Jay Hill

[Business of Supply, March 10th, 2008]

Mr. Speaker, I listened with great interest, as I have done with every debate we have had thus far on this important subject. It is my belief that this is probably the most important subject that we can debate in our nation's Parliament at this particular time in our history. It is the debate that will ultimately decide whether we continue to have our young people in uniform in harm's way.

I listened with some great interest to my colleague from Yukon and his suggestion that we try to imagine the lifestyle of the average Afghani. I speak probably for everyone in this chamber and for all Canadians when I say that our hearts go out to these people. We know how poor they are. We know the trials and tribulations they face on a daily basis just to have some food, some heat, as my colleague was suggesting, in their homes, if they are fortunate enough to have a home of any type at all.

I would ask the member to imagine one situation that I was just made aware of. Six Afghan female members of parliament visited our country just last week. The Speaker of our august chamber had the opportunity to introduce them to the House and, through the television cameras, to our nation.

One of these individuals told me that she had not always been a member of parliament. As the member said, in the past under the Taliban regime women were not allowed to work at all, let alone to aspire to and ultimately become an elected member of parliament. Yet that is the role she has now. She told me that unfortunately her husband had been arrested by the Taliban, had been tortured, and had been murdered by that regime. I would ask my colleague to imagine that.

Imagine what it must be like for that individual to come to a nation like Canada to express her appreciation for everything that Canada has done, for the sacrifices that so many of our young Canadians have made, and then hear the leader of an opposition party suggest that we negotiate with these people, the people who took her husband, the people who left her a widow. She is the mother of two young girls. I would ask my colleague to imagine that.

I wonder if my colleague could suggest to me how it could be possible to negotiate power sharing, which the New Democratic Party believes is somehow possible, with the Taliban when, as he pointed out, ideologically they are so different in so many ways from the duly elected Afghan government that is in power today.

[Committees of the House, March 5th, 2008]

Once again, Mr. Speaker, I think if you were to seek it you would find unanimous consent to apply the results of the vote just taken to the motion presently before the House with Conservative members in attendance tonight voting in favour.

[Committees of the House, March 5th, 2008]

Mr. Speaker, I think if you were to seek it you would find unanimous consent to apply the results of the vote just taken to the motion presently before the House with Conservative members present this evening voting in favour.

[Committees of the House, March 5th, 2008]

Mr. Speaker, I think were you to seek it you would find unanimous consent to apply the results of the vote just taken to the motion presently before the House with Conservative members present this evening voting no.

[Committees of the House, March 5th, 2008]

Mr. Speaker, I move:

That, in relation to its study on small craft harbours, 12 members of the Standing Committee on Fisheries and Oceans be authorized to travel to St. John's, Newfoundland; Bay Roberts, Newfoundland; Twillingate, Newfoundland; St. Peter's Bay, Prince Edward Island; Yarmouth, Nova Scotia; Bathurst, New Brunswick; and Gaspé, Quebec in April-May 2008, and that the necessary staff accompany the committee.

[Committees of the House, March 5th, 2008]

Mr. Speaker, I move:

That, in relation to its study of Tasers, 12 members of the Standing Committee on Public Safety and National Security be authorized to travel to Vancouver, B.C. in April 2008, and that the necessary staff accompany the committee.

[Committees of the House, March 5th, 2008]

Mr. Speaker, again, there have been discussions among all parties on the following motions dealing with travel and I think you would find unanimous consent for the following. I move:

That, four members of the Standing Committee on Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development be authorized to travel to Toronto, Ontario on March 7, 2008 to attend the National Aboriginal Achievement Awards Gala.

[Committees of the House, March 5th, 2008]

Mr. Speaker, hopefully I will have better luck than my colleague, the hon. House leader. I have four motions to present. I know there have been discussions and, hopefully, there will be consent for them. The first deals with the votes tonight. I move:

That, notwithstanding any Standing Order or usual practice of the House, the deferred recorded division on concurrence in the fifth report of the Standing Committee on Finance be taken this evening immediately after the recorded division on concurrence in the second report of the Standing Committee on Human Resources, Social Development and the Status of Persons with Disabilities.

[Points of Order, February 29th, 2008]

On the same point of order, Mr. Speaker, I am going to be very brief. I think upon review you will see that this went way beyond the usual heckling and noise that you just mentioned in the House. As you correctly state, all members heckle from time to time and noise does get excessive and you do your best to try to quell that.

In this particular case though, it really does strike at the very privileges of each member of Parliament to be heard in this place. That is why it is very important that you do a good job of reviewing this, Mr. Speaker, because we do have in this House members from different parties who share desks from time to time. If we are going to allow that type of behaviour, then it is going to get indeed even more unruly.

[Afghanistan, February 26th, 2008]

Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague from the Bloc for his question and reference to the lessons of history, but I would go beyond that and note the old saying: “Those who don't know history are destined to repeat it”.

The member points out that Afghanistan has a long and tragic history. We are well aware of that and all Canadians are, and we do not have to read an encyclopedia to do it, but what is he really saying? Is he saying that these little children that I personally met and my colleagues have talked about are destined for a future with no hope? Is that what he is saying because that is what I think he is saying. He is saying it is not worth the sacrifice of our young men and women. It is not worth the dollars and cents we are investing over there. It is not worth the effort. It is not worth the commitment.

I have always had a problem with the Bloc's position which is that we can somehow set an arbitrary date and say we are going to pull out in 2009 or 2011. I understand we have come to an agreement with the Liberal Party, so that hopefully we can get majority support in this chamber to extend the mission to 2011. But how is it that we can just decide as the NDP has decided that this is enough, that we are going to leave these people, and we are going to allow the Taliban to retrench because that is surely what will happen. We heard many people speak about this in this debate as well.

Try to forecast into the future as to what would happen if the Taliban returned. What would happen to those girls who are going to school? What would happen to the teachers who dare to teach girls? We know what would happen. They would be murdered by this regime because it is not within its beliefs.

I say we have to study the lessons of history, but we also have to study how continuously the world has failed Afghanistan. That is the lesson from history that we should be taking into account. We would want to ensure, on behalf of the sacrifice we have already made there, that the sacrifice is not in vain and ensure we never abandon the people of Afghanistan again because it is not only in their best interests but to repeal a base and to ensure there is no longer a base for worldwide terrorism in Afghanistan--