Myron Thompson

[Challenger Fleet, February 8th, 1994]

Mr. Speaker, I read in the newspaper yesterday that the government is considering selling most of its fleet of 16 Challenger jets. I certainly want to encourage the government to follow through on this positive impulse.

The article said that the Challenger fleet cost taxpayers $54 million last year, and the selling of these jets is a move that would certainly be applauded by Canadian taxpayers.

I applaud the Prime Minister for this decision. I am very glad to see the government is prepared to respond positively to constructive public pressure and to constructive input from this side of the House.

Canadian taxpayers eagerly await the official announcement that the Challengers will be sold.

[Speech From The Throne, January 28th, 1994]

Madam Speaker, very briefly I do know of several members in the present government who feel exactly the way I do. I would be pleased to work alongside them.

I also know that we cannot continue to talk, talk, talk, rhetoric, rhetoric, rhetoric. Let us get to work. Let us get the job done now.

[Speech From The Throne, January 28th, 1994]

Madam Speaker, I would like to thank the hon. member for his questions.

Regarding determining the percentage of people released from the penal system who kill again, we have just begun that process. It is a difficult thing to get our hands on. We have identified who they are and so far our research shows that 32 people have died at their hands. As we continue I know that number will grow.

With regard to appointments, if we are going to have a parole board the last reason for appointment to a parole board should be that they were the good old boys or good old girls with some political party, doing political favours. Yet that seems to be the impression Canadians have. It certainly is the impression I have about some of them. I am not saying they are not qualified and cannot do the job. I am saying that there ought to be a better way of selecting these individuals and making certain that those who are appointed to that board know what they are doing.

The first thing we have to do is get an understanding that there is no such thing as automatic parole. Section 745 of the Criminal Code is one that must be repealed. Twenty-five years has to mean 25 years and 15 years has to mean 15 years.

On the issue of capital punishment, I am not sure what the stats are. I am saying that people out there are crying for justice. Let us give it to them and let them decide through a national binding referendum.

[Speech From The Throne, January 28th, 1994]

Mr. Speaker, may I take this opportunity to congratulate you on your appointment. I see there is a change in the Chair again. I have already congratulated Madam Speaker. I do wish the both of you the very best in this 35th Parliament.

As I stand here today I want everyone to know how proud I am to have this opportunity. My very special thanks goes out to the Wild Rose voters who put their faith in me last October 25. I would also like to thank those who worked so hard to get me

elected. A special thanks to my wife Dot for her faith and love during the campaign which remains with me today.

I am proud to be a Canadian by choice. When I arrived in Alberta 26 years ago along with my wife and my one-month-old boy I knew in a very short time that Canada was the place that I wanted to call home.

When I took my oath of citizenship in 1974, that was one of the highlights of my life. I never dreamed for a second at that time that I would have the honour to sit in this Chamber as a member of Parliament. However now that I am I pray that I might always speak the voice of some 45,000 that put me here.

Today I take pleasure in doing just that by addressing the topic of justice. As I recall and think about the values and the principles upon which this great country was founded, I have to ask myself what happened. Why is it today as we hear the voice of Canadians all across the country crying out for justice that their voices seem to be going unheard? Why is it when I walk to this place each day past the Department of Justice building that I feel the key word of justice has lost its meaning in this country? Justice appears to be in the minds of thousands of Canadians as a word that applies only to the rights and the protection of the criminal while the rights and the safety of law abiding potential victims goes completely unaddressed.

I believe that the government must immediately set its focus on the latter group. It should stop listening to the voices and the pressures of small interest groups crying out for criminals and refocus on the victims with a message that violence in this country will no longer be tolerated. People have the right to feel safe and be safe in this great country and we must aim for that goal.

The red book along with the throne speech alluded to the idea but I would suggest that it does not go nearly far enough in many areas. I admit I coughed once during the throne speech and may have missed something but I listened to about 10 or 15 seconds on justice.

I would like to offer some suggestions. Is it known that in the last five years 32 people have died in this country at the hands of 23 repeat offenders who were paroled from our penal system? This is the number that I know about. I really do not know what the true number is but that is how many I know about.

If we had a plane crash and 32 people died then this House would stand and mourn. If we had 32 people die on a bus or train collision then we would stand and mourn. When hear about 32 people dying at the hands of repeat killers we continue to do nothing. It is time to wake up and address this problem. If even one person had died from the hands of a repeat killer then as far as I am concerned that is one too many.

My suggestion based on the thousands of other comments from people would be to stop automatic parole. The frightening thing is that there will be approximately 80 more early parole hearings for first degree killers during the life of this 35th Parliament.

I quote from one of these repeat offenders: "The only thing crazier than me is the system that allowed me to kill again". This whole affair suggests to me that there is an element of incompetence that exists in our parole board, possibly through patronage appointments. Let us fix this incompetence problem and let us fix it now.

I have worked with young people for 30 years of my life, as a teacher, guidance counsellor and a junior high school principal. Since my election I have attended several meetings with parents, community members, school administrators to discuss what to do about the violence in schools.

Most of us here will remember the days of spitballs, getting out of line and chewing gum. These present day meetings are addressing drug abuse, rape, assault and murder. We have certainly come a long way. Yet when we have legislation such as the present Young Offenders Act there simply is no deterrent.

Our judicial committee has made a submission regarding not just our views but the views of thousands of Canadians who have given input through our recent task force of changes that must be made to the Young Offenders Act.

We encourage the Minister of Justice to seriously consider these changes which would bring accountability, restitution and punishment back to the forefront in dealing with criminal youth. Most of all it would return justice in dealing with acts of crime.

We further suggest based on the voice of the people that non-citizens of Canada convicted of a serious crime be immediately deported. Never again should there ever be another Charles Ng in this country. When I hear the minister of human resources say that thousands of Canadian children live in poverty and I think of the millions of dollars we spend to protect the likes of Charles Ng, I am flabbergasted.

I could go on for hours discussing the many things the people of this country want changed. However one change that must be implemented is the opportunity for the people to voice their concerns through a national, binding referendum on capital punishment.

Enough is enough. Now is the time to do something that will truly make this country a safer place to be for our law-abiding citizens. Let us not procrastinate or pussyfoot around any longer with these problems as the last three or four Parliaments have done.

In conclusion, I seriously believe there is not one member of the 295 in this Chamber who has not heard the cry from his or her constituents to do something about the justice system. We have

heard the people speak. It is our duty to act upon that voice and begin working immediately to return the word justice to our country.

Only this morning in Question Period we heard that a sexual perpetrator of children has been released and is roaming the streets in British Columbia. He is a non-citizen. Why are we not rounding that individual up and getting him out of this country? We do not need him in Canada, nor do we need the likes of him. We could do it today, but it is my understanding that he has been released until February 16. What could happen between now and then?

[Speech From The Throne, January 28th, 1994]

Madam Speaker, I would like to take this opportunity to congratulate you on your appointment and wish you the very best. I also want to congratulate the hon. minister on a very fine and well-delivered speech. I have only had the opportunity to meet this minister on a short term.

Having been a high school principal for many years I have a tendency to take a first impression of people. I would like the members of this House to know that I indeed was impressed with the minister. I know she is going to be a fine lady to do this job and can count on a lot of support. I do not envy her. It is an horrendous task.

However, I have one thing I would like to bring up concerning user fees. This Chamber is transferring the responsibility of delivering medical services to the provinces. The province of Alberta is struggling desperately to save its health care programs. Under the leadership of Ralph Klein, the Government of Alberta and the people of Alberta have jointly agreed to institute some form of user fee that would not affect those who are most in need.

Does the hon. minister not feel that if we are putting that kind of responsibility on that province that we should not interfere with the deliverance of that medical process?

[Auditor General's Report, January 26th, 1994]

Mr. Speaker, obviously we are not going to be able to hear this valuable speech which I was wondering whether we would be able to.

Would the Prime Minister be willing to set a direction for his cabinet ministers to stop such reckless spending when it is not necessary?

[Auditor General's Report, January 26th, 1994]

Mr. Speaker, my question is for the Minister of Intergovernmental Affairs.

Yesterday the minister admitted spending $172,920 of taxpayers' money to deliver a speech at Harvard University. The amount of $172,920 is approximately three to four times the average annual family income in this country.

While I am new to this House I must admit that I have never heard such a valuable speech. I was wondering if the minister would be willing to redeliver this extraordinary speech for me and my hon. colleagues.

[Auditor General's Report, January 25th, 1994]

Mr. Speaker, a supplementary question. Can we take from the minister's answer that he is promising business as usual or is he saying he will spend taxpayers' dollars with a little more restraint?

[Auditor General's Report, January 25th, 1994]

My question is for the Minister of Intergovernmental Affairs.

The Auditor General reports the minister and his wife flew to Boston and New Orleans aboard a government-owned Challenger. The Auditor General says the cost of this trip was

$172,920 versus $5,356 had the minister and his wife travelled by commercial airline.

My question to the minister is this: is it departmental policy that the minister use taxpayer-owned aircraft at vast expense when commercial flights are available?

[Young Offenders Act, January 21st, 1994]

I have a supplementary question, Mr. Speaker.

As we all well know the Young Offenders Act has been under question for quite some time. Could the minister give us an indication of when we could expect action that would change the Young Offenders Act, something that Canadians everywhere want done immediately?