Bob Mills

[Petitions, September 20th, 1996]

Mr. Speaker, it is my pleasure to present to Parliament a petition signed by 360 people in my riding of Red Deer.

The citizens pray and request that Parliament proceed immediately with amendments to the Criminal Code to ensure that the sentence given to anyone convicted of driving while impaired or causing injury or death while impaired reflects both the severity of the crime and zero tolerance by Canada toward this crime.

[Somalia Inquiry, September 20th, 1996]

Mr. Speaker, this minister talks about ministerial responsibility. He also talks about accountability. He also talks about perception. Right now it is perceived by all Canadians that we now have a conflict of interest in the very terms of reference of the Somalia inquiry.

Why will this minister not answer, yes or no, was General Boyle involved in setting the frame of reference for the Somalia inquiry?

[Somalia Inquiry, September 20th, 1996]

Mr. Speaker, we have had a regiment disbanded, we have had key people, witnesses, taken out of the country at the last minute. We now have a general who appears to have an obvious conflict of interest.

Will the minister file now a list of those people who were responsible for drawing up the frame of reference for the Somalia inquiry?

[Prisons And Reformatories Act, September 17th, 1996]

Mr. Speaker, I will not talk about an extreme case but about one that was in my local newspaper on Saturday night. I would like to hear the member's comments on it.

An auction mart was broken into and vandalized. A lot of damage was done inside. The RCMP arrived and arrested the individual. The individual was a 20-year old who was just having some fun. The police comments were that he would probably get a suspended sentence because after all it was a pretty minor offence.

The dollar value was not that much. The owner of the auction mart, on the other hand, felt that rather than going through the cost of the court system and potentially putting the individual in jail for

two days or fining him $100 that maybe a much better way to handle this sort of situation would be public service.

The public service he suggested was this. He has a lot of cattle liners coming into his auction mart. A cattle liner after a 1,000-mile trip with 100 cattle inside is not necessarily a pleasant thing to clean out.

His suggestion was that a much better punishment might be three months of helping out at the auction mart cleaning out the cattle liners and that probably he would think twice about vandalizing an auction mart again.

I wonder what the member might think about that sort of fair punishment for the crime, and does he think the individual would learn from that experience?

[Translation]

[Government Appointments, September 16th, 1996]

Mr. Speaker, we have two high profile foreign affairs employees who have now been implicated in the Somali inquiry. Of course everyone knows Mr. Fowler was removed from Canada on December 23, 1994 when the House was not sitting. We know Ms. Campbell was sent to her mansion in L.A. in July of 1996 when the House was not sitting. One now wonders whether General Boyle will receive a Christmas present and become ambassador to NATO.

Why will the Prime Minister not show some leadership and put the Canadian people first above his friends and political appointments?

[Export Of Military Goods, June 18th, 1996]

Mr. Speaker, I appreciate the opportunity to comment on the minister's statement. As it was very extensive and as I have received it only recently, I will not comment on everything but I will focus on a few of the most important issues dealt with in the statement.

I share the minister's opinion that conflict within states constitutes the major security threat in the coming decade. Our recent experience in Bosnia, Rwanda and Haiti bear this out.

Unfortunately the UN has been woefully inadequate in dealing with such conflicts and an increasing burden has been placed on countries like Canada to intervene on their own to save the day. This is not acceptable.

The UN must undergo a fundamental restructuring and reform from top to bottom over the next few years, not decades, if this trend is to be reversed. As it stands now there is little political support for the UN on many occasions and even less financial support.

It could easily be argued the UN is teetering on the edge of bankruptcy. This will continue if countries like Canada do not lay down the law at the UN and bring about a fundamental reform.

We can be leaders in the area of fulfilling this role. I firmly believe the security of the entire world depends on our creating that reform within the UN or a similar agency. It is necessary. We need a leader and I think Canada could fill that role very well.

There is more to the problems of international conflict resolution than the UN. It can be traced to this Parliament. We all acknowledge peacekeeping is one of Canada's great contributions to building world peace, but look at how Parliament deals with the peacekeeping issue.

We have in the past held sham debates with inadequate information about the mission and no votes. How can the minister argue he really cares about the opinion of Parliament when mission after mission this continues to happen?

It happened repeatedly with the Bosnia mission where there was a totally inadequate mandate and no long term plan. Now it appears it could be happening with Haiti.

The minister well knows the mandate for the Haiti mission expires at the end of the June, but we still have no long term plan. Canada has not established clear criteria or conditions under which we are prepared to continue with this mission. Once again the minister is getting ready to sign a blank cheque to continue the Haiti mission.

Does the minister really think this kind of nonsense is acceptable? Helping Haiti is a worthy cause but there has to be a plan. There has to be broad based international support including financial support. There have to be clear criteria for Canadian participation and there has to be a reasonable chance of success in an acceptable timeframe.

Yet Parliament has heard nothing about these things. There has been no information. The UN is still floundering around in typical fashion and I do not think this bodes well for the future of the mission, regardless of the good intentions of Canada and the very commendable work of our soldiers and RCMP and other police forces and the hardships they have had to endure in Haiti.

Moving on to another topic, I would like to talk about combating terrorism. Reform fully supports the government in this effort and we encourage the minister to take bold steps to cut off any terrorist funding flowing from Canada. In addition, we want to see quick progress in international co-operation to punish terrorists who use borders as shields against justice.

On human rights and democratic development, I agree that isolation and hectoring, to quote the minister, is not productive. We must assist in the building of institutions which support human rights and democratic development throughout the world. This is in our interests and this is what Canadians would want us to do.

With respect to the proliferation of nuclear, chemical and biological weapons, Reform agrees this is an urgent problem. That is why we firmly supported the government in its efforts to indefinitely extend the nuclear non-proliferation treaty. That is also why we have repeatedly urged the government to take all steps to ensure the comprehensive test ban treaty is signed as quickly as possible. We particularly refer to China which we hope will very soon become a signatory.

The minister's statement also mentioned anti-personnel land mines which should be banned worldwide. He stated how on January 17 of this year the government announced a moratorium on the production, export and operational use of these weapons. I guess the minister forgot to mention that it was Reform that first proposed this long before the government ever got around to doing it.

I congratulate the Reform member for Esquimalt-Juan de Fuca who has worked diligently on this topic and who introduced a private member's bill to deal with this issue last year.

On the minister's proposal for tightening conventional arms control, Reform broadly supports this concept. However, we wish to examine the details of the plan before we would comment further.

There are many areas of security policy on which I believe there is a broad consensus between parties. However, we need action, not just endless words.

On the issue of handing over blank cheques to the UN and blindly supporting peacekeeping missions, the government needs to rethink its approach. Reform has frequently commented on these issues and I know the minister privately agrees with much of what we have to say.

It is up to him to assume responsibility for correcting these problems and he should do so without delay.

[Cyprus, June 17th, 1996]

Mr. Speaker, Motion No. 239 put forth by the hon. member for Saint Denis reflects the intent previously stated by the United Nations, the Australian Parliament, the New Zealand Parliament, the U.S. Senate and the U.S. House of Representatives. By supporting this motion, Canada will be joining these world leaders in calling for a peaceful settlement of the Cyprus issue and ensuring the future stability and well-being of the people of Cyprus.

In joining the nations and global organizations that have previously stated their support for the demilitarization of Cyprus, Canada is declaring that demilitarization would meet the security concerns of all parties involved. It would enhance prospects for a peaceful and lasting resolution of the dispute regarding Cyprus. It would benefit all the people of Cyprus and hence merits international support.

Cyprus has been plagued with conflict since 1963 when violence broke out over accumulated tension between the Greek and Turkish communities. Cyprus became independent of British rule three years earlier, with a constitution intended to balance the interests of the island's Greek Cypriot and Turkish Cypriot communities.

A treaty between Cyprus, Greece, Turkey and the United Kingdom guaranteed the basic provisions of the constitution and the territorial integrity and sovereignty of Cyprus. Unfortunately, the application of the provisions of the constitution were not easily enforced and tensions between the two communities escalated with time and eventually led to the outbreak of violence.

As early as 1964 the United Nations established a peacekeeping force in Cyprus. Since then, the security council has periodically extended the mandate of the peacekeeping mission. Most recently the security council extended the mandate of the peace force until June 30, 1996. While expressing concern that there has been no progress toward a final political solution and while urging the leaders of both communities to promote tolerance and reconciliation, these forces will doubtless continue to patrol the buffer zone between the 30,000 Turkish troops that remain in Cyprus and the Greek Cypriot forces.

The presence of Turkish troops in northern Cyprus as well as the Greek troops occupying the area hamper the search for a freely negotiated solution to the dispute. These troops pose a potential threat to the security and well-being of all Cypriots and hinder the peace and stability of the region.

Until demilitarization occurs there is a strong danger that negotiations will remain unprosperous and no settlement will be reached. This conflict has lasted too long and we as members of an influential nation must voice our concern for the Cypriot people who continue to suffer from uncertainty about the future of their country.

Cyprus has become a test case of the effectiveness of the United Nations and of the application of the basic rules of international law. Since this conflict began, the United Nations has proposed a number of peace plans to create a federal independent and non-aligned Cypriot state. The United Nations has also sponsored numerous rounds of negotiations between the conflicting parties, most of which have not been fruitful.

In 1992 Dr. Boutros Boutros-Ghali reported to the UN security council on the results of the latest round of negotiations. He regrettably announced that the lack of political will continued to block the conclusion of an agreement.

In that same year the security council reaffirmed that a settlement must be based on a state of Cyprus with a single sovereignty and international personality and a single citizenship, with its independence and territorial integrity safeguarded. In 1994 resolution No. 939 effectively conceded in the absence of agreements on fundamental issues that confidence building measures were not a realistic possibility to ending the conflict. Unfortunately, the presence of foreign troops in Cyprus has hindered the ability of negotiators to come up with agreements on the fundamental issues mentioned in resolution No. 939.

The European Parliament in a joint resolution called upon the European Union, its member states and Turkey to give their full backing to a continuous and broad dialogue to promote respect for human rights and freedoms. This is a resolution that we must echo here in the Canadian House of Commons.

Our concern in this issue must be first and foremost for the Cypriot people. They are the ones suffering from this elongated war and the lack of political negotiations between the warring nations involved. It is only through negotiated settlements between Greece and Turkey that peace can be restored. It is only through the establishment of peace that a concern for human rights and democracy will return to the region.

Canada is a strong believer in human rights and fundamental freedom for all people. This cannot merely be a spoken promise. We must also act on it. We can begin by approving this motion to restore peace and stability to Cyprus through the removal of all foreign troops in the area.

Unfortunately, while the necessity and validity of this motion is not in question, its ultimate effectiveness is. Canada's distance from Cyprus hinders our ability to become an active participant in this issue. It is up to the regional authorities involved to solve this problem. They are the ones that must join together around the bargaining table and negotiate a settlement that will end the militarization in Cyprus and allow the Cypriot people to live in peace. Our role of diplomacy is the one we should be emphasizing and promoting in that area.

I ask the government to call on the European Union to take a more active role in ending the conflict in Cyprus. The European Union has an influence over this conflict that Canada does not enjoy. First, member states of the union are at a much more strategic spot to deal with the Cypriot conflict than Canada is. They also play a unique role in the dispute in that in July 1990 Cyprus formally applied for full membership to the European community.

In response to Cyprus's plea for membership, the leaders of the European Union agreed at the Corfu summit that the next phase of enlargement of the union will include Cyprus, subject to a solution of the Cyprus problem. This gives the European Union a tool for use in negotiations and ultimately a settlement of this problem.

To give this issue the utmost attention, it is important that the conflict be ended now. We urge all parties involved in the Cyprus question to demonstrate goodwill and a new resolve to work actively toward a lasting and peaceful political settlement. This is the most effective way for Canada to become involved.

[Foreign Affairs, June 13th, 1996]

Mr. Speaker, it is very obvious where the support comes from for what the Prime Minister has done.

What would it be like if our Prime Minister went to France and started talking about how great the Basque separatists were? That is exactly what happened. The Prime Minister of France did one thing in Ottawa and another thing in Quebec City. What he did in Quebec City has insulted Canadians. It stomped on our pride in our country and did nothing for unity. What is the Prime Minister going to do about this?

[Foreign Affairs, June 13th, 1996]

Mr. Speaker, since Prime Minister Juppé left Ottawa, he has stabbed this government in the back. He has insulted over 50 per cent of Quebecers and most of the rest of Canada. This man is a guest of the Canadian people and we are paying the bill for his trip. The Canadian taxpayers deserve an apology. This House deserves an apology.

My question is for the Prime Minister. Is he willing to stand up for the Canadian people by demanding an apology from Prime Minister Juppé?

[Human Rights, June 12th, 1996]

Mr. Speaker, I ask the minister whether he thinks it is time to stop threatening, talking and discussing sanctions and to start taking some real action by proposing that Nigeria be expelled from the Commonwealth until it is in a position to deal with this matter.