Betty Hinton

[Canada Post, February 24th, 2005]

Mr. Speaker, in Kamloops, as in Saint John, a post office is slated for closure on March 4. The reaction of the residents is the same. There have been rallies and letter writing campaigns to keep postal station A open.

Upon notification of this closure, I immediately met with a representative of Canada Post to raise the objections of my constituents. I was told that the decision had been made and that it was a done deal.

I wrote a letter to the president and acting CEO but there was no reply.

The decision to close this outlet was made with no consultation or regard for the area residents who have used postal station A for 35 years, many of them seniors, the very people who still write letters to family and friends. No consideration was given to the inconvenience to the many businesses affected by this closure.

Brand and image have replaced service and community commitment at Canada Post Corporation.

I join my colleague from Saint John in asking the minister responsible to show leadership on this file and demand that postal station A in Kamloops be kept open.

[Budget Implementation Act, 2004, No. 2, February 23rd, 2005]

Mr. Speaker, I have a very brief question. I am not sure the minister will be comfortable commenting on this, but could he give me any idea of the amount of money that was spent changing the uniforms and the insignia on the sleeves of the security workers in the airports?

I cannot, for the life of me, figure out how that could possibly have made us more secure. However I do know that it was an enormous expense and I am sure it would have entailed letterhead, envelopes and all the rest of it. Does the member have any idea of the cost of that?

[Canadian Forces, February 17th, 2005]

Mr. Speaker, Monday, February 28 will mark the 14th anniversary of the liberation of Kuwait. Some 4,500 members of Canada's armed forces served in the Gulf War. Many came home with debilitating medical conditions and were subsequently released from the armed forces.

Little has been done in the last 14 years to address these medical conditions, other than slap a label of post-traumatic stress syndrome on them and cut them adrift. We often hear the word family used in connection with Canada's military. I can tell the House, this is no way to treat a family member. Not only have they been treated badly by their own country, they are not even allowed to accept a medal from Kuwait in appreciation for their service. This is just not right.

I would ask the government, in this Year of the Veteran, to act in the best interest of these veterans and not wait the usual 40 or 50 years to give them compensation packages. Make things right for these veterans now and give them the recognition that they have earned.

[Foreign Affairs, February 10th, 2005]

I did mean, Mr. Speaker. My apologies.

The Iranian ambassador to Great Britain attributed Ms. Kazemi's death to “shrewd security forces,” and added, “We're sorry for it”. Not sorry enough to return her body to her family and not sorry enough to find her assassins.

It is time the government showed Iran that these human rights violations will not be tolerated by Canada any longer. What is the government going to do to rectify this situation?

[Foreign Affairs, February 10th, 2005]

I have been condemning for a long time, Mr. Minister.

The Iranian ambassador to Great Britain--

[Foreign Affairs, February 10th, 2005]

Mr. Speaker, in June 2003 a Canadian, Zahra Kazemi, was assassinated while in the custody of the Iranian government. That rogue state felt immune to repercussions from our impotent government.

Why did the Canadian government not intervene after her arrest and before her death?

[Immigration and Refugee Protection Act, February 2nd, 2005]

Madam Speaker, I am very pleased to hear that the parliamentary secretary is on side with me. I would be even more pleased if I could hear the heritage minister say those exact same words.

The member talked about the Cultural Property Export and Import Act. If there is, and I know there is, a Cultural Property Export and Import Act, why did the government not use it to save this medal? This is not the first time we have gone through this.

An immigrant to Canada, Arthur Lee, produced the winning bid of $400,000 to purchase the medals when we were in jeopardy of losing the Colonel John McCrae medal collection. He immediately donated them to the McCrae Museum in Guelph, Ontario. The McCrae medals did not include a Victoria Cross; however, their value lay with their owner, the author of In Flanders Fields .

If we almost lost the McCrae medals and we have now almost lost the Topham medals, and the member is standing here tonight telling me that we have something in place called the Cultural Property Export and Import Act that would stop this from happening, would the member please explain to me why Canadian children were forced to have penny drives, why legion members were forced to run out and try and solicit funds wherever they could, and why members of the First Canadian Parachute Battalion were forced to go out and try and earn money to save these medals?

[Immigration and Refugee Protection Act, February 2nd, 2005]

Madam Speaker, I was disappointed to learn a moment ago that the Minister of Canadian Heritage will not be replying to my question tonight regarding Victoria Crosses and their importance to Canadian history and that the answer will come from the Parliament Secretary to the Minister of the Environment. My disappointment is no reflection on the parliamentary secretary, but I am very disappointed that the Minister of Canadian Heritage seems to believe that this is such an unimportant issue that she would not respond to me.

I asked very respectfully on December 3, 2004 how the minister intended to ensure that the medals that are important to the history of this country are not sold. She very bluntly told me that she totally rejected the premise of my question. It was an honourable question and a serious question.

The Victoria Cross is the realm's highest award for gallantry in the face of the enemy. It has precedence over any other of the sovereign's awards. The cross itself is cast from the bronze of cannons captured at Sebastopol during the Crimean War. The design chosen by Queen Victoria consists of a cross pattée ensigned over a royal crest.

There were only 1,351 Victoria Crosses awarded worldwide since 1856 and 94 Victoria Crosses have gone to Canadians. It is my intent through a private member's bill to ensure that we not only uphold the rights of private property and give people the right to sell these medals if they choose to, but I want to ensure that Canada as a country has the right of first refusal to buy those medals.

We have had cases where medals have been sold out of the country. If it were not for a very distinguished member of this society, we would have lost the John McCrae medal. I do not believe that we should be in a position where we are depending on independent business people in this country to save these medals. It is the responsibility and the job of our government.

My private member's bill I hope will make it to the floor before the end of this session because this is something that I do not want to see repeated again. These are very important medals. They are a part of our history. If we allow them to be sold without having any checks and balances in place, I think we have made a serious mistake.

If it were not for the National Post 's Chris Wattie writing a story that went across the country and caused the outrage of legion members and citizens alike, we may not have even known someone was going to try to sell this particular cross. That is something that needs to be stopped, and it needs to be stopped now.

I want to ask for the cooperation of the Minister of Canadian Heritage and the Minister of Veterans Affairs to work with me to try to put something together that would ensure that Canada's history stays in Canada. Many men have given their lives. In many cases they have been wounded and have suffered from those wounds for the rest of their living days. I think the Victoria Cross and other crosses awarded for valour are something worth fighting for.

[Kamloops Christmas Light Tour, December 14th, 2004]

Mr. Speaker, it is an honour for me to rise today, the last sitting day before the Christmas break, to pay tribute to a Kamloops tradition.

The Christmas Light Tour is the highlight of the season for many Kamloops seniors. Volunteers pick them up at various residences and drive them around the city in comfortable coaches to look at the spectacular lights. The Kamloops residents go above and beyond to decorate for the holiday season, knowing that the seniors will be driving by.

It is a truly magical evening for everyone involved. I look forward to being a part of it once again this year. It is often said, but it is well worth repeating, that volunteers are the backbone of this nation. I thank them for their time and efforts in organizing this event.

I would also like to take this opportunity, Mr. Speaker, to wish you and all of my colleagues in the House a very merry Christmas and a prosperous new year.

[Forestry, December 13th, 2004]

Mr. Speaker, one of the nice parts about being one of the female members of this caucus is that I can allow the male members to be nastier than I am. I get to stay on the nice side of things. In answer to that question, I think it has some merit, but let me just say about the minister and the parliamentary secretary, who this evening have been saying that they do not understand it, and then the parliamentary secretary more or less admitted that he knows about it, if they do not know about it, they should know about it.

I would be terribly disappointed to learn that a minister would be that far behind in his portfolio. I would think that would be a condemnation of himself. I would not admit it, quite frankly.