Bob Mills

[Petitions, March 18th, 1996]

Mr. Speaker, I have the honour to present two petitions signed by constituents of my riding.

The first petition urges the government to not consider any increases in taxes at any time in the future.

[Canadian Sovereignty, March 6th, 1996]

Mr. Speaker, the government has caved in on softwood lumber. It has failed to stop the Helms-Burton bill and when the Americans unilaterally declared the B.C. inside passage to be international waters, the Liberal government, as we heard yesterday, simply sent a message. This is some defence of our sovereignty.

The Liberal red book said: "A Liberal government will end the Conservative's junior partnership relationship with the United States and reassert our proud tradition of independent foreign policy".

What happened between the writing of the red book and what we are observing now?

[Canadian Sovereignty, March 6th, 1996]

Mr. Speaker, I am pleased the Prime Minister has learned to keep his cool.

It is an election year in the U.S. and it has decided Canada is an easy target for its bravado and bullying. Not only have Canadians had to put up with the Jesse Helms anti-Canadian rhetoric, but today on CBC a U.S. congressman said Canada had violated international law by imposing fees on the inside passage, which puts us in the same category as Cuba.

When will the Minister of Foreign Affairs stop allowing Canada to be a patsy to the bravado and bullying of foreign politicians and forcefully defend Canadian sovereignty on trade and on our territory?

[The Middle East, March 4th, 1996]

Mr. Speaker, what can I say that would give meaning to the senseless bombing of civilians that has taken place in Israel for the third time in the last week? Friends and families of victims have once again had their hearts broken by despicable terrorists.

These cowardly acts are inexcusable and, while the vast majority of people throughout the world will condemn them, I would like to address those people and those countries who do not. To all those who make excuses for the bombers or who sit on the sidelines and give silent approval, you should look in the mirror. Do you like what you see? Do you not realize that you are the moral accomplices in the murder of women and children? We must hold these people accountable.

The time has come for the international community to take strong, unequivocal steps to crush terrorism worldwide and severely punish those individuals and countries that finance terrorism.

We all know that bombs, guns and supplies are not cheap. The money has to come from somewhere. Often it comes from abroad. If the world community can work together to cut off this financial backing, then hopefully many terrorist organizations will wither.

Therefore I urgently request that the Minister of Foreign Affairs take a leadership role in punishing those individuals and countries that support terrorism worldwide. The Reform Party will support him in this measure and so will all Canadians. There is no time to waste. The victims of terrorism are demanding action now, and it is through our decisive action that we will create a deserving memorial in their honour.

Once again, I would like to send my deepest condolences to the people of Israel and the Canadian Jewish community. I assure them that we will work with them to find justice for the victims and punish the terrorists who never should be allowed to hide and get away with their crimes.

[Terrorism, March 4th, 1996]

Mr. Speaker, it seems to me that every country should condemn such sickening bombings. I do not think civilians are ever a legitimate target for such attacks.

We all think of Mr. Gerry Adams and his refusal to condemn the IRA after the bombings.

Will the minister take it upon himself to contact the ambassadors in Canada for all of these countries? If even one of them refuses to condemn these actions we could then call for an investigation and make it public in Canada and at least take some action. These activities demand some sort of action.

[Terrorism, March 4th, 1996]

Mr. Speaker, all Canadians are shocked and saddened by yet another bombing just a few hours ago in Israel. We join with all Canadians in sending our condolences to the families.

We are also outraged that terrorists receive support and funding from certain foreign countries. What measures will the Canadian government take to lead, I repeat lead, to punish the countries that fund such terrorism?

[Haiti, March 1st, 1996]

Mr. Speaker, I do have a copy of that UN document and have read it carefully. Basically we are going from 6,000 American troops holding the big stick to 2,000 UN-Canadian troops now trying to deliver democracy. We have done the Americans a big favour because Mr. Clinton promised to be out of Haiti within or by the end of February.

I would like to ask the foreign affairs minister why he will not go along with or use this favour in negotiating better conditions for Canadians and get them to not enforce the Helms-Burton bill as it relates to the many jobs that Canada may potentially lose?

[Haiti, March 1st, 1996]

Mr. Speaker, Reform members are also concerned about democracy, the spreading of democracy and the people in Haiti. We also believe that peacekeeping is a valuable mission for Canadians and Canadians are behind it.

However, there has to be a plan. How can the government know it is within the budget if it does not have a plan? In 1915 the Americans went into Haiti to develop democracy. They left 20 years later and the infrastructure was not there. The infrastructure is not there now and yet we are going to build this infrastructure in four months and return democracy to this country.

Does the UN or Canada have plans to bring about this miracle of rebuilding Haiti in a four-month period?

[Haiti, March 1st, 1996]

Mr. Speaker, two days ago in the House the government promised that before we take on a Haiti mission it would "get a better handle on costs" because they could easily spiral out of control. Yesterday the Minister of Foreign Affairs bailed out the United Nations' mission with a blank cheque signed by the Canadian taxpayers.

The Canadian people would like to know how the government is going to control costs when there is no information on the mission? How is the minister going to control these costs, as was promised in the House, when we do not have a clear mandate or the costs? I would like the minister to tell us how this is going to be controlled.

[Richmond Constituency, March 1st, 1996]

Mr. Speaker, as Reform's foreign affairs critic one of the responsibilities I have is to keep track of the MP for Richmond who is the Secretary of State for the Asia-Pacific. Little did I expect however that in my role I would be asked by so many of his constituents to chide him for not representing their views in Ottawa. But since they have asked, why not?

Recently the MP for Richmond was told in no uncertain terms at a town hall meeting that he should vote against the Liberal disunity package but he refused to listen. Instead of representing his constituents, he intentionally voted against them in this House.

In the Vancouver Sun he was quoted as saying: ``Canada has to come first. B.C. comes second. And then the opinion of my constituents-comes third''. This is an elitist political code that really means: the party comes first, the Prime Minister comes second and the people come last. Shame on the MP for Richmond. He should ask Kim Campbell.