Darrel Stinson

[Cape Breton Development Corporation Divestiture Authorization And Dissolution Act, May 8th, 2000]

Yeah, it would be CSL. That is held by, what is his name?

[Cape Breton Development Corporation Divestiture Authorization And Dissolution Act, May 8th, 2000]

No, it is a shipping firm.

[Cape Breton Development Corporation Divestiture Authorization And Dissolution Act, May 8th, 2000]

Mr. Speaker, as has been mentioned 65 times for closure in regard to different bills is getting beyond the point of being ridiculous. Anyhow we are here to discuss Bill C-11 and the impact it will have on the eastern part of Canada.

This is the government's latest attempt to ruin the economy of Canada's east coast, especially Cape Breton. Let it be clear that I am not in favour of government running much of anything, especially a mining company. This has been proven time after time after time by the utter failure in results when government gets involved in things.

The Prime Minister's latest so-called success story is to travel there to announce the creation of a new call centre. Does he seriously believe it makes good use of the talents and skills of Canadians and of the natural resource of coal to ask the miners of Cape Breton to become telephone operators? Or should the miners sit at home and let their wives earn the family bread and butter? These are some of the questions that are being asked down there.

Since I first came here in 1993 when the constituents of Okanagan—Shuswap sent me to Ottawa, delegations from Cape Breton have been asking parliament to do something to save the coal mining industry. Studies show there is plenty of coal in the ground. The location and facilities on hand for export are great. Skilled workers are on hand. There is a long tradition of mining coal and a fully developed community infrastructure.

The only thing B.C. had for its northeast coal was the coal itself hundreds of miles from the coast, but B.C. has been exporting to Japan. It built the infrastructure from scratch and had to convince workers and families to move there. Cape Breton had all of that but government has done such a poor job of managing the mines that the taxpayers have been on the hook.

I want to talk about that just for a second. Let us look at the money that has been poured into Devco. The miners have not seen any result of that. The mine is being shut down. Taxpayers and members in the House of Commons would like to know what happened to all of the funds and what is happening to all of the assets. Let us have a public inquiry. Let us see where the money has been going. Let us see who has really benefited. Let us find out to whom they are related. Let us find out what has been going on at Devco because for sure the miners have not been getting it.

The Senate has held hearings and studies have been done but the government has ignored the most basic thing, running the business well. Even excellent businessmen have a tough time with today's high payroll taxes and red tape business climate in Canada.

The government decided to appoint its own mismanagement team and had that team send one year plans and five year plans to Ottawa for approval. In some of its decisions, despite building great port facilities and having a unique location beside the ocean, it chose to abandon all foreign markets. Let us look at it. We spend years to develop foreign markets for customers. When a conscious decision is made, as the people the government appointed to run Devco made, to let the foreign markets go, to let those markets slide and not care, the markets turn away. When we go back to them, those markets have already found other countries that will supply the coal that we denied them. Try to get those markets back. That is not the fault of the miners; it is the fault of those the government put in charge.

For example, union representatives went along with management to visit Mexico. The united mine workers promised there would be no work stoppage if Mexico would buy Cape Breton coal. Mexico signed on but the government team signed off. Union workers even agreed to take significantly less than standard coal mining wages. It is a tough, dirty, dangerous job but they agreed to take lower wages to ensure our coal could compete and the community could keep the jobs.

With regard to Devco, I have never seen management-labour relations so bad. In fact, they are the worst I have seen. Devco even refused to show the union its books to work out acceptable contracts.

I have to admit on some grounds the work was tough. They had problems in some spots, particularly in the hanging wall, the roof of the tunnel. They kept shutting down time and again. It was run so badly they finally had to eliminate all customers except Nova Scotia Power.

The supply of coal got so low that Devco agreed to allow American coal to be imported directly by Nova Scotia Power. It was raised already in the House, but I really have to wonder when we have the coal and can supply the coal but somebody makes the decision that we have to import the coal, we have to look at who is involved and how much money is involved in the transportation of the coal. We know it is not from people in Canada. We know the coal is coming in from offshore so we have to stop and think who would haul that coal for Canada.

[Cape Breton Development Corporation Divestiture Authorization And Dissolution Act, May 8th, 2000]

Ask the Minister of Finance why.

[Proceeds Of Crime (Money Laundering) Act, May 3rd, 2000]

Mr. Speaker, I rise on a point of order. Normally in a speech an amendment is moved just once. There were several amendments created during the speech. I would like to know what the protocol is.

[William Head Institute, May 3rd, 2000]

Mr. Speaker, I am in favour of inmates learning a trade but the learning at William Head Institute in Victoria has been taken a little too far.

Inmates at the facility are encouraged to learn carving, woodworking and even a little welding. However, some inmates have decided to combine these activities and become boat builders. This would not be a bad thing if it were a prairie prison surrounded by only seas of blowing wheat but the institute is surrounded on three sides by water. This makes a boat building enterprise a very practical decision for an inmate with a little ingenuity.

Now I am no Mark Twain and this is not the story of Huck Finn, but believe it or not, it is true. A career criminal went on a crime spree after sailing away from William Head Institute. Even the court judge who sentenced the recaptured inmate to an additional 10 years was curious how an inmate could be allowed to build a raft.

To be fair to the warden, I believe him when he says they do not have a boat building program at the institute. That would be foolhardy and we all know that Corrections Canada would never do anything that is foolhardy.

Maybe the warden should take a walk down to the shop to make sure the inmates are not making speedboats for an even faster getaway.

[Joyceville Institution, April 12th, 2000]

Mr. Speaker, on April 1, one inmate at Joyceville Institution in Ontario was found carrying a concealed knife.

Rumours had been circulating for days among the 170 Joyceville guards that cyanide had been smuggled inside with the deadly potential for use in terrorism. However, prison management refused to conduct a thorough search on, guess what, grounds of violating prisoners' rights.

A minor riot erupted that Saturday night, so the warden finally decided to lock inmates in their cells while he sent two teams of eight guards to search the entire place, including possessions of the 475 inmates.

It is no wonder that guards feared for their safety and that of the prisoners when one realizes that the search uncovered needles for illegal drugs, escape equipment, contraband used to brew alcoholic beverages and more than 60 weapons, including over 20 homemade knives.

Today's lesson for the solicitor general is that the safety rights of guards and well-behaved prisoners should get a higher priority than those who continue breaking the law even while they are in prison.

[Modernization Of Benefits And Obligations Act, April 11th, 2000]

Mr. Speaker, I listened to the member on the other side and I have to admit he is more than one ingredient short of the recipe.

I would like to ask the member this question. What some of us who are opposed to this bill find difficult is to accept the lecturing that seems to go on and that those who are opposed to the bill are somehow opposed to democracy. I finally have had it with being called a racist or a bigot because I cannot accept the fact that a spouse is a member of the same sex. That is my right and, indeed, my responsibility. I reject any attempt to try to muzzle people, to try to intimidate us and to paint this as some kind of human rights issue. I do not see it in that light. That was said by the hon. member for Mississauga West, a Liberal. I will stand up and call him a racist and bigot.

[Modernization Of Benefits And Obligations Act, April 10th, 2000]

We will see how you vote on the amendments.

[Petitions, April 10th, 2000]

Mr. Speaker, it is also a pleasure to table several petitions from residents of my riding of Okanagan—Shuswap who express their serious opposition to Bill C-23. They are justly concerned that the government is not doing enough to protect the institution of marriage, define it as a union of one man and one woman to the exclusion of all others.

I join them in asking the government not to base any benefits or legislation on people's private sexual activity.