Borys Wrzesnewskyj

[Criminal Code, June 14th, 2010]

moved for leave to introduce Bill C-537, An Act to amend the Criminal Code (judicial interim release for offences involving firearms).

Mr. Speaker, I rise to introduce legislation to amend the Criminal Code in memory of Boris Cikovic, a 17-year-old constituent from my riding of Etobicoke Centre, who was gunned down on October 3, 2008, in Buttonwood Park.

This bill would amend the Criminal Code to add offences involving firearms to the list of offences set out in section 469 so that offences involving firearms may only be tried by a superior court and a person accused of an offence involving a firearm would be required to demonstrate to the court why they should not be detained in custody before trial.

Boris Cikovic's accused killer has been out on bail since this terrible murder and refuses to co-operate with police in identifying his three accomplices. Boris' parents are forced to struggle daily with the unbearable knowledge that they are possibly walking past the dangerous perpetrators of the murder of their son on the streets of their very own neighbourhood.

By adopting this bill, we would ensure that perpetrators of crimes involving guns are not released into our neighbourhoods under our currently soft bail regime.

(Motions deemed adopted, bill read the first time and printed)

[Human Rights, June 7th, 2010]

Mr. Speaker, yesterday, worldwide, Polonia celebrated the beatification of Father Jerzy Popieluszko, the Catholic priest who in the 1980s ministered to Solidarity workers at the Huta Warszawa steelworks.

An unassuming pastor, Father Popieluszko did not shirk his responsibility to minister his flock when Polish workers began to organize the Solidarnosc union.

In sermons he defended national and human rights. For this he suffered detentions and interrogations. Finally, in 1984, after leading mass he was kidnapped by Communist secret police and 11 days later his tortured, bound and gagged body was dredged from a reservoir.

Today, along with Polonia, we bow our heads in Solidarnosc, remembering Father Popieluszko and the long list of martyred Catholic clergy: Polish Cardinal Wyszynski, Ukrainian Cardinal Slipyj, Hungarian Cardinal Mindszenty, Croatian Cardinal Stepinac, Czech Cardinal Beran, and Slovak Bishop Gojdic, who suffered torture and even death at the hands of the evil ideology of communism.

[Ukraine, May 28th, 2010]

Mr. Speaker, Canada's 1.2 million strong Ukrainian Canadian diaspora community is in angst due to recent attempts to muzzle Ukraine's media, and trumped up criminal charges against opposition leaders.

Incredibly, secret service agents have even attempted to intimidate university rectors. On May 18, Father Borys Gudziak, the rector of the renowned Ukrainian Catholic University, received a call on his cell phone from a secret security agent. Twenty minutes later the agent was in the rector's office. What followed was an hour of attempts to co-opt and intimidate the rector into spying on student activists and to rat out the names of student protest organizers.

Not since the days of the Soviet Union has the Ukrainian Catholic Church, its institutions, priests and students been menaced in this way.

Canada has a special relationship with Ukraine and has stood shoulder to shoulder with Ukraine's people on their journey toward statehood and democracy.

Today we do so again with Ukraine's students, journalists and all those who have dedicated themselves to a free and independent Ukraine.

[David Freiman, April 26th, 2010]

Mr. Speaker, yesterday marked the 100th anniversary of the birth of David Freiman. Born in what is now Sambir, Ukraine, his story traces a history of both tragedy and triumph.

A lumber foreman before the war, Mr. Freiman's life was overtaken by the horror of the Nazi Holocaust. Of a pre-war population of some 10,000, Mr. Freiman along with Esther, the woman who was to become his wife, were among the less than one hundred miraculous survivors of the murderous evil brought upon Sambir's Jewish community. He lost everything: parents, brothers, sisters, a toddler son. What he never lost was his will to live, to succeed for the future of his new family and of the Jewish people.

That drive brought him to Canada where, through hard work, intelligence and a sterling reputation for ethical conduct, he became a leader in business circles and a stalwart pillar of the Jewish community.

David Freiman's family is here to mark this special day and to honour his exemplary life.

[Member spoke in Hebrew as follows:]

T'he nishmata tsrura bi'tsror ha'chayim.

[English]

[Petitions, April 22nd, 2010]

Mr. Speaker, pursuant to Standing Order 36, I am presenting a petition signed by over 60 citizens from my riding and the GTA who are concerned about how farm animals are transported. The petitioners are concerned that regulations in Canada's Health of Animals Act are outdated and in need of revision.

Currently, farm animals may be transported for 36 to 52 hours without water, food or rest. These transport times are among the longest in the industrialized world and are not consistent with scientific findings on animal welfare during transport. Therefore, the petitioners urge that amendments be made to the Health of Animals Act in keeping with the findings of the European Union's Scientific Committee on Animal Health and Animal Welfare, which calls for a reduction in transport times for animals.

[Poland, April 13th, 2010]

Mr. Speaker, 70 years ago in its plan to enslave Poland, the Kremlin committed a horrific crime against the Polish people.

Over 22,000 Poles, the flower of the Polish nation, officers, priests, professors, doctors, were shot and dumped into mass graves in Katyn forest.

Finally, after 70 years a proper and dignified commemoration was to take place with Polish President Kaczynski, First Lady Maria, along with 90 of Poland's top government and military officials.

Saturday morning, on the plane's approach to Katyn, tragedy struck.

We cannot make sense of the curse of Katyn. However, as a result of this tragedy, the whole world has learned of the horror, long buried and long hidden in Katyn forest.

Canada's House of Commons, Canadians, and the world stand in Solidarnosc with Polonia in their current grief and we bow our heads in Solidarnosc with the 22,000 martyrs of Katyn.

[Editor's Note: Member spoke in Polish as follows:]

Wieczny odpoczynek racz im dac Panie. Niech spoczywaja w pokoju wiecznym.

(English)

[Business of Supply, March 17th, 2010]

Madam Speaker, the hon. House leader mentioned at the start of his speech that the time in the House is “precious time”. I could not agree more.

In fact the House of Commons belongs to the people, and the debate here in this House is the oxygen of our democracy, although not always as clean as oxygen. It is precious time.

There is a logical disconnect. If he considers it such precious time and of such importance, why would the Prime Minister shut down Parliament and shut down the precious time we have for debate?

[Business of Supply, March 17th, 2010]

Madam Speaker, it seems that Canadians woke up and realized what was at stake. It was not someone else's democratic rights that were being taken away. It was their House of Commons that was being padlocked.

Would the hon. member not agree that this has now provided us with an opportunity to put checks and balances in place to ensure this sort of abuse never takes place again and that the vast majority of Canadians and young Canadians would support such a measure?

[Business of Supply, March 17th, 2010]

Madam Speaker, we often hear that Canadians are somewhat politically apathetic. In fact, they have tuned out because the politics of the House have almost become a blood sport. When the Prime Minister muzzled his cabinet, Canadians did not pay heed. Conservative backbenchers have been heard to refer to the PMO as the Kremlin, but Canadians did not pay attention.

When the Prime Minister beat down public commissioners, Canadians in general did not pay a lot of attention. However, the member referenced something very important. This abuse of the parliamentary procedure of prorogation that the Prime Minister engaged in finally seemed to have engaged Canadians and young Canadians especially—

[Haiti, March 12th, 2010]

Mr. Speaker, on January 12, when the devastating earthquake hit the poorest country in our hemisphere, Canadians responded as Canadians do: we opened up our hearts and we opened up our wallets.

The government announced it would match dollar for dollar donations made to the Haiti earthquake relief fund following a desperate appeal for immediate help. Canadians could give to the charity of their choice with the understanding that was where the money would stay and believing that it would go to the desperate people of Haiti right away.

It turns out that is not the case. The government now admits that it will not respect Canadians' charities of choice. The government, not donors, will decide where the money will go, designating the World Bank as a charity of choice. What arrogance. When generous Canadians part with their hard-earned dollars, they have every right to choose the charity they want.

Incredibly, the government also admits CIDA has not dispersed one red cent of this money two long months after the earthquake struck. This is serious. Canadians who donated their hard-earned money want it fixed.