David Anderson

[Committees of the House, March 4th, 2014]

Mr. Speaker, the House leader earlier asked the NDP if it could explain its position on the two recommendations. I would just read the second one, which states:

The Committee recommends that the Government of Canada encourage the direct negotiating parties to take into account all refugee populations as part of any just and comprehensive resolution to the Israeli-Palestinian and Arab-Israeli conflicts.

I was just wondering if the member opposite could explain why he is avoiding answering why it is that the NDP cannot support that resolution.

[Foreign Affairs, February 28th, 2014]

Mr. Speaker, Canada will continue to work with our allies and like-minded countries to build a coordinated a path forward.

I would like to talk about some of the leadership that we have provided. The Prime Minister's decision to send a Canadian delegation to Ukraine is another example of Canada's leadership on the issue. This delegation is on the ground. It is listening and making clear that Canada wants to play a part in helping the Ukrainian people build their future.

[Foreign Affairs, February 28th, 2014]

Mr. Speaker, as we have said before, Canada fully supports the territorial integrity and sovereignty of Ukraine. Any outside involvement in Ukraine's democratic aspirations would be a dangerous development. All countries should be working together in the pursuit of unity, freedom, and democracy.

[New Democratic Party of Canada, February 28th, 2014]

Mr. Speaker, the next federal election is over a year away. The NDP is already waving the white flag, pleading to join a Liberal-led coalition. Canadians know what a Liberal-led NDP high-tax coalition would mean: a soft on crime agenda, repealing mandatory prison sentences for violent offenders; a reckless plan to legalize marijuana, making it easier for children to smoke; and massive spending increases of, as the Liberal leader put it, thousands of billions of dollars, otherwise known as trillions. Of course, the coalition would have budgets that balance themselves. Perhaps this is why the Liberal leader should not claim to be a math teacher.

When will the anti-trade leader of the official opposition stop passing the pipe in an effort to close a deal with the pro-drug-trade, high on smiles, low on substance leader of the third party? Canadians are looking for the opposition to do its job, not toke the flames of an unwanted coalition fire.

[Foreign Affairs, February 27th, 2014]

Mr. Speaker, Canadian officials are providing consular assistance to Mr. Fahmy and are in communication with his lawyer.

We stand with the Egyptian people in their efforts to build a stable, inclusive, prosperous, and democratic Egypt based on respect for human rights, tolerance, fundamental freedoms, and the rule of law.

Canada continues to call on the Egyptian government to protect and to promote the right of journalists, in keeping with Egypt's new constitution and the aspiration of all Egyptians to build a fully democratic country.

[Foreign Affairs, February 27th, 2014]

Mr. Speaker, if there is any explanation that needs to be made, it is perhaps by that member as to why he said the other day that the Liberal leader did not need to apologize for his comments.

Canada extends its sincere congratulations to the people of Ukraine on their new cabinet. Events in Ukraine have moved extremely quickly. The Yanukovych regime is no more, and people are achieving their goals. Because of the actions taken by this government, Canada is ready to freeze the assets or restrain property of those responsible for the violence in Ukraine if and when the new Ukrainian authorities make such a request.

[Leader of the New Democratic Party of Canada, February 27th, 2014]

Mr. Speaker, the next federal election is over a year away and the NDP is already waving the white flag.

This week, the anti-trade leader of the official opposition passed the pipe, trying to make a deal with the pro-drug trade, high on smiles, low on substance, leader of the third party. He was toking the flames of the coalition fire.

Everyone knows what a Liberal-led NDP high-tax coalition would mean for Canadians. It means massive spending increases, budget deficits paid for by tax hikes on hardworking families, and a reckless plan to legalize marijuana, making it easier for children to smoke.

When the high-tempered leader of the NDP is more willing to shed his party than his beard—

[Ukraine, February 26th, 2014]

Mr. Chair, I wish I had another several minutes to speak about this because they are important issues.

Ambassador Bennett was in Kiev in January. He has shown great leadership on this file. He has touched a number of places around this world where there are challenges of religious freedom. He talked today about seeing first-hand the plight of the Ukrainian people, and specifically the churches. As well, he talked about the leadership that the churches can provide. They provide shelter and refuge for people; they have provided spiritual direction for them. He feels, and he certainly made a strong argument today, that the churches play a major role in the future of Ukraine. We need to work with them as well.

[Ukraine, February 26th, 2014]

Mr. Chair, we understand the challenges the opposition has come through to get to the position that we have been at since the beginning. As I mentioned earlier, the minister was in Kiev in early December and was willing to stand with the protestors. Our NDP colleagues were wondering why he was doing that. We are glad to see that they have finally joined with us. We understand some of the issues and problems that the Liberal leader has had over the past week in defining his position on this as well. However, we certainly look forward to working with everyone in this House, and I would say Canadians across the country.

The member mentioned the issue of sending election observers. We talked about that at committee today, and we talked about the reality that there are probably going to be a couple of rounds of elections. We have certainly participated in the past in supervising those election and helping to ensure that they were fair and democratic, and we look forward to doing that in the future as well.

[Ukraine, February 26th, 2014]

Mr. Chair, we are waiting for the Ukrainian government to be put in place. Our Minister of Foreign Affairs and delegation will be there to recognize it and to give it some support, and to allow the world to see that as well.

The members of the Ukrainian parliament are going to be capable of making those decisions and moving ahead. We would like to work with them. We talked earlier about providing them with some of the resources we have, in terms of helping them develop the institutional strength and the judicial strength they need. At committee today, we heard about how important that is. We have been leaders around the world in those areas, as well, and I would expect that we will continue to lead in those areas.