Paul Szabo

[Employment Insurance Act, October 18th, 2010]

Mr. Speaker, there have been many bills before this place on the need for changes to employment insurance. Of course, this will happen only if the changes are initiated by the government because virtually all of the bills would require a royal recommendation in order to proceed.

Having said that, it would be helpful if, for greater certainty, the member would explain again to the House about the definition of a work stoppage, whether it be a strike or a lockout, et cetera, and how that may affect the determination of the qualifying period. That would be a very important point to establish.

[Serious Time for the Most Serious Crime Act, October 5th, 2010]

Mr. Speaker, the faint hope clause has been very controversial for a long time. There are many cases where people would say clearly that they do not want to see a particular person out of prison, but eventually people have to get out of prison.

I want to ask the member how the faint hope clause fits into the whole concept of parole. Eventually, when people demonstrate they are no longer a danger to society, we still have a system of parole. It seems that the faint hope clause is simply an extension of the parole system.

Is the bill undermining the foundations of parole in Canada?

[Retirement of Blue Jays Manager, September 30th, 2010]

Mr. Speaker, last night at the Toronto Rogers Centre tribute was quite rightly paid to Clarence Edwin Cito Gaston.

The outpouring of love and respect from baseball players and fans alike was overwhelming. Cito joined the Blue Jays in 1982 and over the ensuing years earned the reputation as a class act, a gentleman and a quiet leader. One player reminded the audience that Cito always preached family first, making sure that players understood that baseball careers are short, and that someday they would need a tight family to go back to. Cito had four rules: be on time, play hard, family first, and do not forget that the door to the manager's office is always open.

He managed the Blue Jays for 12 seasons. We will not forget the remarkable baseball seasons of 1992 and 1993 when they won back-to-back World Series. His calm, good-humoured, and confident management style has been the hallmark of his career and has left a legacy of decency, great teams, and wonderful achievements.

Today we recognize his outstanding career and wish him much success in his retirement.

[Canada-Panama Free Trade Act, September 30th, 2010]

Mr. Speaker, I thank the member for his input into the debate again on a bilateral trade proposal.

One of the reasons I acknowledged the member when he stood to speak was that he has the conviction to put on the table where he stands on some of the issues that he thinks need to part of the conversation. If we talk about bilateral trade in a vacuum, that this is trade, we trade with them, they trade with us and it is a win-win situation, we do not have to consider the ripple effect of other things that are going on.

The revelations on the Swiss bank accounts, with Crédit Suisse and HSBC, raised the fact that even in Canada there were almost 1,800 private bank accounts, only two of which, they discovered, had ever reported income. There are some bad things that are going on and some of those things are facilitated by other countries, as the member has raised, whether it be in Colombia or in this case here.

I would encourage the member to present this dilemma where, yes, we want to do trade but we cannot do trade at any cost. There must be a point at which we need to have those other arrangements also addressed as a part of the trade deal. There must be other conditions. I ask the member if he wants to comment on how we can do trade ethically.

[Business of Supply, September 28th, 2010]

Madam Speaker, I have been here since the debate started this morning, and I have been writing down some of the points that have been made.

I thought it was interesting that the fact-based evidence shows that the database is being jeopardized. This was a point raised by a lot of people. The fact is that 355 organizations disagree with the government, and one organization, the Fraser Institute, agrees with it, which does not seem to be a consensus of support for the government's position.

A number of other points were made. There were no privacy complaints. There was no evaluation base, no support from anyone, no consultation, no rationale, and no accountability. When I put it all together, I think I have it figured out.

I am going to ask the member if he can comment. I think this move on the census by the government was done intentionally. It really wants to destroy the quality of information available to Canadians to assess policy so that the government can continue to pursue what it believes is its ideological and scary agenda.

I wonder if the member has a comment on that.

[Business of Supply, September 28th, 2010]

Mr. Speaker, on September 10, four former top bureaucrats, namely, Mel Cappe, David Dodge, Alex Himelfarb, and Ivan Fellegi, a former Statistics Canada head, wrote to the Prime Minister, asserting that the government's decision to make the long form census voluntary has damaged Statistics Canada's credibility and international standing, and that in their view the chief statistician, not the minister, should have the power and independence to decide on the methodology and techniques that the agency needs to do its job.

The government's response was, and this is a quote from the communications officer of the Prime Minister's Office: “The fundamental principle we are defending here is the right of citizens not to divulge personal information and the government not to threaten [them] with jail and fines”.

In my view, this is a curious response to a constitutional obligation to undertake a regular census.

I wonder if the hon. member would care to comment on the government's attitude toward the Constitution.

[Business of Supply, September 28th, 2010]

Mr. Speaker, accountability is often talked about in this place. In my view, accountability is a concept that means that one needs to be prepared to explain or justify one's actions or decisions in a manner that is true, full, and plain. That has not happened here. The member has noted a couple of examples. There has been no consultation, no rationale, and no support from anyone, other than the Fraser Institute. There is no justification for the changes. There is a reliance on the bogeyman, such as the threat of going to jail, which does not happen.

On privacy breaches, there have been no complaints.This really goes to the heart of what the Conservative government stands for. The government's official position is that it is defending the right of citizens not to divulge personal information.

The government has a constitutional obligation to sponsor a census on a periodic basis. Its reasoning is that it will allow people to not answer questions to protect their privacy. It is basically saying that nobody has to answer any of the questions. This is a circular argument that gets us absolutely nowhere and that, in fact, damages Canada as a whole.

Does the hon. member believe that the government has been accountable not only to Parliament but to Canadians?

[Business of Supply, September 28th, 2010]

Madam Speaker, since the Conservatives took office in 2006, the following senior public servants have been shunted aside or forced out of their offices: RCMP Chief Superintendent Marty Cheliak; Nuclear Safety Commission President Linda Keen; Canadian Wheat Board President Adrian Measner; Veterans Ombudsman Pat Strogan; Competition Bureau Commissioner Sheridan Scott; Victims of Crime Ombudsman Steve Sullivan; RCMP Public Complaints Commissioner Paul Kennedy; Military Complaints Commission Chair Peter Tinsley; Immigration and Refugee Board Chair Jean-Guy Fleury; Information Commissioner Robert Marleau; and Chief Statistician Munir Sheikh. The Parliamentary Budget Officer seems to be the next to go.

The point of the list is to indicate that there seems to be a pattern here. If one does not agree with the government, with the Prime Minister, or if one has an opinion, one should not give it, because according to the Prime Minister, he makes the rules.

I wonder if the hon. member shares the same concern that the government is not making fact-based policy. In fact, it is politically based policy.

[Business of Supply, September 28th, 2010]

Madam Speaker, I thank the hon. member for his input.

I was taken aback by the minister's argument that people were being harassed and that therefore the government had to do this, because it does not want Canadians to be harassed. Yet it strikes me that if there is harassment going on, it is not evidence that there is a problem with the census; there is a problem with the census takers.

I am curious. I would have asked the minister why.

When the government first announced the decision, it said, and I quote from the official government position, “The fundamental principle we're defending here is the right of citizens not to divulge personal information”.

It was really simple. It was their right not to divulge. Yet it is a constitutional obligation of the government to take a census. It makes no sense--maybe no census either--that we would not want to proceed with the census simply because if one is protecting the rights of Canadians not to divulge information, one is in fact working against the Constitution and is saying that it is okay if nobody responds.

I wonder if the hon. member has some response to that.

[Fighting Internet and Wireless Spam Act, September 27th, 2010]

Mr. Speaker, I thank the hon. member for Eglinton—Lawrence for some insight. The last time he spoke, Stefano was having a birthday. He always talks about family.

In talking about family, there is the issue of the harm that is being done already and the problem that we are trying to address and why this is also a public safety and security issue, as well as a nuisance issue that we are dealing with.

Would the member care to comment on the dimensions of the problem and why it is so important that we get this legislation in place.