Deepak Obhrai

[Division No. 132, June 11th, 2001]

Mr. Speaker, I vote nay.

[Nelson Mandela, June 7th, 2001]

Mr. Speaker, I grew up in Africa. I can personally attest to how Nelson Mandela is held in the highest regard for his contribution to the fight for human rights and dignity. His long and lonely fight for equality makes him a titan among not only world leaders but all citizens of the world.

As a member of the Canadian Alliance, where equality of all is the foundation cornerstone, I speak for the majority of our members in praising Mr. Mandela. However, I think the bestowing of honorary citizenship requires a procedure that all hon. members and all Canadians can support.

Motions put forward without debate robs us all of the opportunity to participate when such a high honour is contemplated. That is why I propose that the government set up an all party committee to lay the ground rules for such a high honour. The committee would continue to accept and ponder recommendations and debate the merits of each nominee.

I believe this way honorary Canadian citizenship would be widely supported by all Canadians and be seen as an honour coming from all corners of the nation.

[Immigration And Refugee Protection Act, June 4th, 2001]

That is right. Our amendments were made after consultations with many groups across the country. My colleague who is the critic for immigration brought in amendments to address what is viewed out there to be a very flawed bill and an immigration system that needs a complete administrative overhaul. We do not need a legislative overhaul; we need an administrative overhaul.

The cuts that have taken place have resulted in a situation where the Department of Citizenship and Immigration is having a difficult time meeting the growing needs of what has become an attractive place to which to come. We are happy that a lot of people want to come to Canada. Nevertheless, sitting in my office I have seen my workload in immigration increase. I am sure every member of parliament has seen an increase of immigration inquiries in their offices.

This is a direct result of the cuts that have taken place, which threw the burden on members of parliament to try to address the concerns. I had an opportunity to travel with the minister of immigration and I have seen firsthand the problems. Even spousal applications, which the minister said should take six months, have extended to the level where they are taking eight or nine months.

When we make inquiries of the department or of our missions overseas the delays are longer. The typical response is that they do not have the resources to address the growing need. What is the solution to all these things? The bill tries to address some of them, but it fails to provide for effective administration of our current policy which would see cases of legitimate immigrants and those who jump the queue, who bypass the system, handled expeditiously. If they have a legitimate claim they can stay. If they have an illegitimate claim they should leave.

We are mired in so much bureaucracy, so much red tape and so many issues of a smaller, frivolous nature that genuine immigrants are finding it difficult. Those who abuse our system are taking advantage of these lax laws and the result is that Canadians are losing confidence in our immigration policy.

We are all immigrants. This is a land of immigrants and immigration will be a focal point in Canada for years to come. Let us do it right. Let us get the confidence of the Canadian people. Let us attract the people we want to attract. Let us give hope to refugees who are fleeing their homes and do it in such a manner that the message goes out that yes, Canada is a land of opportunity which welcomes genuine refugees and genuine immigrants.

However because of the cuts, the way administration is done and the haphazard laws that are brought in, confidence in immigration is evaporating. This is true not only for Canadians but for prospective immigrants who would come to the country, build it and bring prosperity to it.

I have spoken to the Minister of Citizenship and Immigration. I have heard from a lot of people that we have a system in which they do not feel comfortable. When they apply we go through a process that is too long, a process where we challenge small things. It is interesting that the focus is on smaller administrative issues and ignores the bigger picture, which is that we have almost 230,000 immigrants coming into the country. All the resources are focused on smaller issues while ignoring the real objective: making the process easier and faster for the legitimate immigrants Canada needs.

Let us be realistic. There is competition out there to attract good immigrants. There is competition from Australia, Britain, Germany and the U.S.A. They are streamlining their procedures. They are out there aggressively trying to attract good immigrants. What do we do in Canada? We work slowly. We are mired in small administrative issues that in the long term would not have a major impact.

We should rightly be concentrating on those who are queue jumping. However we have dragged it out so long, as my colleague said, that we now have a higher load of refugees in Canada whose issues have not been addressed.

The opposition parties have called on the government to look at the issue to see if amnesty can be given so that we can clear the backlog and carry on. However, as the Minister of Citizenship and Immigration has said, it would mean rewarding those who come through the back door.

However they have come through the back door because our system allows that to happen.

Our appeal process allows it to happen. Smugglers and others have used the system and this has eroded confidence in it. We need to restore confidence in our immigration system so that everyone is comfortable with it and can trust and have confidence in it.

It is difficult to achieve this with the bill the government has brought in. As usual, it is a haphazard band-aid solution. My colleague will speak to it further.

[Immigration And Refugee Protection Act, June 4th, 2001]

Mr. Speaker, it is a pleasure to rise to speak to Motions Nos. 5, 6 and 7 at report stage of Bill C-11 respecting the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act.

The bill has raised a lot of concerns at the hearings that have gone on across the country. A lot of people have expressed opinions on the immigration bill. The bill talks about the granting of refugee protection to persons who are displaced, persecuted or in danger. It also talks about supposedly bringing the Immigration Act into line after such a long period of time.

One of the problems is that our immigration policy requires a tremendous amount of review. The current legislation has not been implemented in the way it should have been. If it had, we would have no need for a haphazard bill that is trying to address the issue but failing to hit the key point.

[Human Rights, May 29th, 2001]

Mr. Speaker, the Taliban edict to force the labelling of religious minorities in Afghanistan is unacceptable in this day and age.

While the statement issued by our foreign affairs minister condemning the Taliban is a necessary first step, Canada can and must do more in conjunction with like-minded states to put maximum international pressure on Afghanistan.

I have asked the Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs and International Trade to examine the situation in Afghanistan and recommend that the government sponsor a resolution in the United Nations condemning the Taliban for this latest violation of the human rights of its people.

With the committee's help we can begin to take the necessary steps to hold the Taliban accountable for its oppression of the citizens of Afghanistan.

[Youth Criminal Justice Act, May 28th, 2001]

Mr. Speaker, it is my pleasure to rise on behalf of the constituents of Calgary East to speak to the Motion No. 2 at report stage consideration of Bill C-7 dealing with the issue of young persons.

The Young Offenders Act has been the talk of Canadians for a long time. I have received numerous calls and petitions in my riding in reference to the Young Offenders Act. The government is now making an attempt to address these concerns, but like everything else it does it is a haphazard attempt to address the concerns of Canadians.

I listened to my colleague from the Bloc who said that whatever amendment was done was because the minister was from the west. I should like to tell him that there is uniformity across the nation in asking that the Young Offenders Act be reviewed, that proper amendments be made and that concerns be addressed. The government has failed to do so.

Today the government brought in closure on the bill. It left the impression that it is serious about the issue of young offenders and was bringing in closure in order to pass the bill. However the history of the government on the bill has been very poor. It has been in the process for six and a half years. The government dissolved parliament without thinking about the impact of that on the bill. I hope Canadians do not see closure as an attempt by the government to take the issue seriously because it is not.

We support the motion in amendment put forward by my colleague in the Conservative Party because a concern has been expressed by teachers, and rightly so, that they need to know what they are dealing with. I will repeat what some teachers in Calgary have said.

According to statistics Calgary schools are no strangers to violence. In the 1999-2000 school year more than 1,300 students in Catholic and public schools were suspended for incidents related to drugs, alcohol, weapons and assault. That is a huge number. We are putting an undue burden on teachers. Naturally they need the tools by which to deal with rising violence in schools so that they can protect students and provide rehabilitation for those who need it.

Not related to this, only yesterday there was an unfortunate incident at a Calgary high school where two young students went outside to fight. Regrettably one of the students lost his life. The incident has shocked everyone in Calgary. It underlines the fact that teachers need the tools to stop these kinds of things.

We are all very saddened that a young, promising individual lost his life. For what? From the newspaper I understand that it dispute had been brewing in the corridors for a while. If teachers had known about it, I am sure they could have addressed it and cooled passions, and a young man would not have lost his life. School boards are requesting that they be given the tools to address the issues.

As usual the government only went halfway by saying that it may disclose information on violent offenders to school boards if it feels it is necessary. Those involved in teaching and school affairs have said that such a system has not worked. Let us look at what they have said.

The president of the Alberta School Boards Association, says the provisions do nothing to improve the release of information to schools. Let me quote her:

We are looking for the amendment because we believe without it you are going to get the haphazard (situation) that we have right now.

No one has to share information so it is left to the person to decide who needs to be told. That has not worked. It is left to someone else to decide what information is important and what information is not. When the decision is left to someone else, the right information may not go fast enough. As a result, we do not know what kinds of situations there are in our schools.

We need to create an environment of safety. Schools need a safe environment. They are where our children learn. Our children are the future of the nation. What children learn in school will form and shape the society of the future. They therefore need a safe environment in school where they can go and learn without fear or intimidation. Newspaper reports across the country and across the continent have shown an increase in school violence and this is creating concerns.

I have a son who goes to Lisgar high school in Ottawa and at times I am concerned about violence in school. I am concerned about the atmosphere in which he is growing up. At times that puts pressure on me to find out what is happening.

It is commendable that teacher associations have raised these issues. They are looking after the best interests of students, and rightly so. We should give them the tools. However the bill would leave the decisions to someone who is not in the school system. It would be up to someone outside the school system to decide whether the information should or should not be released to schools. As a parent I am saying that it should be released to the schools and to teachers.

I heard the argument of my colleagues from the Bloc who are opposing the motion. They say they do not want to go this route because, if I understand correctly, youth crime is not very high in Quebec. At the end of the day we need to create a safe environment in schools so that students can study, which is what they are there for.

In conclusion, I feel it is very important that we support the motion. I am happy to support it although I do not support the bill in totality.

[Canadian International Development Agency, May 28th, 2001]

Mr. Speaker, Canadians are proud of our tradition of generous development assistance but they want cost effective aid programs, not patronage and abuse of public funds.

It is clear that CIDA is bringing ill repute on this proud tradition. CIDA is actually discrediting our aid programs. What will the minister do about it?

[Canadian International Development Agency, May 28th, 2001]

Mr. Speaker, yet another official report has condemned CIDA mismanagement, incompetency and waste.

This time the public accounts committee has learned that CIDA breaks contracting rules, fails to cut off bad projects and gives sweet deals to retired bureaucrats.

CIDA has become the country's top expert in abuse, mismanagement and patronage. Will the minister act now and fire the managers responsible for this mess?

[Income Tax Amendments Act, 2000, May 11th, 2001]

Yes, I am sure he did. Let me tell the minister opposite what his government and his former department did.

The gentleman's income was $24,000 a year. I hope members across the way will not tell me that $24,000 is a big sum of money. Because the gentleman took money from his retirement savings plan Revenue Canada charged him instalment interest of $109. The department charged him instalment interest on an income of $24,000.

How does the government expect the gentleman to live? How is a gentleman earning only $24,000 expected to pay tax to Revenue Canada on time? Can Revenue Canada not see that and show some compassion instead of charging him $109? I have examples from all my—

[Income Tax Amendments Act, 2000, May 11th, 2001]

Madam Speaker, it is my pleasure to speak to Bill C-22. I take the opportunity to speak to the bill because I have a concern. I will not dwell on the logistics of the bill. I will leave it to my colleagues to talk about its other technical aspects.

I rise to speak to the bill because the government claims it has helped Canadians by reducing taxes and listening to Canadians. I see the former revenue minister sitting there. He created the big super agency and decided how it would work.

I will point out a direct example from my constituency of how the government and the minister's former agency have been picking the pockets of ordinary Canadians. A gentleman in my riding wrote me a letter and gave me permission to talk about it.

Eric is a senior citizen on the Canada pension plan. He is upset because the government is withdrawing money from his account without notifying him. The gentleman lives on CPP and the government is taking more than 10% off his pension. How does the government expect him to live if it takes more than 10% off his CPP?

Eric admits he owes the government money. However the government should have better mechanisms for collecting money from seniors and others who cannot afford to have their meagre benefits taken away by Revenue Canada. How does the government expect the gentleman to live after that?

This morning I rose in the House on an S. O. 31 to talk about a senior citizen who had taken $3,000 out of his retirement savings plan to buy a computer. It triggered penalties and an increase in his income tax. The poor senior citizen ended up losing interest. The gentleman took out $3,000 and ended up paying the government $168.

Is that how we treat senior citizens? Is that how we treat Canadians who work hard and save their money? When they try to reap the fruits of their labour the government, with policies that go from left to right and top to bottom, takes money away from them. It takes only a little here and there but cumulatively the individual loses. The gentleman ended up paying the government. Is that justice? It shows that the left hand of the government does not know what the right hand is doing. All Liberal members care about is how to take money from Canadians.

I have permission from another senior citizen to speak about his income tax return. This gentleman was mad.