Svend Robinson

[Employment Insurance Act, December 12th, 2002]

Madam Speaker, on October 9 of this year, a young Chinese student in Burnaby, British Columbia, in my constituency, tragically died. Amanda Zhao was murdered on October 9. For some days afterwards, there was no public notification of her disappearance. Many of my constituents raised concerns about the circumstances of Ms. Zhao's death and, more important, about the way in which the public notification took place in this instance.

Last month I spoke out on behalf of my constituents and raised these concerns directly with the Solicitor General. Last week I raised additional concerns about the importance of seeking the return from China of the person who is now the prime suspect in her murder, her former boyfriend, Mr. Ang Li.

On the issue of the RCMP's handling of the initial complaint, I want to be very clear that the RCMP conducted an extensive internal investigation into the circumstances. It appears that it has acknowledged that there was an internal communications problem. In its words, it said that an internal communications problem occurred in the process of information dissemination, specifically how information was transferred among civilian employees and regular members of the RCMP. Unfortunately, there appeared to have been a breakdown in communication, which led to the delay of a week before the public was notified of the tragic death of Zhao.

However it is important to emphasize that when the RCMP attended to the call around the disappearance of Amanda Zhao, the investigation and the information gathering subsequent to that was first rate.

I understand that the RCMP members involved in the case conducted detailed interviews. They gathered DNA samples from her home. They made a thorough examination of the route that she walked. They immediately obtained security videotapes from the food market where she was heading. They left messages on her e-mail account in the chance that she might be accessing the system after she had disappeared.

I do not want to in any way fault that investigation. I am pleased that the RCMP has indicated that it has taken steps to deal with the communications breakdown, as well as the manner in which it responds to missing persons complaints. There will no longer be an automatic 24 hour delay in those circumstances.

I want to stress the importance of Canada seeking China's full assistance and cooperation in returning Ang Li to Canada to face trial for the murder of Amanda Zhao, assuming that an arrest warrant will be issued in this case. We assume that is the case because the RCMP has issued a sworn statement in an indictment charging Ang Li's cousin and roommate Han Zhang as being an accessory after the fact in Zhao's murder. In that statement, they swore that “Li Ang had murdered Zhao Wei”, the young woman.

I am appealing once again to the government to do the right thing and ensure that he is returned to Canada to face trial for this tragic murder.

It has been a very difficult time for the family. I want to extend my condolences to the family of Amanda Zhao, her friends and her fellow students at the college at which she studied. This was a terrible thing that she had to go through.

I would also note that there have been a number of other murders and attacks on young Asian women. I do not suggest that there is in any way some kind of epidemic here. Indeed the RCMP in the Burnaby detachment has responded to the concerns that have been raised on this point as well, around the number of Asian females who are victims of serious crime. However we do want to emphasize that we want to ensure that justice is done in this case.

[Tobacco Industry, December 12th, 2002]

Mr. Speaker, over a year ago the then minister of health promised to ban light and mild labels on cigarette packages. Since then big tobacco companies have threatened to sue the government under NAFTA's chapter 11 if the ban goes ahead.

I want to ask the Minister for International Trade, when will the government finally stand up for the health of Canadians, ban these deceptive labels, and get rid of NAFTA laws that allow big corporations to threaten to sue the Canadian government under chapter 11 for protecting the health and environment of Canadians? When will the government finally act?

[Petitions, December 12th, 2002]

Finally, Mr. Speaker, a petition that has over 510 signatures which were collected over the course of 12 hours on one trail leading down to the beach at Wreck Beach in British Columbia, the well known clothing optional beach. Judy Williams of the Wreck Beach Preservation Society was instrumental in collecting these signatures.

The petitioners note that the Canadian Coast Guard is in desperate need of a new hovercraft to replace the one that is scheduled for decommissioning in October this year. They are concerned about cuts in funding for the Coast Guard.

They call upon Parliament to make the Coast Guard an independent body to protect those sunbathers. It should be an independent body whose priority is the saving of lives and it should be separated from the Department of Fisheries and Oceans. The Coast Guard should be issued a new hovercraft to enable it to perform rescues of those in peril and certainly new uniforms as well.

[Petitions, December 12th, 2002]

Mr. Speaker, I have a couple of other petitions signed by a number of people from Yukon, in particular, David MacKinnon of the Transboundary Watershed Alliance who coordinated it. They are concerned about the magnificent transboundary rivers and watersheds in the province of British Columbia that are of major concern in that region. They point out that these rivers and watersheds face a variety of ecological threats, both inside and outside their boundaries such as the Bradfield Canal-Craig River Road proposal.

They call upon Parliament to adopt an ecosystem sustainable development policy for the region that promotes and protects the rights of workers, communities and the environment, respects cultural diversity, and ensures the capacity of these transboundary rivers and watersheds to meet the needs of this and future generations.

[Petitions, December 12th, 2002]

Mr. Speaker, the second petition is presented by the Catholic Organization for Development and Peace. It was signed by residents of Montreal. Some 180,000 petition postcards have been sent to the Minister for International Trade so far.

It is on the important subject of patenting of life, seeds and living organisms which are part of our collective heritage. The petitioners call upon Parliament not to promote policies that heighten poverty, threaten the environment, and increase hunger throughout the world. They oppose the patenting and private control of seeds, and all other forms of life.

[Petitions, December 12th, 2002]

Mr. Speaker, I have the honour to present a number of petitions this morning.

The first petition was signed by a number of residents of Richmond representing the views of over 4,000 signatures of an earlier petition with respect to a fundamental issue of democracy. The petitioners note that members of Parliament are elected by voters using a ballot which identifies each candidate by an official party designation and that voters use the party designation in many cases to make their decisions. They point out their concerns about violating the intention of voters when a member of Parliament changes parties.

The petitioners call upon Parliament to enact legislation which would require all members of Parliament who wish to change their official party designation in the House of Commons to resign and run in a byelection. Certainly the important Defend Democracy Richmond organization with Adrian Wade and others should be saluted for that.

[Foreign Affairs, December 11th, 2002]

Mr. Speaker, my question is for the Prime Minister. The Minister of Foreign Affairs says, after signing the new military deal with the United States, that now Canada is “quite prepared” to study the star wars scheme.

I want to ask the Prime Minister this. Instead of studying this dangerous, expensive, untried technology, why will the Government of Canada not stand up for Canada and say to George Bush, “We will not be part of your new star wars scheme,” and stand up for Canadian interests instead of selling out to George Bush and his star wars scheme?

[Justice, December 4th, 2002]

Mr. Speaker, my question is for the Minster of Justice. It concerns the tragic death of Amanda Zhao, the young Chinese student who was found murdered in Burnaby last month. Now the RCMP have named her boyfriend, Ang Li, as the murderer.

In view of the fact that Li has returned to China, if an arrest warrant is issued by the RCMP, what action will the minister take to request that China return Li to Canada to stand trial for the murder of Amanda Zhao? What action will he take to make sure that the trial of Ang Li takes place in Canada?

[Nuclear Safety and Control Act, December 3rd, 2002]

Madam Speaker, I would note that when the hon. member talks about nuclear energy contributing to meeting the targets under the Kyoto protocol, the fact is that the Kyoto protocol is totally silent with respect to nuclear power. There was no recognition whatsoever by those who were responsible for the Kyoto protocol that in any way this dying nuclear industry should be a part of that. They called on countries to take a whole range of steps, but even the Canadian implementation plan for Kyoto makes no reference whatsoever to nuclear energy.

My friend from the Alliance wants to know the alternatives. There are many alternatives to nuclear energy. One of the most important is recognizing that we should be moving to do far more in the area of conservation, conservation of energy at both the business level and at the individual level. Most European countries are lightyears ahead of of us in terms of saving energy and in terms of emissions standards.

Germany and Sweden have already moved to phase out the nuclear industry. They are on the forefront economically of very successfully taking advantage of new environmental technologies; wind energy, for example. They are exporting energy that is obtained through wind sources. There are tremendous opportunities there as well.

Renewable energy sources, whether it is wind or solar energy, conservation clearly has to be at the heart of our strategy for the future. To suggest that we have to rely on this nuclear industry when we know full well that it produces waste that we have no way of disposing of safely is to leave a legacy to our children and to our children's children that is totally unacceptable.

Finally, I would note that when the hon. member talks about environmentalists taking extreme positions, the reality is that it is environmentalists who have warned us that unless we take strong action to fight pollution and to protect this endangered planet, we risk environmental catastrophe in the future. To ignore that would be the height of irresponsibility.

[Nuclear Safety and Control Act, December 3rd, 2002]

Madam Speaker, it is an excellent question. Of course, there is no answer to that question. The lack of responsibility shown by the minister sponsoring this bill is unbelievable.

We do not know anything about the costs. We already know about the very serious impact of nuclear waste.

In a report prepared by the Commissioner of the Environment and Sustainable Development it was pointed out that Canada faced a toxic legacy of abandoned uranium mines in Saskatchewan and toxic waste sites on federal sites.

There is still no technology whatsoever to deal with the issue of nuclear waste. Some suggestions have been made that we can fire them into space or bury them deep in the Canadian shield, but that is simply irresponsible speculation. The fact is that we are leaving this legacy for our children and our children's children, without any assurance whatsoever as to the long term impact on their health or, indeed, on the environment.

As my colleague from the Bloc Quebecois has pointed out, we cannot even begin to know the costs of a potential accident and yet we are saying that will take the banks off the hook. This is a gift to the banks and to financial institutions to prop up the nuclear industry. It is like writing a blank cheque. It literally gives these people a cheque and says, “Okay, here you are. Even though we have no idea what the implications may be, we are prepared to absolve you of any responsibility for that”.

This is the worst kind of fiscal and environmental lack of responsibility and, for that reason alone, the legislation should be vigorously and strongly opposed.

The “Sortir du nucléaire” group appeared before the Standing Committee on the Environment. Its representatives spoke eloquently about the subsidies that have long been granted to the nuclear industry. In fact, this is a new handout to that industry.

We in the NDP say no to this measure, and I am glad to see that the Bloc Quebecois is also saying no. We think that there have been enough subsidies. We must stop subsidizing this industry and start supporting renewable energy sources.