Philip Mayfield

[Immigration And Refugee Board, December 12th, 1994]

Mr. Speaker, I thank the Minister of Citizenship and Immigration for moving a small step forward from his previous position.

To continue with my questioning on the same matter, the Minister of Citizenship and Immigration has talked about

transparency and about accountability. They are all things we are calling for. He says he wants the refugee determination system to work as well as it can, and I applaud this.

But will the minister put his money where his mouth is and change the refugee determination system so it is truly accountable and truly transparent?

[Immigration And Refugee Board, December 12th, 1994]

Mr. Speaker, one thing is obvious to Canadians with regard to the Schelew affair: the matter has been closed. We have no answers and it has cost us another $100,000.

The facts of the matter are clear. To avoid any sense of avoiding the issue to have been brought before this cancelled inquiry there needs to be a full explanation by the minister.

Will the minister clear up any misunderstanding or lack of transparency in the matter by implementing a full public inquiry and including a full examination of the IRB and its executive?

[Immigration Act, December 12th, 1994]

Mr. Speaker, my intervention will be very brief.

In speaking to Motions Nos. 13 and 14 concerning the conditions of expulsion I believe members of the Bloc Quebecois Party fail to understand what the Canadian people have been saying. Canadians have been putting pressure upon not only the government but upon representatives to Parliament like myself.

As the member representing the Bloc speaks, it would seem we are talking about dealing with people who broke regulations and failed to understand the seriousness of what may have happened and their situation in Canada.

As we look at the bill these are matters of serious intent. The bill is attempting to deal with excluding people from Canada who have committed serious offences. These motions in amendment would erode the intent of the bill. Members of the Reform Party are in favour of much of the bill, but we have great difficulty with the inability of enforcement. For that reason we will be opposing the bill as a whole but we have no intention of weakening the content. We are therefore opposing these two motions.

[Gun Control, December 8th, 1994]

Mr. Speaker, the justice minister plans to force legal gun owners to register their firearms with the federal government. The majority of constituents in my riding of Cariboo-Chilcotin are strongly opposed to this plan.

Canadians have told this justice minister many times that a gun registry will not work. Legal gun owners have been very responsible in the care, use and storage of their firearms. One constituent of mine, John Ross of 100 Mile House, said: "Past governments have made much ado about the gun control legislation they have passed. In reality, they have only placed additional responsibilities and restrictions on the honest, responsible gun owners".

All a gun registry will do is frustrate legal gun owners and swell the government bureaucracy while leaving criminals untouched.

I call on all Canadians who are against registration and the other unnecessary proposals to write to the justice minister at the House of Commons, Ottawa, Ontario, KlA 0A6, no stamp required.

[Petitions, December 7th, 1994]

Madam Speaker, I am also pleased to present a petition from the residents of Quesnel, British Columbia. The petition calls for Parliament to enact strong legislation against crimes of violence committed by youth.

I am happy to concur with both of these petitions.

[Petitions, December 7th, 1994]

Madam Speaker, I am pleased to rise in the House to present a petition from residents of British Columbia including many from my riding of Cariboo-Chilcotin.

The petition calls upon Parliament to refuse the justice minister's anti-firearms proposals and insist that he bring forth legislation to convict and punish criminals rather than persecute the innocent.

[Gun Control, December 1st, 1994]

Mr. Speaker, this is an international sporting event being eliminated for Canadian competitors which points to how poorly thought out this whole proposal really is.

I have not yet mentioned the violation of the rights to privacy, the confiscation of personal property without compensation; how poorly thought out this whole proposal really is.

As a start, will the minister make a commitment to remove the .32-calibre hand gun from this list of banned firearms?

[Gun Control, December 1st, 1994]

Mr. Speaker, the gun control proposals submitted by the justice

minister yesterday would ban the .32-calibre handgun like the one fired by Olympic gold medalist, Linda Thom. This is a calibre of handgun used in Olympic sport competitions.

Does the Minister of Justice realize that he has effectively eliminated Canadians from this Olympic sport? They will no longer be able to own and practice with this gun in preparation for world class events.

[Petitions, November 18th, 1994]

Mr. Speaker, the second and third petitions from residents of my constituency including Williams Lake, 100 Mile House, 108 Mile Ranch, Lone Butte, Forest Grove and Ninety Three Mile House call upon Parliament not to amend the human rights code, the Canadian Human Rights Act, or the Charter of Rights and Freedoms in any way which would tend to indicate societal approval of same sex relationships or of homosexuality, including amending the human rights code to include in the prohibited grounds for discrimination the undefined phrase sexual orientation.

These petitions come with my concurrence.

[Petitions, November 18th, 1994]

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to table three petitions. The first petition is from residents in my constituency including 100 Mile House, Lone Butte and 108 Mile Ranch.

My constituents call upon Parliament to act immediately to extend protection to the unborn child by amending the Criminal Code to extend the same protection enjoyed by born human beings to unborn human beings.