populations in Darfur through various partners. We are also a principal supporter of the African Union's peacekeeping mission.

Canada is part of a concerted international diplomatic effort led by the UN and the AU to end the suffering of the people of Darfur.

We recently participated in a meeting in Tripoli where a consensus was reached to coordinate all regional initiatives under an AU-UN lead.

Canada will continue to seek to ensure that the AU-UN hybrid force is implemented in Sudan as quickly as possible to address the humanitarian and security situation in Darfur.

Workplace Health and SafetyStatements By Members

2:05 p.m.

Bloc

Carole Lavallée Bloc Saint-Bruno—Saint-Hubert, QC

Mr. Speaker, Saturday, April 28, was a national day of mourning for workers who are injured or die at work, or who are affected by an occupational illness—one day only to remind us that we must increase our efforts regarding workplace safety.

Despite actions taken so far, too many accidents and deaths still occur every year. In 2005, some 223 deaths and over 121,000 workplace accidents were reported to the workers' compensation board in Quebec alone.

Prevention is still the best tool to eliminate these statistics—statistics that should remind us of the human drama and family tragedies they reflect. Much work remains to be done to improve the conditions and design of workplaces in order for workers to be less exposed to danger.

Let us take this opportunity to think of better ways to achieve this and to take action.

Public SafetyStatements By Members

April 30th, 2007 / 2:05 p.m.

Conservative

Rob Moore Conservative Fundy Royal, NB

Mr. Speaker, Canada's Conservative government is committed to making our communities a safer place to live. We are delivering on this promise by bringing forward bills that strengthen our laws and crack down on crime.

We have presented Bill C-10 to impose tough minimum penalties for offences involving firearms, Bill C-22 to raise the age of protection and ensure the safety of young Canadians, Bill C-9 to restrict conditional sentences and guarantee that serious offenders are not eligible for house arrest, and Bill C-27 to crack down on the most dangerous offenders in Canada.

However, we have not had the support of the official opposition party that does not seem to think that public safety is an important issue. The Liberals have even gutted some of our bills at the committee stage and prevented Canadians from benefiting from their protection.

When will the official opposition finally make the safety of Canadians a priority and stop blocking this government's justice legislation?

Sydney HarbourStatements By Members

2:05 p.m.

Liberal

Mark Eyking Liberal Sydney—Victoria, NS

Mr. Speaker, I would like to recognize today the many friends of Sydney harbour.

My constituents of Sydney--Victoria have worked endlessly on cleaning up the harbour and making it a major tourist attraction, from installing a state of the art sewage treatment plant to the makeover of Wentworth Park and the waterfront boardwalks, and the biggest challenge of all, the Sydney tar ponds cleanup.

The Sydney Port Authority has also invested millions of dollars in the Joan Harris Cruise Pavilion, the Steve Kavanaugh Stage, and the giant fiddle, the largest in the world, which greets approximately 70,000 cruise ship visitors to the beautiful island of Cape Breton every year.

Despite all these positive results, Sydney harbour has an eyesore that has potential danger. At the end of the harbour is a rusted out derelict vessel named the Cape Ann III.

I would encourage the Minister of Transport to become a friend of Sydney harbour and order the removal of this vessel immediately.

Bill C-27Statements By Members

2:10 p.m.

Conservative

Luc Harvey Conservative Louis-Hébert, QC

Mr. Speaker, on April 23, Clermont Bégin, a 40-year-old sex offender sentenced to 11 years in prison, was released after serving his full sentence. The public has expressed concern and confusion about Clermont Bégin's return to the community.

The new government has introduced Bill C-27 to ensure that dangerous offenders with a high risk to reoffend receive harsher penalties and more supervision following their release.

Why do the Liberals and the Bloc not support this bill, which would protect Canadians from such dangerous offenders?

When will the Liberals and the Bloc stand up for victims instead of criminals?

Public SafetyStatements By Members

2:10 p.m.

NDP

Judy Wasylycia-Leis NDP Winnipeg North, MB

Mr. Speaker, this weekend Winnipeg mourned the death of Erin Pawlowski, a 35-year-old man viciously beaten on his way home from work who later died from his injuries, a man known as a north end angel.

In coming face to face with his family, I shared the community's outrage at his senseless death and renewed our pledge to do whatever we can to prevent others having to face similar tragedies.

That is why my NDP colleagues and I have been actively working in Parliament supporting and improving measures to strengthen our crime fighting ability on such matters as conditional sentences, mandatory minimums, DNA identification, street racing, money laundering, impaired driving, and reverse onus for bail in weapons offences.

That is why the NDP has been fighting for a balanced approach and demanding action on prevention, policing and punishment, recognizing that in fact Conservative cuts to prevention programs are absolutely counterproductive to building safe and secure neighbourhoods.

That is why we in the NDP will hold the Conservatives to account for their promise to add 2,500 new front line police officers across this country without offloading this responsibility onto the provinces.

The NDP will continue to fight in Parliament and in our ridings for solutions to make ordinary Canadians feel safe in their homes and in their communities.

DarfurStatements By Members

2:10 p.m.

Liberal

Francis Scarpaleggia Liberal Lac-Saint-Louis, QC

Mr. Speaker, yesterday was the fourth anniversary of the beginning of the conflict in Darfur.

In the past four years 200,000 people have been killed and at least two million more have been displaced. Currently, approximately four million people are receiving humanitarian aid.

The situation is so bad that the United Nations has called it the world's greatest humanitarian emergency. Weak, uncoordinated efforts by the international community over the past four years have done nothing to alleviate the suffering. That is why, today, members and senators from all parties join me in urging the government to take different measures and mobilize the international community to resolve this ongoing humanitarian crisis.

I would also like to remind my hon. colleagues that, as Edmund Burke said, “It is necessary only for the good man to do nothing for evil to triumph”.

TaxationStatements By Members

2:10 p.m.

Bloc

Monique Guay Bloc Rivière-du-Nord, QC

Mr. Speaker, recently in this House, my efforts and those of the Bloc Québécois to have the fiscal imbalance recognized have been called into question. I would like to start by emphasizing that without our efforts, the existence of the fiscal imbalance would never have been recognized.

Defending the interests and sovereignty of Quebec is and will remain our primary objective. Ever since the release of the Séguin report, which confirmed what the Bloc Québécois brought to light through hard work, discipline and research, that there is a fiscal imbalance, we have, as members from Quebec, questioned the successive governments and forced the current government to recognize the existence of the fiscal imbalance.

In conclusion, if we were not right about the fiscal imbalance, why would this government claim to be so proud that it had partly corrected it? I hope that our efforts and those of my colleagues, who want first and foremost to defend the interests of Quebec, will get the respect they deserve in this House.

Prime Minister's HoroscopeStatements By Members

2:10 p.m.

Liberal

Scott Simms Liberal Bonavista—Gander—Grand Falls—Windsor, NL

Mr. Speaker, I rise to offer advice to the minority Conservative government. We can do that by checking the Prime Minister's horoscope.

Today is the Prime Minister's birthday and caféastrology.com tells us, “restlessness, rebellion, and impatience figure prominently”. It is a clear reference to the Conservative Atlantic caucus.

It says his “energy tends to be erratic and temperamental” and he can “act on sudden impulses without considering consequences”. That is an allusion, no doubt, to the government's confusing storyline regarding Afghan detainees.

The horoscope says, “confrontations engaged in this year could clear the air and help you move forward”. Are the stars speaking of the clean air act? Is there hope for a real environmental plan to emerge from the Conservative chaos on this file?

The future seems uncertain, except for one last prediction. It reads, “Arguments and confrontations are likely. Anger can erupt seemingly from nowhere”. Can question period be far off?

Finally, sincerely to the Prime Minister, happy birthday.

Liberal Party CandidateStatements By Members

2:15 p.m.

Conservative

Ed Fast Conservative Abbotsford, BC

Mr. Speaker, the Liberal Party continues to attract extremists and conspiracy theorists.

Farhan Mujahid Chak is the new Liberal candidate in Edmonton—Mill Woods—Beaumont. Last week the National Post published his outlandish views. Among other things, Mr. Chak has blamed terrorist attacks in France on the French government rather than on the actual terrorists. He has publicly accused Israel of rape, murder and torture. There is more. He has even called India's democracy a “fraud”.

Liberals have known about these outrageous opinions for years, yet did absolutely nothing about them. Why? Is it because Mr. Chak organized for the Liberal leader during his leadership campaign? Even after learning that Chak had been charged with firearms offences, the Liberals did nothing.

Elizabeth May fired a Green candidate when she learned of his disgusting views. Mr. Chak's opinions are equally as disgusting. Why then will the Liberal leader not do the right thing and give Farhan Chak his walking papers?

AfghanistanOral Questions

2:15 p.m.

Saint-Laurent—Cartierville Québec

Liberal

Stéphane Dion LiberalLeader of the Opposition

Mr. Speaker, last week we had story after story after story regarding Afghan detainees.

This weekend we had the latest story, with the government House leader saying that he has “yet to see one specific allegation of torture”.

Allegations, Mr. Speaker, they are everywhere, and nobody except the government House leader denies the existence of these allegations.

Will the Prime Minister finally give us a straight story? Is he going to ensure that the rights of the detainees transferred to Afghan authorities are respected?

AfghanistanOral Questions

2:15 p.m.

Calgary Southwest Alberta

Conservative

Stephen Harper ConservativePrime Minister

Once again, Mr. Speaker, the government has arrangements both with the government of Afghanistan and with the Afghanistan Independent Human Rights Commission.

The knowledge we have to this point indicates that those agreements are operating as they should, and that there have been some general allegations, as the Leader of the Opposition knows. The government of Afghanistan has committed to investigate those, and of course the Government of Canada will assist in any way that we can.

AfghanistanOral Questions

2:15 p.m.

Saint-Laurent—Cartierville Québec

Liberal

Stéphane Dion LiberalLeader of the Opposition

Mr. Speaker, at least the government is not denying that there are allegations. That is one point.

The secretary general of NATO said he supports the idea of an investigation into the allegations of torture.

Will the Prime Minister insist that Canada and NATO take part in such an investigation, not just the Afghan government?

AfghanistanOral Questions

2:15 p.m.

Calgary Southwest Alberta

Conservative

Stephen Harper ConservativePrime Minister

Mr. Speaker, once again, there is no evidence to support these allegations. As I have said many times, the government takes these allegations very seriously. At the same time, we have arrangements with the government of Afghanistan and the Afghanistan Independent Human Rights Commission. So far, these arrangements have been operating as they should. The government of Afghanistan has promised to launch an investigation and the Canadian government will help out wherever possible.

AfghanistanOral Questions

2:15 p.m.

Saint-Laurent—Cartierville Québec

Liberal

Stéphane Dion LiberalLeader of the Opposition

Mr. Speaker, I hope it will do more than just help out. I hope it will participate fully and convince NATO to take part, as well.

Last week, the Ministers of National Defence, Foreign Affairs and Public Safety spoke in the House. They gave a different story each time, only to be contradicted by their officials, by foreign agencies, by the media, by each other, and even by the Prime Minister. It is clear that the government has lost control of the situation.

It is obvious that everybody has lost confidence in the Minister of National Defence, who is responsible for this mess in the first place. Does the Prime Minister still have confidence in his Minister of National Defence?

AfghanistanOral Questions

2:20 p.m.

Calgary Southwest Alberta

Conservative

Stephen Harper ConservativePrime Minister

Once again, Mr. Speaker, I think I have been clear with regard to these questions. The government of Afghanistan will look into those matters and will have our full cooperation.

When we talk about changing stories, I would like to know whether the Leader of the Opposition still holds by his position that the way to solve this is to bring Taliban prisoners to Canada.

Once again, we are in Afghanistan to keep the Taliban out of Canada.