Philip Mayfield

[Firearms Registry, January 28th, 2003]

Mr. Speaker, over the past few months we have seen the facade of the gun registry program unravel before our eyes. This other billion dollar boondoggle of the Liberals has given Canadians little security in their person, reputation or their privacy.

Just last week we heard that a computer hard drive, loaded with personal health and financial information on the residents of Saskatchewan, was stolen from ISM Canada in Regina, but what about that broken down old wreck, the firearms interest police database?

People are named within that system whether they are gun owners or not. The data is unreliable, an invasion of privacy and has gone through the hands of several private industries. A database system is only as secure as the people who have handled it. Lives have been disrupted due to inaccurate or mischievous information inserted into that system.

I ask the Minister of Justice to call it a day. The registry is compromised. Will he axe the database before the information gets into the wrong hands? It is that serious.

[Prebudget Consultations, December 10th, 2002]

Mr. Speaker, the hon. member raised some important issues concerning support to those who would be dependent upon the employment insurance scheme if they had the opportunity in relation to the east coast, but I think that also is true for the west.

I think of the people in the forestry and lumber industry who have been seriously hurt by the failure of our softwood trade agreement with the United States. I would like to see the government, which has, according to the Auditor General, a $40 billion surplus in this account, use that money to support those people who are in need of that kind of support, and to support the companies that are looking for a means of opening up new markets.

The second thing that concerns me also relates to the forestry industry in British Columbia. We have an enormous pine beetle infestation. I am told that there is approximately $9 billion worth of merchantable timber that is infected but still standing. The federal government has a fiduciary responsibility to care for the infected wood on its own federal lands. The provincial government has requested $120 million but the federal government has said that it will only provide about $35 million, about half of that for research. Does the hon. member include that kind of concern in his comments?

[Kyoto Protocol, December 3rd, 2002]

Mr. Speaker, we have heard the Liberals construct these magic carpets to the state of nirvana before. We have seen gun control. The government has no idea how much it will cost. The wheels are coming off. We have the Nisga'a treaty in which aboriginal people are now preparing a suit because of what the federal government did, which was to give major control to a small, select group of people. Now we have the Kyoto protocol which will solve all the problems of the world. At the same time, we have the Romanow report estimating $15 billion for health care. We have an infrastructure in the country that is worn out. I am wondering if we took all the trucks and cars off the highway if that would forestall the need to rebuild the roads.

Has the government taken into account all of the problems that we have in the country, this horrible mess that has grown since that government came to power? If we were to add up those problems, along with over half a trillion dollars in debt, how in the world will we pay the Russians for credits and still have the money we need so Canadians can live a life here?

[Freedom of Speech, November 26th, 2002]

Mr. Speaker, Chris Kempling, a Quesnel, B.C. teacher in my riding, is facing possible suspension of his teaching licence. The B.C. College of Teachers has said he overstepped the bounds of free speech by writing his opinions on traditional matters of faith in local newspapers.

Did he overstep free speech in the classroom? Apparently not.

What are his views and why are they in conflict with the public education system?

They would appear to be the traditional views on sexuality held by most conservative Christians, Islam, Judaism and other faiths. It seems that the only freedom of speech the B.C. College of Teachers allows is what it agrees with.

Thanks to the B.C. college it is now quite evident that such bedrocks of civilization as the Hebrew Bible, the New Testament and the Koran would never be acceptable in a school environment because it might affect how we communicate with students. Yet folks like Robin Sharpe can be exempted from pornography laws because of artistic merit.

Think of it. Teachers are stripped of their licences because of traditional faith and Robin Sharpe could apply for a licence to teach creative writing to our children.

Oh Canada.

[Supply, November 19th, 2002]

Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank and compliment the member for Kamloops for her comments.

We are talking about people who have already been classified as disabled and are suddenly being taken off the list until they can prove once again that they are still disabled. This concerns me because those who are at the extreme of their resources right now are being asked to go further and reprove what has already been done.

What we are talking about here is tax benefits and that is another point that troubles me. We are talking as though this is government money that we are going to give to these folks. What we should be talking about is what the government is not going to take away from people. This money belongs to them. The government in some instances seems to justify theft by legalizing it, by taking away peoples' money that they need to sustain themselves. This is also part of the unfairness. The government feels that what people have belongs to it until it says they can have it back again. I really have a lot of difficulty with that. The cruelty that this imposes upon those who are unable to defend themselves is unjustifiable.

[Supply, November 19th, 2002]

Madam Speaker, I would have liked to pose a question to the previous speaker but unfortunately time prevented that. She mentioned in her speech that the rules governing this were those adopted by Parliament and yet I hear in the speech just delivered that the parliamentary committee's report was absolutely ignored.

I wonder if the member who just spoke can correlate the parliamentary secretary's comment that what is being done is within the purview of Parliament, when he said that the parliamentary committee was absolutely ignored. Could he comment on that?

[Supply, November 19th, 2002]

Madam Speaker, I have listened to the parliamentary secretary say in a highly qualified statement that no one who is qualified will be denied these benefits.

There has been a process where reapplication has been required by those who were receiving these benefits. I would like to know how many of those who were receiving them are no longer receiving them since this demand for reapplication was imposed.

[Petitions, November 18th, 2002]

Mr. Speaker, I also wish to present a petition concerning pedophilia.

Petitioners primarily from Cariboo--Chilcotin, but also from as far away as Manitoba, Alberta, Victoria, North Vancouver, Surrey and Fort St. John, petition Parliament to protect our children by taking all necessary steps to ensure that all materials which promote or glorify pedophilia or sado-masochistic activities involving children are outlawed.

[Petitions, November 4th, 2002]

Mr. Speaker, I have another petition from citizens of Cariboo--Chilcotin who are concerned for Canadians suffering from debilitating illnesses and diseases such as Parkinson's, Alzheimer's, diabetes, cancer, muscular dystrophy and spinal cord injury. The petitioners call upon Parliament to focus its legislative support on adult stem cell research to find the cures and therapies necessary to treat the illness and disease of suffering Canadians.

[Petitions, November 4th, 2002]

Mr. Speaker, I have four petitions from citizens of Cariboo--Chilcotin who condemn the use and creation of child pornography. The petitioners call upon Parliament to protect our children by taking all necessary steps to ensure that all materials which promote or glorify pedophilia or sado-masochistic activities involving children are outlawed.