Belinda Stronach

[Acts of Bravery, October 24th, 2006]

Mr. Speaker, I am honoured to rise in the House today to pay tribute to Constable Jason Griffiths of the York Regional Police Department. The York Regional Police are based out of my riding of Newmarket—Aurora

This month marks the one year anniversary of Constable Griffiths' heroic act of bravery. Constable Griffiths is a 2006 recipient of the award of excellence presented by the Canadian Professional Police Association.

This award commemorates his courage, professionalism and dedication to his community in the line of duty. Constable Griffiths acted selflessly while being faced with grave danger. His actions saved the life of a fellow officer, while he himself received several stab wounds.

It is the actions of officers like Constable Griffiths that make my riding of Newmarket—Aurora a safer place for its residents and make us all proud to be Canadians.

I ask all members of the House to join me in congratulating Constable Griffiths and I would like to salute the many men and women across our nation who every day risk their lives beyond the call of duty.

[Points of Order, October 20th, 2006]

Mr. Speaker, I rise on a point of order regarding Standing Order 18, which reads as follows:

No Member shall speak disrespectfully of the Sovereign, nor of any of the Royal Family, nor of the Governor General or the person administering the Government of Canada; nor use offensive words against either House, or against any Member thereof. No Member may reflect upon any vote of the House, except for the purpose of moving that such vote be rescinded.

Yesterday, during question period, the Minister of Foreign Affairs used a very inappropriate word to describe me. This is not the first time he and his party have revealed their true colours regarding respect for women in politics and how chilling this behaviour is for those women who contemplate entering politics.

For that, Mr. Speaker, I simply ask that the Minister of Foreign Affairs apologize to this House.

[Status of Women, October 20th, 2006]

Mr. Speaker, the evidence of what the Treasury Board President said yesterday is documented in the official record of this House for everyone to read. Canadian women and the groups who work to advance women's rights in this country are paying attention. The evidence is there: no equality and no advocacy.

Why does the government insist on being so disrespectful of women? Is it because it would prefer that we simply shut up and stick to our knitting?

[Status of Women, October 20th, 2006]

Mr. Speaker, may I also remind the House that they also took the word “progressive” out of the name of the party. The evidence of--

[Status of Women, October 20th, 2006]

Mr. Speaker, the evidence that this minority Conservative government is disrespectful of Canadian women is mounting.

First, the government eliminated equality from the mandate of the Status of Women, the only agency within government that protects and fights for women's rights. Then, yesterday, the President of the Treasury Board confirmed in this House that the government has no intention of supporting advocacy.

Why does the government insist on turning its back on women's rights and the groups who advocate on their behalf?

[Status of Women, October 18th, 2006]

Mr. Speaker, I do not think that answer will satisfy Canadian women.

On a day that we should be celebrating progress in the area of women's rights, there is a black cloud over it because the government does not believe in women's equality and does not even want to hear their progressive voices.

The CIDA minister and the Minister responsible for the Status of Women apparently share the views that minority rights do not deserve protection.

Will the minister send a strong signal to Canadian women on this very important day and reverse her decision to cut equality from the mandate of the Status of Women?

[Status of Women, October 18th, 2006]

Mr. Speaker, the Minister of the Environment drives a car with a bumper sticker which says, “A woman's place is in the house, the senate and the oval office”. That is a great sentiment if we were all Americans, but it is too bad that she did not advocate for rights and equality for Canadian women within her own cabinet.

In fact, the six women in cabinet sat back, said and did nothing, while equality was dropped as part of this government's mandate.

On the anniversary of Persons Day I ask the minister responsible this question. How does it feel to be the person who eliminated equality as a benchmark for Canadian women?

[International Day for the Eradication of Poverty, October 17th, 2006]

Mr. Speaker, today is the International Day for the Eradication of Poverty.

At times, the challenges facing so many in the developing world can seem beyond comprehension and far too onerous to solve: the spread of aids, the absence of clean water, the lack of a good education and, at the root of it all, extreme poverty. One in five people around the world live on less than $1 a day. What can any of us do?

We can help. We can stand as one, we can stand together and we can support some significant efforts, efforts like UNICEF's 25 by 2005, Girls' Education campaign; and efforts like the bed net program, where a $10 bed net can help prevent malaria and increase a child's chances of survival by 20%.

Through efforts like the Make Poverty History campaign, we see that lives can be saved, living standards can be improved and real hope can be kindled. By joining Make Poverty History, we unleash the power of one and we become the change that the world has been waiting for.

[Justice, October 5th, 2006]

Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister has made it clear that he wants to reopen the debate about equal marriage, a debate that we have already had in this House. More recently, the justice minister has indicated that he already has a fallback plan for when this attempt fails.

When will the Prime Minister stop playing politics with Canadians' equal rights, stop catering to his socially conservative base and start governing for the majority of Canadians?

[Justice, October 5th, 2006]

Mr. Speaker, the Conservative minority government does not have a mandate to reduce the freedoms that are already guaranteed to Canadians under the Charter of Rights and that have been confirmed by the courts. Despite the lack of a mandate for this, the justice minister continues to cater to his socially conservative base and threatens to eliminate equal marriage.

When will the Minister of Justice, not the parliamentary secretary, assure the House that he will not introduce legislation that in any way legalizes discrimination?