Brian Fitzpatrick

[Jack Matheson, February 1st, 2002]

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to pay tribute to Jack Matheson, Prince Albert's citizen extraordinaire who passed away of cancer last month.

Jack was a man whose life was truly dedicated to making other people's lives better. Whether it was his public service as a city councillor, his 12 years as a school trustee or the energy he devoted as a national director of the Canadian Cancer Society, Jack was always a man of service.

His business was clothing but he clothed himself with a garment of dignity and a hat of wisdom. Jack's dedication to community service is an example to everyone as well as being an example of how private initiative can remedy social ills.

Jack Matheson will be missed. It will be very difficult to replace a community leader of Jack Matheson's calibre.

[Youth Criminal Justice Act, January 31st, 2002]

Mr. Speaker, I have a point of clarification and I want my question to be straightforward too. In dealing with this act in a court situation is there some sort of scientific, medical or whatever test, for example, in a gang situation, the judge can use to determine who precisely is aboriginal and who is not?

[The Budget, December 11th, 2001]

Mr. Speaker, in my view government is no more than people and their resources. I have seen signs in the last 10 years that are disturbing for our country. We must compare ourselves to the U.S. Canada has had a huge decline in productivity and disposable income. Regional disparity has become worse, not better.

Canada is suffering from a brain drain to the U.S. of our best and brightest in frightening numbers. The government subsidizes and regulates certain sectors of the economy. Air Canada is one example of these sectors and the Liberal way of doing things.

If these productivity trends and the decline in our standard of living continue, where are we heading? Are we heading toward a 45 cent or 48 cent dollar? Are we heading toward a third rate economy? What happens to government programs when the economy hits those sorts of levels?

[The Budget, December 11th, 2001]

Mr. Speaker, when I look back at Canada in the 1990s and the early part of this century, it seems to me that there are two provinces that are largely responsible for the economic growth in the country, the provinces of Ontario and Alberta, especially Ontario in the last five years of the 1990s. The first five years of the 1990s were rather dismal.

When I look at the other provinces I see economic performance either going sideways or backwards. When I see a city like Montreal losing its baseball team and the Montreal Canadiens losing their ownership to Americans, I ask myself what is happening in other areas of the country.

I ask my learned colleague on the other side of the House, are the Liberal policies really designed to bring prosperity to Alberta and Ontario or is it perhaps the Liberal government, the provincial governments and other governments in other provinces that are holding the provinces down so they cannot perform like Ontario and Alberta?

[Gun Control, November 30th, 2001]

Mr. Speaker, the Liberal government's firearms registration system has proven to be a dismal failure. The law has only served to harass law abiding gun owners and consume an ever expanding budget.

The system was supposed to cost $85 million. The cost has ballooned to $680 million. This is while police forces across the country are starved for resources. The latest scheme from the justice minister is to rebate $10 to eligible gun owners. A conservative estimate of the administrative costs of the rebate program is $15 per cheque. This is typical Liberal mathematics: spend $15 to send out a $10 cheque.

The gun law has not worked except for its secret agenda of attacking rural Canada, hunters and tourism. What will it take to have the Liberal government scrap this useless program?

[Immigration, November 21st, 2001]

Mr. Speaker, another statement of denial from a sad minister. Sources have told the official opposition that the office of the Immigration and Refugee Board commissioner has in fact been raided.

Has an employee been suspended pending the outcome of the RCMP investigation?

[Immigration, November 21st, 2001]

Mr. Speaker, there are reports of an RCMP investigation into corruption charges with the Immigration and Refugee Board.

Could the minister confirm that as part of this investigation the office of the Immigration and Refugee Board commissioner in Montreal has been raided by the RCMP?

[Anti-terrorism Legislation, October 29th, 2001]

Mr. Speaker, in pursuing the September 11 monsters we should not be concerned with their political, religious or ideological justifications. Quite frankly there can be no justification for acts of terrorism.

Why does the government not amend the bill by removing these unnecessary protections for terrorists?

[Anti-terrorism Legislation, October 29th, 2001]

Mr. Speaker, in the anti-terrorism bill the government has decided that one's political, ideological and religious motivations are essential elements of the act of terrorism.

Why does the government want to hinder prosecutions and assist terrorists by requiring the crown to prove beyond a reasonable doubt the motives of terrorists?

[Foreign Missions and International Organizations Act, October 22nd, 2001]

Mr. Speaker, Mr. Robertson is a gentleman in Ottawa who spent quite a few decades as the privy council president. This past winter he said that our system of government had evolved into a form of elected dictatorship and that cabinet had become nothing more than a focus group. I am concerned that there be a separation between the powers of the police and the state, especially given the comments made by a very respected person in this town and one whose opinion I respect.

I just wonder whether we should not really be focused on separating the power between the dictatorship and the police force and make sure they work in an arm's length relationship.

I would ask my colleague from Medicine Hat if he has any such concerns.