Darrel Stinson

[Child Pornography, October 28th, 2003]

Mr. Speaker, when nine year old Cecilia Zhang was abducted from her bedroom last week, it seemed as if not only her family and her community but also our entire country started holding our breath. We are all praying for her safe return, but Canada's children need more than prayers. They need good laws to protect them from abuse. Instead, this Liberal government has put forward Bill C-20, which still allows the defence of “public good” for child pornographers.

We need to give our police the tools they need to catch child abusers. Instead, Toronto Police Chief Julian Fantino recently told an international group that he was ashamed of Canada's weak efforts to protect our children.

Finally, we need judges to sentence child abusers to maximum penalties instead of some actually getting house arrest.

This Liberal government is totally out of step with the concerns of Canadians in its disgustingly weak efforts to protect what we all hold dearest: our children.

[Supply, October 28th, 2003]

Mr. Speaker, I listened to the member's speech very intensely. I too have travelled quite extensively to prisons, normally with the member for Wild Rose, the member who introduced this motion. I have seen what the other member described on prison walls and on ceilings. I also agree in regard to the sentencing.

Does the member recall when the laws were changed? We could go right back to capital punishment when people were supposed to get 25 years or life imprisonment. The problem with Canada today is there is no such thing as truth in sentencing. When the government says that it will put the maximum sentence in force, it absolutely gives no confidence to the Canadian public as a whole.

After sitting through some of the police evidence, as the member has done, and having seen some of the sickening details that were presented to us, I do not know how a government with any conscience could allow this to keep on going. To say that it will be addressed by the courts and not by us in the House is wrong.

What is the member's outlook on truth in sentencing?

[Criminal Code, October 27th, 2003]

Mr. Speaker, I listened to the member's speech and I have a couple of things that still bother me about Westray with regard to the bill.

We know corporations have a responsibility. With regard to Westray, there were a lot of bureaucrats involved. We must remember that federal and provincial funding was involved. Does the bill address the responsibility of the bureaucrats and the governments?

We tend to put the onus on the corporations, but the governments and bureaucrats involved should also shoulder a lot of the responsibility. Does the member believe the bill will address that concern? Will the bureaucrats and governments responsible for turning a blind eye to certain business practices also be liable under the act?

[Criminal Code, October 27th, 2003]

Mr. Speaker, it is a pleasure to comment on Bill C-45. I would really like to think of it as the Westray bill.

When I was first elected in 1993, representatives of the small communities of Plymouth and Stellarton, Nova Scotia were among the first to come to see me as I was serving as the mining critic for the official opposition. They still come to see me today .

Back in 1993 they sought justice regarding 26 working miners, their neighbours, friends and customers, sons and fathers, husbands and brothers, who died underground in the Westray mine disaster on May 9, 1992. Since then, at least one folk song has been written about it, the title of which is “Everybody Knew”. I have travelled to the area several times and have found that is a fact; everybody knew there were problems with that coal mine. Everybody knew conditions were not safe, yet management sent those men into unsafe conditions day after day until what seemed to be almost inevitable happened.

According to the Westray mine public inquiry, sparks struck by cutting bits from the continuous miner, a machine working the southwest 2 section of the mine, ignited coal dust and she blew, taking not only those families' dear ones, and hopes and dreams, but also the traditional Cape Breton coal mining economy with it. That inquiry also found:

Had there been adequate ventilation, had there been adequate treatment of coal dust, and had there been adequate training and an appreciation by management for a safety ethic, those sparks would have faded harmlessly.

Today, over 11 years later, to the best of my knowledge not one representative of the resource company, not one mining inspector, not one provincial or federal bureaucrat from the Department of Natural Resources, Environment Canada or the Department of Labour has served one day in jail for what seems to me, admittedly not a lawyer, their criminal negligence in those 26 preventable deaths.

The federal government helped finance this mine so it cannot simply wash its hands and point the finger of blame solely at the province. As the report states:

Westray took over development from Canadian Mining Development in early April 1991, at a much earlier stage of development than originally planned, and began using continuous mining machines to drive the mains.

Still quoting from the report:

In the rush to reach saleable coal, workers without adequate coal mining experience were promoted to newly created supervisory positions. Workers were not trained by Westray in safe work methods or in recognizing dangerous roof conditions--despite a major roof collapse in August. Basic safety measures were ignored or performed inadequately. Stone dusting, for example, a critical and standard practice that renders coal dust non-explosive, was carried out sporadically by volunteers on overtime following their 12-hour shifts.

Here are some further quotes:

Management trivialized the concerns of workers, some of whom quit their jobs at the mine. Although the mine inspectors asked the company for roof support plans, as well as stone dusting plans, it repeatedly deferred supplying them. Westray is a stark example of an operation where production demands resulted in the violation of the basic and fundamental tenets of safe mining practice.

As Mr. Don Mitchell, mining consultant for the Nova Scotia department of labour concluded from his post-explosion investigation of mining safety training, Westray mine “had no program that was appropriate to the needs of that mine”.

I have to ask, why was there no such investigation in time to prevent those 26 deaths? Such blatant disregard for the safety of employees must not be allowed to be repeated. Nevertheless, every day in Canada, workers are still being killed or injured on the job while some corporations simply continue what they do best, make a profit.

Of course most corporations do have a heart and also recognize that good, safe working conditions also are good business practice. It is also true that provincial workers' compensation rates will go up after accidents, and sometimes they go up a lot. However, that financial aspect has not proven to be enough to motivate all corporations into creating safe workplaces.

Therefore, Canada needs both big carrots and big sticks, including federal legislation for criminal liability, to protect vulnerable workers, like the new kid in his job, those young workers most likely suffer workplace injuries.

In conclusion, as mining critic for the official opposition and as one who has personally visited the communities and the United Mine Workers local most affected by the Westray disaster, regardless of whatever other concerns may affect our scheduled business this fall in Parliament, this bill is shamefully overdue. I believe we should pass this legislation post-haste.

[Canadian Forces Superannuation Act, October 20th, 2003]

Mr. Speaker, the member has raised a number of concerns. With regard to what he was saying about Canadian Forces Base Chilliwack in British Columbia being closed down, I believe that was the last land base in British Columbia for the armed forces.

Scientists have proven that sooner or later there will be a major earthquake in the Hope region, possibly between Hope and Chilliwack or maybe just a bit above Hope, which is not very far from Vancouver. We have seen the devastation of the fires this summer and now we see the devastation of the floods, yet we have no emergency response team from the forces. We no longer have a land base out there.

With all these cutbacks, I must say that I find it very worrisome that the Government of Canada would totally disregard the fact that a province the size of British Columbia has no emergency response team or actually no help there. The nearest help would have to come from Edmonton. In some cases, we would be looking at 24 to 48 hours. Anyone who has been in a flood or a fire or who has ever witnessed an earthquake knows that is a long time. What does the hon. member think about that situation?

[Petitions, October 20th, 2003]

Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to present to the House seven petitions totalling 1,846 signatures.

The petitioners are requesting that the Government of Canada hold a binding national referendum in the next general election to ask the following question. Must the Government of Canada continue to define marriage as a union of one man and one woman to the exclusion of all others, yes or no?

[Supply, October 2nd, 2003]

Mr. Speaker, I listened to the member's speech very intensely. I make it a habit at least once a year, sometimes twice a year, of driving across Canada on the Trans-Canada Highway.

It was introduced, as the member probably remembers, because it was supposed to be the lifeline of Canada, the backbone, the vein to keep Canada's transportation on the move. This is probably now the seventh year that I have driven across Canada and I find the Trans-Canada Highway a national disgrace. I have seen backwoods highways in far better condition than many parts of it.

The member mentioned tax upon tax. He mentioned that the government was creating a system in fuel tax of adding tax upon the tax to increase its taxation level. To me that makes Jesse James look honest. There are a lot of organizations that would have loved to have done that but most of them are behind bars now or have been convicted of criminal activity.

When the fuel tax was introduced to Canadians, we were given the assurance that it was to be used for the infrastructure of highway programs. The member mentioned that the government had become addicted to taxation and would use it as a cash cow. That is what it is.

When we stop to think about it, the federal government's responsibility pertains only to the Trans-Canada Highway and to some extent to the main arteries leading to the Trans-Canada Highway. Yet it collects fuel taxes from every fuel station in Canada, whether it be on these arteries or on the Trans-Canada. What it is doing in reality is taking the fuel tax from all other areas that could be better put to use in the upkeep of highway infrastructure in municipalities.

To me this is an illegal taxation on the people of Canada. The areas being taxed are off the Trans-Canada or out of the area of where the feds will spend any money, let alone 4%. They will not spend one dime in these areas to keep up the infrastructure. Could the member comment on this?

[Petitions, September 29th, 2003]

Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to present two petitions, totalling 200 signatures, from my constituents of Okanagan—Shuswap who wish to draw to the attention of the House that marriage is the best foundation for families and 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, September 19th, 2003]

Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to present a petition from my constituents of Okanagan--Shuswap. The petitioners call upon Parliament to pass legislation to recognize the institution of marriage in federal law as being a lifelong union of one man and one woman to the exclusion of all others.

[National Defence, September 19th, 2003]

Mr. Speaker, five years ago the Salmon Arm fire in my riding had British Columbia asking Canada's armed forces to defend B.C. lives, homes and our wood, recreation and tourism base.

I do not need to tell the House about the raging fires which gobbled up so much of B.C. again this summer. Once again, our troops arrived needing training and finally got to the job days later, not due to any shortcoming from those troops. These delays were caused by the government's decision to close the last land forces base in British Columbia, despite all military advice against it.

The biggest federal lesson to learn from this summer's fires is that it takes 48 hours for troops from Edmonton to start protecting southern B.C. Imagine what could happen if Vancouver suffers the predicted earthquake.

The 1994 defence white paper needs urgent updating which must include opening a land forces base in British Columbia.