Marlene Catterall

[National Child Day, November 19th, 2004]

Mr. Speaker, tomorrow, November 20, marks National Child Day and the 15th anniversary of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child.

This year's theme, “A Canada Fit for Children”, highlights the basic human rights that all children are entitled to, from the fundamental right to be protected from abuse, to their entitlement to grow into fully participating members of society.

In Ottawa, the multi-faith community will host the First Annual Manger Meal, paying tribute to those who work for a better life for children and especially to men who are role models for other men and for boys.

A place will be set for an “unknown child” to remind us of the many forgotten children who are victims of conflict, war, crimes and suffering. To quote Senator Landon Pearson:

We like to say 'a child is born into our world'. Let us also understand that in each child a world is born.

May we all work for a better world for all our children.

[Department of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness Act, November 16th, 2004]

Mr. Speaker, equality before the inquiry and Mr. Arar's right to protect his interests depend upon an open process. As I said, just last week the Ontario Superior Court ruling stressed the constitutional right to an open court process that can be violated by secrecy.

I am asking the government to again re-examine the way in which documents have been kept secret in this matter and which have limited the ability of the inquiry to hear from Mr. Arar himself on some of the information before it. This is because he and his lawyer have no access to those documents.

I ask the government to examine the decision of the Ontario Superior Court and to re-examine its position. I do not think the fact that an inquiry is underway exonerates the government from exercising its responsibility for the actions of its officials.

[Department of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness Act, November 16th, 2004]

Mr. Speaker, in October I asked a question of the minister responsible for public security concerning the case of Maher Arar and matters before the inquiry but primarily related to the ongoing cloud of suspicion that hangs over the head of Mr. Arar and his young family.

Related to that, I was interested to note that last week the Ontario Superior Court ruled that the ruling of the previous court sealing certain information in the related case of Juliet O'Neill and the Ottawa Citizen against the Government of Canada violated the constitutional guarantees of, among other things, the public's right to an open court system. In this case, an inferior court had ruled that the reasons for the search of Juliet O'Neill's home and the seizure of certain property of hers would remain secret. That ruling has now been overruled by the Ontario Superior Court, but it raises some interesting questions related to the Arar inquiry and to Mr. Arar's case because one of the documents seized was Canada's security dossier on Maher Arar.

If these documents are now to be released to Juliet O'Neill and to the Ottawa Citizen's lawyers, I want to know if they will also be released to the subject of the documents, Mr. Arar himself.

I want to review a bit about this case because after more than two years Mr. Arar and his family continue to suffer the consequences of his seizure by American officials and his deportation to Syria without any notice to the Canadian government.

In my question in October I referred to the fact that as the inquiry progresses and as documents come out there are still innuendoes, insinuations of some criminal connection by this man. After two years, no charges have been laid and there is no way this man can clear his name. Given that my own views on certain matters in this case were misrepresented in a report provided to the government by a government official, I have to wonder whether we will provide Mr. Arar with his file so he can determine whether the contents of that file are accurate.

I believe the minister needs to act and needs to make sure that charges are laid so that Mr. Arar has the opportunity to clear his name or make an admission that there are no grounds to lay charges.

[Committees of the House, November 4th, 2004]

Mr. Speaker, I have the honour to present, in both official languages, the second report of the Standing Committee on Canadian Heritage relating to copyright reform raised in the first report of the Standing Committee on Canadian Heritage in the third session of the 37th Parliament, entitled “Interim Report on Copyright Reform”.

I also have the honour to present in both official languages the first report of the Standing Committee on Canadian Heritage on the Canadian broadcasting system mentioned in the second report of the Standing Committee on Canadian Heritage in the second session of the 37th Parliament and entitled “Our Cultural Sovereignty: The Second Century of Broadcasting”.

[East Nepean Eagles, November 2nd, 2004]

Mr. Speaker, yesterday we welcomed Canada's Olympians to the House. Today, I am proud to pay tribute to a new generation of athletes, the champions of today and tomorrow, the East Nepean Eagles.

These Canadian baseball champions proudly represented Canada at the Little League World Series in Williamsport, Pennsylvania this past summer, winning soundly over Poland by five to one.

Congratulations to the coaches, the parents and above all, the players. I am proud to welcome the East Nepean Eagles to Parliament Hill, to be congratulated personally by the Prime Minister.

Way to go, team.

[Resumption of Debate on Address in Reply, October 19th, 2004]

Mr. Speaker, I am proud of the national child benefit. I think the member will concede that there are differing opinions about whether child poverty has lessened or has increased over the years. I am very proud of that benefit because it was an initiative that arose initially in my riding of Ottawa West--Nepean and eventually was adopted by the Liberal Party right across the country as its highest priority before it was put in the budget the following year.

Investing in our young people now, giving them an incentive to increase their education, to look forward to opportunities, is certainly one of the ways of reducing child poverty. It means that the next generation will be better educated, will have more opportunities and will be better able to provide for their own children.

As far as post-secondary education in general goes, the member knows that is primarily a provincial responsibility. With a little more time if the clock were not running out, I would list our investments in research, in millennium scholarships, in better tax treatment of student fees--

[Resumption of Debate on Address in Reply, October 19th, 2004]

Mr. Speaker, I appreciate the interest of the newly elected member for Nepean--Carleton in the hospital in my riding. Quite frankly, if he were that interested in helping out the hospital, he might not have cancelled two appointments with the National Capital Commission to discuss this very issue, choosing instead to speak to the media.

The land of which he speaks is the greenbelt around the national capital. It is something that the National Capital Commission holds in trust for the people of Canada as part of the planning of the capital. Much of it holds the Gatineau Park, the Mud Lake conservation area, and the Mer Bleu conservation area. The hospital has appreciated having that location for a very minimal amount for a lease of 40 years.

I personally think the NCC is not prepared to abandon what was bought in the national interest and has been kept in the national interest. I certainly am prepared to work with the National Capital Commission and the hospital to make sure that whatever arrangements for the extension of that lease when it ends in nine years are favourable to the hospital.

The member should ask his own colleagues whether they think a hospital in Ottawa should have preferential treatment over any other hospital in the rest of the country.

[Resumption of Debate on Address in Reply, October 19th, 2004]

Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to have this opportunity to speak on the Speech from the Throne, and particularly to thank the voters of Ottawa West for again giving me the great privilege of representing my community in this seat of our democracy.

It is a tremendous privilege to sit in this House. It is a tremendous privilege to work with people who come from all over the country, from different parties, and with different views of what is good for Canada and its future, but with a common interest in trying to make this a better country.

That is a very important attitude to have as we enter this new Parliament. Clearly it is a different Parliament than I have ever experienced. Quite frankly, I am somewhat excited and interested in seeing how that changes the dynamic of how Parliament works and how we can work together across party lines to achieve some good things for our country.

Like many Canadians I come from an immigrant background. My father was an immigrant to this country. It was from him that I learned how lucky I am to be a Canadian. It was a fulfillment of his dreams when he came to this country that he finished up his career as master tailor for that great symbol of Canada, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police.

Throughout my life I learned to appreciate the values this country stands for. When I walked into this House for the first time and often since, I have consciously focused on what I owe and what we all owe to the people who sat in this Chamber before us and what we owe to the generations to come after us.

Those who came before us have given us a country that the world envies. They have done it consciously by focusing on the future, on the good of the whole country, and not on narrow parochial interests. The decisions we make in this Parliament will create the future that our children and grandchildren will live with, and that future parliamentarians will have to build on.

That is the perspective I bring into this Chamber all the time. I am very proud to represent the people of Ottawa West—Nepean. It is a very diverse community. I know this kind of comment is more typical of a maiden speech, but I gave that speech 16 years ago. However, it is important to me to recall who I am here to represent.

I represent a very diverse community, many people of very low income, many new Canadians from all over the world, many people who are very wealthy, many people who work for the Government of Canada and many people who work for our high tech sector and at every possible job one can imagine in virtually any community in this country.

So when I look at something like the Speech from the Throne, I look for how it addresses the needs of the diversity of Canada, not if it addresses one particular economic stratum or one particular region of the country, but whether it looks at the range of needs and interests of this country, and looks at what is going to be good for the future.

Unlike some of the speeches I have heard this afternoon, I am one who believes in the role of government in society. I believe that government has a constructive and positive role to play in the life of its citizens and in creating a country. Our predecessors in this Chamber have done a wonderful job of that. We have to attempt to at least meet the standards they have set and hope that when we leave this place, we leave our country a little bit better than when we arrived.

Let me talk about some of my constituents and how I believe the Speech from the Throne and the plans of the government meet their needs.

I have either the second or third highest proportion of seniors of any riding in the country. Why I say one or the other is because the member for St. Catharines constantly debates with me that his riding has now surpassed Ottawa West—Nepean. In that way my riding represents a growing and emerging need of Canadian society. We are going to have to address a population that is increasingly over 65, out of the workforce, and has health care needs, needs for retirement income and a smaller working population to support those many needs.

In a way we have a reversal of what we had in the sixties when the baby boomers were hitting the high schools and they were our main focus in providing for their education and future. Now, those who made the sacrifices in those days are going to need more from their society than the younger people of today.

I am pleased that the Speech from the Throne focuses on the needs of seniors, particularly better health care and support for people who look after elderly relatives or neighbours in their own homes. I hear from my constituents about long waits for surgery, diagnoses of illnesses that may be very serious, and treatments, and the cost of drugs that people cannot afford to just stay alive.

I am pleased with the recent health accord. The commitments in the Speech from the Throne to move forward will in fact address those needs of reducing waiting times, ensuring quicker diagnoses, providing catastrophic drug coverage, helping with home care, and supporting caregivers in the home.

We must also look to our future by looking to our children. The Speech from the Throne takes some very important initiatives. Looking back a bit, I am very proud of the national child benefit which ensured that children in low or modest income families in Canada had greater support in the family financially than they did a few years ago.

I look at what we have done in one important area and that is to ensure that all children have a better chance at having more advanced education. This will become increasingly important for them to live full and fulfilling lives and to make a contribution to their country.

I am particularly proud of the learning bond which will be available to all low income children born as of a certain date earlier this year. Quite simply, there are families in this country who will never be able to afford to give their children a university or college education. This will allow all children to have nest eggs to use for their education when they reach that age. That will not only provide some of the financial resources they will need, but provide the encouragement for them to finish high school because they will know that there is a possibility of them going on and learning more.

Housing is very important to our families, to seniors and to children. I am proud of what the government is doing to ensure that there is more affordable housing in communities right across this country.

I mentioned that my constituency includes a large number of immigrants. I am pleased with some of the initiatives we are taking toward a quicker recognition of immigrant skills and professional qualifications so that an engineer can work as an engineer and not remain unemployed or underemployed but make a contribution to this country.

I will mention two particular areas. Recently we all received a letter from the Canadian Council of Professional Engineers about the money it has had from the government to speed up the recognition of engineering credentials of new Canadians and to ensure that more opportunities are open for them to have jobs where they can use the skills they bring to this country.

We will be initiating a program for the quicker recognition of medical doctors from overseas so that they can contribute to solving our shortage of doctors and specialists in Canada and at the same time be living more fulfilling lives, practising the skills they have brought to this country.

One thing we have to look at as well, though, is what we do to keep Canadians healthier. One of the areas that I think is vitally important to focus on is what kind of natural environment our children and grandchildren will have to live in. Will they have clean air to breathe? Will they have clean water to drink? Will we have soils that are capable of producing a quality food supply?

Therefore, I am proud of the commitments that the Speech from the Throne makes to the environment, to alternative energy and to new environmental technologies. Not only will they help us in Canada solve some of our environmental problems, they will also allow us to contribute to solving the environmental problems of the world. That, by coincidence, is also going to be good for our economy. I have a philosophy about Canada: that we do well in this country by doing good for the world. One of the areas in which we can do that is by sharing our technology, keeping at the leading edge of technology and sharing that with the world when it is going to accomplish some greater good.

To close the circle, if we invest in the education of our children, it is both for their personal development and for the contribution they can make to society, but it is also good for the economy. At the same time, we invest in our universities and colleges through research, but in this Speech from the Throne we commit to going the extra step.

Too often in the past, excellent research has been done in Canada but it basically gets developed outside this country to produce jobs and benefits for somewhere else. That is okay, but I think the initiatives we are taking in the Speech from the Throne to commercialize our research, to actually bring some of that great research we do to market, and to provide the venture capital for small start-up companies that can do this, are very important initiatives.

I certainly know it is very important for a significant segment of my constituents, who have for a couple of years now been either unemployed or underemployed because of the downturn in the high tech sector. The ability for new companies and new ideas to get going offers the opportunity for them to look forward to new employment and to using their skills instead of going somewhere else for employment. There is a wonderful group in this city called the Ottawa Talent Initiative that is working on developing new opportunities for those high tech workers and providing support to their families.

It may not seem significant, and I know it is happening in communities across this country, but just in Ottawa we have approximately 17,000 people from that sector of the economy who have been unemployed for close to three years now. There are thousands more across the country. Those are talents we need to keep in our communities for the new opportunities in technology as they open up. If we do not have those skilled people, whether it is here or in Vancouver, Kitchener-Waterloo, Halifax or Saskatchewan, those new opportunities will not open up in Canada.

Therefore, right across this country it is in our interests to support keeping the skills of that sector current and strong, to work to ensure that the opportunities do open up for them to find employment, and to support their families as they go through this difficult time.

I would like to talk a bit more about cities and communities, but I am aware that I am running out of time. I would like to talk a little more about the importance of fiscal responsibility, because we cannot afford new initiatives if we are not careful with how we manage our fiscal situation. There is a very strong commitment to not go back into deficit financing, to continue paying off our debt and to continue ensuring that taxes remain reasonable for Canadians, but at the same time we cannot forget about investing in our future. That is what I have tried to talk about this evening.

What I think we need to have here as a perspective is this: will the decisions we take today, tomorrow, and in the next however long this 38th Parliament lasts give us a better country in 10 or 20 years? Will a child born today have greater opportunities 10 years from now? This, I think, is what we have to focus on, not just today's political squabbles and not just the short term pressures. We must have the courage to think beyond today and tomorrow and make sure that the next generation of people that sits in these seats will say that this 38th Parliament did good things for Canada and left them something to build on.

[Petitions, October 8th, 2004]

Mr. Speaker, I have been asked by the hon. member for Peterborough to present this petition from his constituents.

The petitioners are supporters of kidney research who believe that research into the cure and care of kidney disease will help hundreds of thousands of Canadians. They ask Parliament to explicitly recognize kidney disease by naming one of the Canadian Institutes of Health Research the institute of kidney and urinary tract diseases.

[Algonquin College, October 8th, 2004]

Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to congratulate Algonquin College in my riding on the official opening yesterday of its new transportation and technology centre.

For almost 40 years, Algonquin has trained skilled technicians in transportation. The new centre, with 31,500 square feet of space and the most up to date equipment, will expand the college's ability to train new technicians and to keep skills in this trade at the leading edge. This is important not only for the students but for an industry that is experiencing a shortage of skilled technicians.

I wish to extend congratulations to Algonquin and to its partners in industry, the province of Ontario and the sector councils. All have collaborated to bring this project to completion.