House of Commons photoWon his last election, in 2004, with 46% of the vote.
The Budget March 24th, 2004
Mr. Speaker, with regard to these programs that she talked so fondly about and which are doing so well, why do we not just sell them and make money so we can support something else? If those networks she talked about are doing so well, why have the private outfits not picked up the funding on these programs in order to keep them going?
Petitions March 24th, 2004
Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to present a petition with over 200 signatures of my constituents of Okanagan—Shuswap who wish to draw to the attention of the House that marriage is the best foundation for families in the raising of children.
They also want to remind the House that it passed a motion in June 1999 that called for marriage to continue to be defined as the union of one man and one woman to the exclusion of all others.
Therefore my constituents call upon Parliament to pass legislation to recognize the institution of marriage in federal law as being the lifelong union of one man and one woman to the exclusion of all others.
Petitions March 10th, 2004
Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to present to the House today four petitions requesting that the Government of Canada hold a binding national referendum together with the next general election to ask the following question: Must the Government of Canada continue to define marriage as the union of one man and one woman to the exclusion of all others, yes or no?
Petitions March 9th, 2004
Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to present a petition with signatures collected by the Evangelical Fellowship of Canada addressing the issue of marriage. The petitioners state that the best foundation for families in the raising of children is the institution of marriage that is the union of a man and a woman.
They call upon Parliament to uphold the commitment made in June 1999 to ensure that marriage be recognized as the union of one man and one woman to the exclusion of all others.
Veterans Affairs November 4th, 2003
Madam Speaker, Frank Wright of Vernon, B.C. tells about volunteering for a social event at one of the local rest homes.
He served one senior a beverage and rather than accept the 50¢ change due him, that senior said Frank should put the four bits toward a boat. Now the boat in question was intended to be used for touring rest home residents around Okanagan Lake, so Frank Wright went shopping. He found a pontoon boat for sale at Kelowna. Problem, the price was $19,000.
He went back to Vernon and contacted local organizations, including the Legion, and raised the needed funds.
Launched in 1992, the boat called Heaven Can Wait has made many trips on Okanagan Lake, bringing joy to numerous seniors.
This is one of the many stories behind the Minister of Veterans Affairs Commendations being awarded to 62 Canadians, including Frank Wright and Hugh Rayment, of Vernon, B.C., and Roland Phillips of Chase, B.C.
A special thanks to them from a grateful nation for their continuing service.
Criminal Code November 3rd, 2003
Mr. Speaker, I listened to the member's speech in which he said that in the bill the government is playing catch-up to the Americans, but I have a problem with part of proposed section 425.1 with regard to the whistleblower protection.
Proposed subsection 425.1(1) states:
No employer or person acting on behalf of an employer or in a position of authority in respect of an employee of the employer shall take a disciplinary measure against, demote, terminate or otherwise adversely affect the employment of such an employee, or threaten to do so,
(b) with the intent to retaliate against the employee because the employee has provided information referred to in paragraph (a) to a person whose duties include the enforcement of federal or provincial law.
(2) Any one who contravenes subsection (1) is guilty of
(a) an indictable offence and liable to imprisonment for a term not exceeding five years;--
That brings up a question for the member who just spoke in regard to people who come forward in whistleblowing. In many cases, it is a very tenuous situation. When we are dealing with corruption within corporations or even in government, we are looking at some pretty serious retaliation that could be put upon the employee. This bill gives absolutely no incentive to anybody to come forward with this information. An offender may get up to five years. The interpretation of that has been left wide open for the judges.
There is nothing in here about a financial side benefit to compensate for a whistleblower's lack of earnings during the time this is taking place, nor is there anything saying that these people would be under some sort of protection if it came down to that. I think this section of the bill is very weak if we want whistleblowers to come forward. It is very weak when it comes to addressing these concerns. As we know, most of our law enforcement agencies and regulatory authorities get most of their information from whistleblowers. I think they have been sadly neglected in this act.
What is the hon. member's opinion?
Criminal Code November 3rd, 2003
Mr. Speaker, when going over the bill and section 425.1, the so-called whistleblower protection, I find the bill lacking in a number of areas.
If the government wants people to come forward, then it must start protecting those people. This does not protect these people at all. There is no incentive for them to come forward. I am not saying that an indictable offence would interfere with any people coming forward.
When whistleblowers come forward, particularly in the corporate sector and also in the government sector, they need far better protection than what is in this bill. We know of many cases of financial ruin where people came forward with no compensation at all.
Under this bill, why should people have any incentive to come forward when in all likelihood they could be threatened not only with financial and family ruin, but also death? There is nothing in the bill at all that serves to protect these people on the financial scale or even on the physical scale. A five year sentence to an individual who tries to intimidate someone is unrealistic for this person to even come forward unless something is put in there.
Petitions November 3rd, 2003
Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to present a petition today on the definition of marriage.
The petitioners are requesting that the Government of Canada hold a binding national referendum together with the next general election to ask the following question: Must the Government of Canada continue to define marriage as the union of one man and one woman to the exclusion of all others, yes or no?
Apprenticeship Competition October 31st, 2003
Mr. Speaker, hats off to two Okanagan University College apprentices. Fourth year automotive service technician apprentice Sterling Logan and third year auto body collision repair apprentice Petr Ivandic, earned gold medals at the provincial competition and went on to receive silver medals at the national skills Canada competition held in Ontario earlier this year.
This is the eighth year in a row that an Okanagan University College trained apprentice has captured top spot in the automotive service technician competition at the provincial level. It is the fourth time in the last four years that a collision repair student has captured the gold medal. The automotive service technician competition was a two day, seven station test of knowledge, skills and aptitude.
Congratulations to Sterling and Petr on a job well done.
Ethics October 28th, 2003
Mr. Speaker, sitting here listening to minister after minister stand up and say “to the best of my knowledge” is kind of frightening as we all know that a lot of them do not have much in regard to knowledge.
I would like to ask the minister of fisheries, if he has ever received any other undeclared gifts in excess of $200.