Andrew Telegdi

[Canada Pension Plan Investment Board Act, December 4th, 1997]

Mr. Speaker, let me say first of all, that all the members from my area, three of us, got to speak on this particular bill this afternoon.

Let me also mention Stanley Knowles. I have nothing but respect for Stanley Knowles. A couple of years ago I hosted an event on the Hill—

[Division No. 49, December 2nd, 1997]

Mr. Speaker, there is no question that Canadians want their postal service back at this time of the year.

I know that the member is a former mayor and former municipal councillor and it was in that role when I was on regional council of the Regional Municipality of Waterloo that I first got to deal with the Canada Post Corporation. I must say that whether it be supermailboxes or junk mail, the post office management has been less than co-operative.

I can say that prior to the last election the process was changed so that homeowners could refuse junk mail or ad mail.

[Division No. 48, December 2nd, 1997]

Mr. Chairman, the amendment is the same as amendment BQ-3, therefore amendment L-1 is redundant. I will withdraw the amendment.

[Division No. 48, December 2nd, 1997]

moved:

That Bill C-24 be amended in Clause 12 by replacing lines 33 to 39 on page 5 with the following:

“12. The collective agreement shall also be deemed to be the most recent offer of the Canada Post Corporation. The collective agreement shall also be deemed to be amended by increasing the rate of pay to the most recent offer of the Canada Post Corporation.”

[Canadians, November 26th, 1997]

Mr. Speaker, I rise to speak on the motion. I am a little bit concerned that the member for Surrey Central does not truly appreciate the implication of the motion he has put before this House.

We get into the very idea of what it means to be a Canadian. It was not too long ago that we had a debate in this House. The issue was about people who had turbans were barred from legions, something that we as a government did not agree with. There was also the issue of people being able to wear turbans in the RCMP.

It is very important in some ways to recognize the reality of this country which defines us as Canadians. The strong pillars of that are tolerance, understanding, and being able to participate fully with one's different religious background, with one's different ethnic origin, with one's different place of birth and be truly Canadian.

I was not born in Canada. I came to Canada in 1957 when I was 10 years old. Since 1957 I have lived in Canada. First and foremost I am a Canadian. But there is no denying that I was born in Hungary and I would not want to deny that. My mother came here at the same time when she was 36 years old. She died very recently. She was 76 years old. She died as a Canadian. She was proud of being a Canadian, but she did not forget her homeland. She did not forget where she came from.

In many cases it is coming from other countries, coming from other cultures that we can bring the very best to this country that is called Canada, a country that is the best country in the world.

I say to the member for Surrey Central there are countries where people try to hide their background. They try to hide their ethnic heritage. They deny it. They do so because they are living in a totalitarian country. They are living in a fascist country. In those places great sanctions are taken against people who are not perceived to be the same.

One of the strong points of this country is we can be different. If we look at the demographics of Canada, what does it mean to be a Canadian? We know the native people, our First Nations came to this country first. We know that the French factor came to this country. We know that the English factor came to this country. But we also know that we have had people come to this country from all over this planet. They have brought to this country the strengths from around the world and together have built the very best country in the world.

The other day we were debating the issue of land mines. There was an incredible consensus in this House that this was the right way to go. When I took part in the debate I could not help but remember that in 1956-57 Lester B. Pearson invented peacekeeping.

One of the reasons this has happened is because in Canada we have the demographics. It does not matter where the problem is, where the conflict is, there are Canadians with the background. They have relatives, friends, acquaintances and a familiarity with the place where the strife is taking place and they are hurting.

That is one of the reasons we as Canadians are so good at peacekeeping. We can broker differences. We can recognize differences and try to build the best society that we can. To deny that reality is to say to the rest of the world that we have to hide our differences, we have to submerge our differences. Clearly that is not what Canada is about.

I have been disturbed over the years when people have tried to attack the whole concept of multiculturalism in Canada. The reality is that we are a multicultural country. That is one of our very real strengths.

It is a pleasure to attend multicultural festivals with many people in my community, such as Canada Day, because we are celebrating the inclusiveness of society and sharing the best experiences from around the world.

I cannot agree with the motion. It is misguided at best. I certainly hope that we as a government and as members of the House of Commons work together to build on our tolerance and understanding so that we can continue to be a beacon of hope to a troubled world often torn by strife based on religious differences, ethnic background and various nationalities.

[Anti-Personnel Mines Convention Implementation Act, November 24th, 1997]

Mr. Speaker, every once in a while an event transpires in this House that galvanizes all the parties and all the members to move in one direction. It is one of those days today.

On this issue, we have been united. The issue is land mines, banning land mines, dismantling land mines and trying to make our world a bit more sane. I am very proud to be a member of Parliament, to be part of this Chamber at this time. I think all Canadians should be proud for the role that we are playing.

Forty years ago on February 28, my family and myself left Hungary and went to the Austrian frontier. As we went across the border at night, we were conscious of the fact that we were going through land mines.

I say this because the reality of having to deal with the evil of land mines affects many people on this planet. There are many people who are Canadians who have experience with this. I can say that walking through a field which should not be an extraordinary exercise can be a very terrifying one.

At the time I was 10 years old, my brother was 12 and my sister was three. My parents were in their mid-thirties. Land mines were used to keep people out but so often land mines were used in Iron Curtain countries to keep people in.

The terror of that night is something that has never left me. It was a year ago this past September that I had the experience of being an observer for the elections in Bosnia-Hercegovina. In an area that had a population of four million people, they had six million land mines.

When I was in Mostar, I was on a bridge over the Neretva River which divides East Mostar from West Mostar. On one side we have Muslims and on the other side we have Croatians. This is a very beautiful river. After seeing it, one wants to walk down to it. If you had your fishing rod you would want to try fishing. It is a very beautiful and scenic site. The reality was that you could not walk down to that river because any place you walked in Bosnia-Hercegovina you had to be always mindful that there were six million unmarked land mines.

We have to ask what kind of experience we have in terms of an individual who has to live in those kinds of conditions where the simplest pleasure of walking in the woods can be a tragic and terrifying event.

I reflect back to all the graveyards that had those fresh flowers from people who were victims of that terrible war and to know there were six million land mines waiting to go off long after the conflict was over, perhaps blowing somebody up as they were trying to rebuild their war-torn home or killing a farmer who is working in the fields or maybe killing a child playing in the fields.

I am incredibly proud to be in this Chamber. It was back in 1956-57 when Canadians under Lester B. Pearson invented peacekeeping in order to deal with the problem of Suez. We certainly are continuing in that tradition with the initiative before us today.

In lending support to what the previous speaker from Peterborough said to a grassroots movement, we are recognizing that the insanity of land mines and the insanity of war that maims hundreds of thousands, indeed millions of people, is something that we must stop and work against.

When we reflect upon the demographics in Canada and why we are the way we are as a nation, peacekeepers striving to make this planet a better place and, in many cases, representing a beacon of hope in a troubled world where we can bring people together from all corners of the world, we have one-sixth of the people in Canada who were not born in Canada, but it helps us to understand why we as Canadians so very much want to play a role to make this world a better place. It does not matter where there is a conflict on this planet, we have Canadians who came from that part of the world with relatives and friends in their homeland who are hurting and suffering.

Yes, I am incredibly proud as I think we all should be at what is taking place here today and the role that we have played in making the banning of land mines a reality in the not too distant future.

I can only commend all my colleagues for the kind of unity they have shown on this issue.

I would certainly single out the Minister of Foreign Affairs and the Prime Minister for pushing with such great vigour in the political arena on the international front the whole cause of banning and ridding this planet of land mines.

It is only proper that the Nobel Prize recipient, Jody Williams, was someone who spearheaded the non governmental organizations in the battle against land mines. I also reflect back to my home community where so many people have worked on this issue, particularly the Mennonite Central Committee.

As we push this ahead, we know that we have Canadians with us. I think we can indeed be proud of the mission which we have undertaken and the difference we are going to make.

[Fair Wages And Hours Of Labour Act, October 28th, 1997]

Madam Speaker, certainly the issue I am speaking to is something I am quite excited about.

All members had a life before they come to Parliament. The area I worked in was community justice and how a community deals with people who cause problems in the community.

There is no question that crime has been with us ever since civilization started and it will be with us for a long time to come. The fact of the matter is that we are taking steps to empower local communities to start dealing with some of the issues of crime at the local level.

Too often in the past we have passed laws in Ottawa and in provincial capitals and we have not paid enough attention to what the local community can do in the whole area of crime prevention.

In the 35th Parliament I had the pleasure of tabling the justice committee report on young offenders. It was on the final sitting day of the last Parliament.

One recommendation that came out in the report related to the whole issue of crime prevention. Strongly underlying crime prevention, we in the justice committee recognized that it was imperative to allow local communities to take ownership in trying to deal with some of the difficult problems. How can we prevent crime from occurring? How can we make a safer and more secure community?

Clearly justice at the community level belongs to the whole community. It belongs to the schools, the churches, the families, the service clubs, the organizations, the police and the courts. However it has to be done in partnership. For far too long we have not supported efforts at the community level to combat crime and to build safer communities.

I am very pleased to tell the House that on April 16 the 20th justice dinner is going to be hosted in the Waterloo region. That is where members of the community come together, the police, the crown, the judiciary, victims groups and service clubs. They come together to try to see how they can better play a role in building a safer community. There is no question that the whole issue of diversion and prevention is much better than the one of apprehension and spending more and more money on reacting to crime.

I am very pleased that we have a program of crime prevention which will be directed at the local communities where they can take ownership.

I was very heartened when I put that question to the Minister of Justice because it is of critical importance. The program will succeed if the local communities take leadership and the federal and provincial governments provide back-up assistance.

[Removal Services, October 21st, 1997]

Mr. Speaker, chapter 21 of the Auditor General of Canada's latest report deals with the mismanagement of the military and the way it conducts the $100 million plus household goods removal service of the federal government. It is inefficient, provides poor service and is open to corruption and conflict of interest.

This past month the Regina police laid fraud charges against a former manager of a moving company. The 24 alleged victims included 7 private citizens, 10 corporations, 5 provincial government agencies and 2 RCMP moves. The competition bureau is also investigating.

Since 1994 the average weight per government move has increased by 14% while the military has reduced its penalties for fraud. Why is the military restricting the ability of over 80% of the 3,000 carriers in Canada from doing moves for the federal government? It is time to get the military out of mismanaging government moves and to return the military to military functions.

[Speech From The Throne, October 2nd, 1997]

Mr. Speaker, let me congratulate the hon. member for Calgary West on his maiden speech. Let me also disagree with the content of much of his speech.

On the issue of reforming the Canada pension plan, there was an accrued liability and we could not afford to continue on a pay as you go basis. Reform of the Canada pension plan was put in place by the federal government with agreement from the provincial governments. It is important to note that.

I recognize that the Reform Party, in its policies, would get rid of the Canada pension plan. It was to turn it into a super RRSP. If the people happened to have Bre-X in their super RRSPs they would retire with no pension.

It is very clear that Canadians on the whole want the Canada pension plan. It was the subject of the election campaign. The plan will be there for younger Canadians.

Earlier today I talked about spending some money, and I am proud of it. One of the things I talked about spending money on was students, universities, research and development. I think the member, when talking about spending money, should focus on the program. The University of Waterloo and Sir Wilfrid Laurier University are in my riding, as well as Conestoga College.

Sure, that is spending money, but it is also investing in the future of our young people and in the future of our country. Hopefully the member can make the distinction. Most members of the House were not here prior to 1993. I think he should also acknowledge that.

[Crime Prevention, October 2nd, 1997]

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

The best way to fight crime is to engage communities across Canada in crime prevention at the community level and to attack the root causes of crime. During the last election campaign and in the Speech from the Throne the government talked about crime prevention programs, a most laudable goal. Can the minister assure this House and the people of Canada that this program will be driven by the local communities as it should be and not by bureaucrats from Ottawa?