Herb Gray

[Business Development Bank of Canada, December 5th, 2001]

Mr. Speaker, the suspicion and the clouds are obviously only in the mind of my hon. friend.

The Prime Minister's Office, the Prime Minister and the Business Development Bank of Canada say this document is a forgery. This document was in the files of the Business Development Bank of Canada. When the document came to light it was turned over to the mounted police, who are investigating.

My hon. friend ought to get a fan to blow the cloud of fog away. He is the one who is in a daze, not the Prime Minister.

[Terrorism, December 3rd, 2001]

Mr. Speaker, Attorney General Ashcroft said publicly in Detroit this morning that he is not interested in militarizing the border. He wants to have the national guard continue what it has been doing since September 11 and that is help their overstressed immigration and customs inspectors move people and goods quickly across the border. The national guard is there while they recruit additional inspectors and train them. It is not because of a lack of confidence in Canada, but her question indicates why Canadians have a lack of confidence in her and her colleagues.

[Terrorism, December 3rd, 2001]

Mr. Speaker, the hon. member is really out to lunch on this one. If I may quote the attorney general of the United States, he said, speaking of the border between Canada and the United States “It's the longest peaceful wonderfully co-operative border”.

That is a real endorsement of the status of our relationship and the hon. member ought to catch up with things before she embarrasses herself further.

[Health, December 3rd, 2001]

Mr. Speaker, in the same vein I think the first thing to do is to have the hon. member have an investigation into what happened at her own recent convention in that area. It would be very interesting for Canadians to find out why the party continues to decline in spite of the convention.

[Border Agreements, December 3rd, 2001]

Mr. Speaker, the current discussions are between the United States and Canada, and they deal with our shared border.

I wonder why the hon. member wants Mexico to be involved in these talks. These discussions do not deal with the border between Mexico and the United States, but with the border between Canada and the United States. It is up to these two countries to sign the necessary agreements.

[Border Agreement, December 3rd, 2001]

Mr. Speaker, people like me and my constituents, who know the border well, see the national guard not as an impediment to trade but rather as an aid to it, because there is a shortage of U.S. customs and immigration inspectors.

Until this shortage is remedied, the national guard is helping its American colleagues by allowing international trade to cross our border easily.

[Terrorism, December 3rd, 2001]

Mr. Speaker, Canada abstained because it objected to the imbalance in the text of the resolution. There was no reference in the text to Israeli civilian casualties. This is a serious omission, particularly in light of the recent suicide bombings.

Canada joined the United Kingdom, Germany, the Netherlands, Denmark, Australia and Norway among others, in abstaining on this resolution. This is an important change of position and it sends a strong signal to those who are perpetrating terrorist acts.

[Terrorism, December 3rd, 2001]

Mr. Speaker, the hon. member is wrong. Canada is not on the fence. It is condemning unequivocally the terrorist acts against Israeli civilians. I do not see why the hon. member is not supporting us on this, instead of trying to suggest that we are doing something otherwise.

The message of the Prime Minister's words certainly can be taken as directed against the perpetrators of these terrorist acts and anyone connected with them.

[Terrorism, December 3rd, 2001]

Mr. Speaker, I appreciate the hon. member's support of government policy because on December 2 the Prime Minister responded with anger to the terrorist attacks perpetrated in Jerusalem and Haifa with these words:

All Canadians are outraged at this monstrous taking of innocent life. We reject absolutely any suggestion that such abhorrent action can ever be justified in any way. Violence and fear are never the tools of justice, they are the weapons of blinkered extremists—who tolerate only their point of view and accept no civilized restraint in seeking its imposition.

I am glad to hear that, at least in principle, the Leader of the Opposition is agreeing with these strong words.

[Terrorism, December 3rd, 2001]

Mr. Speaker, the hon. member is wrong in his allegations.

The United States stationed the national guard to help their own customs and immigration inspectors in order to ensure efficiency at the border.

The action taken by the United States is in no way due to a lack of confidence in our Canadian system. It is just the opposite.