Dawn Black

[Questions Passed as Orders for Returns, March 12th, 2009]

With respect to Canada's mission in Afghanistan and the transfer of detainees by the Canadian Forces (CF): (a) what is the total number of detainees transferred by the CF to other entities since the beginning of Canada’s mission in Afghanistan, (i) on an annual basis, (ii) over the total length of the mission; (b) of the number in (a), what is the breakdown by (i) citizenship, (ii) sex, (iii) age; (c) to which entities have the detainees been transferred; (d) to which locations have the detainees been transferred; (e) what is the total number of detainees currently held by the CF; (f) of the number in (e), what is the breakdown by (i) citizenship, (ii) sex, (iii) age; (g) what is the total number of reports and allegations of abuse of prisoners captured by the CF filed by (i) the CF, (ii) Corrections Canada, (iii) RCMP since February 1, 2008; and (h) what are the titles of each report on Afghan detainees produced by Canadian officials and their publication date?

[Questions on the Order Paper, March 12th, 2009]

With regards to the use of Claymore munitions by the Canadian Forces (CF) in Afghanistan: (a) does the CF have special doctrine for the use of the Claymore in Afghanistan; (b) does the CF chain of command give instructions with regard to the use of the Claymore and obligations under the Ottawa Protocol; (c) is the chain of command aware of uses of the Claymore that have not followed standard procedures in Afghanistan; (d) is the Minister of National Defence aware of any use of the Claymore that violated the Ottawa Protocol; and (e) is the Minister or chain of command aware of any use of the Claymore in which the intended target of the weapon was responsible for its detonation?

[Petitions, March 11th, 2009]

Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to present a petition today signed by thousands of residents of New Westminster--Coquitlam and all over British Columbia.

The petition has been endorsed by a number of prominent Canadians, including Stephen Lewis, Margaret Atwood, Ted Harrison, Rev. Joseph Leclair, Stephen Owen, Patsy George, Dr. Julio Montaner and many others.

The petitioners are calling for urgent action to address the HIV-AIDS crisis in sub-Saharan Africa. Specifically, they urge the government to meet our commitment to fund foreign aid at 0.7% of GDP, to increase Canadian contributions to the global fund and to make the legislative changes necessary to facilitate the flow of low cost generic drugs to developing countries.

This petition was put together by an organization called the Gogos. I am a member of the Gogos and I heartily endorse their petition that I am presenting in the House today.

[Prevention of Torture Act, March 5th, 2009]

moved for leave to introduce Bill C-334, An Act prohibiting the commission, abetting or exploitation of torture by Canadian officials and ensuring freedom from torture for all Canadians at home and abroad and making consequential amendments to other Acts.

Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to reintroduce this important piece of legislation which unfortunately, although it came very close, did not make it to a vote in the last Parliament before the election was called.

I appreciate the help and support of the B.C. Civil Liberties Association which gave me a great deal of help in drafting the bill.

The bill is a comprehensive attempt to address the issue of torture. It makes it a criminal offence to use information known to be obtained using torture. It stops any officials from Canada from transferring prisoners into the hands of those who are suspected or known to use torture. It creates a government watch list of countries that are known to engage in torture. It prevents the use of national security provisions as a measure to withhold information about torture, which happened for months during the Afghan detainees scandal last year.

I urge all members of the House to join together to reject torture in all its forms and to support this very important bill.

(Motions deemed adopted, bill read the first time and printed)

[Points of Order, February 25th, 2009]

Mr. Speaker, in question period today, both the member of Parliament for Vancouver South and the member of Parliament for Vancouver Centre made factual errors in their questions about the gang activity that has unfortunately been taking place in the Vancouver region.

It is horrible enough without gross exaggeration. To set the record straight, in the last four weeks there have been 18 shootings and 8 deaths, not 18 deaths.

[Business of Supply, February 24th, 2009]

Mr. Speaker, my colleague across the way is from British Columbia, as I am. I know that he will be well aware of many of the scams and frauds that have been perpetrated on the people of British Columbia and across the country out of the Vancouver stock exchange.

I want to ask the member about improvements to the regulatory system. It is not enough, in my view, just to have prescriptive rules when the industry continues to circumvent those rules and continues to develop new products that can be changed faster than any legislative body can change the rules. I believe what we need is not just regulations but effective protection for the investors. We need whistleblower protection for employees in the industry who want to come forward and report unethical practices by some companies and know that they will not suffer retribution. Finally, what we really need is real punishment, some effective methods put in place to ensure that the unethical companies and people in the financial industry, some of whom are unethical, receive punishment for the frauds they perpetrate on the Canadian people.

I ask the hon. member for West Vancouver—Sunshine Coast—Sea to Sky Country to respond to those specific issues that I raised.

[Public Safety, February 23rd, 2009]

Mr. Speaker, as the mother of two police officers in Vancouver, I find the minister's answers rather insulting and very disappointing.

Our region has the lowest police to population ratio of any metro area in the country. People in B.C. do not want political games; they want effective action to combat criminal gangs. We need more police officers, stronger witness protection, investments for crime prevention that will keep our kids away from gangs. We must make drive-by shootings explicitly an indictable offence.

When will the government finally bring forward a comprehensive strategy—

[National Defence, February 12th, 2009]

Mr. Speaker, this runaway contract is just the latest example of how defence procurement has become synonymous with incompetence under the government.

How can the government claim to be accountable when it will not even tell us which rules, if any, it follows when it comes to these multi-million dollar contracts? If the minister does have faith in the procurement process, why will he not release the full report? If he still will not do that, will he at least tell this House how a $100 million contract ended up costing Canadian taxpayers $300 million?

[National Defence, February 12th, 2009]

Mr. Speaker, a scathing report has just been released about the secret procurement empire at the Department of National Defence. Among other things, the report reveals a communications system that was supposed to cost $100 million ended up costing nearly $300 million.

Why is this report so heavily censored? Will the minister allow the full report to be released today so Canadians can see why this contract tripled in cost?

[Legal Aid, February 12th, 2009]

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to express my concern over cutbacks to legal aid that are adversely affecting people in my communities, particularly women, children, and the most vulnerable.

Legal Services Society of B.C. has announced it will be closing its family law clinic and firing 38 staff as a result of a funding shortfall. This will further weaken a legal aid system already in crisis after it was cut back by 40% by the provincial Liberal government in 2002.

This became a national embarrassment last November when the UN Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women released a report that highlighted the lack of government support for legal aid, particularly in B.C., which was severely impacting the ability of those living in poverty to access legal services. The UN report also condemned the cancellation by this Conservative government of the court challenges program.

While Canada was once a global leader in social justice and equality, the actions of Liberals and Conservatives, both provincially and federally, have severely tarnished--