Mauril Bélanger

[Antoine Hakim, December 12th, 2007]

Mr. Speaker, I would like to congratulate Dr. Antoine Hakim, a distinguished member of the faculty of the University of Ottawa, on being invested into the Order of Canada on October 26, 2007. Professor Hakim is recognized for his tireless work to increase public and scientific awareness of cerebrovascular disease. He is an internationally respected scientist whose research has influenced treatment strategies for stroke victims in Canada and around the world.

He has also received the highest distinction from the American Stroke Association for his work. In addition to conducting research, Dr. Hakim has been the catalyst for the development of the Canadian Stroke Network, the Heart and Stroke Foundation Centre for Stroke Recovery and the Ottawa Stroke Consortium for Applied Research.

On behalf of the residents of Ottawa—Vanier, where Dr. Hakim lives, and on behalf of my colleagues, I thank and congratulate Dr. Hakim for his unstinting and dedicated work.

[Art and Art Exhibits, December 7th, 2007]

Mr. Speaker, during the last election the Conservatives promised, in writing, more money for museums. Instead, they cut the museums assistance program. Then they promised a museum policy for Christmas. That was Christmas of last year. They did not deliver then and they will not deliver for this Christmas either.

Now they have cut one of the very few programs that help our museums in Canada. What have Canada's small museums done to the Conservatives to deserve such miserable treatment?

[Art and Art Exhibits, December 7th, 2007]

Mr. Speaker, exchanges of art exhibits and works of art are an excellent way for Canadians to become better acquainted with one another and their country. Exhibit Transportation Services facilitates these exchanges, which, otherwise, could be too costly.

Without considering the consequences of its actions, the Conservative government decided to eliminate this important program, thereby abandoning our institutions. Canada's galleries and museums are very disappointed and are calling on the Conservatives to reverse this regrettable decision.

[Norval Morrisseau, December 5th, 2007]

Mr. Speaker, on behalf of the official opposition, I too wish to pay tribute today to an extraordinary Canadian artist, Norval Morrisseau, who died yesterday at the age of 75.

Mr. Morrisseau, a self-taught artist who signed most of his work with his Ojibwa name, Copper Thunderbird, received the Order of Canada in 1978 and is holder of the eagle feather, which is the highest honour awarded by the Assembly of First Nations.

He invented a style used by generations of aboriginal artists and called the pictographic style.

In 1966, Norval, along with fellow native artist Carl Ray, created a large mural for the native people of Canada pavilion at Expo 67 in Montreal.

Last year, the National Gallery of Canada organized a retrospective of his work, the first time the gallery dedicated a solo exposition to a native artist.

I would like to congratulate the National Gallery of Canada on that.

Mr. Morrisseau has been called the “Picasso of the North” by many. It is a well-deserved title. We thank him for his legacy.

[Points of Order, December 4th, 2007]

Mr. Speaker, would this be a case of robbing St. Paul to pay St. Stephen?

[Wabano Drum Group, November 30th, 2007]

Mr. Speaker, this past October 7, in Niagara Falls, New York, the women of Wabano Drum Group, consisting of Allison Fisher, Bev Souliere and Carlie Chase, won in the category Best Debut Group of the Year at the ninth annual Native American Music Awards. The group's entry, titled Voices, has been a tremendous success.

“Our songs carry the voice of the land and as we know the honour of one is the honour of all,” said Allison Fisher.

I would also note that Allison and Carlie play an important role in the success of the Wabano Centre for Aboriginal Health. Located in Ottawa Vanier and founded in 1988, the centre is a respected organization, which provides health services to aboriginal communities.

On behalf of all members, I congratulate them for their dedication and hard work toward aboriginal communities and for the talent that they have demonstrated with Voices.

[Official Languages, November 22nd, 2007]

Mr. Speaker, my question was on the court challenges program. It is not the first time the Conservatives have attempted to cancel it. They did so in the early nineties under Brian Mulroney.

Now, however, because the law has been strengthened, which they supported, we face the extraordinary situation of an officer of Parliament feeling compelled to seek intervenor status against the government.

Why will the Conservatives not listen to the advice of an officer of Parliament they nominated and who got unanimous support from Parliament?

[Official Languages, November 22nd, 2007]

Mr. Speaker, in his October 9 report, the Commissioner of Official Languages concluded that abolishing the court challenges program is not in keeping with the commitment made by the Government of Canada in 2005 in Part VII of the Official Languages Act. The Conservatives supported these amendments when they were in opposition.

Does the government intend to correct its mistake and restore in full the court challenges program?

[GuluWalk, November 21st, 2007]

Mr. Speaker, the GuluWalk was held on October 20 and it was a great success.

GuluWalk is focused on supporting the children of northern Uganda. The original GuluWalk started with just two people in July 2005 and has now grown into a worldwide movement for peace.

This year's 200 participants in Ottawa helped raised over $500,000 worldwide for children's programs in this conflict ridden region of Africa. I would like to congratulate the Ottawa GuluWalk organizing committee, and especially Ms. Lama Hammad and Mr. Étienne Grandmaître Saint-Pierre for their hard work.

We in Canada owe it to the Ugandan population to help promote a peaceful solution. In highlighting the ongoing humanitarian crisis, I invite the Commonwealth heads of government gathering in Uganda this week to support peace and the re-establishment of civil society in a healthy and sustainable manner in northern Uganda.

Let us join in the push for peace. The children of Gulu and northern Uganda deserve no less.

[Canada Post Corporation Act, November 20th, 2007]

Mr. Speaker, I agree, for the most part, with the comments made by my colleague from Argenteuil—Papineau—Mirabel. As he will recall, I was very much involved in the discussions in committee. Furthermore, there were a great many motions and procedures. In the end, it all led to a rather lively exchange of ideas, from which resulted a resolution that was unanimously passed by the committee.

Indeed, as indicated by my hon. colleague from Argenteuil—Papineau—Mirabel, this unanimous resolution recognized Canada Post's exclusive privilege and asked it to stop its litigation in order to consider other possibilities through which Canada Post could continue to exercise its exclusive privilege while somehow compromising with remailers.

Since I have major concerns about the bill as it was introduced, I would like to inform the House that I was one of the people who believed that Canada Post's exclusive privilege should not be tampered with. To attack it, infringe on it, chip away at it and lessen it, as this bill seeks to do, would truly be a first step towards something that, in my opinion, we do not want to do. Indeed, we are sinking into something that greatly concerns me, in part, because of some of the reasons indicated by my colleague.

I do not have a question for the member, but since I participated in the discussions in committee, I would also like to set the record straight: we were able to reach this unanimous consent only because the two concepts were taboo. We respect the exclusive privilege, but we are calling on Canada Post to stop its legal actions and learn to compromise with the remailers. This is not at all what the government is doing at this time. On the contrary, it decided to cut off the discussion, in a way that I personally hope to be able to comment on during the debate and that poses considerable problems for me.