Dawn Black

[Violence Against Women, December 6th, 2006]

Mr. Speaker, today is the 17th anniversary of the horrible massacre at the École Polytechnique in Montreal.

Parliament has declared this a day to honour the 14 young women who were killed and who will never again meet with friends, never laugh and never cry, young women who dreamed their dreams, shared their hopes and aspirations and worked toward achieving their goals, young women who loved and were loved. They were killed simply because they were women.

In every region of Canada, women and men are gathering to remember all victims of violence against women, to share their grief and to gain strength from one another, and they are taking action. They are resolving to change our society to ensure that women and girls walk safely in our streets, that we live securely in our homes and that we may participate fully in society as equal partners. Women and men working together will bring positive change to our society.

We remember. We do remember. Who among us could ever forget?

[Softwood Lumber Products Export Charge Act, 2006, December 5th, 2006]

Mr. Speaker, I want to congratulate my colleague from Burnaby—New Westminster on the effort that he has put forward to try to protect the workers in this industry, the communities that are affected and the industry itself. He has been undaunting in the work he has done.

I want to ask him specifically how this deal will increase raw log exports. All British Columbians are very concerned about this and I would like him to expand upon that part of the bill.

[Softwood Lumber Products Export Charge Act, 2006, December 5th, 2006]

He can't even walk in his riding.

[Softwood Lumber Products Export Charge Act, 2006, December 5th, 2006]

Mr. Speaker, I listened to the minister very carefully today on his presentation at third reading on the softwood deal. It took me back a few years to a previous Conservative government that negotiated a free trade deal with the U.S. The government at that time told Canadians that the free trade deal would end all of these kinds of disputes with the U.S. on trade. Sadly, that certainly has not been the case, as has been pointed out with this softwood sellout to the U.S.

My question for the minister is specifically about how this deal he has negotiated with the Americans will impact on other trade sectors and other Canadian industrial sectors that trade with the U.S. What now is to prevent any American industry attacking Canadian trade in the same way that the lumber industry has in the U.S.?

What does that say about the trade deals we have negotiated and the dispute mechanisms that are in place, where we actually have won at every level? Yet we have negated any kind of faith in the trade deals we have signed with the U.S. How does the minister respond to that in terms of other industrial sectors and their vulnerability now to this kind of tactic from Americans?

[Petitions, December 5th, 2006]

Mr. Speaker, the second petition asks Parliament to establish peace tax legislation and something that is called the conscientious objection act which recognizes the rights of conscientious objectors not to pay for the military portion of their taxes.

[Petitions, December 5th, 2006]

Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to present a petition in the House of Commons today that calls upon Parliament to protect our children from sexual predators. The petitioners talk about the ages of 14 to 15 being very vulnerable to sexual exploitation and ask the House of Commons to raise the age of consent from the age of 14 to the age of 16 years. It is signed by many people in British Columbia.

[Child Poverty, November 24th, 2006]

Mr. Speaker, 17 years ago today Ed Broadbent's motion to eliminate child poverty by the year 2000 was passed unanimously. I was honoured to stand in this House with my colleagues in support of that goal.

I stand here today in shame of the fact that child poverty in Canada is worse than it was 17 years ago. There are 1.2 million children, one out of every six in Canada, living in poverty.

We have heard many times in this House about the strong links between child poverty and poor health, slower growth and learning, and fewer options later in life. We know that income is a powerful predictor of outcomes.

I am the proud grandmother of a wonderful little girl who was born on Wednesday. I beg the government and this House to ensure that on her 17th birthday we do not have to stand again in this House to deplore the state of child poverty in our country. It is time for all of us to act now, together, and eliminate child poverty for good.

[Status of Women, November 22nd, 2006]

Mr. Speaker, 25 years ago, Canada ratified the Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination against Women. We should be celebrating but we cannot because the Conservative government clearly does not support women's equality.

It has cut the Status of Women's budget by 40%. It has removed the word “equality” from its mandate. It has abolished the court challenges program. Funding rules for women's groups no longer promote equality. Women in my community and across Canada face severe repercussions because of the government's actions.

Canada had a reputation for upholding women's rights. We should forge a path forward, not march back in time.

The Prime Minister said that he would respect women's rights but, clearly, this was an empty promise.

I urge the Conservative government to honour the principles of equality and fairness that all Canadians value.

[Softwood Lumber Products Export Charge Act, 2006, November 21st, 2006]

Mr. Speaker, my colleague, the hon. member for Hamilton Mountain, raises a very serious concern. The softwood sellout has put the whole dispute mechanism in the NAFTA agreement into question.

Surely, when the Americans can agree to the softwood deal and the Conservatives can capitulate to the tactics that they have shown on this, when every international softwood panel has found in favour of Canada and yet we sell out to the American interests on this, it puts into question each and every trade agreement that we have under NAFTA. It certainly destroys the myth that there was a dispute mechanism through NAFTA.

[Softwood Lumber Products Export Charge Act, 2006, November 21st, 2006]

Mr. Speaker, that is one of the inconsistencies we have seen from the official opposition since the beginning of the softwood sellout.

I understand that my colleague, the member for Burnaby—New Westminster, pushed for cross-country hearings and the opposition parties agreed with the government party and said no to any travelling by the committee to hear from the workers, who are so negatively affected in these communities.

Then the question was asked as to whether the affected workers and small businesses could come to Ottawa so the committee could hear their testimony. The answer from the official opposition was no. It did not want to hear from the very people who were most seriously impacted by this legislation.

It is a dilemma to understand how members of the official opposition could say that they are opposed to this legislation when they were not willing to hear from the very people who are most adversely impacted by it.