Joy Smith

[Human Trafficking, June 19th, 2006]

Mr. Speaker, on June 10 of this year I hosted a forum in Winnipeg entitled “Stop the Slavery”, a forum on the growing crime of human trafficking.

Her Excellency Abina Dann, the Canadian ambassador to Ukraine, Victor Malarek, the author of the book The Natashas, Laura Lederer from the U.S. State Department, Irena Soltys from Help Us Help the Children organization, Sonja Bejzyk of the Ukrainian Canadian Congress and myself made up the list of presenters.

Over 2,000 women and children were trafficked through Canada last year alone. This is a growing crime that trafficks nearly a million women and children across the globe into the sex trade every year. Human rights groups, women and children's advocates, and police are applauding our government for announcing measures that will protect these vulnerable victims.

This is a crime our government is addressing. This is a crime we will not tolerate on Canadian soil.

[Public Health Agency of Canada Act, June 13th, 2006]

Mr. Speaker, I am very pleased to ask the member a question regarding the Public Health Agency of Canada because, as the member knows, it is located in Winnipeg.

It is a very important agency, especially with the issue of the future and possible pandemics and, as the member so eloquently relayed to us, the present health minister was actually in charge when the SARS epidemic hit Ontario.

Could the member outline some of the very important things that the Public Health Agency, under Dr. Butler, will offer to all Canadians in terms of safety, health care in a possible pandemic at some point in time, and how that might relate to West Nile virus, for example?

[Business of Supply, June 8th, 2006]

Mr. Speaker, I am interested in a few things. Some parts of the motion definitely have some merit. When it talks about “targeted initiatives to strengthen skills, job-readiness and successful workplace participation among First Nations, Metis, Inuit, and other Aboriginal peoples”, and also when it talks about “measures to reduce financial barriers that now stand in the way of students”, it has some merit.

The Government of Canada now is introducing new measures that provide strong incentives for employers to hire new apprentices, so it goes along with some of these things in this motion. There is an apprenticeship incentive grant, which provides grants to apprentices for the first two years. There is an apprenticeship job creation cash credit. Some of these kinds of things really mesh with the spirit of this particular opposition motion.

I have a question for the member opposite. The Canadian government now stands in a place where it is helping apprenticeship programs and creating grants and tax deductions for tools to help tradespeople with the cost of tools. Does the member not agree that this would attract more people into apprenticeship programs and support their training, which indeed is a good aspect of some of the good spirit of this motion?

Although there are some things in the motion that I have questions about, does the member not agree that the apprenticeship programs and the kinds of things that the government has put in place are very useful for apprentices in our nation?

[Infrastructure, June 5th, 2006]

Mr. Speaker, the Liberals claimed that when it came to infrastructure funding their way was the only way and yet the Federation of Canadian Municipalities has praised the Conservative government's approach to infrastructure and cities.

Could the Minister of Transport update the House on the Conservative government's approach and the response from the Federation of Canadian Municipalities?

[Business of Supply, June 1st, 2006]

Mr. Speaker, clearly the Competition Bureau is there to make sure that everything is fair and that we have a competitive marketplace so Canadians can benefit from competitive prices. We know that gas prices go up and down depending on a number of variables.

The member suggested that the Competition Bureau did not have enough teeth. In actual fact, in the past 10 years the bureau has secured more than 40 convictions with more than $200 million in fines for conspiracy offences in different sectors concerning this issue. It seems to me that the bureau already has teeth for it to have been able to do this. Could the member elaborate a bit more, please, on what he meant by the bureau needing more teeth?

[Budget Implementation Act, May 19th, 2006]

Mr. Speaker, it is part of parliamentary rhetoric to hear the kinds of comments that we heard from members opposite this morning, but just to be clear, is the member opposite saying that a cut in GST will not help Canadians? Is the member opposite saying that $1200 for every child under six years of age going to every family in Canada will not help Canadian families?

[Budget Implementation Act, May 19th, 2006]

Mr. Speaker, it is passing strange to be listening this morning to the member for Malpeque go through a litany of reasons why he thinks this government has not done anything. Why was this member not concerned when the Liberals were slashing agriculture programs under the former prime minister and when this same member voted against supporting Canadian farmers with emergency aid in 2001? Why did this member vote against standing up to U.S. protectionist policies on May 28, 2002? Why did this member vote against sending a delegation to the U.S. to try to get the border opened for ranchers? Why did this member vote against helping farmers hard hit by the mad cow crisis?

In less than 200 days our government has stepped forward, and I am very proud to say that our minister has provided for loan enhancements for these farmers to double the loan maximum for spring advances to $100,000 and to keep the loan interest free. All these things are coming forward to replace the CAIS program that is available now and to support farmers in a real way. The previous government had 13 years to do all the things that the member opposite is complaining about now. The member opposite should be supporting all the things that our government has put forward to help farmers. This government has done a lot.

Why is that member, after the record he has, not now supporting the good things for farmers so that farmers can carry on with their spring seeding and their land programs?

[Human Trafficking, May 11th, 2006]

Mr. Speaker, the trafficking of women and children from other countries into Canada is a horrific crime. It is a crime that has gone unchecked for far too long.

Women forced into sex slavery in Canada need our help. They are often victims of organized crime.

Today the Minister of Citizenship and Immigration announced new measures to help victims of human trafficking.

First, victims of human trafficking will receive temporary residence permits for up to 120 days so that they can recover from their ordeal and decide if they want to help in the prosecution of their traffickers. Second, the government will give these victims medical support and access to counselling services to help them begin to recover.

I am proud to be a part of this new Conservative government that cares for victims and gets tough on criminals. Canada will no longer be a haven for the trafficking of women and children.

[Paul Boge, May 10th, 2006]

Mr. Speaker, I rise in the House today to congratulate my constituent, Paul Boge, on the upcoming launch of his third book entitled The Cities of Fortune.

Paul Boge is a novelist, filmmaker and practising engineer. His first novel, The Chicago Healer, won the best new Canadian author award. While balancing work and writing, Paul has been active in public speaking and inner city rescue work, and has also taught at an orphanage in Kenya.

Paul is a young, dynamic and talented individual who exemplifies inspiration. His official book signing takes place tomorrow evening in Winnipeg. I would like to offer my congratulations and best wishes to Paul on another successful endeavour.

[Taxpayers' Bill of Rights Act, May 8th, 2006]

moved for leave to introduce Bill C-266, An Act to confirm the rights of taxpayers and establish the Office for Taxpayer Protection.

Mr. Speaker, I rise to give first reading to my private member's bill entitled, an act to confirm the rights of taxpayers and establish the office for taxpayer protection.

The purpose of the legislation is to confirm the rights of taxpayers and provide a fairer balance in dealings between taxpayers and the Canada Revenue Agency. It would establish an office for taxpayer protection, headed by an officer of Parliament to be known as the chief advocate. The role of the office would be to assist taxpayers to assert the rights enumerated in this enactment.

When a taxpayer provides reasonable explanations, the burden of proof would be on the Minister of Revenue to show that the tax is to be paid.

The legislation is a direct genesis of a policy passed at a Conservative Party of Canada policy convention in March 2005. I ask all members to support the legislation.

(Motions deemed adopted, bill read the first time and printed)