Andrew Telegdi

[Supply, May 3rd, 1999]

Mr. Speaker, let me start by saying to my friend that back in 1956 there was a similar debate taking place and it was about Hungarian refugees. I was one of the refugees who ended up coming to this country in 1957. So it does have a great deal of personal resonance with me.

We are making every effort to facilitate family reunification in the present situation. I am happy to be able to tell the hon. member that 53 refugees from Kosovo have already arrived in Canada to be reunited with their families. Others will be arriving over the next few weeks.

To date, under a special system we have put in place to fast track the processing of family reunification applications, we have received 158 applications from Canadians or Canadian residents with relatives over there. Those applications involve 974 people.

CIC has put the following system in place to handle the applications to bring over Kosovar refugees who have relatives in Canada.

The relative identification form, RIF, has been developed by Citizenship and Immigration Canada to assist the department in tracking and monitoring cases. It will also help to identify relatives of Canadian residents who may be eligible for resettlement in Canada.

For individuals living in Canada with relatives from Kosovo who are in Macedonia or Albania, they must call the Kosovo hotline at 1-888-410-0009, toll free, to register their request. The hotline will either complete the RIF on the caller's behalf or provide the caller with the RIF to complete themselves and they must then fax it to the hot fax at 1-877-883-8834.

Information gathered from the RIFs will be forwarded to various organizations by CIC to assist in the processing.

We currently have five visa officers in Macedonia and four in Albania. Once the refugees have been located, CIC visa officers will interview them and if the refugees wish, they will be fast tracked into Canada.

Our goal is to reunite these families within two weeks after the family members have been located. This timeframe may vary depending on various formalities and movement restrictions imposed by local authorities.

Some of the refugees are in camps. Some are being temporarily sheltered by host families, sometimes in very remote locations. Some may even be in other countries. Locating these individuals—

[Supply, May 3rd, 1999]

Mr. Speaker, may I say to the member in starting that the opposition parties have the opportunity every time they have an opposition day to bring forth a vote if that is what they are talking about.

There is no question that Canadian participation in NATO operations is important, not simply because we are members of the alliance but because of the moral issues at stake. Members of the Canadians forces deserve our recognition and support for the important task they have taken up on behalf of all Canadians. Parliament has played an important role in our Kosovo deliberations.

In making its decisions respecting Canada's involvement in Kosovo, the government recognizes the importance of the views of parliamentarians on this crucial issue.

Parliament has debated the situation in Kosovo on four different occasions: first on October 7, 1998, when all parties agreed that Canada should join our NATO allies in air operations if they proved necessary; second on February 17, 1999, when there was hope that a peace agreement would be signed and our involvement would consist of a peacekeeping force; third on April 12, 1999, when the House once again discussed events in Kosovo and when all parties supported Canada's decision to participate in NATO-led air operations; and fourth on April 19, 1999, when the House debated the opposition day motion calling for a debate and vote on any deployment of ground troops for military or peacekeeping operations in the Balkans. That motion was defeated.

Twice-weekly briefings on Kosovo are being given to joint meetings of the Standing Committees on Foreign Affairs and International Trade and National Defence and Veterans Affairs. Moreover, ministers and officials have participated in daily technical briefings which have been well attended by the public and the press. Should the nature of our involvement in Kosovo change, the government has made a firm commitment to consult parliament.

As the Prime Minister has repeatedly stated, this thankfully remains a hypothetical question. If the situation changes he will address the question on votes at that time. However, for the time being questions about voting on ground troops is irrelevant. Our efforts should be directed toward resolving this tragic dispute, not debating hypothetical questions.

[Youth Achievement Award, April 30th, 1999]

Mr. Speaker, Jack and Mark Nowinski, 19 year old twins from my riding of Kitchener—Waterloo, are in Ottawa this week and they are winners of the YTV Youth Achievement Award for innovation, science and technology.

They say that necessity is the mother of invention, but in this case mother was the necessity for the invention.

These two young men invented an ECG machine, a mix of computer software and electrical hardware, that allows people to monitor their heart at home. They were motivated to do this in order to help their mother, Barbara.

This invention also earned Mark and Jack top honours at the 1998 international science and engineering fair in Texas. They have numerous other inventions to their credit.

They are currently students at Resurrection High School and would like to go to the University of Waterloo's program of electrical engineering this fall.

I join my colleagues in congratulating Jack and Mark for their achievements and say to the Nowinski family, who came to Canada from Poland in 1982, “thank you for enriching our country, Canada”.

[The Environment, April 23rd, 1999]

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to congratulate the University of Waterloo and the Elora Centre for Environmental Excellence for a recent funding announcement made by the Ministers of the Environment and Natural Resources.

The announcement gives $220,000 in funding under the climate change action fund to implement the Residential Energy Efficiency Program, REEP.

It is through the climate change action fund that the federal government is taking concrete steps to engage and inform Canadians in partnerships that will lead to a greater understanding of climate change.

The REEP is a community-based program set up to inform homeowners on energy efficiency and the importance of reducing greenhouse gas emissions. Using the “EnerGuide for Houses” rating system, REEP will conduct audits to determine energy performance of homes in the area. This information will help identify how to improve a house's energy efficiency. Four thousand audits, representing 5% of the detached homes in Kitchener—Waterloo will be completed.

Again, congratulations to the University of Waterloo—

[Criminal Code, April 20th, 1999]

Mr. Speaker, I very much support the comments of my hon. friend opposite in terms of prevention. Of course, prevention costs money and I hope he garners the support of his colleagues to undertake a major program across this country. I think we would save money in the end.

With respect to the issue of prevention, as we were debating this bill in the House today I noticed that at Columbine High School in Denver, Colorado, 20 students had been shot and the people doing the shooting still have not been apprehended.

There are many other examples in the United States, and of course the tragic example we have in Canada of what happened at the École Polytechnique in 1989.

Keeping in mind the emphasis on prevention that the member was talking about, surely he would want to support, as CAVEAT has asked us to do, as well as victims' groups, gun control legislation.

I would like to hear the hon. member's comments on that issue.

[Kosovo, April 12th, 1999]

Mr. Speaker, let me say to the hon. member that there are horrible challenges facing Canada, NATO and the United Nations.

On the upside, there is the whole issue of identification which is being looked at now and identifications are going to be issued. That is good because now is the time they can gather the information and make cross-references and issue truly verified identification.

After the war, Europe was devastated and rebuilding began. I am hoping the same will happen in Kosovo once the situation stabilizes.

Canada is ready to welcome refugees, be it on a temporary or full time basis. The minister has said that. We are hearing from the people in Kosovo that they would rather remain close to their homeland. I am hopeful and I believe the rest of the House is hopeful that their dreams and aspirations will be realized.

Let me talk about what is so beautiful and magical about this country. Every religious group and every ethnic group inhabits this land called Canada. We are able to use our diversities as strengths.

The real tragedy and scary thing for us is looking over there and seeing how diversity is used as a weakness to be exploited by very unscrupulous people. It is something we have to fight against continually. We have to do whatever we can to stabilize the situation there. It is not just Kosovo. We have to look at what is happening in Bosnia and Hercegovina. We have people on the ground keeping peace, making sure that various ethnic groups are working together as much as possible and certainly stopping ethnic cleansing and stopping crimes based on ethnicity.

[Kosovo, April 12th, 1999]

Mr. Speaker, it is 3.16 a.m. and we still have members in the House. We are debating for the third time the situation in the former Republic of Yugoslavia.

The Minister of Citizenship and Immigration documented some of the humanitarian responses from Canadians and put forth our generosity as well as our concerns.

The Prime Minister spoke in the House. He stated “I look forward today to hearing the views and concerns from members on all sides of the House because whatever our individual views are about involvement in Kosovo, we are each guided by our desire to do the right thing for Canada and for the international community”. The Prime Minister talked about taking great pride in the efforts and the work of our forces as well as that of government and non-government organizations that are on the front lines.

On occasions such as this I retreat to one of my favourite places in this building. The memorial chamber, where the names of the Canadian war dead are listed, puts in real perspective the issues we are dealing with.

Debates such as this one have a very personal meaning for me. Tonight bombs are falling less than 100 kilometres from where I was born. Tonight hundreds of thousands of Kosovars are without homes, without identity cards and often without their loved ones.

I know their fears for they were my fears four decades ago when Soviet tanks stamped out freedom in my former homeland. That year in Hungary, 1956, for a brief moment we had hope that help would come, but it did not. Many had hope that help would come but it did not. I think of those who died that year in Hungary, later in Poland, Czechoslovakia, Rwanda and the killing fields of Cambodia. Those unspeakable crimes occurred after we said never again.

Last week we saw the crowded trains crammed with refugees without identity cards or belongings. We had seen those trains before on the way to Auschwitz and Buchenwald. People on those trains told us of atrocities occurring in the heart of Europe not far from those death camps that we thought we would never see again.

This time it is different. Help will come. Canada in partnership with our allies will not let Slobodan Milosevic and the evil he represents escape responsibility for his crimes.

The leader of the New Democratic Party spoke eloquently about Tommy Douglas' speech in 1939 when the second world war occurred. There were those in the ranks of his party who said what happened in Europe did not matter to Canada. Mr. Douglas said that when the lawless destroy the basic principles of human order and decency, Canada cannot step aside. Many others at that time did and the League of Nations was unable to act. But Canada and a few others stepped forward to confront the fundamental evil that fascism represented. Thank God they did.

Each year on Armistice Day all of us pay tribute to our veterans for fighting so bravely in a war that we are proud to have fought. We defeated fascism and in the aftermath of war, we built a more just society in Canada itself, one that respects basic human rights and freedoms.

This year our soldiers are fighting again to defeat a fascist mentality that feeds ethnic hatred. We fought before to defeat those who hated and killed Jews, gypsies, homosexuals, and newspaper editors who would not agree.

What we hear from Belgrade today is all too familiar, all too dangerous. In September 1996 I observed elections in Bosnia in the historic city of Mostar. I saw too many fresh flowers on gravesites. My interpreter, Igor, showed me the grave of his best friend Boris who was killed in 1994 at the age of 20. His parents brought flowers to his gravesite every day.

I have heard others say that NATO is going too far. I ask who else has come forward? United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan has said that sometimes it is necessary to use force when those who use brutal violence against their own people defy compromise.

The United Nations could not act. The Chinese even vetoed the extension of the United Nations force in Macedonia. There was no hope that the United Nations would have acted.

We must remember that the United Nations offered compromises and failed. NATO offered compromises and failed. Milosevic lied to his emissaries while he prepared his bloody and criminal attack on Kosovo.

Should we fail, the alternatives are unthinkable. Could we accept Milosevic's sneer of triumph? Could we accept that he could ethnically cleanse over a million people? If we end our century that way, what hope do we have for the future?

I remember the fall of 1956 when we hoped for help which never came. I know how Kosovars feel this evening as they hope to return to their homes, their families and their communities. This time we can offer hope. We can confront evil. We can make the worst horrors of this century a thing of the past, not a forecast of the new century's future.

[Kosovo, April 12th, 1999]

Mr. Speaker, I say to my colleague who sits on the citizenship and immigration committee that Canada originally wanted to take 5,000 refugees. As a matter of fact, everything was in place to do that. However, we were told by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, Her Excellency Sadako Ogato, that they wanted to keep the Kosovars close to their former homeland.

The member made reference to the Hungarian revolution and the refugees that Canada took during that period of time. Let me tell the member, I know a lot about that. I was a refugee who came to Canada in 1957. Certainly the reception and the help we received from Canadians is remembered and appreciated and we try to give back in that regard.

Let me tell the hon. member that the nice difference I think with the Kosovar situation is that we are hoping the people of Kosovo will be able to go home. If there is any rainbow on the horizon, it is the fact that we are hopeful that things will resolve themselves as soon as possible. I think that all members of the House will pray for that and work toward that.

Once that happens, then the people can return to their homeland. I think the member would agree that is much more optimistic than was the case with the Hungarian refugees in 1957 who had no place to go. It was not until 1990 that the iron curtain fell.

[Kosovo, April 12th, 1999]

Mr. Speaker, I rise on a point of order. I will not have the hon. member misrepresent the League of Nations.

[Kosovo, April 12th, 1999]

Mr. Speaker, I recommend to the hon. member a number of books both on Kosovo and Bosnia written by Noel Malcolm. I say that because perhaps we are not as up on our history as we should be.

I have concerns about the hon. member's comments. I do not believe he appreciates or gives credit for what Canada and NATO have done. Somebody had to step in. We know what happened in the first world war when the League of Nations was not in a position to step in. A few countries went forth. Canada was one of them.

I do not know if there is ever a perfect solution, but I know that when China does not agree to the renewal of peacekeepers in Macedonia we have a situation where NATO is unable to act.

We should have some appreciation for what Canada and NATO have done. It would be nice if we would have some criticism of Milosevic's regime. I get the sense that there is more criticism coming from that side of the House directed at NATO and directed at our efforts than at what is happening on the ground in the former Yugoslavia.