Diane Bourgeois

[Supply, March 24th, 2003]

Mr. Speaker, the situation in Afghanistan is being condemned around the world. We are even more aware of this, since Ms. Samar came to visit us here on Parliament Hill, and asked for help. She is no longer a part of the government. There are virtually no more committees dealing with the status of women in Afghanistan and I would invite the parliamentary secretary to check his notes.

When it comes to Afghanistan, it seems clear to me that Canada has been had. I do not deny that Canada has given money and that it will continue to do so. However, there are no conditions attached to this money.

I would like to know if the same problem will occur in Iraq. Will the government ensure that when it gives millions of dollars, there will be conditions to ensure that the money does indeed go to helping women, children and families?

[Supply, March 24th, 2003]

Mr. Speaker, the war has not substantially improved the plight of the people of Afghanistan.

When the allies, including Canada, let the warlords, including the Northern Alliance, form the new Afghani government, they gave power to rapists.

Between 1992 and 1996, the Northern Alliance gratuitously killed and massacred, sowing terror in Kabul. They forced women in Afghanistan to wear the veil. They also hold the record for the most rapes of girls and women aged seven to seventy in that country.

There is a long list of massacres. They deserve to be judged by the international court. Canada, as an ally, turned power over to them. The Minister for International Cooperation announced last week that Canada would provide an additional $250 million in assistance to Afghanistan.

The money will fund four priorities established by the government of Afghanistan: community development, natural resource management, heightened security and improved legislation, and support for the current government.

While Canadian reports, including those from Rights & Democracy and from Afghan-Canadian women, are condemning the Afghan government in power and urging donor countries to suspend all financial and military assistance to warlords and find practical ways of helping the Afghan people, the Canadian government is announcing millions of dollars in funding for that government.

Granted, the United Nations reported that the situation of Afghan women has improved since our allies went in, but one might wonder what was the basis for this statement. Is the fact that women are no longer required to wear the burka indicative of a real change in attitude? They have seen their access to education, health care and employment improve, but they are still living in an unsafe environment.

These women are no fools. They know who is in power. They live every day in the fear of a return of the terror of the 1990s. They continue to wear the burka for their protection. The ruling Northern Alliance is destroying any chance of change. Human Rights Watch reported that the situation of women has even deteriorated in some regions of Afghanistan. They are now allowed to study, but their schools are being burned down. Moreover, women are the victims of organized abuse by local governments. The rules put in place by the Taliban are still in force in some parts of the country.

We know that Iraq is a country that does not respect human rights, even less so when it comes to women. On a daily basis, women and men in Iraq must live under a reign of terror that is not unlike the one that used to exist in Afghanistan. As we know, any woman who exercises the right to freedom of expression runs the risk of having her tongue cut out.

Women who oppose the regime and the wives of men who oppose it are killed. This situation—and I will conclude on this—has been known for a very long time, but until now it has seldom been condemned.

Again, I ask the government: Will it ensure that the humanitarian relief it provides when the Iraq war is over will be used exclusively to help the people, and not the government, as in Afghanistan?

[Action Week Against Racism, March 24th, 2003]

Mr. Speaker, yesterday was the last day of Action Week Against Racism. Created in March 2000 by a group of some 20 Quebec organizations, the aim of this week is to demystify racism and raise the level of understanding about this problem to better fight the phenomenon.

These days, racism is particularly noticeable in the work force. It is mostly women and visible minorities who are still the targets of discrimination. The latest statistics from Statistics Canada prove this. Recent immigrants earn much less than their Canadian-born counterparts, even ten years after they have been here. This is as much a problem for immigrants who are not well educated as for those who have a university degree.

Quebec has the most innovative policies to address all forms of racism. The Bloc Quebecois would like to congratulate the Government of Quebec for the inclusive measures it has put in place.

[International Cooperation, March 20th, 2003]

Mr. Speaker, on Monday we learned that Canadian development money for Afghanistan was going to warlords from the northern alliance. However, we know that these warlords will hinder any improvements to the status for Afghan women. It is the northern alliance that is responsible for raping women and forcing them to wear the burka.

Could the Minister of International Cooperation assure us that money that Canada gives will, in fact, be used to improve living conditions for the people of Afghanistan, including women?

[Iraq, March 18th, 2003]

Mr. Speaker, the situation for women in Afghanistan has not improved since the new government was put in place in Kabul. Women are still limited in their movements and freedom of expression, and mass rape persists.

Knowing that the Iraqi regime commits systematic and extremely serious violations of human rights, what does Canada intend to do in the event of a military intervention in Iraq to ensure that the Iraqi people receive more support and help than the people of Afghanistan did?

[Foreign Affairs, February 18th, 2003]

Mr. Speaker, it has been almost one year to the day since Ingrid Betancourtwas kidnapped and taken hostage by the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia.

This courageous and determined young woman, a Colombian presidential candidate at the time of her kidnapping, must not be forgotten.

Ingrid's daughter Mélanie has not relented in her efforts to have her mother freed. Tonight, at the University of Montreal, she will meet with many people who are interested in this humanitarian cause, including many people who take part in the marches on the 23rd of each month organized by the Ingrid Betancourt Canadian Support Committee.

The Bloc Quebecois wishes to assure Mélanie of its full support and hopes that the Colombian commission responsible for negotiating humanitarian exchanges will obtain the immediate and unconditional release of Ingrid Betancourt.

[National Suicide Prevention Week, February 10th, 2003]

Mr. Speaker, national suicide prevention week, under way until February 15, is primarily designed to convince young people between the ages of 15 and 20 that there are solutions to their pain and that suicide is not one of them.

A myriad of activities will take place in all regions of Quebec to demystify the issue of suicide and raise awareness of suicide prevention and crisis intervention.

As a society, we have an important contribution to make to our teenagers. A person's pain must never be underestimated, whatever that person's age or reasons.

Adolescence is a particularly difficult phase of life, one when suicidal behaviour is more likely to occur. This is an intense period of social, family, physical and emotional change. Lack of self-esteem, difficulties in resolving conflicts, despair and the belief that there is no other way out are all often the result of pain that has become unbearable.

As the slogan says, “Putting an end to one's life is never the solution”.

[Divorce Act, February 4th, 2003]

Madam Speaker, I would first like to congratulate my deskmate from the New Democratic Party. I always enjoy talking with him and listening to his speeches. He is a brand new member who has been here for only a few months and I must admit that we get along very well.

His statements are in line with what I said about the need for a true family policy, which is lacking here in Canada. We are trying to achieve this in Quebec; this could be done if we had the means, if we had the money, if we had the opportunity to pass legislation and the possibility of taking money from the EI fund.

My colleague talked about the community raising children. I totally agree with him. When you live in a small town or village, everyone knows one another or at least one another's children and can take certain responsibilities. When you know your next door neighbour has a drink and hits his wife, you can intervene more easily than if you lived anonymously in a large city.

That said, my colleague talked about two aspects: prevention and cure. As to prevention, if there were no divorce, we would not need the Divorce Act if we maybe had the means to help families. That is what our colleague said.

As to cure, when people divorce, it seems that both spouses are not on equal footing.

I would like our colleague to talk about these two elements, that is, the need to have a real policy to help families and, second, about what is missing for both spouses to be on an equal footing when they divorce.

[Divorce Act, February 4th, 2003]

Madam Speaker, it seems to me that on several occasions today, I heard members, particularly the Alliance member who just spoke, talk about the fact that when couples divorce, both spouses should have equal rights.

Unless I misunderstood, and he can correct me if I am wrong, does he think that, right now, men and women have equal rights in a divorce? Right now, in Canada, do women and men have equal rights when they divorce?

[Divorce Act, February 4th, 2003]

Mr. Speaker, we know that, since the meeting in Beijing, Canada has made the commitment to make recommendations to each department in relation to the gender-based analysis. The government spends $10 million a year on this type of gender-based analysis.

In the context of the changes to the Divorce Act, can the secretary of state tell us whether Status of Women Canada has done a gender-based analysis and whether it would be possible to obtain a copy of the report that Status of Women Canada presented to the committee responsible for studying the changes to the Divorce Act?