House of Commons photo

Crucial Fact

  • His favourite word was justice.

Last in Parliament October 2015, as Liberal MP for Mount Royal (Québec)

Won his last election, in 2011, with 41% of the vote.

Statements in the House

International Criminal Court March 14th, 2002

Mr. Speaker, I wish to draw members' attention to a preparation meeting for the International Criminal Court to be held this week in The Hague.

The Government of Canada is co-sponsoring this meeting with the governments of the United Kingdom, Germany and the Netherlands. The International Criminal Court is a key element of Canada's Human Security Agenda and Canada has long been one of its principal proponents.

The preparation meeting will bring together representatives of government and experts from the international criminal tribunals for the former Yugoslavia and Rwanda to assess the documentation of human resources, budgetary and operational issues. Canada's leadership on the ICC continues with experts from Canada participating in the meeting.

The Statute of Rome now has 55 ratifications and needs only five more to become reality. This meeting is being held so that the documents needed to get the court up and running quickly will be available and so that the court can operate effectively.

I invite members of the House to join with me in wishing the delegates to this meeting every success in their important work of getting ready for the International Criminal Court.

Budget Implementation Act, 2001 March 11th, 2002

Mr. Speaker, today marks six months from September 11, the day the world was changed and where the protection of human security emerged as a central motif in budgetary planning and process which was finally expressed in Bill C-49.

The protection of human security, as I have said in the House, includes not only funding the components of a counterterrorism law and policy. It includes investing in people, in securing and sustaining a healthy and holistic environment, and in improving the health of Canadians by investing in the environment.

Indeed investment in a healthy environment, as in Bill C-49, can confer an economic benefit in job creation and the promotion of technological innovation, a resource and energy benefit in the conservation of energy and increasing the security of energy supplies, and a health benefit in improving the quality of our air and water and in reducing the toxicity of our environment.

For example, it is estimated that air pollution is responsible for 16,000 premature deaths and hundreds of thousands of incidents of illness. There are at least 10,000 abandoned toxic sites across Canada, including some 5,000 within federal jurisdiction.

It can confer a heritage benefit in the protection and conservation of our natural heritage and a political and juridical benefit in permitting us to undertake our responsibilities as global citizens.

One can only welcome, therefore, the investment in tax initiatives in Bill C-49 intended to promote and protect a cleaner and healthier environment, including a partenariat with communities to help the environment and support for communities both urban and rural that actively contribute toward a healthier environment.

Launched last year and administered by the Federation of Canadian Municipalities, part of this partenariat, the green municipal enabling fund and the green municipal investment fund have been effective in stimulating community based feasibility work and investments in more than 100 projects to improve the environment in diverse areas such as energy and water savings, community energy systems, urban transit, waste diversion and renewable energy.

The budget doubles the green municipal enabling fund and the green municipal investment fund at a cost of $25 million and $100 million respectively in the current fiscal year. These funds in addition to the new strategic infrastructure fund and the existing infrastructure fund will help protect our natural heritage while creating jobs, promoting technological information and providing affordable housing.

It will protect air quality and promote energy efficiency through incentives for clean energy and energy efficiency. Renewable energy and reducing energy consumption are essential components of the government's strategy to address climate change and improve air quality.

Budget 2001 supports this objective by investing $260 million in a 15 year program that will offer production incentives for electricity that is produced from qualifying wind energy projects and will encourage investment in these wind energy projects.

Budget 2001 also invests $5 million a year to broaden eligibility for the income tax incentives that apply to renewable energy and certain energy efficiency projects.

It will promote sustainable woodlot management. The budget sets aside $10 million a year to eliminate a provision related to the intergenerational tax deferred rollover for farm property that sometimes led to the premature harvest of woodlots. This will ensure better management of the resource.

The next area is the toxicity of contaminated land. Across Canada as in most countries in the world contaminated land lies unused and unproductive. Such sites known as brownfields may have the potential for rejuvenation, bringing both health and economic benefits to communities.

Therefore a little noticed but very important item in the budget is that in response to the government the National Round Table on the Environment and the Economy has agreed to develop a national brownfield redevelopment strategy to ensure that Canada is a global leader in remediation.

There is a recent series of federal initiatives in support of the environment such as an initial $100 million for the sustainable development technology fund to stimulate the development and demonstration of promising new environmental technology, a contribution of $60 million to the Canadian Foundation for Climate and Atmospheric Sciences to support academic research on climate change and air pollution, $150 million to renew the climate change action fund, $60 million for energy efficiency and renewable energy programs to lay the foundation for future greenhouse gas emission reductions in accordance with the Kyoto protocol by facilitating the development of technology and supporting energy efficiency and renewable energy projects, and $90 million allocated for the national strategy on species at risk to support habitat stewardship programs and other species protection activities.

This leads me to address three important initiatives regarding the promotion and protection of a healthy environment by way of conclusion. The first relates to the Kyoto protocol. As we can appreciate the world's climate is changing at an unprecedented rate. Without government action the long term consequence will be dramatic. In the north of Canada, as the Minister of the Environment has demonstrated, permafrost and sea ice are in retreat or melting. As a result Hudson Bay polar bears are at an increased risk of starvation because of a shorter seal hunting season.

The cost of moving supplies to communities on resource development projects is increasing because the ice road season is shorter and the traditional lifestyle of aboriginal peoples is threatened. We also feel its effects in the south with droughts affecting the agriculture and forestry sectors and the lower water levels of the Great Lakes disrupting our inland shipping routes.

In a word, both domestically and globally climate change is a major environmental problem that has an impact on the quality of life of all. Fortunately this past summer 178 countries finally reached agreement on the primary rules to implement the Kyoto protocol. In Marrakesh, Morocco in November we reached a final agreement on the crucial legal and technical details for the implementation of the protocol.

Canada played a key role in the four years it took to conclude the international rules to implement the Kyoto protocol. We now have a solid agreement that is good for Canada, that is good for the economy, that is good for the environment. We have a deal that will allow Canada and other developed countries to achieve the greenhouse gas emission reduction commitments they made in the Kyoto protocol in ways that are environmentally and economically sound in both the short and long term.

Admittedly there are challenges to overcome in reducing our emissions but there are also opportunities. Canadians have considerable expertise in clean energy and energy efficiency and there will be vast new markets for our know how.

Like the industrial revolution and the information technology revolution we are now in the cusp of the clean energy revolution. Clean sustainable energy can do much more than just reduce the risk of climate change and ensure cleaner air. It can also bring jobs, investment income and a competitive edge.

Similarly we recognize that the actions that need to be taken to achieve our climate change commitments will have costs, but there are also significant benefits such as lower health care costs resulting from cleaner air; job creation through, for example, cost effective building retrofit projects; lower costs for the forestry and agricultural sectors through the adoption of sustainable production methods; lower operating and production costs from energy efficiency; and revenue sources for municipalities from, for example, using landfill gases to generate electricity and the potential for exporting our technology and expertise.

When we hear the fears expressed with regard to the economic costs we should look at it in its total context, not only in terms of the economic costs but the economic benefits and the benefits to the environment, the benefits to health and the benefits to job creation and the like.

This brings me to my second major initiative: the species at risk bill. I support the amendments from the Standing Committee on the Environment and Sustainable Development that were put forward in three respects. The first is strengthening habitat protection in areas of federal jurisdiction. This addresses the most contentious issue of witnesses with Bill C-5, that it does not make the protection of critical habitat mandatory even in areas of federal jurisdiction.

While the committee amended the bill to make habitat protection mandatory in areas of federal jurisdiction, protection is delayed for at least two years after listing until the action plan stage. This will allow ample time for input from provinces, territories, stakeholders and negotiating voluntary stewardship agreements with landowners or companies.

The second amendment I support is ensuring that the decision to list a species is science based and accountable. Bill C-5 allows cabinet complete discretion to decide which species to list at risk. There is no requirement to act based on science, no time limit and no obligation to provide reasons for not listing a species. It is important to note that a decision not to list a species can result in a species extinction.

The committee made three changes to the process for listing species. Cabinet will have six months to decide whether to accept a recommendation by the scientific committee. The recommendation then takes effect if it is not varied or rejected by cabinet and the minister must give reasons if the recommendations are not followed.

These changes were themselves a compromise.

The third recommendation that I would--

Terrorism March 11th, 2002

Mr. Speaker, six months from September 11, the foundational principles of counterterrorism law and policy bear recall and reaffirmation, particularly in light of the horrific terrorist assaults on civilians in Jerusalem this past weekend.

First, terrorism, the deliberate maiming, murder and terrorizing of innocents, can never be justified. Canada, as the Prime Minister put it, condemns without equivocation this use of terrorist violence for political objectives.

Second, the transnational networks of super-terrorists, with access to weapons of mass destruction, constitute an existential threat to the right to life, liberty and the security of the person.

Third, freedom from acts of terror and freedom of fear of terror constitute a cornerstone from human security.

Fourth, there can be no moral equivalence or similitude between terrorism and counterterrorism.

Fifth, support and sanctuary for groups responsible for terrorism, as the Prime Minister put it, is unacceptable.

Sixth, counterterrorism must always comport with human rights and humanitarian norms.

Canada extends its deepest sympathies and condolences to the families of the victims of terror on this six month anniversary of September 11.

Trade February 28th, 2002

Mr. Speaker, we welcome President Katsav of Israel on his first state visit to Canada reflecting the close and friendly bilateral relationship between our two countries--nurtured by strong political, economic, juridical and cultural ties; the shared values of two parliamentary democracies; multicultural societies and nations of immigrants; mixed legal jurisdictions of civil and common law; and each undergoing a constitutional revolution with the adoption of charters of rights and with trade based economies offering unlimited partnering opportunities and export potential.

President Katsav's visit coincides with an important anniversary, the fifth anniversary of the Canada-Israel free trade agreement which has been an undisputed success for both Canada and Israel. Bilateral trade has doubled. Canada's exports to Israel have grown more than 30% and in 2001 two way trade exceeded $1 billion for the first time ever.

As we look ahead to the next five years, we are confident that the Canada-Israel free trade agreement will continue to serve as a powerful tool for increased trade and investment which are the lifeblood of our economy and an important source of jobs for all Canadians.

Immigration January 30th, 2002

Mr. Speaker, could the Minister of Citizenship and Immigration tell the House what the Government of Canada intends to do on the issue of returning people to Zimbabwe?

The Budget January 29th, 2002

Madam Speaker, as I said in my speech, I only referred to financial support provided to Canadians and Quebecers, to protect and promote the human security of all Canadians and Quebecers.

The Budget January 29th, 2002

Madam Speaker, there are a number of initiatives in the budget which deal with what my hon. colleague has referred to as disproportionately larger tax burdens and which provide express and specific tax relief.

I indicated at the outset of my remarks that for reasons of time constraints I would confine them to issues of research and of equity and excellence in education. The budget is part of a larger package of investing in people and programs, and we should not simply look at it from a spending dimension. These investments will promote and protect human security. That was the purpose and nature of the budget.

The Budget January 29th, 2002

Madam Speaker, it has become commonplace in the House to hear the words that on September 11 the world was changed. I do not know whether the world changed on September 11 or whether what we witnessed was the darker underside of evil, but it is clear that September 11 has had a transformative impact on our psyches, policies and purposes.

Prior to September 11 terrorism was not even on the parliamentary radar screen. Since September 11 it has dominated parliamentary debate, and security has been a central motif in budget 2001. However security does not only include components of counterterrorism law and policy, however important it may be, and which has parallel budgetary expression.

Security also includes investing in people. It includes investment in early childhood education and development, in protecting and securing the most vulnerable among us, in securing and sustaining a healthy and holistic environment, and in sustaining a strategic investment in our schools, colleges, universities, the sciences and humanities, and lifelong learning.

In a word, it is investment in people across the full spectrum of education and science, in an environment of excellence and equity. That kind of investment is an investment as well in the security of Canada and Canadians.

Accordingly, I will confine my remarks to the promotion of security through education although I am not unmindful of the imperatives of health care, environment, child poverty, aboriginal justice and the like. I will focus on two themes: equity in education and excellence in education.

In the matter of equity in education, the budget builds on a number of initiatives taken in budgets 1999 and 2000. They include tax credits and scholarships to help defray the costs of education, contributing to provincial support for post-secondary education, making significant investments to encourage innovation, urging Canadians of all ages to engage in lifelong learning, and working to bring the Internet and e-education to all Canadians.

A number of express initiatives were undertaken which first found expression in budgets 1999 and 2000 and which have received widespread support. They include awarding a million scholarships worth a total of $2.5 billion over 10 years through the Canada Millennium Scholarship Foundation; establishing and sustaining 2,000 new Canada university research chairs with $900 million in federal support for five years; developing and providing increased support for the Canadian Foundation for Innovation; and connecting individual classrooms across the country to the Internet.

Budget 2001 continues to build on these initiatives with the following new and specific démarches: First, $10 million a year will be provided to improve support for persons with disabilities who pursue higher education. The maximum amount for assistance delivered through the Canada study grant will increase to $8,000 from $5,000. In addition, a supplementary grant of up to $2,000 a year will be provided to students who require more money to meet their special needs.

Second, there will be $5 million a year to exempt from income tax any tuition assistance for adult basic education provided under certain government programs including employment insurance.

Third, there will be $20 million a year to extend the education tax credit to people who receive taxable assistance for post-secondary education under certain government programs including employment insurance. This will provide approximately 65,000 Canadians with significant tax relief to upgrade their skills.

Fourth, there will be $5 million a year to promote linguistic exchanges and activities for young Canadians. This is part of a program for the protection of minority language rights.

Fifth, there will be support for early childhood development across Canada with a particular focus on first nations children on reserves. This will include initiatives such as the head start program.

Sixth, a further $110 million will be invested to build the world's fastest all-optical Internet backbone to connect our major research universities and colleges.

Seventh, budget 2001 will make a number of targeted investments to help Canada stay ahead of the international competition in leading edge research. They include a one time $200 million investment to help Canadian universities, particularly smaller ones, deal with the financial pressures associated with federally supported research activity. There will be a 7% increase in the annual budget of the granting councils. This represents $36.5 million a year for the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council and $9.5 million a year for the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council.

Eighth, there will be a $25 million investment over five years to sustain and enhance the research program of the internationally renowned Canadian Institute for Advanced Research. This will assist in the recruitment and retention of top researchers in Canada.

Ninth, $110 million over three years will go to the National Research Council of Canada so it can acquire leading edge technologies and expand its regional innovation initiatives.

Tenth, there will be continued support for and enhancement of the Networks of Centres of Excellence across the country which has promoted collaborative intellectual inquiry across disciplines and cultures.

Eleventh, there will be continued support for and enhancements of the Canada Research Chairs Program which has recruited the best talents including returning Canadians while retaining the best Canadian talent.

Twelfth, it will provide $75 million a year to the Canadian Institutes of Health Research which includes the Institute of Gender and Health and the Institute of Aboriginal Peoples' Health. Apart from the transformative impact of focusing on prevention as well as treatment in matters of health care, this strategic investment will have a specific impact on groups such as women and aboriginal people.

Thirteenth, $95 million in funding for a further four years will go to the Canadian Institute for Health Information. This is a preventive as well as a curative approach to medicine and health care.

These welcome investments in people, education, research and science do not mean there are no serious concerns in the matter of education, particularly education equity for which budgetary support is still required. There are concerns about differential access to higher education and the ongoing limited provincial funding of higher education in many jurisdictions. There are concerns that the allocation formula of granting councils and other agencies will result in some regions and institutions benefiting significantly less than others. There is a need for an infrastructure program to deal with our crumbling college and university campuses.

Research today is the source of new jobs and new ideas for tomorrow. Strategic investment in people will make Canada a leader in the knowledge economy and help protect human security for all Canadians.

Hanukkah December 10th, 2001

Mr. Speaker, today is the first day of the holiday of Hanukkah, the festival of lights of freedom, commemorating the foundational rights of freedom of religion, minority rights and human dignity and liberty.

It is also Human Rights Day, commemorating the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the affirmation of the inherent dignity of the human person, the equal dignity of all persons and that we are all one human family.

Happily students from Montreal in my own constituency and Ottawa, the Hebrew Academy and Hillel respectively came together to celebrate the convergence of this historic commemoration as the Peace Tower, in an historic first, intoned freedom songs from the Hanukkah festival.

Regrettably we learned today of the deaths of two Palestinian children. Every child, Palestinian or Israeli, Muslim or Jew, is a universe and every death is a human tragedy.

I will close with the words sung by the Hillel schoolchildren today: “Nation shall not lift up sword against nation, nor shall they learn war anymore”.

International Criminal Court December 5th, 2001

Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to inform hon. members that lawyers associations from all over the world will be meeting in Paris this Thursday and Friday. The purpose of this conference is to create an international criminal lawyers' association for the International Criminal Court. This conference is organized by the International Criminal Defence Attorneys Association, the headquarters of which is in Montreal.

The International Criminal Court is a central element of Canada's human security agenda and Canada has long been a world leader in the creation of the court.

Accordingly the Government of Canada is co-sponsoring this conference through the ICC campaign of the Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade. It will bring together over 300 experts from the bar associations of 60 countries, including from the developing nations, and with representatives from foreign affairs and national defence in attendance.

Reflecting its commitment to due process and the rule of law, the Rome statute provides for the provision of legal counsel both to individuals accused and the victims of crimes within the court's jurisdiction. Indeed the conference dramatizes just how close we are to having the ICC, with the Rome statute having received the 47th of the 60 ratifications needed to create the court just last week.