Crucial Fact

  • Her favourite word was women.

Last in Parliament April 1997, as Liberal MP for Halifax (Nova Scotia)

Lost her last election, in 1997, with 22% of the vote.

Statements in the House

Immigration February 21st, 1994

Mr. Speaker, we can say the immigration minister is doing a superb job under due process of law.

This country has long been an open one and one that is delighted to receive immigrants and refugees from those countries not as fortunate as Canada and this process will continue.

There are laws in place and occasionally those laws are broken. When they are broken there is due process to ensure that offenders are punished to the fullest extent of the law. If this turns out to be the situation in the present case, then that will be the end result.

Immigration February 21st, 1994

Mr. Speaker, I thank the hon. member for his question and tell him that as we speak departmental officials are investigating these allegations.

There are provisions in the Immigration Act to remove persons who are senior officials of a government engaged in gross human rights violations. Should it be confirmed that this subject was a senior official of the Barre government, the Minister of Citizenship and Immigration will ensure, as he has done in the past, that removal action is taken.

Defence Policy February 17th, 1994

Madam Speaker, I must say I am truly delighted to see the hon. member's conversion on the road to Damascus because as he has kindly recalled my history on the opposition benches as an activist for women's rights, I too recall his original incarnation in this House as a member of a government, indeed as a member of a government that had full access to the Abella report which was tabled in this House in 1984 when the hon. member was part and parcel of that government.

I am sure that his desire for quick action has come since his, shall we say, change in circumstance. I will, however, say that I am a little disappointed at the hon. member's wish to debunk a committee that has not yet been struck. Certainly there is a committee for national defence, a standing committee of this House, and it has a particular mandate.

The joint committee that is being talked about in this resolution has a specific mandate that was promised, I might add, in the red book. We on this side of the House will always keep our promises. That is a promise we made. It is a promise we are going to keep.

What I want to see done and what I know will be done by this committee is that the systemic changes necessary to prevent further discrimination within the armed forces will be dealt with by this joint committee as part and parcel of its long-term mandate. To say that this work can be left to the committee on national defence is to be unrealistic. I know the hon. member would never be so with regard to the duties of the standing committee here in this House.

For example, the standing committee on defence will have to deal with estimates and with various and sundry other matters as they come up in the daily business relating to the minister of defence and his responsibilities.

This joint committee is to do a very special job within a very special period of time. As I said before, it is one that is absolutely necessary to the health and future of the Department of National Defence.

With regard to the need for action, I want to make perfectly clear that in my remarks I was certainly not calling for any more studies, no more studies. We know what the problems are. We know where they are. We know how they exist and we also know how to fix them.

What remains to be done now is for this committee to take as its mandate, which I am quite sure it will, this problem and work it in with the review and its recommendations for changes within the armed forces that the Department of National Defence will carry forward into the next century.

Defence Policy February 17th, 1994

Yes, indeed, he was the admiral of the day.

On a more serious note, Halifax has been a focal point of the Canadian navy as long as there has been a Canadian navy. Haligonians, though perhaps not always so, are now proud and happy to be home to the Royal Canadian Navy.

We have had some differences at some times over our history, as my colleague from Newfoundland would agree, but those differences have been settled for a long time. As I said, the location of DND in the city of Halifax and its environs is of tremendous importance to the healthy economy of Halifax, to the healthy economy of Nova Scotia and to the healthy economy of Atlantic Canada. However, it is also tremendously important to the historical and cultural life of our city.

We are and we define ourselves by that port. We know that the military presence there is of tremendous significance. We know also that not just the ships and their personnel but the work done at the naval dockyard is of tremendous importance to the economy of our city.

We are, and people are always surprised when I say this, essentially a city without an industry. We are the regional centre of the federal government and the provincial capital of Nova Scotia. We have five universities-six, excuse me. My hon. colleague from Halifax West would remind me that within the environs of our two ridings we have six universities. We also have that most important element to our economic health, the Department of National Defence.

Consequently, as the review of the armed forces and of national defence is taking place it is of supreme importance to the people of Halifax that the continued health and survival and indeed the continued thriving of DND be reiterated in this House. It is a matter of importance for all the people of Canada but most particularly for the people of Nova Scotia.

There are several things I want to talk about with regard to the areas I hope will be covered in a review. For the majority of the five years I have had the good fortune to be here in this House I had the responsibility to speak on behalf of women. Although I have different responsibilities today, one never loses the feeling for work one has done for a long time. As a woman and as a member of Parliament there are certain messages that every one of us knows we must carry as women represent 52 per cent of the population in this country.

Last year under a different government in this House a report was tabled by the then Minister of National Defence, the then member for Vancouver Centre, on elements within the Department of National Defence and activities relating to sexual harassment and gender bias. At the time I and other members of

my party spoke out very strongly on the need for reforms within the Department of National Defence.

I want to state at the beginning of my remarks that when I talk about problems of gender equality, sexual harassment, and discrimination on the basis of gender, by no means do I consider the Department of National Defence to be the only offender or the worst offender.

We live in a society that sadly in 1994 is still basically sexist. We live in a society where women are still generally discriminated against. They deal with a lack of recognition in the value of the work they do. They deal with harassment and glass ceilings which prevent their promotion and prevent their attaining the goals many of them richly deserve.

Consequently it is incumbent upon all of us in this House, men and women alike, to remember when we deal with any matters of national policy that questions relating to fairness and equality in gender must always be on the table.

As the member for Halifax, as all members do, I have office hours every Friday in my riding and when the House is not sitting, throughout the week. Over the past five years I have had a number of young women come to see me. Many of them were DND personnel, either in the services or civilian workers. Many others have come to see me from other federal and provincial government offices and whatever.

However, because this review is taking place I want to make a very special plea. I know that special plea will not go unheard by the minister, his parliamentary secretary, the members of cabinet or indeed by the Prime Minister because I know this is a government of fairness and a government that intends to establish fairness. I want and hope that in this review the report that was tabled last year on gender inequality and sexual harassment within the Department of National Defence will be looked at. I hope that the proper and appropriate systems will be put in place.

Again as the member for Halifax, when these young women would come to see me there was a common thread with regard to the problems particularly of sexual harassment. A number of people who have not dealt with the problem or have not been faced with this particular form of discrimination sometimes find it hard to believe. It has always been my experience in dealing with good men and true-and I find that the vast majority of gentlemen in this Chamber can be classed as good men and true-that there are two problems. I am trying to explain the problems of sexual harassment.

One problem is the vast majority of men that women deal with would never even consider activity of this nature so they cannot believe it actually happens. The other is that for a small number they do not want the light of day shone on it and have themselves found out. Therefore, again they do not want to hear about it. However, I think the former is most generally the case.

Let me assure those who think this kind of activity is unusual or the exception that it is not. It is very difficult for women who are victimized in this way to come forward. All the standard reactions of women are not to rock the boat, not to disturb the status quo, not to anger their superiors. That is because for many of them, the jobs they hold are absolutely crucial to their families, to their standard of living and to maintaining their place in life. Frequently when these matters take place they think: "I imagined it," or worse: "I did something to engender this response".

That is usually not the case. As a matter of fact, empirical research in this area is that it almost never is the case. Along with that equally unacceptable practice, that of racism, it stems from the unconscionable behaviour of the perpetrator and not from the behaviour of the victim.

Consequently I make this plea today. In the review and in the decisions as to where the Department of National Defence is going, as to where we are going as a country on defence policy, I will do something I rarely do in this House and that is to quote an American source.

My American source is one of the first great feminists of North America, Abigail Adams, the wife of the second president of the United States, John Adams. She was the mother of, I think it was the fourth president of the United States, John Quincy Adams. When her husband with his colleagues was crafting the declaration of independence and later the constitution of the United States, she said: "Remember the ladies".

Well, I would paraphrase it for the 1990s. I would say to my colleagues and to those people who will be doing the review in the Department of National Defence, that policies relating to gender equality must be part and parcel of the new armed forces, of the new Department of National Defence.

Women in this country have earned the right and deserve to be full partners in all our endeavours. Women can serve in the armed forces and serve with distinction as they have done over many, many years. However they must be able to enter that milieu as they must be able to enter any milieu, particularly one that is governed by the public policy of this country, with the knowledge that they will not be victimized, that they will not be treated as second class citizens, and that if anyone attempts that kind of behaviour proper systems will be in place to answer and deal with those complaints.

The difficulty we have had with both sexism and racism, not just in this country but in democratic societies generally, is that we have tended to deal with them as individual cases before well-meaning and well-acting human rights commissions. An individual goes to the system with a complaint based on a breach of human rights law. That individual might get redress in one

particular case, but the system that allowed the offence to occur in the first place has not changed. It has not removed the ability for such acts to occur. That is what we must do right through our government, right through our public policy.

The fact is that this review of the Department of National Defence is a golden opportunity. It is an opportunity that must not be missed, that can go forward again-and this is something we are all concerned about in this week before the budget is about to come down-without costing a whole lot of money.

It is my belief that systemic discrimination can be eradicated from federal government agencies generally without costing a whole lot of money. That is not the case for some of the other things that I am very keen on, such as pay equity and a few other things. Those are going to cost money and the piper will have to be paid and he will have to be paid soon as well.

The question of systemic discrimination and the question of setting up within our current institutions, defence and otherwise in this country, can be done and has been shown that it can be done by a variety of reports under human rights commissions, under royal commissions. I refer, for example, to the Abella report on employment equity which shows certain ways that systemic discrimination can be dealt with.

I can remember some 12 years ago when you, Madam Speaker, and I were both present at a meeting here in this building sponsored by what was then known as Employment and Immigration Canada during which we discovered that CIDA Canada marketed a program to other countries across the world that showed them how to eradicate systemic discrimination from private sector companies and government offices at very low cost.

We have the program. It is available. I believe that we can implement it within our own public service, within our own Department of National Defence.

While we permit the evils of racism and sexism, while we permit discrimination in any form in this, one of the most pluralistic and multicultural societies on earth, we have no right to stand proudly as Canadians and claim it as we know it can be and should be the greatest nation on earth.

We tend to be rather quiet as Canadians, but we are also accused from time to time of being rather smug because we are so very fortunate. In spite of the ills that beset us in times of economic downturn, in spite of the difficulties and in spite of the world's worst weather, at least here in Ottawa, we do not deny the fact that we are among the luckiest people in the world.

Until we solve the problems that beset 52 per cent of the population, until we do this, we as Canadians carry a burden that we should not pass on to our children.

Defence Policy February 17th, 1994

Madam Speaker, I cannot tell you what a delight it is for me to rise today. It is the first opportunity that I have had to speak in this House when you are in the chair.

I want to make special note. My congratulations to you on your appointment as the deputy chair of committees of the whole. I know that the whole House benefits from your wise counsel in chairing us here today and in the future. My deepest and warmest congratulations to you.

It gives me pleasure as well to rise to speak in this debate and to talk for a few minutes about an issue that is of great concern to me and to my constituents. For over five years now it has been my very great honour to represent the people of the city of Halifax.

Halifax has many names. It is known as the city of trees. It is known as the city with more green spots than any other city in North America but primarily and perhaps most widely it is known as, thanks to Hugh MacLennan, Halifax the warden of the north. It was known throughout World War II in many dispatches and many news bulletins as a small east coast Canadian port.

From its founding in 1749, Halifax has been a city of great military significance in the defence of North America, most particularly in the defence of the north Atlantic. It is Canada's eastern naval base and the largest naval base in the country.

There are a variety of reasons why Halifax was chosen. Probably first and foremost is that we do have one of the most beautiful natural harbours in the world. Up until this winter it had been ice free for most of the time, but this winter has defeated many of us with its severity. Even Halifax harbour had a little bit of ice this winter. Normally we are and claim to be the largest natural ice-free harbour in the world.

We also have a distinct advantage in that we are the closest port in North America to Europe. We are also close to the major ports on the eastern sea coast of the United States. Behind the harbour itself we have Bedford basin. It has been said many times by me as well as by others that every navy in the world could ride at anchor with room to spare in Bedford basin.

We have been home to the Royal Canadian Navy since our founding. It might not have been called the Royal Canadian Navy at that time. I am sure the hon. member from Bonavista can tell me exactly what it was called in 1749, not that I am suggesting he was there, but he would know.

Prince Edward Island Fixed Link February 15th, 1994

Mr. Speaker, I want to congratulate the hon. member from that great riding of Central Nova which for the first time in many years boasts a member from the Liberal Party. I congratulate her on her election and on her comments this morning.

In talking about the benefits of the fixed link to tourism I was remiss in not particularly mentioning the Caribou-Wood Islands service. It is essentially a summertime service and is also a great boon to tourism. The ferries on that line are built in the shipyard in Pictou county and all of us want nothing more than to see this line continue. It too is a wonderful way to travel between Prince Edward Island and Nova Scotia to get the benefits of two of the most beautiful places on earth, that is Prince Edward Island and Pictou county.

I know when the hon. member speaks with her passionate devotion to the people of her area they can be assured of the safety of that line and the continued interest in both the use of that line for tourism and business. The two access points to Prince Edward Island, to New Brunswick and Nova Scotia can work very well together in harmony and to the benefit of all Canadians.

Prince Edward Island Fixed Link February 15th, 1994

Yes, we did. We really did not mind a whole lot the almost seven hour extension of the trip.

I remember we were met on that illustrious morning by one of Prince Edward Island's most famous sons. I refer to Premier Alec Campbell as he then was and who today is Mr. Justice Campbell of the island's supreme court. Premier Campbell was not very happy on that day. He knew the ferry had been frozen in the middle of the strait for over seven hours. He took the opportunity to make a public speech right there and he got a good crowd, as island politicians usually do. He spoke about the fact that the ferry really did not fulfil the constitutional agreement to create a proper link and a proper mode of transportation to and from Prince Edward Island.

That happened 26 years ago this month. I remember it very well. Consequently most of my subsequent trips to Prince Edward Island have been by air or in the summertime, but I have never forgotten the passion with which Premier Campbell addressed this issue.

I discussed this issue on many occasions because, as the member for Egmont can tell you, I was not a total convert to the concept in the beginning. The member for Egmont, the Secretary of State for Veterans, two other premiers of Prince Edward Island, Premier Callbeck and former Premier Ghiz, and the present member for Malpeque have all had a part in convincing me that this is absolutely the right thing, not just for the people of Prince Edward Island, not just for the people of Atlantic Canada but for the people of Canada. It will create the access we need and deserve to get to the cradle of Confederation, one of Canada's unique beauty spots.

Members who have been here for any length of time know and new members will learn very soon that being members of Parliament gives us a very privileged sense of the country as a whole, as a unit from sea to sea to sea.

To go to Charlottetown and see where the fathers, sent by the mothers, of Confederation first met to discuss what would happen in 1867 gives one a very particular and very warm view of what the politicians of the day were struggling over, arguing over, negotiating and deciding to do for Canadians then and now. Young Canadians from the other nine provinces would benefit from visiting, seeing and spending time in the cradle of Confederation. I agree that we would all benefit, young people in particular, from seeing all the parts of this magnificent country.

Tourism is one of Prince Edward Island's major industries and we certainly do not see people staying away because of the ferries. However, as we enter a more modern age heading toward the year 2000 it is only sensible to ensure that access to that province be done in the most sensible, safest and time saving way. That is why those of us in this House from the province of Nova Scotia stand in great support of our colleagues from Prince Edward Island and in great support of our colleagues from New Brunswick.

Another thing I would like to bring to the attention of the House is the fact that this fixed link is going to create an incredible number of jobs. In the provinces of Prince Edward Island, Nova Scotia and New Brunswick the creation of jobs is something every one of us is committed to and I can only say it is with an almost spiritual fervour. We do not like to be considered

the poor relations of Confederation. We do not like to be called the have not provinces.

This fixed link will create an economic boom and an advantage to business and tourism. I am in favour and I say three cheers for those who decided to go ahead with the fixed link.

Prince Edward Island Fixed Link February 15th, 1994

Mr. Speaker, it is a very great privilege to join in this debate today. It is a particular privilege to follow the hon. member for Egmont who for such a long time has been an advocate in this House for all of the interests of his home province of Prince Edward Island. He has been such an advocate for the establishment of the fixed link.

Before I continue, Mr. Speaker, I would like to congratulate you on your appointment. It is a delight to have you in the chair. I am sure you will prosper there with all of us to be your sheep, shall I say.

With regard to this debate, in the more than five years I have been privileged to be a member of this House representing a riding in Atlantic Canada, I have stood countless times and spoken on matters of great and indeed of crucial interest to the people of our region. Frequently we have looked at the possibilities of development for employment, development to create a better climate for business, development in the area of natural resources and so on and so forth. We have met walls because of our small population. We have met difficulties because of the problem of distances, as in every region of this country, et cetera.

It is with particular gratification that I stand today to speak in support of the constitutional amendment to enable the building of the fixed link crossing between New Brunswick and Prince Edward Island.

There are many reasons that this fixed link is a superb idea. Members much more involved from the provinces of Prince Edward Island and New Brunswick have articulated these ideas, but I would like to talk just about one area where I see the fixed link making a difference. It was very interesting that a member questioned my colleague from Egmont about the traffic and about getting to Iles-de-la-Madeleine, which is the area I want to talk about.

In spite of all of the setbacks and drawbacks in Atlantic Canada, we think we really are the most fortunate people in the country. If one is fortunate enough to live in Atlantic Canada, particularly in Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island is normally the vacation place of choice. I must say New Brunswick is also, but we like to go to P.E.I. for the beaches, the wonderful golf courses, the great food, the terrific restaurants, and on and on.

I have been visiting Prince Edward Island as a tourist since I was a small child. I have jokingly referred to the fixed link from time to time as the span of Green Gables. That reminds us why young women in this country consider a visit to Prince Edward Island to be practically a religious experience: the shrine of Anne of Green Gables and that great Canadian writer, and feminist I might add, Lucy Maud Montgomery.

I have spent many hours as a child, as an adolescent and as an adult sitting in a car, usually at Cape Tormentine, waiting for a ferry. I remember one particular visit at this time of year. When Joe says he does not want to go to the Battlefords in February he is probably right. However, getting to P.E.I. in February can be quite something too when one is dependent upon the mercy of the ferry in the Northumberland Strait when the ice is in.

There was a meeting. It was the kick-off to a very famous political campaign. The Atlantic provinces student Liberals were meeting in Charlottetown in 1968 to decide whose students would support the leadership of a great political party. A group of us from Halifax headed out for Tormentine. Given that it was February we did pretty well. We arrived there in about four hours from Halifax. We then waited for six hours until the old Abegweit could get into the dock. We got on the Abegweit . I think normally it takes about 45 minutes to cross in good weather, but seven and a half hours later we landed in P.E.I. It is one thing when it is a group of students. We had a good time on that ferry.

Pre-Budget Consultations February 1st, 1994

Mr. Speaker, I thank the member for Edmonton Southwest for his question. Actually when I heard the direction of the question I was thinking that as a child growing up in a very political household I heard the answer to that question a lot.

Let me begin by saying that maritimers are very committed Canadians. Indeed we have been tried. That is why it can be said we are passionately committed to this country, to its future and to its prospering.

There are many things. First, the sort of downhill slide did begin at Confederation because of the emphasis on east-west as opposed to north-south. We always had close ties to New England, to the Caribbean. To a great extent until probably the first war that continued.

There were questions-heaven forbid that I should bring this up-about buying Alberta oil. Nobody would buy Cape Breton coal nor could our apples be shipped to Ontario. There were a number of questions with regard to trade within the country, questions that still remain to be answered. I hope, as all of us in Atlantic Canada hope, they will be answered over the next term by this government.

The other thing was migration. No question. We have been staffing the universities, courts and the public services of the other nine provinces for a long time. While people come back they tend not to come back until their careers are over. That has been a problem as well.

Mainly the major problem has been a lack of an industrial policy that truly fits the Atlantic region. It is my belief that the emphasis on small business as mentioned in the red book and as the hon. Minister of Finance has been talking about in his pre-budgetary consultations are the kinds of policies and programs that will flow from the ideas that will specifically assist Atlantic Canada.

We do not have the population or I suppose to a degree the inclination for megaprojects. Megaprojects were tried. Everyone who lives in Nova Scotia can tell horror stories about Clairtone, heavy water and that sort of thing.

However we do have both the inclination and the ability to succeed in small business. If small business is given its head, as I think it will be by this government, then we will see a new prosperity in Atlantic Canada in which a number of my colleagues are looking forward to taking part. We invite the hon. member and you, Mr. Speaker, to visit us at any time because of course one of the most successful small businesses in Atlantic Canada is tourism.

Pre-Budget Consultations February 1st, 1994

Yes, it is questionable.

The port of Halifax is perhaps the greatest single asset in the industrial sense in the province of Nova Scotia. I can go back to the quotations of the days of wooden ships and if you will pardon my paraphrase or my editing, Mr. Speaker, wooden ships and iron persons. In the province of Nova Scotia, our port is again ready to be a major player in the industrial development of Canada, in particular with regard to our enhanced trading capacities.

We have frequently been accused of seeing only in Atlantic Canada the north-south aspects but we also see the east-west. The port and the transportation links out of the port of Halifax can be of tremendous benefit to all Canadians. We in the port of Halifax invite hon. members who sit in this Chamber to come to see the facilities we have and to see what a tremendous asset this is and can be to the people of Canada.

Along with our developments in business, trade and job creation we also have to ensure, as I said earlier, that Canada remains the compassionate country the rest of the world believes us to be.

I compliment the Minister of Human Resources Development on his announcement yesterday and on the initiative that he will take to ensure that compassion and common sense remain the keystones and the key notes of a Liberal government.

Mr. Speaker, I thank you for the opportunity to take part in this debate and I look forward to further debates in this House.