Sarkis Assadourian

[Committees of the House, March 20th, 2003]

Madam Speaker, the opposition complains that we are anti-American because of our stand to not participate in the war. In 1956, during the Suez crisis, the U.K., France and Israel attacked Egypt. The U.S. government was the only government opposed to the invasion. It even threatened to blow up British ships in the Mediterranean. Now they are best buddies.

Some people think by Canada staying out of the war now, it will create such animosity between us that the Americans and Canadians will be fighting forever as enemies. If the U.S. and England were able to unite the day after the war, why can we not support each other to build Iraq after what happens, and continue on to be good friends?

Could my hon. colleague comment on this relationship between the U.K. and the U.S. now?

[Citizenship and Immigration, February 28th, 2003]

Mr. Speaker, as members know, we cannot comment on specific cases in the House. However, I would like to inform the member that the information she has and the information the department has are different. We have to make sure the case proceeds appropriately so we can make a final judgment which will be appropriate for the government and for the individual concerned.

[The Budget, February 26th, 2003]

Mr. Speaker, I will be brief. My colleague across the way mentioned that municipalities are not happy, but the fact of the matter is that $14 billion has been given to the municipalities in the last nine years.

Some newspapers complained that GTA members are not effective. Also, we have people complaining on this side that GTA members are very effective in the Toronto area. I wonder if the hon. member can comment on these two conflicting points of view, because some people say we are very effective and the opposition says we are not very effective.

[Citizenship and Immigration, February 21st, 2003]

Mr. Speaker, I will take this question under advisement and will get back to the member as soon as I can. However, we have an agreement with the United States, which we are ready to implement, but the U.S. asked us to delay it until mid-June.

[Human Resources Development, February 21st, 2003]

Mr. Speaker, the department, along with HRDC, will receive $41.4 million over the next two years. This money will be invested in the following projects: $6.6 million over two years to launch a fast track system which would provide skilled workers with permanent job offers in Canada; $3.8 million to attract social workers across communities in Canada; $8 million to facilitate the study of processing permits for foreign students; and $10 million to deliver labour market language training for new workers.

[Canada Elections Act, February 17th, 2003]

Mr. Speaker, in the name of transparency and openness I would like to ask the hon. member if, first, he is prepared to table in the House the donor list of the National Citizens' Coalition; second, is he prepared to tell us if this organization ever received money from non-Canadian sources; and third, could he comment about the provincial governments of Quebec and Manitoba, where they have similar laws regarding elections financing?

[Ararat, February 14th, 2003]

Mr. Speaker, Ararat director Atom Egoyan's film that deals with the question of the recognition of the Armenian genocide and the effects of the continued denial on the ancestors of the victims of the first genocide of the 20th century has taken five of its nine Genie Award nominations, including best picture at the 23rd annual Genies last night.

Arsinee Khanjian was named best actress for her role in

Ararat. Ararat's other Genies were for best supporting actor, Elias Koteas; musical score, Mychael Danna; and costume design, Beth Pasternak.

The success of the film is a tribute to the talents of both Atom and Arsinee and reflects the overwhelming support Ararat has gained from fans of Canadian films around the world.

Last May from Cannes Atom Egoyan sent me a note saying, “You're my hero”. We can all say, “Atom, you're a Canadian hero now”.

I know my fellow members of Parliament join me in extending congratulations to the cast and crew of Ararat for a great Canadian success story.

[Supply, February 13th, 2003]

Mr. Speaker, the questioner earlier made a very cheap political statement by saying that we do not know the answers. There is a purpose for hearings. As far as I know, we send committees across the country to hear the people. If we are going to tell them what we want, what is the purpose of hearings?

It is the same thing here. We are having a hearing. We are having a discussion here. If we were going to tell everybody that this is what we want, then we would not have a discussion, we would have a bill. The idea is that there is no bill here. Nothing is being introduced. We are just having a discussion.

If he does not appreciate the fact that we are having a discussion, then he should say so.

[Supply, February 13th, 2003]

Mr. Speaker, as I said earlier, maybe passports, driver's licences, birth certificates and a person's landing papers can be forged, but in this case the ID is based on a person's iris and fingerprint. They cannot be forged. The member's fingerprint and iris belong only to him. Nobody can duplicate them. They are his personally as a human being.

[Supply, February 13th, 2003]

Mr. Speaker, if the NDP does not believe that poll, it could conduct its own poll and pay for it from its own money. It would find out that is the case.

There is no need for us to mislead the public. When we have a discussion, we like to give all the information we have to members of Parliament so we can have an informed, intelligent debate. There is no intent on anybody's part to mislead anybody or to get different information.