Leon Benoit

[National Defence, November 1st, 2001]

Mr. Speaker, either the minister does not understand the problem or he just does not care about our men and women in the forces.

In May of this year, before we had committed the 2,000 people to this latest cause, the war on terrorism, Admiral Maddison, head of the navy, said “At the moment, I'm about 400 people short. Almost all of those are technicians, highly skilled”.

The CISS and the CDA report that the navy is already robbing technical staff from the army and the army is short as well.

How can the minister be so out of touch with the military when it is his area of responsibility?

[National Defence, November 1st, 2001]

Mr. Speaker, yesterday the defence minister said that we had thousands of sailors for future rotations and that we had no problems.

The facts are that even before this latest commitment he closed down ships due to lack of personnel. He mothballed one of our four destroyers due to lack of sailors. He put 7 of our 12 frigates on a lower state of readiness due to lack of sailors. Where are we going to get the people trained, ready and rested to meet future rotations?

[National Defence, October 31st, 2001]

Mr. Speaker, why the contradictory message? The minister said when we only had the other obligations that we could not meet our commitments, that it was stretching our men and women too thin.

The government's longstanding lack of commitment to our military is putting the safety and security of our men and women in jeopardy. That is the fact. It threatens to tear our military families apart and it threatens the security in Canada.

Due to the government's total neglect of our military the minister will either have to pull our troops out of the war against terrorism or put at risk the safety and security of our men and women serving in the forces. Which will it be?

[National Defence, October 31st, 2001]

Mr. Speaker, the defence minister said recently that our men and women serving in the Canadian forces are stretched too thin and cannot meet any new demands. That was before the new commitments in the war against terrorism. Now we learn that there likely will be a spring offensive in Afghanistan.

How will the minister meet the requirements for the next rotation and subsequent rotations without endangering the safety and security of our serving men and women?

[Immigration, October 30th, 2001]

Mr. Speaker, the fact is this person was given refugee status in our country because his father was a member of a terrorist group.

The Canadian Alliance has been the strongest proponent for genuine refugees but the minister's poor screening has given refugees all a bad name in the country, and that is not acceptable to the loyal opposition.

Does the immigration minister think she did the right thing in giving refugee status based on family membership in a terrorist group?

[Immigration, October 30th, 2001]

Mr. Speaker, Syrian Hassan Almrei was granted refugee status in Canada last year based on a fake United Arab emirate passport and a Canadian visa that he purchased for $5,000. He claimed that he feared persecution because his father was a member of the Muslim brotherhood in Syria.

The fact is the Muslim brotherhood is a well-known terrorist group that assassinated Egyptian president Anwar Sadat in 1981.

My question is for the immigration minister. Why is having a terrorist in the family grounds for refugee status here in Canada?

[Immigration, October 29th, 2001]

Mr. Speaker, why will this minister not really work with the United States and sign a safe third country agreement with it? It is needed. This would prevent people who should claim in the United States from having to claim in Canada instead where the system is much more lax. Still, this weekend the immigration minister said it was not a priority with her government.

Why will the minister not make this a priority to ensure the security of Canadians and their jobs?

[Immigration, October 29th, 2001]

Mr. Speaker, this weekend the immigration minister revealed that fully 40% of refugee claimants are from the United States.

Signing a safe third country agreement with the United States would allow immigration officials to focus on the other 60% who are not from the United States. When asked if an agreement of this nature was a top priority, the minister said on the weekend that she did not think so.

Why will the minister not take this important step and make the security of Canadians a top priority?

[Mark R. Isfeld, October 23rd, 2001]

Mr. Speaker, yesterday in Courtenay, B.C., history was made with the opening of the Mark R. Isfeld Secondary School. This is the first time in Canadian history that a school has been named after one of our fallen peacekeepers.

On June 21, 1994, Master Corporal Mark Isfeld was killed while serving with the First Combat Engineer Regiment removing landmines in Croatia. He was on his third peacekeeping tour in 30 months.

Mark had studied every piece of known ordnance in Croatia. He could recognize it from 100 paces and could take it apart blindfolded. He was a perfect example of professionalism in our troops. Of the dangers he faced daily, Mark wrote:

I know what this stuff can do. Civilians, small children don't. My skills are to protect them.

Sadly, despite his skill and knowledge, on that June day Mark was outside an armoured personnel carrier when it ran over a tripwire to an anti-personnel mine.

His memory and that of all peacekeepers is honoured in Courtenay. I cannot think of a finer tribute to a soldier who cared so deeply about the job he did and the people he did it for.

[Foreign Missions and International Organizations Act, October 22nd, 2001]

Mr. Speaker, I rise on a point of order in response to the question that the minister of immigration answered earlier. She asked me to table a document that backed up a statement I made. I have that document and I ask for unanimous consent to table it so the minister can look at the numbers and know that what I said was accurate.