Art Hanger

[Civil International Space Station Agreement Implementation Act, November 2nd, 1999]

Madam Speaker, as to the hon. member's point, I am and will be speaking on the whole issue of co-operation. It is important to recognize what co-operation can do when there is a common cause and a common purpose. A space station can be developed in four or five different countries and be assembled in space after being transported up there. Co-operation is the key point.

It is no different for the people of this country. They need to know where we stand on issues that are important to them. They need to know that the parliamentary process will allow that adequate debate, will allow input from the opposition, will allow their opinions to be heard, not shut down.

What would happen if that happened in the space program or at the international space station? I would not want to go into space and put myself in that mechanical device. I would not know if I was going to live or die because there was no co-operation on the part of the engineers, the politicians and the medical teams involved.

I will flip back over to the Nisga'a agreement where it is very clear that co-operation is at the centre of the whole affair. At no time did we state that aboriginal people should not have self-government of some form. We are not denying self-government. Co-operation is the key: all levels of government working together, just like in the space station; and all levels of those planning divisions working together to accomplish one goal.

In the particular case of the Nisga'a agreement, we have a form of government that is apart from all other governments. Who is accountable to whom? What government is going to act independently? We are talking about co-operation in a space station. We are talking about co-operation by different levels of government. The Nisga'a government is one such level.

I cannot understand why the government is actually afraid to debate the Nisga'a agreement to its nth degree? It should be proud of being able to do that. I would suggest that is the democratic process. I do not know why the government is so nervous about discussing the particulars of the treaty?

What I find rather unsettling is this tendency to label its opponents, or those with an opposing point of view to this treaty, in the cowardly manner in which it does. It all showed up when closure was invoked, which, in my humble opinion, was undemocratic, cowardly and a desperate act to attempt to smother a good and sound free speech debate in the House.

When it comes to the government, its action is no different than the B.C. government that rammed through the Nisga'a treaty in the provincial legislature against huge opposition.

[Civil International Space Station Agreement Implementation Act, November 2nd, 1999]

Madam Speaker, I am pleased to speak to Bill C-4 on the international space station.

Like my colleagues, I too will certainly make reference to the bill that was closed down very deliberately by the Liberal government. Debate was stifled on the Nisga'a agreement. I do not know what the reason was, apart from the fact that the Liberal government did not want a sound debate on that bill. The Liberals did not want Canadians to hear the true contents of that bill and its ramifications throughout the province of B.C. in particular, and for all Canadians.

The Nisga'a agreement bill impacts not only the province of British Columbia, but right across the country. Its potential in land claim settlements is quite phenomenal.

Back to the space station. I had the privilege of walking through the model of the space station outside of Houston, Texas. It was housed in a very large building as one can imagine. It is several hundred feet long and several hundred feet wide. I had the opportunity for a hands-on examination of the station. It was very, very impressive.

When we think about the beginnings of the space program in the United States of America, the roots were very much associated with Canada. I recall the scrapping of the Avro Arrow project in Canada. Some phenomenal engineering and technological achievements ended up south of the border. Unfortunately right now we do not possess the same qualities of research and support on a government level as we did back then. When we look at the history of NASA, the space race and the space industry, it very much has its roots here in Canada.

There are still many Canadian hands-on personnel down there. It just so happened that when I was down there, a number of Canadian scientists and engineers were working on different processes in reference to the robotic arm, the technology which was developed here in Canada. I saw how that arm is going to work on the space station. It is quite amazing. That arm can move like a giant spider from one end of the space station and attach itself to the other end. It can perform significant maintenance and construction feats.

A member of my family works on the medical team in NASA, Dr. Douglas Hamilton. He is known as Hammy down there. Dr. Hamilton has two degrees in engineering and a medical degree. Unfortunately he is part of the brain drain out of Canada. He was educated and received his degrees in Calgary. After he earned his medical degree he was looking around for a job and lo and behold, NASA snapped him up.

There is another one of Hammy's credentials which should be mentioned. He was in line to be an astronaut and was picked as one of the Canadian astronauts for the future. He was one of the five that was slated to go. Unfortunately it never happened. The race slowed down and a number of Canadians did not have the opportunity but he knows many of this country's present astronauts.

I was looking at a diagram of the space station. As I was walking through the station I had a good opportunity to look inside each capsule that will be made by various countries. There is no question about the importance of this space station and Canada's involvement in it.

There will be Canadians not so much in the station when it is up there but there certainly will be a lot of them on the ground. Canada's role in the station is going to be vital and ultra important. It will provide spin-off jobs in Canada as Canada contributes more and more toward that endeavour.

I walked through all of the modules. There is a co-operative effort on the part of these countries. Some of them were at odds with one another. Russia was at odds with the United States and the free world. Japan at one time was at odds with Europe and certainly North America. The United Kingdom and Europe are contributing to this effort with a substantial amount of co-operation.

I was impressed that it is a Russian escape module, if there are problems in the station itself, that will allow those inside the capsules to exit safely hopefully back to Earth should some major problem occur. Co-operation was the key to this whole affair.

Ties are being built through efforts like the space station. Bonds are being built among the scientific community and among those in the diplomatic areas of governments. Some barriers are falling down which is so vital to world peace.

I look to our own country and I see other things happening which reflect the opposite. I am coming back now to another comparison, when we talk about co-operation and what can actually be accomplished when matters come before the House that are divisive to our country and its people.

I speak of the Nisga'a agreement. Many people in the country would like to know the truth of the matter when it comes to that agreement. They are not being allowed to do that. They are being denied a debate here in parliament on that very issue.

The government chose to invoke time allocation after four hours and 12 minutes of debate. In so doing—

[National Defence, November 2nd, 1999]

Mr. Speaker, Canada's military has a proud tradition of serving overseas but they have not been given the proper tools to do the job.

The foreign affairs minister finds it tiresome to talk about the equipment they so desperately need. He finds it tiresome to worry about whether or not our troops have the protection they need when they are putting their lives on the line.

Why does the defence minister defend the foreign affairs minister's insults and not defend our troops?

[National Defence, November 2nd, 1999]

Mr. Speaker, the Minister of Foreign Affairs says he finds it tiresome when people criticize Canada's defence capabilities. We find it tiresome that Canada was forced out of a NATO operation with Poland because of faulty equipment. We find it tiresome that Canada's NATO commitment is second to last. We find it tiresome that our military equipment is rusting out and personnel are being put at risk by using it.

Why does the defence minister allow the foreign affairs minister to belittle our troops with his tiresome opinions?

[Criminal Code, October 14th, 1999]

moved for leave to introduce Bill 209, an act to amend the Criminal Code (prohibited sexual acts).

Mr. Speaker, it is my pleasure to reintroduce my private member's bill. This bill seeks to raise the legal age of sexual consent from age 14 to age 16. It would thus make it a criminal offence for an adult to engage in sex with children under the age of 16.

The bill was first introduced in 1996 and reintroduced in 1997. However, the growing concern over child pornography and child prostitution in the country makes it even more urgent for the enactment of this legislation to protect the young and vulnerable in our society from predators among us.

For the sake of our children I appeal to members of the House to give serious consideration to the bill and lend their support accordingly.

(Motions deemed adopted, bill read the first time and printed)

[Crown Liability And Proceedings Act, October 14th, 1999]

moved for leave to introduce Bill C-208, an act to to amend the Crown Liability and Proceedings Act.

Mr. Speaker, it is my pleasure to reintroduce this bill.

Its purpose is to ensure that a person serving time in prison will not be able to sue the federal government or its employees under any federal legislation in respect of a claim arising while the person is under sentence.

If enacted, the bill would put an end to the practice of prisoners engaging in frivolous lawsuits against the federal government and their abuse of the legal system.

I urge all members in the House to give serious consideration to the bill.

(Motions deemed adopted, bill read the first time and printed)

[Gulf War Veterans, October 13th, 1999]

Mr. Speaker, it is time for the government to acknowledge the existence of gulf war syndrome. Watching from the visitors' gallery today are gulf war veterans Louise Richard, Maurice Binard and Susan Roirdon, wife of Terry Roirdon, whose death this April was officially caused by gulf war syndrome. Captain Roirdon died in the prime of his life.

They represent over 2,000 more infected soldiers. These veterans came to the Hill today to ask the government for answers. They deserve that much. They also deserve treatment.

The Liberal government has been unwilling to acknowledge or treat gulf war illness. Veterans are frustrated, sick and dying. They are tired of getting no response from the government. Canadian forces personnel are misdiagnosed, undiagnosed, untreated, then released from the service.

It is the minister's moral responsibility and his obligation to determine the following: Was the anthrax vaccine involved? Was exposure to depleted uranium to blame? Was it some other toxin?

These veterans have waged—

[National Defence, June 7th, 1999]

Mr. Speaker, of course the Liberal government is going to disagree. It cut 25% of the budget to the military. It cut all clothing, the military is working with outmoded equipment, it lacks personnel and the defence minister really does not care about the military at all. Jane's says this: “Other western countries—should watch (Canada) carefully to see what may happen if and when servicemen finally lose their hearts because of political indifference”.

What is the Minister of National Defence going to do to correct this deficiency?

[National Defence, June 7th, 1999]

Mr. Speaker, after the second world war Canada's navy was the third largest in the world. Look how far we have sunk. Jane's Fighting Ships , a respected military publication, found the capabilities of the Canadian navy to be so lacking that it ranked us along with Mexico and Chile. That is shameful.

When is the Minister of National Defence going to present to parliament a realistic plan to renew the beleaguered Canadian forces?

[Petitions, May 26th, 1999]

The second petition, Mr. Speaker, bears 750 signatures. It deals with suicide or euthanasia.

The petitioners call upon parliament not to repeal or amend section 241 of the Criminal Code in any way and to uphold the decision of the Supreme Court of Canada of September 30, 1993, to disallow assisted suicide or euthanasia.