Herb Gray

[Terrorism, December 3rd, 2001]

Mr. Speaker, as usual the Leader of the Opposition has the matter totally wrong. I have just come from meetings with Attorney General Ashcroft in Detroit. He confirms that the Americans are not militarizing their border. They are continuing to do as they have done since September 11. They have national guard people working with their existing immigration and customs inspectors to help make up for the fact that they do not have enough in those services. They will be hiring and training more.

In the meantime, they are using the national guard people to facilitate trade across the border. This is a matter of confidence in Canada and its relationship with the United States, not the opposite. The hon. member is wrong, wrong, wrong.

[Bill C-42, November 30th, 2001]

Mr. Speaker, my hon. friend had better take his questions back to the drawing board. I have been advised that there is authority for judicial review under provisions outside the proposed bill and that it does not have to be specifically mentioned in the bill.

My hon. friend's accusation is totally wrong. If he has any decency, he will withdraw it.

[Terrorism, November 30th, 2001]

Mr. Speaker, the hon. friend's indignation is not based on the facts. The government did not accept him as a refugee and that is the fact. We acted the same as the other countries.

The hon. member ought to recognize that Canada is acting vigorously in support of the security of its people, and the hon. member has no business running down our agencies in a totally unjustified manner.

[Terrorism, November 30th, 2001]

Mr. Speaker, the government is not tolerating terrorists. The Canadian government arrested this individual months before there was a request by the Americans for his extradition. We are acting vigorously to protect the interests of Canadians.

I do not know why the hon. member is always running down his country and its security agencies. This is totally unjustified and unwarranted, and he should be embarrassed by this.

[Immigration, November 29th, 2001]

Mr. Speaker, nothing the minister of immigration says or does could match the flip-flops in the hon. member's question. The measure with respect to Bill C-11 and Bill C-42 was not to fix Bill C-42. It was to advance the bringing into application some of the most effective and meaningful parts of Bill C-42.

If the hon. member were serious about protecting the security of Canadians and their rights, he would be supporting the bill instead of coming up with his ridiculous question.

[Airline Industry, November 29th, 2001]

Mr. Speaker, the hon. member should not try to mislead the people of Saskatchewan or Canada through television from the House.

Questions cannot be placed to ministers in their capacity as regional ministers. I can assure the people of Saskatchewan and all Canadians that the Minister of Natural Resources is very actively involved in ensuring competitive services for the people of his province and all of Canada. He is doing a great job. He deserves our applause.

[Immigration, November 29th, 2001]

Mr. Speaker, the hon. member will get his answer by looking at himself in the mirror. He is the one who tried to slow down Bill C-11 and we are the ones who are speeding it up by putting the key clauses in Bill C-42. He has things totally backwards. No wonder he is hidden in the corner down there.

[Immigration, November 29th, 2001]

Mr. Speaker, speaking of turnarounds, the hon. member, when he was critic for I do not know which party, tabled a motion about Bill C-11 at committee stage to restore certain appeal rights to the appeal division for serious criminals and threats to Canadian security that Bill C-11 had removed to allow for quicker removals.

The hon. member should be allowed to get up again, apologize for this and explain the inconsistent position.

[Immigration, November 29th, 2001]

Mr. Speaker, the hon. member is abusing the privileges of the House of Commons by asserting that there is a flood of undocumented refugees who are not being dealt with by the authorities.

These people, to the extent that they do come in, and I do not know that we could say that it is a flood, are being dealt with by the authorities under the law.

If my hon. friend says that he has evidence that they are connected to the Taliban and al-Qaeda, I say that he should put it on the floor of the House of Commons right now and not try to frighten people for narrow political purposes.

[Public Safety Act, November 29th, 2001]

Mr. Speaker, the bill is subject to the charter of rights and freedoms and the Canadian constitution. I understand that this measure, if it becomes law and goes into effect, could be subject to judicial review. Very important at this stage is that this will be studied carefully in committee and if valid points are made, the government has already proven over and over again it is willing to take them into consideration.