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Crucial Fact

  • His favourite word was regard.

Last in Parliament November 2005, as Conservative MP for North Okanagan—Shuswap (B.C.)

Won his last election, in 2004, with 46% of the vote.

Statements in the House

Alzheimer's September 18th, 2003

Mr. Speaker, approximately 10,000 coffee breaks will be held across the country this week to support the 364,000 Canadians with Alzheimer's disease and related dementias in Canada.

Alzheimer's disease is a progressive, degenerative brain disorder with no known cause or cure. Alzheimer's disease and related dementias currently affect one in 13 Canadians over the age of 65. With the aging of the baby boom population, it is estimated that more than three-quarters of a million Canadians will be diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease or related dementia by the year 2031 if a cure is not found.

What is needed are more dollars for research on Alzheimer's disease, tax relief for caregivers and a national home care program including standards and funding.

Petitions June 11th, 2003

Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to present a petition on behalf of my constituents from Coldstream, Vernon and Armstrong.

The petitioners are calling upon Parliament to support, preserve and protect the legal definition of marriage as the voluntary union of one man and one woman to the exclusion of all others and if necessary, to invoke section 33 of the charter, the notwithstanding clause.

Kindale Development Centre June 11th, 2003

Mr. Speaker, a few weeks ago, I acknowledged 20 recipients of the Queen's Golden Jubilee Medal from my riding of Okanagan—Shuswap who contribute to the community and society as a whole.

Today I was pleased to hear that the Kindale Development Centre in Armstrong which provides services to about 90 mentally challenged clients received a donation from Sun Country Cable, a donation that will enable the centre to continue its work in our community. Sun Country Cable donated the building. This building is next to Kindale's existing facility and both properties will eventually lead to construction of a new centre. In the meantime, the building will be used for training and respite suites.

I am proud to be part of a community that looks out for those less fortunate. Charity does begin at home.

Citizenship Act June 10th, 2003

Madam Speaker, Bill C-343, an act to amend the Citizenship Act, will make it easier for lost Canadians to regain their Canadian citizenship, as they would no longer have to be established as a permanent resident in order to do so.

The bill deals with the resumption of citizenship for people who lost their Canadian citizenship as minors between January 1, 1947 and February 14, 1977, when the responsible parent ceased to be a Canadian by becoming a citizen of another country.

Let me remind hon. members that we are referring to people who were born in Canada and therefore by birthright are Canadian citizens. Bill C-18, the new citizenship legislation, proposes that the residency requirement be modified to give the applicant flexibility in the time available to meet the requirement, and that the applicant must be physically present in Canada for 365 days out of the two years preceding the application. This is the third attempt by the government to modernize the 1977 act. Changes to the Citizenship Act on February 15, 1977, such as allowing dual citizenship, were not retroactive to the already lost Canadians.

The Minister of Citizenship and Immigration's press release on May 14 of this year stated “normal selection criteria for permanent residence will be waived for these individuals”. The press release went on to say that “an exemption from the medical inadmissibility requirement related to an excessive demand on the health care system be granted to these people”.

The point still remains that a minor child who was born in Canada, who was a Canadian citizen, who moved with the parent to another country between 1947 and 1977, and whose parent became a citizen of that other country, should not have lost his or her citizenship in the first place. It was the responsible parent who became a citizen of another country, not the child.

Lost Canadians still have to pay the same fees as others applying and have to reside in Canada for one year within the two year time frame. Why? They did not ask for, nor did they obtain citizenship in another country. Their parent did.

My Bill C-343 would correct an injustice that should have been resolved when the Citizenship and Immigration Act was replaced in 1977, which allowed dual citizenship. Unfortunately, as I stated earlier, dual citizenship allowed in 1977 was not retroactive. Bill C-343 would amend the existing act to recognize Canadian-born children who left this country between 1946 and 1977 as still being Canadians.

In conclusion, Bill C-343 should be incorporated into Bill C-18, the citizenship of Canada act, to correct historic wrongs and bring the 2003 act up to current morals and standards of what it means to be a Canadian.

Let us please pass this bill and finally welcome home our lost Canadians and allow them to reclaim the birthright they should not have lost as children through no fault of their own.

Highway Safety June 4th, 2003

Mr. Speaker, in the 13 months up to February 1, 33 people died in traffic accidents on the Trans-Canada Highway between Chase, B.C. and the Alberta border.

Some of the victims came from nearby communities like Enderby and Lumby, some from Calgary, Alberta, and Richmond, B.C., and others from as far away as Korea. This outdated, winding road is a disgrace, yet it is Canada's national highway.

The Canadian Taxpayers Federation announced on May 15 that last year the government collected $4.76 billion in fuel taxes, but only spent $119 million on roads and $65 million on infrastructure.

What has the Liberal government done? It has put an average of 97.5% of fuel taxes collected in the last five years into general revenue.

Instead, the government should save lives and fix this killer highway.

Firearms Registry June 3rd, 2003

Mr. Speaker, eight provinces and three territories now say they will not support this fiasco. How does the government plan on implementing the law if these territories and provinces refuse to implement it?

Firearms Registry June 3rd, 2003

Mr. Speaker, at a news conference this morning, Nova Scotia's justice minister, Jamie Muir, called Ottawa's gun registry a “bad law”, a boondoggle, and unnecessary red tape, and he is directing provincial prosecutors to refer any charges relating to long guns to their federal counterparts. Why will the Liberal government not just admit that its so-called gun registry simply does not work and scrap it?

Petitions May 28th, 2003

Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to present a petition signed by over 650 of my constituents of Okanagan—Shuswap calling upon Parliament to support, preserve and protect the legal definition of marriage as the voluntary union of one man and one woman to the exclusion of all others.

Supply May 15th, 2003

Mr. Speaker, I listened to the hon. member's speech. I could not agree with him more.

If we go back in history and read some of the articles, the same concerns, which I am hearing today, were also raised with regard to Norad. Yet Norad has worked as a seamless partnership between Americans and Canadians for years now with no major problems at all.

The hon. member mentioned there had been questions raised in regard to Canadian sovereignty over this. I have a great problem with that. I think if the Americans had not been there, we would have probably already lost what we like to call Canadian sovereignty. We depend upon the Americans due to the depletion of our forces to protect our borders now, from illegal immigration, a possible invasion through to threats from all countries. We depend more and more upon our neighbours to the south to protect us.

I remember in when I was growing up we were very proud of our forces. We were proud of what we stood for in Canada with regard to fighting for freedom in the world.

Every where I go one of the greatest concerns I hear is why are we not supporting our forces more. Why are we not more involved in these situations? Why are we always taking a back seat? Basically, in my opinion we have turned our own defence system in Canada into a disgrace.

I would appreciate the opinion of the hon. member on this. We really cannot offer too much to the Americans to help with this program, other than our willingness to become involved. Does the hon. member not think it has been a disgrace of the government and previous governments to allow our forces to be depleted to the extent that they have, where we have to depend on other countries?

Queen's Jubilee Medal May 12th, 2003

Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to rise to congratulate 20 recipients of the Queen's Golden Jubilee Medal from my riding of Okanagan--Shuswap. This medal recognizes the achievements of individuals who have made an outstanding contribution to the community and to society as a whole.

The recipients are Colonel Douglas Walton, Audrey Abramenko, Julia Taylor, Eric Hornby, Del Hornby, Tony Metz, Matt Hassen, Michael Bruce Blain, Dorothy Sawicki, Patrick Nicol, Verle Shockey, Valeria Ferguson, Keith Evans, Mary Woolam, John Topping, May McIntyre, Mike Vanderbeck, Melvin Briggeman, Gay Jewitt and Patrick Bonin.

On behalf of the people of Okanagan--Shuswap, I thank each one of them for their endless hours of service that help to make our communities a better place in which to live.