Joe Peschisolido

[Canada Post, April 4th, 2001]

Mr. Speaker, in March the Minister of National Revenue admitted that customs officials were opening mail coming into Canada. A government bill has just been introduced in the Senate allowing customs officials to open mail leaving Canada.

Why does the Minister of National Revenue want to invade the privacy of Canadians?

[National Revenue, March 22nd, 2001]

Mr. Speaker, with an economic downturn on the way, the government should be encouraging, not discouraging investments. The foreign asset disclosure rule was designed to boost tax compliance and increase revenue, yet it has done just the opposite.

If this rule works as well as the Liberals claim it does, why is the Minister of National Revenue afraid of a cost benefit analysis?

[National Revenue, March 22nd, 2001]

Mr. Speaker, nearly a month ago I sent a letter to the Minister of Finance and the Minister of National Revenue asking them to commission the auditor general to do a cost benefit analysis of the foreign asset disclosure rule.

To this date I have only received a form-like acknowledgement of my request. Will the Minister of National Revenue ask the auditor general to do a cost benefit analysis of this rule?

[Immigration, March 19th, 2001]

Mr. Speaker, that was not the question that I asked. According to the minister's own application form, in order to get a meeting scheduled two police certificates have to be provided.

Once again, let me ask this question very simply. Did Mr. Amodeo and his wife provide those two police certificates in order to get that meeting? Yes or no.

[Immigration, March 19th, 2001]

Mr. Speaker, last week in the House the minister of immigration said that the Amodeo file had followed normal departmental procedure. Yet the Amodeos had to provide with their application documents certifying that they had no criminal record and were not under police investigation.

How did Mr. Amodeo and his wife get a meeting with immigration officials if he had not provided those two police certificates?

[Immigration, March 15th, 2001]

Mr. Speaker, the minister's response is completely irrelevant. The name Amodeo was not originally removed from the application. The meeting did take place. This occurred after the meeting. Could the minister explain how Mr. Amodeo received this meeting in the first place?

[Immigration, March 15th, 2001]

Mr. Speaker, Gaetano Amodeo and his wife had an appointment with Immigration Canada to discuss their immigrant status. The Corriere Canadese has found out that the meeting was not cancelled, contrary to what the Minister of Citizenship and Immigration told us.

In order to be allowed to appeal, a person must provide documents that state two things: the person does not have a criminal record and is not the subject of an investigation.

Could the Minister of Citizenship and Immigration tell us whether her department received such documents?

[Immigration, March 14th, 2001]

Mr. Speaker, it is the same thing here all the time. The name of Gaetano Amodeo has appeared on two applications for permanent residence status. The first dates from June 1999 and the second from September 2000.

Could the Minister of Citizenship and Immigration tell us exactly when her department checked the name of Gaetano Amodeo with the Canadian Police Information Centre?

[Immigration, March 14th, 2001]

Mr. Speaker, during question period yesterday the solicitor general praised the effectiveness of the Canadian police information centre database.

My question to the solicitor general is very simple. When did the RCMP add the name Gaetano Amodeo to this database?

[Immigration, March 13th, 2001]

Mr. Speaker, on September 1, 2000, Mr. Gaetano Amodeo applied again for permanent residency. His arrest warrant was issued 18 months before.

Again I ask a question of the minister of immigration. Why did her ministry fail a second time to conduct a police check?