Dan McTeague

[Foreign Affairs, April 2nd, 2008]

Mr. Speaker, it is because of that member that Huseyin Celil cannot be found and is rotting away in a prison in China. We do not need a lesson from that member and his party on looking after Canadians. We have done that job. He has not.

The minister destroyed her own credibility in this matter. This may have even led to the disclosure of information to tarnish Ms. Martin's reputation in order to divert attention from the minister's incompetence.

If the privacy commission's investigation finds that she or her assistants were at the root of this indiscretion, will she step down?

[Foreign Affairs, April 2nd, 2008]

Mr. Speaker, the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs has bungled the Brenda Martin case from day one. Now we have to take her word that she is in fact back on the file.

How can she, however, find out who leaked personal information on Ms. Martin when she could not even escape the media chasing her through a store?

This is the same minister who refused to visit Brenda Martin because she was too busy at a cocktail party only minutes from the prison.

Rather than thinking she is back to cause more damage in this case, will the minister save herself the humiliation of being fired and resign from cabinet immediately?

[Foreign Affairs, April 1st, 2008]

Mr. Speaker, we also hope the Privacy Commissioner will now be able to determine why Brenda's rights were not only violated in Mexico, they were violated right here in Canada.

Mohamed Kohail is also well aware of this government's incompetence. The Minister of Public Safety is incapable of meeting with the Saudi representatives in charge of this case and when Mr. Kohail's lawyer was being threatened and kicked out of the courtroom, the Conservatives did nothing.

Will any of the ministers responsible for foreign affairs officially protest the denial of fundamental legal rights of another Canadian citizen abroad?

[Foreign Affairs, April 1st, 2008]

Mr. Speaker, the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs says she is back on the Brenda Martin case. I am sure this news will only add to the fears Ms. Martin has for ever gaining her freedom. I want to recognize the other Secretary of State for Multiculturalism for his cameo appearance on this ongoing failure by the government to stand up for a Canadian citizen.

Now that the minister is back, will she find out who within her department and her party leaked personal and private information about Ms. Martin to the media, or will she be using it herself to smear a Canadian who has suffered enough injustice and bungling by the government?

[Points of Order, March 12th, 2008]

Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to rise once again on this very important point of order.

Despite the citations by the hon. House leader, I think it is fairly clear, Sir, that your decision to this House of Commons on November 1, 2006, declaring that Bill C-253 standing in my name was indeed receivable and was in fact in order, is something that this House relied on.

Mr. Speaker, you will know that I have followed the procedures of this House. Not only did this House dutifully vote on the bill at the second reading, but it also passed in committee. It also passed at report stage, concurrence and third reading. I am very concerned about the ability for the government to now challenge, by an indirect means, a decision made by this House.

There are two issues. One is an issue of concern to me as to what I would refer to, and you would be familiar with, as detrimental reliance. We rely on your decision and the Chair to make a decision that is in fact applicable in determining whether a private member's bill can indeed proceed.

I would submit that this bill has done just that. Unless the hon. House leader is actually suggesting a challenge to your ruling, I would suggest that you have no choice but to rule the position of the ways and means motion by the government House leader and by the Minister of Finance, who has clearly linked this to Bill C-253, as indeed out of order.

Mr. Speaker, if we do not have that reliance on your decisions carrying through, it says much about future decisions. The hon. House leader is in fact trying to create a precedent through the back door, knowing full well that once a bill in the same session has been treated in this House, it cannot be undone and it cannot be reconsidered.

Mr. Speaker, I would submit to you again that your ruling of November 1, 2006, in which you declared Bill C-253 a bill that was indeed in order, must stand. Indeed, debates on the bill have gone on in this House in which the hon. minister and members have participated, and several members from that side of the House and that party supported the bill in principle at second reading. It seems to me that if you have made a ruling you must stand by that ruling and therefore rule this rather nefarious attempt by the minister and the House leader as indeed out of order.

[Ways and Means, March 11th, 2008]

Mr. Speaker, I rise on a point of order. Due to the unusual circumstance that has required the finance minister to do what he is apparently doing, I wonder if you would consider the fact that this matter has already been passed by the majority of this House of Commons and therefore the motion put forward by the minister that the bill not go before the Senate is out of order.

[Foreign Affairs, March 11th, 2008]

Mr. Speaker, Brenda Martin's legal rights have been trampled. Her rights, guaranteed by international treaties, were ignored and now even her constitutional rights under Mexican law, as we see, have been denied.

Will the Minister of Foreign Affairs take control of this case and deliver to Mexico, and I appreciate that he has spoken to the minister, in the strongest possible language, a formal, diplomatic note of protest demanding that Mexico correct this total miscarriage of justice and free Brenda right now?

[Foreign Affairs, March 11th, 2008]

Mr. Speaker, Brenda Martin has lost a constitutional challenge to obtain her release from a Mexican prison. She is discouraged and feels completely abandoned by her government.

Brenda Martin has been languishing in prison for two years and the Government of Canada has not provided any assistance.

Will the Minister of Foreign Affairs take over for his inexperienced colleague and draft an official diplomatic letter to the Government of Mexico protesting this travesty of justice? Will he defend Ms. Martin's life?

[Foreign Affairs, March 6th, 2008]

Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister has deemed that Canada will seek clemency from Saudi Arabia for the death sentence imposed on Mr. Kohail.

Will the Prime Minister finally abandon his childish, ideological policy in order to save Mr. Kohail's life?

Does the Prime Minister not realize that the cherry-picking of cases on which to seek clemency jeopardizes the lives of any Canadians sentenced to death abroad and effectively handcuffs our diplomatic efforts?

Will the Prime Minister abandon the Conservative sniff test on the legal systems of other countries before seeking clemency and before this perverse and reckless policy puts another Canadian life in danger?

[Foreign Affairs, March 4th, 2008]

Mr. Speaker, Mohamed Kohail was sentenced to death yesterday by a Saudi Arabian court and overturning such a decision on appeal would no doubt prove difficult.

The Minister of Public Safety discarded our foreign policy, which for decades enabled us to lobby governments and seek clemency for Canadian citizens sentenced to death, regardless of which legal system they were facing.

Will the Minister of Public Safety be using his ideologically driven judicial sniff test to determine if Canada will seek clemency for Mr. Kohail, or will he abandon the policy that impedes Canada's very ability to intervene to save the lives of condemned Canadians?