Anne McLellan

[Public Safety, November 28th, 2005]

Mr. Speaker, I can reassure the hon. member that my officials have followed up in relation to this matter.

As I have said before, we have no credible or reasonable information to suggest that these planes were involved in any illegal activity, and certainly no reliable information that would suggest that they were involved in the practice of extraordinary rendition.

If my officials were to raise those kinds of serious questions, if I received information that suggested to me such actions were taking place, my colleague the Minister of Foreign Affairs would obviously follow up with the Secretary of State for the United States of America.

[Public Safety, November 28th, 2005]

Mr. Speaker, as I have said before, we have no information that would lead us to believe there was any illegal activity in relation to the use of those planes. I have also underscored in the House on a number of occasions that we have absolutely no reason to believe that any plane was used in relation to the practice known as extraordinary rendition.

I will again make it absolutely plain for the hon. member that if any information comes into our possession around illegal activity in relation to planes, we will obviously take that up with the United States of America.

[Public Safety, November 28th, 2005]

Mr. Speaker, my colleague, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, has made it plain that if we have any reasonable evidence or information to suggest that there was wrongdoing in terms of any breach of Canadian domestic law, or international law as far as that goes, the Minister of Foreign Affairs has indicated that he will follow up with his counterpart, the secretary of state for the United States of America.

[Public Safety, November 28th, 2005]

Mr. Speaker, again let me reiterate for the hon. member, it is my understanding that the flights referred to by the hon. member from the Bloc Québécois were handled in accordance with normal operating procedures. To the best of my knowledge there is no credible information on the flights mentioned to suggest that these planes were used to transport suspected terrorists to and from Canada or that illegal activity took place.

A response to the letter from the Bloc Québécois member is being forwarded to him from me later this afternoon. I have asked that further inquiries be made regarding all the flights in question.

[Firearms Registry, November 24th, 2005]

Mr. Speaker, I hope the hon. member is not equating the potential lethal nature of a firearm with whatever lethal nature he thinks one of our bovine friends might present to the public.

I was brought up on a farm and let me reassure the hon. member that in all my years on that farm I did not actually encounter a lethal cow.

However, because guns are lethal, that is why we have a gun control system, because we put--

[Firearms Registry, November 24th, 2005]

Mr. Speaker, he is probably only the hon. member and a few others on that side who think the system does not assist the police in their daily activities.

The former president of the Association of Chiefs of Police said that there was no question that the system works and that it was a valuable tool.

The gun control system improves the screening of legal gun owners, increases their accountability and provides tools to prevent the diversion and misuse of firearms.

Police officers use the firearms registry online more than 5,000 times a day to help them do their work. Since 1998, there have been 4.6 million queries to the system by police. More than 5,400--

[Public Safety, November 24th, 2005]

Mr. Speaker, again, as I have made plain, we have no information that any flight has landed in this country that had involvement in relation to the extraordinary act of rendition. As my colleague the Minister of Foreign Affairs made plain, we expect those who come and go from our country and through our airspace to obey both our domestic laws and international laws where appropriate.

Consequently, if we are to come into possession at any time of any information that would raise a concern, I know that my colleague, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, would contact his counterpart, the secretary of state.

[Public Safety, November 24th, 2005]

Mr. Speaker, I will answer clearly, as I have before. I am in possession of no information that would indicate that any plane, civilian or otherwise, has landed in this country that would have participated in the act of extraordinary rendition.

[Supply, November 24th, 2005]

Mr. Speaker, I heard a lot of words but, this government has taken action. I thank him for the promises, but we have actually acted. We have put dollars into skills training and apprenticeship. We have put dollars into cities, communities and public transit. We have put dollars into ensuring our young people have access to post-secondary institutions. Please, spare me the empty rhetoric. This government has taken action.

[Supply, November 24th, 2005]

Mr. Speaker, let me make it plain to the hon. member that it was the Prime Minister who moved immediately to deal with the situation surrounding the sponsorship situation. It was the Prime Minister who instructed that the Liberal Party of Canada would write a cheque immediately upon receipt of the Gomery report for the amount identified by Mr. Gomery as being wrongfully used and received by the Liberal Party of Canada in Quebec. It was the Prime Minister who banned members from our party. It is the Prime Minister who has put in place a new code of ethics for all of us who are members of the Liberal Party of Canada. It was the Prime Minister who put the Gomery inquiry in place. It was the Prime Minister who introduced whistleblower legislation. It is the Prime Minister who is truly committed to accountability and transparency in government.