Pat Martin

[Canada Water Export Prohibition Act, December 3rd, 2008]

moved for leave to introduce Bill C-250, An Act to prohibit the export of water by interbasin transfers.

Mr. Speaker, there are people who say that water is the oil of the 21st century, but I put it to you, and I believe the House of Commons agrees, in fact by consensus to a motion put forward in 2004, that the interbasin transfer of water is environmental folly. It is an affront to nature. It is an affront to the natural order of things. Yet time and time again we see the irresistible temptation in trade agreements with our trading partners that other people want Canada's water.

We in the House of Commons need to recognize that water, in fact, is Canada's most valuable natural resource and that Canada must be committed to preserving water resources within its boundaries, and therefore, that Canada will continue to promote adherence to the Boundary Waters Treaty by Canadian and the United States when managing boundary water matters.

This short bill would protect at least in principle the notion that the interbasin transfer of water should be opposed even when put forward by Conservative governments, as they often do.

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

[First Nation's Children's Health Protection Act, December 3rd, 2008]

moved for leave to introduce Bill C-249, An Act to ensure that appropriate health care services are provided to First Nations children in a timely manner.

Mr. Speaker, this bill is based on the premise that a child is a child is a child, no matter where the child lives in Canada and no matter whether the child is First Nation, Inuit, Métis or European in background.

This bill is based on Jordan’s principle. Jordan was a first nations child who was unable to move from a hospital to a family home as a result of a disagreement between departments of the Government of Canada as to which department should bear responsibility for the costs of providing health care services. As a result of this disagreement between government bureaucracies, Jordan died in hospital without ever having been able to live in any family home.

Jordan’s principle finds great support among first nations, and it is simply a matter of justice that we should not have two tiers in medicine based on whether one is of Inuit, Métis, First Nation or European background or descent.

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

[Louis Riel Act, December 3rd, 2008]

moved for leave to introduce Bill C-248, An Act respecting Louis Riel.

Mr. Speaker, on behalf of the people of Manitoba and on behalf of the Métis nation, it gives me great pride to introduce this bill, the purpose of which is to reverse the conviction for high treason of Louis Riel and to formally recognize him and commemorate his role in the advancement of Canadian Confederation and the rights of interest to the Métis people and the people of western Canada.

This bill goes on to recognize that Louis Riel was in fact the founder of the province of Manitoba and that he was elected three times to the House of Commons, but as a result of political pressure was never allowed to take a seat. This bill points out that as a result of the events of the Northwest Territories rebellion in 1885, Louis Riel was wrongfully tried and convicted, and on November 16, 1885, was executed for high treason by the Government of Canada.

This bill does not seek a pardon for Louis Riel. It seeks to exonerate him, and for the House of Commons to recognize that he was executed wrongfully and that he should never have been convicted. We are not seeking a pardon. We are seeking full exoneration.

In introducing this bill, I want to recognize and pay tribute to Yvon Dumont, the former lieutenant governor of the province of Manitoba and president of the Manitoba Métis Federation; Clem Chartier, the president of the Métis National Council; and David Chartrand, the current president of the Manitoba Métis Federation.

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

[Petitions, November 26th, 2008]

Mr. Speaker, I would like to table a petition signed by thousands of Canadians from all over the country, including many from Kingston, Ontario, in your own riding, Mr. Speaker. The petitioners are calling upon the House of Commons to recognize that asbestos is the greatest industrial killer the world has ever known. In fact, more Canadians die from asbestos now than all other occupational causes combined, yet Canada remains one of the largest producers and exporters of asbestos in the world.

The petitioners also point out that Canada spends millions of dollars subsidizing the asbestos industry and blocking international efforts to curb its use. They call this corporate welfare for corporate serial killers.

The petitioners call upon Canada to ban asbestos in all its forms and introduce a just transition program for asbestos workers in the communities in which they live; to end all government subsidies of asbestos both in Canada and abroad; and for Canada to stop blocking international health and safety conventions designed to protect workers from asbestos, such as the Rotterdam convention.

[Petitions, November 20th, 2008]

Mr. Speaker, I am glad to have this opportunity to present a petition from thousands of Canadians. They remind the House of Commons that asbestos is the greatest industrial killer the world has ever known and yet Canada continues to be one of the largest producers of asbestos in the world and in fact spends millions of dollars subsidizing the industry and blocking international efforts to curb its use.

Therefore, these many petitioners argue that Canada should ban asbestos in all its forms, institute a just transition program for asbestos workers, end all government subsidies to asbestos both in Canada and abroad, and stop blocking international health and safety conventions designed to protect workers from asbestos, such as the Rotterdam convention.

[Committees of the House, June 20th, 2008]

Mr. Speaker, I simply want to point out that I appreciated hearing my colleague from Timmins—James Bay recount the wisdom that his grandmother shared with him.

I too would like to begin my comment and then my question by saying that my father volunteered to go to the second world war in 1939. He stayed for the whole term and ended up coming home in late 1945.

The second world war had the country seized for what seemed like an eternity but in actual fact was six years. We have been in Afghanistan longer than my father was away in the second world war, a war that engaged the entire world and almost levelled Europe.

We need to ask ourselves the same questions that we began asking in 2001-02, which I remember well. The questions we were putting to the government about our engaged in Afghanistan were: How how long will we be there; what is the end strategy and what is the yardstick by which we will measure progress? Those seemed like reasonable and simple questions. If the government were asking us to engage in an open war, then it would seem reasonable that it could at least answer those three questions clearly.

Could the member share with me at this point in time, seven years later, whether we any closer to answers on those three basic questions?

[Justice, June 20th, 2008]

Mr. Speaker, if some native kid in my riding of Winnipeg Centre gets busted for stealing hub caps, the government would lock him up and throw away the key. The reason it is not getting tough on white collar crime is there are no jail cells left empty because they are full of aboriginal people who were stealing a loaf of bread to feed their families. There is no regularity to this.

White collar crime is a blue collar issue and we have to be able to trust the financial statements of the companies where our pensions are invested.

When will the Conservatives get tough on crime in a realistic way, get busy, like the United States have done Sarbanes-Oxley act, and get tough on crime and clean up the corporate boardrooms? Why do they let their buddies on Bay Street regulate themselves?

[Justice, June 20th, 2008]

Mr. Speaker, the law locks up the hapless felon who steals the goose from off the common, but lets the greater felon loose who steals the common from the goose.

It has been four years since the accounting scandal at Nortel wiped out the savings of investors and seniors, yet only yesterday charges were finally laid against three executives.

When will the Conservatives get beyond their tough on crime sloganeering and crack down on the white collar criminals that prey on seniors and middle class investors?

[Petitions, June 19th, 2008]

Mr. Speaker, the last petition I have to present is regarding rail transportation safety.

The petitioners point out that CN Rail's trains traverse Canada with dangerous commodities, that Transport Canada concluded an audit of CN's safety management system, but the audit has never been made public. Therefore, these many Canadians are calling upon Parliament to make public the contents of Transport Canada's audit of CN's safety management system.

[Petitions, June 19th, 2008]

I see, Mr. Speaker. I will be quick.

The second petition, put forward by hundreds of Canadians and regarding the federal minimum wage, calls upon the Parliament of Canada to ensure that the workers in the federal jurisdiction are paid a fair minimum wage by passing the NDP private member's bill, Bill C-375, which would establish a federal minimum wage and set it at $10 an hour.