Bill Casey

[Persons with Disabilities, October 24th, 2002]

Mr. Speaker, we often hear Liberals say that this is the Liberal way. If this is the Liberal way, it is a sad, sad way.

We have brought up issues of people who have been run over by trains, who have cancer or who have multiple sclerosis with no cure, in order to have them qualify for the disability tax credit. Yet the government decides with no examination that they are disqualified for the disability tax credit.

The government demands that disabled people in Canada get a doctor's report. Is it a doctor who overrules that report when it overrules it?

[Persons with Disabilities, October 24th, 2002]

Mr. Speaker, John Mawdsley received a disability tax credit for 15 years because he was totally disabled. Mr. Mawdsley suffers from a degenerative disease that has no cure and only gets worse.

Under the new review strategy, Revenue Canada recently demanded he get another opinion that confirmed the disability. Then the department overruled that opinion with no meeting, no examination, and no personal contact whatsoever with Mr. Mawdsley. Revenue Canada required the doctor's report. Now it has overruled the doctor's report.

Was it a doctor at Revenue Canada who made that decision?

[Petitions, October 23rd, 2002]

Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to present two petitions today which call upon Parliament to immediately enact fair family law legislation which incorporates the presumption of equal shared parenting and children having a voice in divorce proceedings that affect them.

There are hundreds of signatures on these petitions which are mostly from Ontario and Manitoba. I am pleased to make this presentation.

[Correctional Service Canada, October 23rd, 2002]

Mr. Speaker, I too would like to congratulate the minister on his accession to cabinet. However, I was told over the weekend that convicted criminals in Westmorland Institution near Dorchester, New Brunswick, were operating a telemarketing scheme selling vacation packages over the phone. It is not enough that they have people's name, phone number and credit cards, now they want to know exactly when people's homes will be empty.

Will the new Solicitor General commit to putting an end to this ridiculous and potentially dangerous practice right now?

[Persons with Disabilities, October 22nd, 2002]

Mr. Speaker, I hope I get the opportunity to ask two questions because the minister gets the opportunity to give two answers.

I just sent over a copy of the Truro Daily News to the Minister of National Revenue, showing a picture of Don Pryor holding his artificial leg in the air. The headline reads “No longer disabled according to the new rules”. For 20 years Don Pryor qualified for the disability tax credit. Now the minister has determined he is no longer disabled.

What criteria does the minister use to determine that a man who was run over by a train, lost a leg, and suffered a lot of other injuries is now no longer disabled?

[Petitions, October 21st, 2002]

Mr. Speaker, it is a pleasure for me to present two petitions from the people of the Truro area, including Debert and Belmont. There are over 100 signatures on these two petitions.

The petitioners beg Parliament to take all necessary steps to ensure that all materials that promote or glorify pedophilia or sado-masochistic activities involving children are outlawed.

I hope the government will respond quickly to these petitions.

[Correctional Service Canada, October 10th, 2002]

Mr. Speaker, this was not about computers. It was about telemarketing.

I would like the minister to explain why they have a policy of firing vocational teachers at prisons like Springhill, where there are 380 prisoners, while they are adding staff at Montague.

This telemarketing scheme is crazy. Will the minister immediately restore the funding to the facilities where the prisoners are?

[Correctional Service Canada, October 10th, 2002]

Mr. Speaker, we have now learned that Correctional Service Canada is training inmates to do telemarketing directly from Canada's prisons.

Corrections Canada is teaching inmates how to obtain information about Canadians' lives, their homes, their property, SIN numbers, credit cards, and bank account numbers. The potential for abuse is absolutely unlimited.

How can the minister justify subjecting Canadians to this crazy strategy?

[Correctional Service of Canada, October 9th, 2002]

Mr. Speaker, the minister cannot deny that the budget of Dorchester and the budget of Springhill have been reduced and that is where the prisoners are. Meanwhile, the facility in the Solicitor General's riding has grown, first from zero to 20 people, and now to 25, and there is not one prisoner there.

Will the minister restore all the money diverted from the budgets of Springhill and Dorchester to ensure the safety and security of these communities?

[Correctional Service of Canada, October 9th, 2002]

Mr. Speaker, officials at Dorchester penitentiary have told me that the operating budget for that maximum security facility is being reduced by over $1 million and the money is being diverted to the addictions research facility in the Solicitor General's riding where there is not one prisoner.

How can the minister risk the safety and security of a maximum security penitentiary like Dorchester by reducing the budget and diverting money to his own riding?