Caroline St-Hilaire

[2/3 Walk, May 10th, 2007]

Mr. Speaker, tomorrow May 11, La Marche 2/3 will be held in Montreal. This walk was instituted in 1970 by the CLUB 2/3, an educational and international cooperation organization in Quebec that works with young people in Quebec, Canada and countries in the southern hemisphere.

The theme of this 37th edition of the walk has to do with changing the world. Taking part in the walk will be thousands of young people who are very concerned about this cause and dedicated to it.

The walk is an opportunity not only to celebrate their dedication and what they do to promote a fair, equitable world in which people show solidarity with one another but also to peacefully denounce the injustices of the world economy and demand a fair distribution of the wealth of this world.

La Marche 2/3 is an appeal for citizen involvement. The message that these young people are sending through this walk for international solidarity should be seen as an appeal for us to join forces with them. The government should therefore seize upon this message and direct the necessary efforts and resources into making significant strides toward achieving the millennium objective of eradicating extreme poverty in the world.

[Ducs de Longueuil, May 3rd, 2007]

Mr. Speaker, this year, the Ducs de Longueuil, Longueuil's junior elite baseball team, is celebrating its 50th anniversary.

The team was founded by a Longueuil native, Émile “Butch” Bouchard, and has won a number of championships in Quebec's junior baseball league. A number of the team's players, including veteran Gaétan Groleau, have been drafted to the major league. The current mayor, Claude Gladu, and municipal councillor Normand Caisse, were once members of this illustrious team.

These young people between the ages of 17 and 22, who play on the team, are a real hit with the fans who go to the Paul-Pratt park in Longueuil every season.

The Ducs have been regular season champions of Quebec's elite baseball league for the past two years and they also won the president's cup in 2004 and 2006.

The new season starts in a few days and I want to offer the players, volunteers, management and all the fans my unwavering support and best wishes for success for the 2007 season.

[Development Assistance, May 2nd, 2007]

Mr. Speaker, the minister is constantly boasting about her international aid budget. But everyone agrees that even if it doubles current funding, Canada will fall short of the average for OECD countries.

I therefore ask the minister, if she and her government are so serious and really want to meet the millennium targets, what is she waiting for to come up with a credible plan to meet the target of 0.7% of GDP by 2015?

[Development Assistance, May 2nd, 2007]

Mr. Speaker, Paul Gérin-Lajoie's manifesto denounces increased military spending at a time when people are still threatened by famine, disease and extreme poverty. Between 2006 and 2009, the Liberals and Conservatives will have increased the defence budget by $6.1 billion. The budget for official development assistance, on the other hand, will go up by only $1 billion during that period.

In light of this imbalance, are we to understand that the government has decided to solve the world's problems with weapons rather than development assistance?

[Afghanistan, April 25th, 2007]

Mr. Speaker, there are limits. In light of this report, Canada is clearly violating the Geneva convention, not only because there is torture but also because there is the risk of torture.

The Prime Minister has two options: either he defends the indefensible by violating the Geneva convention, or he shows responsibility and some humility by admitting that he was wrong and stops right now the transfer of prisoners.

[Afghanistan, April 25th, 2007]

Mr. Speaker, with today's disclosures we have proof that Canada violated the Geneva convention. The Prime Minister must face the facts: this report was not written by the Taliban but by senior officials at Canada's Department of Foreign Affairs.

Does the Prime Minister intend to announce the only possible solution in these circumstances, which is to immediately stop transferring prisoners to the Afghan authorities?

[International Aid, April 18th, 2007]

Mr. Speaker, the minister boasts about wanting to ensure that assistance is effective. Mr. Gérin-Lajoie insists that there has been significant progress in terms of the Millennium Goals, specifically, a 20% decrease in child mortality and an increase from 4% to 7% in admission rates for primary education. Contrary to the minister’s remarks, the problem is not just the effectiveness of our aid, but also the budget size.

When will the minister stop repeating the same message and start to show some leadership concerning the budget?

[International Aid, April 18th, 2007]

Mr. Speaker, Paul Gérin-Lajoie recently denounced the fate that awaits children living in poverty. His findings are most disturbing: child mortality is twice as high in developing countries; 12 million children have been orphaned because of AIDS; 30 million children in Asia are living on the streets. He describes as shameful the fact that Canada is in 14th place on the list of OECD countries in terms of public aid for development.

When will the Minister for International Cooperation present a credible plan for reaching the objective of 0.7% of GDP by 2015, to implement the Millennium Development Goals?

[Aerospace Industry, March 29th, 2007]

Mr. Speaker, the entire sector and all stakeholders ready to go ahead with this project are worried because of the very short lead time for creating new jobs at Pratt & Whitney.

Given that a business decision is about to be made and that it could place Montreal's south shore at a disadvantage, could the members of government act with a sense of urgency in keeping with the situation?

[Aerospace Industry, March 29th, 2007]

Mr. Speaker, if the government refuses to budge, hundreds of good jobs in the aerospace sector will not materialize.

Given the importance for the entire south shore of Montreal to maintain and develop its expertise in the aerospace sector, could the government not show us that it intends to take action and do so quickly?