House of Commons photo

Crucial Fact

  • His favourite word was asbestos.

Last in Parliament October 2015, as NDP MP for Winnipeg Centre (Manitoba)

Lost his last election, in 2015, with 28% of the vote.

Statements in the House

Airbus November 14th, 2007

Mr. Speaker, if it is likely that Karlheinz Schreiber was greasing the wheels of commerce by lining the pockets of Tories, is it not just as likely he was greasing some Liberal wheels as well?

Why else would Marc Lalonde join Elmer MacKay in putting up a million dollars in bail for Karlheinz Schreiber? Why did Schreiber's Bear Head Manufacturing Industries donate $10,000 to the Liberals in 1993?

Will the government assure us that the public inquiry will dig deep enough into the Mulroney Airbus kickback scandal to reveal whether Mr. Schreiber was buying influence with Liberals as well?

Airbus November 13th, 2007

Mr. Speaker, I think we all agree an independent third party and contracting this work out is a complete waste of time and in fact a stall and delay tactic.

When Allan Rock folded like a cheap suit and gave $2.1 million rather than investigate further, it was the current Minister of Indian Affairs who demanded that the issue be sent to a parliamentary committee for review.

Will the government House leader agree to allow this issue to be brought up at the access to information and ethics committee when the motion is put forward there? Will he agree to a study at a parliamentary committee instead of contracting--

Airbus November 13th, 2007

Mr. Speaker, it was the culture of secrecy that allowed corruption to flourish under the Liberal regime. Now the stink of corruption is hanging over the Conservative government, with allegations of a former prime minister accepting brown paper bags full of money in secret meetings in a hotel room.

Now that a public inquiry is inevitable, the question arises as to when. Will the Prime Minister commit that a full public inquiry will be held before the next federal election can be triggered?

Petitions November 13th, 2007

Mr. Speaker, I have a petition from thousands of Canadians from right across Canada. They draw the attention of the House to the fact that asbestos is the greatest industrial killer the world has ever known and yet Canada continues to be one of the largest producers and exporters of asbestos in the world. Canada allows asbestos to be used in construction materials, textile products and even children's toys. Canada spends millions of dollars subsidizing the asbestos industry and blocking international efforts to curb its use.

Therefore, these Canadians are demanding that the Government of Canada ban asbestos in all its forms, end all government subsidies to asbestos both in Canada and abroad, and stop blocking international conventions designed to protect workers from asbestos, such as the Rotterdam convention.

Aeronautics Act October 31st, 2007

Mr. Speaker, I do have a question for my colleague from Windsor West. I was interested in the information that he brought to the House today, in the context of the debate on Bill C-7, about what is happening in the United States.

This very day, as I understand him, NASA is making a presentation to Congress, I believe, with the findings of its report on a survey done of all commercial pilots in the United States. Some very worrisome and problematic information was revealed. I would ask the member if he could expand on that a bit more, because I think we should all take note of this not only national but international concern with the state of our air transportation safety.

Second, I would like him to comment on a worrisome detail in Bill C-7 as it pertains to the critic area that I represent for the NDP: access to information. It is my understanding that Bill C-7 would actually take us backwards in terms of freedom of information and access to information. I am wondering how we could support a bill that actually promotes a shroud of secrecy over something as critically vital and important as air transportation safety.

If there is anything that the public has the right to know, surely it is that the air carriers that are carrying us and our loved ones are operating at the highest possible safety standard. We have a right to know that.

I do not think Canadians value their right to know, or perhaps they do not understand what a privilege having the right to know is and what a cornerstone of western democracy freedom of information and access to information represent. We have a saying that freedom of information is the oxygen democracy breathes. Anybody who takes steps to stifle freedom of information and access to information is taking us in a retrograde way away from true and open democracy.

I would ask my colleague if he would share with us, first, more details on the NASA issue going on in the United States and, second, how he feels about the culture of secrecy that allows corruption to flourish and encourages corruption, and not only in the previous Liberal government, which made it its trademark. If there was one single motif that ran through the 13 years of the Liberal governance of this country, it is that culture of secrecy that allowed corruption to flourish. Plus, it was a motif that was as simple as wallpaper.

I saw this Conservative government first promising to bring in access to information reform in the Federal Accountability Act and now breaking that very simple promise and hiding under the shroud of secrecy within the air transportation bill that it put before us today. I am disappointed, to say the least.

Petitions October 31st, 2007

Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to introduce this petition signed by hundreds of Canadians, mostly from British Columbia in this case, who are calling upon Parliament to take note that asbestos is the greatest industrial killer the world has ever known and yet Canada remains one of the largest producers and exporters of asbestos in the world.

They point out that Canadian regulations allow asbestos to be used in building materials, textile products and even children's toys. They also point out that Canada spends millions of dollars subsidizing the asbestos industry and blocking international efforts to curb its use.

They call upon Parliament to ban asbestos in all its forms, institute a just transition program for the displaced workers, end all government subsidies of asbestos, both in Canada and abroad, and stop blocking international health and safety conventions designed to protect workers, such as the Rotterdam Convention.

Credit Ombudsman Act October 31st, 2007

moved for leave to introduce Bill C-471, An Act to establish the position and Office of the Credit Ombudsman, who shall be an advocate of the interests of consumers and small businesses in credit matters and who shall investigate and report on the provision, by financial institutions, of consumer and small-business credit on a community basis and on an industry basis, in order to ensure equity in the distribution of credit resources.

Mr. Speaker, I am very pleased to introduce this bill to create the office of a credit ombudsman.

Canadians need an advocate in credit matters. Banks have turned their backs on many neighbourhoods and communities. Fringe bankers and payday lenders are robbing Canadians blind with predatory lending practices and exorbitant and illegal interest rates.

The ombudsman would have a mandate to investigate and report on the provision of consumer and small business credit on a community basis by region, by sector, and by gender of the applicant, to make sure that there is equity in access and distribution of credit resources.

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

Aeronautics Act October 30th, 2007

Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague from Burnaby—New Westminster for the work he has put into this issue to alert Canadians on the true nature of this bill. If people watching at home had only heard the speakers from the other parties, I do not think they would have understood at all the very real concerns of the many witnesses who came before committee.

I know we have very little time so I will only ask my colleague to elaborate on one thing. He made the point that under the bill there would be greater secrecy and less transparency than in the past. This is of great concern to me, given the nature of the subject matter with which we are dealing, passenger safety and the airline industry, and given the trend toward greater transparency and accountability, the very basis on which the Conservative government ran in the last federal election.

Could the member explain how this manifests itself in the bill? What is the concern?

Government Procurement Policy October 30th, 2007

Mr. Speaker, we make the best buses in the world right here in Canada, but when the military needed 30 new troop carrier buses, it gave the contract to a company in Germany. Why? Because the German bid was one-half of 1% lower than Motor Coach Industries in Winnipeg or Prévost Car Inc. in Quebec.

Canadian workers got screwed out of these jobs for less than $2,000 per bus on buses that cost $500,000 each to build. We sold out Canadian workers for less than the cost of a set of tires.

Now our tax dollars are creating jobs in Germany instead of in Winnipeg or Quebec. Now government will not get the tax revenue that would have paid for a quarter of the total purchase cost of the buses and, worst of all, this shortsighted stupidity sends a message to all of our NATO allies, “Hey, if you want to buy a really good troop carrier, buy German. That's what we did”.

We need a made in Canada procurement policy. If our own government will not stand up for Canadian manufacturing jobs, who will?

Petitions October 29th, 2007

Mr. Speaker, I, too, have a petition with thousands of names of people from all over Canada.

The petitioners remind the government that asbestos is the greatest industrial killer the world has ever known, yet Canada remains one of the largest producers and exporters of asbestos in the world, dumping over 200,000 tonnes per year into third world and developing nations. They say that Canada allows asbestos to be used in our country in building materials, textile products and even children's toys and that it spends millions of dollars subsidizing the asbestos industry and blocking international efforts to curb its use.

Therefore, the petitioners call upon government to ban asbestos in all its forms and institute a just transition program for asbestos workers, end all government subsidies of asbestos in both Canada and abroad and stop blocking international efforts, such as the Rotterdam Convention, designed to protect workers around the world from this terrible carcinogen.