Myron Thompson

[Indian Affairs, April 6th, 1995]

Useless.

[Indian Affairs, April 5th, 1995]

Mr. Speaker, maybe some day we can change this from question period to answer period.

I never said the blame was on anybody. I did not blame one individual. I want to know why this department sat back and let that go on for so long and did nothing?

[Indian Affairs, April 5th, 1995]

Mr. Speaker, I am from Wild Rose and Stoney Reserve is in Wild Rose. I flew to that site myself just the other day. I know very little about logging so I took two experts with me who do know.

I have never seen such a mess in all my life. It is a disaster. It is worse than the cod. That is how bad it is. Why will the minister not stand on his feet and explain to the House why something was not done for 12 full months?

[War Criminals, April 4th, 1995]

Mr. Speaker, I have been here for 18 months and in all areas of crime we would like to see some justice. I am still waiting. We have not seen justice yet.

Earlier this year the Minister of Justice said: "War crimes investigators have evidence that 12 suspects are living in Canada". However, the government is only pursuing four cases in order to test the legal waters.

The longer the minister waits, the more unreliable the evidence is going to be. Why is the minister not pursuing all 12 cases immediately?

[War Criminals, April 4th, 1995]

Mr. Speaker, in January of this year the government announced that war criminals living in Canada would be deported rather than prosecuted for their crimes against humanity.

This is a shift in policy from 1987 when the Liberal Party endorsed a made in Canada solution to Nazi war criminals.

My question is for the Minister of Justice. Why has the government given up on the idea of prosecuting Nazi war criminals in Canada?

[Budget Implementation Act, 1995, April 3rd, 1995]

I will quote her, she will not either. Of course I did not expect any different.

I can recall not too many years back I was told by certain officials in the justice department that once upon a time there were countries interested in negotiating a deal by which they would contract and house our convicts for us, that they would save us a lot of money. Perhaps we need to start looking at that. Perhaps we need to contract with other places to help us with this problem.

The whole crux of this is coming from the people of this country. When we talk to the people, when we talk to their bosses, even though they do not act like bosses-the taxpayer happens to be their boss, I will remind members just in case they have forgotten-they are quite upset that we do not seem to come up with priorities in the House and say we have to take care of health, education, protection, we do need a defence, we want

to make sure the needy are well looked after when it comes to our welfare system. We have put together their thoughts.

I doubt if anyone sitting over there even took time to read it. After all, that did not come from a Liberal, so why look at it. It cannot be any good if it does not come from a Liberal. For the past nine years before the Liberals came it was not any good if it did not come from a Conservative. Before that it was not any good if it did not come from a Liberal. We play this silly game year after year. We all say we need to do something different.

I have not seen anything different; different name, different faces but the same old Tories, same old stories. Nothing has changed.

[Budget Implementation Act, 1995, April 3rd, 1995]

Madam Speaker, it gives me pleasure to speak on this bill.

During the last couple of months since the bringing down of the budget, I have been a little disappointed at many of the things I have heard. Members on the government side have talked about the number of occasions they have gone into the communities and towns throughout Canada and have talked to people at various gatherings and now government has a clear understanding of what Canadians want. Government then comes down with what it did and the rhetoric begins.

I find it strange because I too have been out to various areas, not just in my own riding but throughout the country. Maybe I operate a little differently than government members do but my conversations are with farmers while sitting on the tailgate of a pick-up truck or with a policeman while riding around in his cruiser. I do that rather than sitting with top bureaucrats or other elites.

When I go into a prison I do not spend my time in the warden's office. I get to the grassroots population, the guards and people who work closely with the inmates. I go to the coffee shops and meet with nurses coming off shift from the hospital. I sit down and listen to what they have to say. Government members say they have conferred with people but I would like to know why they did not get the same message I got.

People ask such questions as: "What are they doing? We do not quite understand. Why will they not accept the idea that the pension is gold plated and at least be willing to say that they should do their part?" When we look at the figure of $1,239,000 going to this gold plated pension plan, we sit over here and complain. They do not have the guts to stand up and say that yes, they should do their part but they do not.

I have pulled some figures out of the public accounts and if I can pull these out of public accounts, anybody can. People should be told that the public accounts indicate that last year this government spent $374 million on language instruction. In the immigration and citizenship section the figure is $298 million. People would like to know what that is all about.

The funny part is that when we get into multiculturalism we see these big million dollar figures. Most of the people I talked to are immigrants and they asked: "What are they doing? Why are they spending their money on these things? They are nice but at the same time our health programs are going down the tube. Education is going down the tube. Protection is going down the tube and even defence which is important is being cut and going down the tube".

There is welfare out there for the needy. In a pig's eye, it is for the greedy. There are single mothers who ask: "Why can I not get some help? I am single. I have kids. I am divorced and having problems. Why can I not have some help?" I do not know the answer.

All you people on that side do is chatter. You do not give answers to anybody. You play the old political, yap, yap, yap, blah, blah, blah and say nothing. You have been doing that for 30 years. Now we wonder why we have a $560 billion debt and this huge deficit every year?

People tell me they do not understand. I tell them: Come and listen to the Liberals and you will understand. That is the way they have been operating for 30 years. They will not even give up their little blue cars. On occasion a minister might walk or take the green bus like the rest of us. But no, leave the cars sitting out front with a driver. Let the engines run, it does not matter. Then they walk in here and talk about the millions of kids who are living in poverty, while their cars are running and their chauffeurs are waiting. That is what they do. There is no sign whatsoever that they are interested in giving up anything that would help. A selfish lot right from day one.

We talked to the people and we came up with a taxpayers' budget. They say we have priorities and why do the Liberals not have priorities. This is what the people are saying. Obviously their budget does not match what people are saying. Three per cent of GDP means a $25 billion deficit in three years. Is that not wonderful? We will be paying $50 billion in interest. We will have another $25 billion worth of debt.

We are doing our part but perhaps we should listen to the NDP. There is bound to be a pile of dollars out there that we can gather in because we need more revenue. Tax them more. Spend more. Do everything we possibly can.

With respect to justice, it costs $40,000 per year to house our inmates and we have something like 17,000 inmates. If we multiply that-we do not have to be too sharp, we can even be a school teacher to do that-we come up with millions and millions more dollars. It is $40,000 to take care of an inmate.

Even one of the Liberals said we have 1,700 from other countries and perhaps we should deport them. I applaud that. That is a good idea. That came from the other side of the House. Good grief, why do the members not listen to that member? We have 1,700 non-citizens sitting in our jails and it is costing us $40,000 a head. Let us send them back. Let us deport them to their countries. That would probably be the worst punishment they could get. Why do we not come up with solutions to what is happening in our judicial system?

If the member for Halifax would only pay attention she might even learn something; I doubt it but she might. I would imagine she has opted out of her pension plan so she can talk a lot.

[Firearms Act, March 27th, 1995]

Mr. Speaker, I thank the hon. member for his statement.

Approximately one week ago 82-year old Oscar Noll was working in his jewellery store. Oscar Noll is five feet tall and weighs about 100 pounds. He goes to work at three o'clock in the morning to work on watches. He heard a crash from the window and two thugs came into his store. Remember, he is 82 years old, weighs about 100 pounds and is very frail. He reached under the counter, removed a revolver, fired some shots and scared away the perpetrators. Does the hon. member believe that the individual has the right to protect his life and his property in that manner?

[Petitions, March 27th, 1995]

Mr. Speaker, I have a petition from in and around the city of Winnipeg.

The petitioners request that Parliament support laws that will severely punish all violent criminals who use weapons in the commission of a crime, support new Criminal Code firearm control provisions that recognize and protect the rights of law-abiding citizens to own and use recreation firearms, and support legislation that will repeal and modify existing gun controls that have not improved public safety.

[Oscar Noll, March 27th, 1995]

Mr. Speaker, the following are the words of over 10,000 Canadians in and surrounding the town of Palmerston, Ontario, where 82-year old Oscar Noll was charged with assault with a weapon following his success in saving himself and his property from damage and theft at his place of business:

We the undersigned are both concerned and provoked that Oscar Noll should be charged for protecting himself and his property against illegal intruders. We feel he used reasonable force under the circumstances and attempts to penalize him are unwarranted.

This statement as well as dollars sent in to support Oscar Noll's defence are a clear sign that the 1990s law of the Liberals is not satisfactory.

I take this moment to remind the government, especially the Minister of Justice, that Mr. Oscar Noll is the victim of crime, not the criminal. I urge the government and the minister to answer the wake-up call of Canadians and fix this problem.