Paul Dewar

[International Conference on Afghanistan in The Hague, March 26th, 2009]

Madam Chair, I want to start by thanking the member for his intervention and then ask a very specific question about the direction that our government is taking and indeed the direction our country should take.

On Tuesday we are going to see what many of us have called for, not just in this place but internationally, and what some people are calling Bonn 2, bringing all parties together to look at a regional approach.

I want to ask the member if he is of the belief that Canada should be part of this diplomatic surge that is being asked for by Kai Eide, the special envoy to the UN, and also by the American administration, and should we see the same diplomatic surge from our own country?

The minister did not really touch on that in his comments. I am wondering what the Liberal Party would see as a beneficial direction and what he thinks should happen on Tuesday.

[Questions Passed as Orders for Returns, March 23rd, 2009]

With respect to Canada's military imports and exports: (a) did Canada import any products from the United Kingdom between October and December 2007 containing depleted uranium and, if so, what were these products and what were their end uses; and (b) has Canada imported any products containing depleted uranium from 2007 to 2008 from other countries and, if so, what products and from which countries?

[Questions Passed as Orders for Returns, March 23rd, 2009]

With respect to Canada's mission in Afghanistan and the use of cluster munitions by Canadian Forces: (a) does Canada use cluster munitions in its military operations; (b) do any of Canada's allies use cluster munitions in areas where the Canadian military is operating; (c) have cluster munitions been used by Canada or its allies in Afghanistan and, if so, when, and does this practice continue; (d) what assurances exist to ensure that cluster munitions are not used by Canada or its allies in Afghanistan; (e) are there any agreements between Canada and its allies explicitly prohibiting the use of cluster munitions in joint operations; (f) are there any agreements between Canada and its allies explicitly prohibiting the use of cluster munitions in Afghanistan; (g) are there any agreements between Canada and its allies prohibiting the use of certain military tactics or weapons; (h) have cluster munitions ever been deployed by Canada or its allies in past joint military operations; (i) has Canada ever negotiated guidelines for the prohibition of certain weapons in joint operations; (j) what is the government's definition of what constitutes an acceptable success rate for self-destruction mechanisms and precision guidance systems for cluster munitions; (k) how was this acceptable rate of success arrived at; (l) has the Canadian Forces destroyed all existing stockpiles of cluster munitions in its arsenal and, if not, why not; and (m) does Canada intend to procure munitions in the future?

[Questions on the Order Paper, March 23rd, 2009]

With respect to the case John Guenette and Joanna Gualtieri v. Attorney General of Canada, Frank Townson, et al. and also the case Joanna Gualitieri v. Attorney General of Canada, Frank Townson, et al: (a) what are the total expenditures of the government with regard to these cases including, but not limited to, all legal fees, monitoring the progress and impact on public opinion of the case, in preparing communications strategies, and in preparing briefing packages for officials and ministers, on an annual basis, broken down by expenditure item; and (b) with respect to the figures in (a), how much was spent annually, on a departmental or agency basis?

[Petitions, March 6th, 2009]

Mr. Speaker, I stand today to table a petition from one of the most successful petition efforts in the history of this country.

The petition calls upon the government to do three important things: to immediately set a timetable by 2015 to meet its obligation to the 0.7% gross national income development goal; to contribute a fair share to the global fund for AIDS and TB; and to make legislative changes necessary for Canada's access to medicines regimes.

This is an effort of the grandmother project. I am delighted that representatives are here today in Ottawa. Members will see, from the petitions in my hand, their effort and Canadians to bring this message to our government. It is now incumbent upon our government to take this message and take action.

[Foreign Affairs, March 6th, 2009]

Mr. Speaker, official documents indicate that because of CSIS' recommendation, a Canadian citizen went to prison in Sudan, a country known for torture and ill-treatment of its prisoners. Meanwhile, CSIS believes that it acted in a manner consistent with Canadian law and policy.

Could the government confirm if rendition of a Canadian citizen to Sudan is consistent with Canadian law?

This is not about a court case. This is about Canadian policy. Therefore, I do not want an answer from the parliamentary secretary about a court case.

[Status of Women, March 6th, 2009]

Mr. Speaker, tomorrow community members in Ottawa will join the National Organization of Immigrant and Visible Minority Women of Canada to celebrate International Women's Day. The event will mark the completion of the organization's project, “Engaging Immigrant and Visible Minority Women in Leadership Roles”.

This week we celebrate the leadership and achievements of the women's movement in pursuing a just, peaceful and inclusive world. This is particularly poignant at a time when we see attempts to undermine women's equality through regressive legislation on pay equity.

Immigrant and visible minority women face sexism and racism simultaneously, which results in higher rates of discrimination and poverty.

Strengthening the voice of immigrant and visible minority women is one major step in the process of ensuring equality for all Canadians.

I congratulate the organization for the work it has done, and I stand as an ally with these leaders in the continuing struggle for women's equality.

[National Cemetery of Canada Act, March 6th, 2009]

Mr. Speaker, it is an honour to rise here today to speak to this bill.

It is a bill that is uncommon in many ways, the first of which is the way it came together.

I thank the member for Ottawa—Vanier for his leadership. I also thank my colleague, the hon. member for Ottawa—Orléans, for his support and leadership, and my friend from the Bloc who just spoke.

Beechwood Cemetery is an important acknowledgement to Canada. It means that Beechwood Cemetery would become a national symbol in earnest, and it already is a national symbol in function. As has been mentioned by others, it is the resting place for many important Canadians. It is the final resting place of thousands of men and women who gave their lives for our country: peacekeepers, soldiers and people who worked on humanitarian missions around the world. It is a place that already does honour our nation.

What the bill does that is so fundamentally important is that the federal government, the voice of this nation, puts its stamp on this and acknowledges for all to see that this place is a national symbol, a national place of resting for so many.

It is important to note some of the people who do rest there. We know that one of our prime ministers, Sir Robert Borden, rests there. He was the prime minister who was in power at a time of war and who led this country in so many different ways. It is important that our country, through this legislation, acknowledges a previous prime minister. As he rests there he symbolizes, in my opinion, many of the prime ministers who have served the country so well.

It should be noted that most of the other G8 countries have designated a place of national importance for those who have served their country and who are now resting in peace.

Another important person to Canada and to our party who rests at Beechwood Cemetery is Tommy Douglas and his wife, Irma Douglas. I have had the occasion to be in that place many times. I know that Mr. Douglas would appreciate this legislation not because he is there, in fact, that would be one of the reasons he would not support it, but because of the idea that we should honour this country and note that it is something that every democratic nation should have.

When we look at the contributions of people like Tommy Douglas, both in his home province of Saskatchewan and on the national stage, he brought much to this country. He supplied the ideas that have been developed and have been co-opted by past governments that we can all be proud of. We on this side of the House in the New Democratic Party have been honoured by his legacy and his leadership. Often we hear his voice reminding us of why we are here.

Another important Canadian who rests in Beechwood is Thomas Fuller. For all of us here, we should honour the fact that he was the architect of this very building. Again, he was someone who contributed to the nation and to this place.

Ray Hnatyshyn, the former governor general, also rests at Beechwood Cemetery.

It is also important to note that where this place is set is important in terms of the national fabric, in terms of the viewpoints and in terms of the landscape, as has already been mentioned. It is, without question, the most important piece of real estate, next to the place we are in, because of the people who came before us. For that, the bill is not only an honour but is an important contribution to our national fabric.

Often it is through literature that we capture the essence of an idea. I want to conclude my speech and my contribution today by quoting an author and a poet, Archibald Lampman, who actually was inspired by Beechwood and wrote the poem In Beechwood Cemetery. The poem reads:

Here the dead sleep--the quiet dead. No sound
Disturbs them ever, and no storm dismays.
Winter mid snow caresses the tired ground,
And the wind roars about the woodland ways.
Springtime and summer and red autumn pass,
With leaf and bloom and pipe of wind and bird,
And the old earth puts forth her tender grass,
By them unfelt, unheeded and unheard.
Our centuries to them are but as strokes
In the dim gamut of some far-off chime.
Unaltering rest their perfect being cloaks--
A thing too vast to hear or feel or see--
Children of Silence and Eternity,
They know no season but the end of time.

Let us all come together, pass this legislation and honour those who have come before us.

[Budget Implementation Act, 2009, March 3rd, 2009]

Madam Speaker, there are so many things that are problematic with the budget bill. There are so many, as someone said earlier, poison pills in this bill that when we look at it we wonder if it is a budget to stimulate and help people or a budget to change the role of government and how government works.

What is really going on here with the Conservatives? Does the member think they actually understand what is required now in terms of the government's role, or are they using this as a bait-and-switch equation, trying to put in what they need to feed their base and change the things they do not like, while saying that they have a couple of dollars to stimulate the economy on the side?

[Budget Implementation Act, 2009, March 3rd, 2009]

Madam Speaker, I am trying to get to the logic of the member and his party. They say they cannot do anything about it right now, they will ask for a report card, they will not put any amendments forward, and they will not negotiate to make it better.

We were just talking about the 2005 budget, when our party negotiated $4.5 billion in stimulus because we saw that as our role. The Liberals were in government at the time.

What do we get from the Liberal Party now in hard-nosed negotiations? What do they do? They are tough and not to be messed with: they are going to ask for three report cards and they have this nonsense about probation.

The Liberals are an opposition party. They cannot pretend to be in opposition Monday and then not on Wednesday. Can the member tell the House the difference between defeating an ill-conceived budget now and defeating it in June? By the way, that is what the hon. member's party is saying it might do, so it is about them, not about the Canadian people, and that is a travesty.