Svend Robinson

[Petitions, December 13th, 1995]

Madam Speaker, I have a number of petitions to present today.

The first petition notes that employees of the House of Commons, the Senate, the Library of Parliament and the staff of members and senators have no health and safety protection under

the law. The petitioners note a number of circumstances in which their health and safety have been jeopardized on the Hill.

They call upon Parliament to press the government to finally proclaim parts II and III of the Parliamentary Employment and Staff Relations Act.

[Port Of Vancouver, December 13th, 1995]

Mr. Speaker, my question is for the Minister of Transport.

British Columbians are outraged at the suggestion that the Liberal government, supported by the Reform Party, is going to privatize Ports Canada police in the port of Vancouver.

In view of the negative impact this is going to have on smuggling and other crime control in the port of Vancouver and the overwhelming opposition to this plan from the communities affected, will the minister assure the House that he will not proceed with his shameful plan to privatize Ports Canada police in Vancouver, a plan which the Reform Party of British Columbia has supported?

[Radio Canada International, December 13th, 1995]

Mr. Speaker, yesterday the closing of Radio Canada International was announced in Montreal.

This means an end to the Canadian Forces Network, which brought Canadian programming to our peacekeepers around the world. It means an end to the English and French language shortwave services which kept Canadians travelling, working or living overseas in touch with Canada.

The end of shortwave broadcasts in eight languages, which are the voice of Canada around the world, will have an even more devastating effect.

In 1995, the foreign policy review conducted by the government concluded that RCI was in a perfect position to promote Canadian values abroad.

The Business Council on National Issues itself pointed out that the station was creating a demand for Canadian goods and services.

The Broadcasting Act requires the CBC to provide an international service. I call on the Liberals to reverse this shameful decision and ensure continued support for Radio Canada International. Canada must not be the only G-7 nation-

[Protection Of Personal Information Obtained By Certain Corporations Act, December 12th, 1995]

Mr. Speaker, it was on February 16 of last year, four days after the death of Sue Rodriguez, that the Minister of Justice promised Canadians that this House of Commons would have an opportunity to vote in a free vote on the important issue of possible changes to section 241 of the Criminal Code.

The Minister of Justice said that he would be meeting with the government House leader as soon as possible to find out when he could arrange a debate and he said that they were not going to sit on it. He went on to say: "We will find a way to put the question before the House so that it is not academic. It will be meaningful and if that involves a proposal for changing legislation with a free vote, then that is exactly what we will do".

He pointed out that the Supreme Court of Canada had unanimously agreed, although it was divided on the substance of changes

to section 241, that this was a matter that elected representatives must deal with. The Minister of Justice said on February 16 that he would make sure this House had an opportunity at an early date to deal with this matter. Some months later at the national convention of the Liberal Party of Canada, delegates voted overwhelmingly in favour of a resolution urging the government to allow for a free vote on the issue of euthanasia and physician assisted suicide.

In September of last year the Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Justice, who will be responding today on behalf of the government, said during the course of a debate on my private member's bill to change the Criminal Code: "We have been assured by the Minister of Justice that all parliamentarians will be given the opportunity to consider these issues in a meaningful way. I am confident that in due course we will be presented with the opportunity to do so".

On February 16 of last year the Minister of Justice said: "In emphasizing the urgency of this question, I am sure doctors could tell us there are a number of people right now facing terminal illness who want to have clarification". He was right then and he is right now.

It is unconscionable that the government, almost two years after having promised to allow the House to seriously deliberate on this issue, to vote in a free vote, is still not prepared to allow that decision.

One of those who is seeking a change in the law is Austin Bastable. Mr. Bastable has written twice to all members of the House. He wrote in late September and again at the end of last month, pointing out that the quality of his life is continuing to decline. He does not wish to endure the prolonged natural death that awaits him.

Mr. Bastable points out that palliative care is not a meaningful option for him. He pleads with the House and he pleads with the government to honour the commitment made to allow a free vote, to allow debate on this issue of fundamental conscience.

The member for Vancouver Centre also assured Canadians and her own constituents there would be a free vote. I call on her to honour the commitment made by the Prime Minister, by the Minister of Justice and by the parliamentary secretary to ensure Canadians have a voice in this fundamental issue of life and death.

[Wei Jingsheng, December 12th, 1995]

Mr. Speaker, my question is for the Minister of Foreign Affairs.

Tomorrow the Chinese government will be trying leading dissident Wei Jingsheng, the winner of the 1995 Olaf Palme Award, on charges that could lead to the death penalty.

I ask the minister to tell the House what steps the Liberal government has taken to protest this rushed show trial? He was given five days notice of this trial. Will the minister assure the House that the Canadian embassy in Beijing will send a senior representative to monitor this trial tomorrow?

[British Columbia, November 29th, 1995]

Mr. Speaker, my question is for the Minister of National Revenue, the senior minister for British Columbia.

British Columbians are outraged that first we were shut out of the cabinet committee on unity and now we are denied the same veto rights as Ontario and Quebec.

I ask the minister: Why was B.C. shut out of the cabinet committee on unity? When will the minister finally stand up for the people of British Columbia instead of showing total contempt for British Columbians by telling us that we have to wait for demographics until we have basic equality with Ontario and Quebec? When will he stand up for British Columbians?

[Land Mines, November 21st, 1995]

Mr. Speaker, my question is for the Minister of Foreign Affairs on the subject of land mines which kill or maim some 2,000 people every month.

Mines Action Canada, Dr. Chris Giannou and others working for a total Canadian ban on the stockpiling, production, export and use of land mines welcomed the minister's recent statement supporting these objectives.

Will the minister confirm the government's intention to implement this important new policy? Will he also tell the House when this new policy will take effect?

[Nuclear Testing, November 8th, 1995]

Mr. Speaker, my question is for the Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Foreign Affairs and follows up on the question of the member for Davenport.

Every party in the House except the Bloc Quebecois has condemned French nuclear tests in the South Pacific. Does the parliamentary secretary not recognize that French nuclear tests in the South Pacific clearly violate the undertaking that France gave at the special conference in May of this year?

Will the parliamentary secretary make it very clear to the House that Canada accepts the undertaking made by France was violated, and will Canada do the right thing and restore its co-sponsorship of this important resolution?

[Criminal Code, November 7th, 1995]

Mr. Speaker, my question is for the Minister of Justice.

Over 20 months ago the Prime Minister and the Minister of Justice promised that there would be a free vote in the House on the issue of physician assisted suicide and changes to the inhumane provisions of section 241 of the Criminal Code.

Will the minister now tell the House and Canadians, since the Senate has ended its study of the issue, what action he will take to keep his promise and to ensure that this elected House will have an opportunity to fully review and to vote on this profoundly important issue?

[The Late Yitzhak Rabin, November 6th, 1995]

Mr. Speaker, Yitzahk Rabin was a soldier in war who became a soldier in peace. He fought as hard to achieve peace as he did in war. His greatest victory will unfortunately come only after his death.

The proof of the strength and durability of the move toward peace that Prime Minister Rabin created is that there can be no doubt this peace process will continue. It will continue until we reach the comprehensive peace that Mr. Rabin so eloquently lauded in the speech he gave before hundreds of thousands of Israelis demonstrating for peace last weekend, just shortly before his tragic death. There remains much to be done, but Mr. Rabin has made a start possible.

Together with two other New Democrat members of Parliament, Howard McCurdy and Ian Deans, I had the privilege and opportunity to meet with our Labour Party colleague, Yitzhak Rabin, in the mid-1980s. We had a vigorous exchange of views and certainly some profound disagreements, but there was a sense of openness and mutual respect.

Since his election as Prime Minister in 1992, I have been enormously impressed by his courage and determination to bring a just and lasting peace to the Middle East. As others have noted, we were all profoundly moved to see Mr. Rabin and Yasser Arafat shake hands on the White House lawn. That handshake symbolized the partnership in peace that has been forged between Israel and the Palestinians.

The member for Beaver River and the Deputy Prime Minister both quoted some of the words spoken that historic day. I would like to quote some others. He said in prophetic words: "We the soldiers who have returned from battles stained with blood, we who have seen our relatives and friends killed before our eyes, we who have come from a land where parents bury their children, we say today in a loud and clear voice: Enough of blood and tears. Enough."

On the evening of his death, Mr. Rabin made a passionate plea against violence. "Violence, he said, undermines the foundations of democracy in Israel. It cannot be condoned and must be condemned." During the weeks and months that preceded the tragedy on Saturday night, statements made by certain politicians and citizens of Israel in the course of the debate on the peace accords were not only filled with anger but showed undercurrents of violence. Yitzhak Rabin has proven that in a civilized society,

political debate, however deep its roots, must be based on respect for every individual.

In closing, I would like to extend condolences on behalf of myself and my colleagues in the New Democratic Party of Canada to Mr. Rabin's family, the people of Israel, and the Jewish community in Canada and around the world. We share your profound sense of anguish and loss. Remember that the Kaddish, the Jewish prayer for the dead, is an affirmation of the power of faith and hope in the midst of despair.