Jim Hart

[Petitions, November 24th, 1997]

Mr. Speaker, it is an honour and a privilege to rise pursuant to Standing Order 36 to present a petition from constituents of my riding of Okanagan—Coquihalla.

It contains over 1,500 signatures of people concerned that the Codex committee on nutrition and foods for dietary use has proposed legislation that will lead to drastic changes in legislation and that would have significant and very negative effects on the health and well-being of thousands of Canadians, especially the elderly and the chronically ill.

The petitioners request that parliament oppose the regulation of dietary supplements.

[Canada Post, November 21st, 1997]

Mr. Speaker, the minister continues to defend a system that history shows has failed. Four strikes in ten years. There have been seven months of failed negotiations.

Meanwhile, small and medium size businesses are losing millions of dollars during their busiest season, not to mention the collateral damage of lay-offs and lost jobs.

I will ask the minister again, when will the government come to its senses and order back to work legislation?

[Canada Post, November 21st, 1997]

Mr. Speaker, small and medium size businesses are the engine of this economy. For weeks the effects of a mail strike have been looming over their heads. Now we are into the third day of a full-blown strike costing the economy hundreds of millions of dollars a day.

How many more millions of dollars will small businesses have to lose before this government legislates the post office back to work?

[Airbus, November 17th, 1997]

Mr. Speaker, I am sure the minister will be happy to table those documents in the House.

Again, let us get this straight. The government has spent about a million dollars on Brian Mulroney's legal costs. There is another $2 million for the lawsuit. Now there has been another $35 million lawsuit launched by Karlheinz Schreibner.

How much more are Canadian taxpayers going to have to pay for this Liberal cover-up?

[Airbus, November 17th, 1997]

Mr. Speaker, let us get this straight. When it comes to Airbus Canadians are suppose to believe from the government that Brian Mulroney was lying and that a lowly sergeant in the RCMP is responsible for this entire Airbus fiasco.

Will the government please clarify its position once again on this matter? Is it a lowly sergeant who is responsible or is this government responsible for the Airbus fiasco?

[Justice, November 7th, 1997]

Mr. Speaker, yesterday the Minister of Justice stated that the House of Commons is not the place to discuss issues such as euthanasia and mercy killings.

Canadians were pretty shocked by that comment. If this is not the place to debate issues such as euthanasia and mercy killing, then where is the place to discuss such issues?

[Canadian Armed Forces, November 6th, 1997]

Mr. Speaker, it is fun to get up to do a few rounds with the latest Minister of National Defence. What he is saying is 100% pure balderdash. The minister knows that some of the most infamous senior brass in the military not only qualified for but pocketed that performance bonus, people like Murray, Boyle, Labbé, all cited in the Somalia commission report for lacking leadership capabilities.

How can the minister stand in this House in front of Canadians and justify performance bonuses for these people?

[Canadian Armed Forces, November 6th, 1997]

Mr. Speaker, recently we stood in this House and honoured the men and women of the junior ranks in the Canadian Armed Forces for their outstanding performance during the Manitoba flood. They did not get a pay raise. In contrast, Canadians are shocked to learn today that tainted colonels and generals in the Canadian Armed Forces have received so-called performance bonuses.

Can the minister explain how people the likes of Vanier, Roy, Boyle, Murray and Labbé have received performance bonuses while our troops have received nothing?

[Justice, November 3rd, 1997]

Mr. Speaker, I rise on behalf of the constituents of Okanagan—Coquihalla. They are fuming at the recent sentence of convicted rapist Donald Poslowski of Princeton, B.C.

Poslowski was convicted of the brutal rape and strangulation of a 9 year old girl. The sentence? Six years with the possibility of parole in just two.

The judge had the opportunity to give him a life sentence and instead determined that six years would be sufficient. Who is worse, the rapist who commits the crime or the judge who condones it?

I applaud the community of Princeton which is fighting to appeal this absurd sentence.

Canadians want a criminal justice system that offers true justice for victims in sentencing, a system that acts as a deterrent to potential violent offenders, a system that does not allow violent offenders the opportunity for early parole.

Your honour, on the count of failing to provide safe playgrounds, homes and streets, we find this Liberal government guilty.

[Taxation, October 31st, 1997]

Mr. Speaker, this Hallowe'en the mood on Parliament Hill is eerie, to say the least. The cabinet is huddled around the Ouija board trying to find a friendly spirit who will agree with the new gas tax. It is frightening.

This government is not at all shy about taxes. It figures if there is a problem it will just conjure up a potion and place a tax spell on Canadians.

That is the Liberals' answer to things that go bang in the night—tax law-abiding Canadians like duck hunters. The criminals are howling at the full moon over this tax. The Prime Minister is even taking credit for the Conservatives' hated GST. He says that the GST is a wonderful tax. He brought the hated tax back to life and gave it personality, like Frankenstein. The next trick is no treat for small businesses whose life's blood will be drained with the new CPP tax hike.

This Hallowe'en Canadians will not rest in peace while plagued by the finance minister, who from this day forward will be known as Count Taxula.