Svend Robinson

[Petitions, December 16th, 1999]

Mr. Speaker, I have a petition signed by hundreds of thousands and perhaps millions of Canadians.

The petition notes that the United States Army School of the Americas in Fort Benning, Georgia has, for many years, been training military personnel from Central and South America. They note that a number of perpetrators of very serious human rights abuses, including the death of Archbishop Romero, a number of U.S. church women and the El Mosote massacre of 900 people, were graduates of the school, and that at least 13 of the Mexican military officers who were involved in the massacre of dozens of people in Chiapas, Mexico were trained in their tactics at the U.S. school of the Americas.

Therefore, they pray that parliament support negotiations and diplomatic measures to ensure the abolition of the U.S. Army School of the Americas and encourage improvement in the human and democratic rights of our fellow citizens of the Americas.

[Criminal Code, December 13th, 1999]

Mr. Speaker, my question is for the Minister of Justice. Last month Robbie Peterson, a young law student in Fredericton, New Brunswick, was brutally attacked on a downtown street simply because he is gay. Similar bashings occur across this land.

When will the minister finally bring forward her long overdue omnibus bill on equality for gays and lesbians? Will she assure the House that the bill will amend the criminal code to outlaw propaganda which promotes violence and hatred based on sexual orientation?

[Petitions, December 10th, 1999]

Mr. Speaker, I have the honour today to present petitions signed by hundreds of residents of my constituency of Burnaby—Douglas who express concern about the failure of leadership by the federal government on the issue of leaky condominiums.

They call upon parliament to provide a significant contribution toward homeowners affected by the residential construction crisis, to ensure that the cost of all qualified repairs are deductible from income retroactively and in the future, to repeal and refund all GST on qualified repairs, and finally, to permit RRSP funds to be used to undertake qualified repairs without penalty and to permit previously withdrawn RRSP funds used to pay repairs special assessments to be income tax rebated.

[Conscientious Objection Act, December 10th, 1999]

moved for leave to introduce Bill C-399, an act respecting conscientious objection to the use of taxes for military purposes.

Mr. Speaker, I have the honour of presenting this private member's bill known as the conscientious objection act. The purpose of the bill is to permit individuals, who object on conscientious grounds to paying taxes that might be used for military purposes, to direct that an amount equivalent to a prescribed percentage of the income tax they pay in a year be diverted to a special account established by this bill.

The bill would not constrain in any way the ability of the government to spend tax dollars as it sees fit.

In introducing this bill today on International Human Rights Day, I pay special tribute to Conscience Canada, in particular to Kris Manfield, to the Canadian Yearly Meeting of the Religious Society of Friends, or Quakers, the Mennonite Central Committee and the Conference of Mennonites and also Nos Impôts pour la paix.

I urge the Minister of Finance to meet with these groups and I urge all members of parliament to support this important legislation.

(Motions deemed adopted, bill read the first time and printed)

[Elian Gonzalez, December 10th, 1999]

Mr. Speaker, a six year old Cuban boy, Elian Gonzalez, who survived the sinking of a boat illegally transporting him from Cuba to Florida, is now being held in the U.S. in blatant violation of both humanity and international law.

The boy's father and grandparents, all in Cuba, naturally seek his immediate return. New Democrats join this young boy's family and the Government of Cuba in demanding that the U.S. immediately return the boy to his family and apologize for this serious breach of international law.

As Cuban foreign minister Felipe Perez Roque recently stated:

Arbitrarily holding the boy in the territory of the United States of America qualifies as an abduction...and a true escalation in the stubborn and failed anti-Cuban policy rejected by the international community and detrimental to the best interest of the American and Cuban peoples.

This boy's case is clearly being manipulated for political purposes, and I call today on our foreign minister to strongly condemn the U.S. actions and demand the return of young Gonzalez to his family in Cuba.

Today, on on International Human Rights Day, let us reaffirm the fundamental human rights of all people, including the Cuban people.

[Supply, November 30th, 1999]

Mr. Speaker, my question is for the solicitor general.

He is going to Vancouver. I want to appeal to the minister not just to go to Vancouver but to go to Burnaby as well. I represent a group of constituents in the Metrotown area of Burnaby who are absolutely fed up with the failure of this government to respond seriously to a very significant problem, a crisis in that community.

Drug dealers are openly defying the law in the Metrotown Skytrain area. People are abusing immigration laws and the criminal code.

The minister says he is studying the situation, that he is looking into it, that he is going to treasury board. This is not good enough.

My colleague from Kamloops previously pointed out that an organized crime investigation was shut down because a couple in his constituency were told that the RCMP did not have the resources to deal with it.

When the minister goes to Vancouver, will he meet with people from Burnaby? The Burnaby RCMP have identified this as a very serious problem. There is a total lack of resources. Will the minister take his responsibility seriously and respond to this crisis?

[Supply, November 22nd, 1999]

Mr. Speaker, I have listened with care today to the member for Esquimalt—Juan de Fuca.

I want to ask him questions in two areas. The first concerns his suggestion that this is an agreement that does not respect the rights of the Nisga'a people themselves. I believe that he said that the concerns of the grassroots Nisga'a people were being ignored in this particular process. He talked about control from the top of the Nisga'a leadership.

Perhaps the hon. member is not aware of the fact that there was a vote among the Nisga'a people themselves. I want to remind the hon. member of that. There was a democratic vote among the Nisga'a people to ratify this particular treaty and 71% of those grassroots Nisga'a people voted in support of this treaty.

How on earth can the member suggest that this treaty does not have the support of the grassroots Nisga'a people when they overwhelmingly voted in favour of it? I suspect that the hon. member himself got something less than 71% of the vote in the last federal election. Is he suggesting that somehow his mandate was illegitimate because he did not get 71% of the vote? I ask him that question.

My second very brief question is this. The member understands better than most members of the House the evils of apartheid in South Africa. How could he possibly compare that to the ratification of this Nisga'a treaty, which is supported overwhelmingly by the Nisga'a people and the Nisga'a leadership, which will lead to a sense of pride and self-respect? How could he so degrade and pervert history as to suggest that this has anything to do with apartheid whatsoever?

[Petitions, November 22nd, 1999]

Mr. Speaker, I have the honour to present a petition which is signed by residents of my constituency of Burnaby—Douglas, as well as others. It notes that the Constitution Act, 1982 guarantees freedom of conscience and religion in the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. The petition notes that contributing to the Canadian military through payment of income taxes is regarded by the petitioners as an infringement of the freedom of conscience or religion of those citizens who conscientiously object to participating in any way in the military and associated activities. Therefore, they call upon parliament to establish peace tax legislation by passing into law the conscientious objection act which recognizes the right of conscientious objectors to not pay for the military, but to apply that portion of their taxes that was to be used for military purposes toward peaceful, non-military objectives.

[Supply, November 22nd, 1999]

Mr. Speaker, in response to the parliamentary secretary, the fact is that this does not in any way involve an amendment to the constitution of Canada.

Under section 35 of the constitution of Canada, the existing aboriginal treaty rights of first nations in Canada are recognized and affirmed. This treaty is very much within the spirit of section 35. There is no amendment to the constitution of Canada. In fact, it is consistent with the constitution and does not require an amendment under the British Columbia legislation.

[Supply, November 22nd, 1999]

Mr. Speaker, I am delighted the member for Prince Albert has given those examples because that is precisely the danger of the approach of the Reform Party today. What if there had been a referendum on the internment of Japanese Canadians in World War II and afterward? The fact of the matter is that was popular at the time and it was precisely because of those populist whims that the government was prepared to move. If there had been a Reform Party back then, its members would have been standing up saying they wanted a referendum on the issue and they would have trampled the rights of Japanese Canadians.

When we look at the Chinese head tax and the appalling treatment of Chinese Canadians, if there had been a Reform Party back then, its members would have been up there on their hind legs braying “We want a referendum and to hell with minority rights”. That is the position of the Reform Party. It does not give a damn about minority rights. It never has and it does not now for the Nisga'a.