Peter Stoffer

[National Defence, April 29th, 2002]

My question is for the defence minister. The DND supply chain has now been tendered over to Tibbett of England, an $800 million national interest now given to a foreign company.

My question is quite clear. Why would the supply chain be transferred? It supplies the military with materials and goods from coast to coast to coast. The supply chain contract to Tibbett will destroy hundreds of businesses and wipe out many jobs from the public service.

[National Defence, April 29th, 2002]

Mr. Speaker, before I ask my question, I thank the people of Edmonton for holding such a fabulous ceremony yesterday on behalf of our fallen soldiers in Afghanistan, and of the injured.

[Intoxication of Migratory Birds, April 29th, 2002]

Mr. Speaker, I would like to congratulate the member for Saint-Bruno--Saint Hubert for bringing this important motion forward to the House of Commons.

I listened to the parliamentary secretary indicate her support for the intent of the motion but that the government, for all intents and purposes, would not vote for the motion. It is most unfortunate that she would not allow a free vote on this. I am sure many of her backbench Liberals would support a motion of this nature.

The reality is that she talks about the government getting rid of lead and gasoline. The way the government did it was through regulation. It told the industry it had until a certain date to remove it and the industry complied.

The government is saying we must have consultations with all the stakeholders to see what they say about it. The Liberals never consulted with Canadians when they introduced the airport tax and bought the two new Challengers. Yet on a simple solution like removing lead from our lakes and rivers they have to consult with people. It is another delay tactic by the government in refusing to protect wildlife in the country. It absolutely refuses to do it.

I will provide the solution; it is very simple. It should decide that by the end of 2003 no more lead weights or sinkers are allowed in the country, period. That is it. The industry and communities will adjust to it. In the end our fish, lakes, rivers and wildlife, especially those in the bird world, will be thankful for that. Why does the government not just do it? I do not understand why there has to be delay and no support for a motion of this nature. It is a no-brainer politically and helps everyone out environmentally.

There is a chance the government will invoke closure on the species at risk bill at a later stage. The government again will fail to protect the interests of not only our environment but the other species that we share this planet with. I could stand here all day and complain about what the Liberals have done in terms of our environment but it is quite obvious they have no intention of supporting the motion with their feet. They will support it with their continuous delays and in the end nothing will happen. That is most unfortunate.

I wish that the fisheries minister who happens to be listening to the debate right now would go over to the parliamentary secretary and say that it is the fisheries minister's role in life to protect fish and fish habitats. Why does he not exercise the fisheries authority that he has and ban this toxic substance? It is not that difficult.

It is a simple motion brought forward by the member for Saint-Bruno--Saint-Hubert. There is absolutely no reason that the House could not pass it in the span of a couple of hours. We can give ourselves a raise in three hours. We can give ourselves another raise by doing it in the back room. Certainly we can support a motion that is so clear and simple and would do so much to protect bird life and other species.

While I am on the topic, it is no surprise that fish like tuna and swordfish on the east coast now contain high levels of mercury. In fact, Health Canada is issuing warnings to pregnant women about the high levels of mercury in these fish. That is an indication the government is still refusing to protect those species. I have little faith in the government to actually enact this type of motion quickly, which is so dearly needed.

I thank the member for Saint-Bruno--Saint--Hubert for this very important motion. The New Democratic Party will be supporting her and we only wish that the Liberals would do the same.

[The Environment, April 22nd, 2002]

Mr. Speaker, it gives me great pleasure to rise today on Earth Day to congratulate to all those people who dedicate their lives to the protection of our environment. I think of people like Monty Hummel of the World Wildlife Fund, David Suzuki of the David Suzuki Foundation, and Elizabeth May of the Sierra Club of Canada.

I am sure if those three people were sitting here right now they would advise the government of three things it can do right now to protect our environment: first, stop clear-cutting our forests; second, stop dragging the life out of our oceans; and third, clean up the Sydney tar ponds now. I would like to add my own on behalf of the New Democratic Party, ratify the Kyoto protocol and sign the law of the sea.

I wish to congratulate the hon. member for Windsor--St. Clair who has done yeoman's work on the environmental file. If it were not for people like him and the New Democratic Party our planet would be in even worse shape.

I congratulate all those people who celebrate Earth Day. Let us keep up the great work.

[National Horse of Canada Act, April 22nd, 2002]

Mr. Speaker, it gives me great pleasure to rise on behalf of the federal New Democratic Party and thank the hon. member for Dufferin--Peel--Wellington--Grey for bringing this debate to third and final reading.

Everyone knows the joke about the horse that went to the veterinarian and the veterinarian said “Well, what is with the long face?” There would be a lot of long faces in Canada if this bill does not pass as the member has brought it forth.

I want to quickly thank all the organizers and the hon. member's staff for organizing last Thursday's Horse About on Parliament Hill. Anyone who saw those four Canadien horses would marvel at the beauty they displayed on Parliament Hill.

I also want to bring greetings on behalf of Mr. John Hart and his family from Margaree Centre in Cape Breton. They have Canadien horses and have been trying to push this issue for many years to bring it to fruition.

In conclusion I would say that the member and the House will have neigh problems from the New Democratic Party on this very important issue.

[National Defence, April 19th, 2002]

Mr. Speaker, my question is for the Minister of National Defence.

In light of the tragic incident that happened in Kandahar, has the minister of defence along with the military over there, considered at all postponing all live military exercises with the Americans in Afghanistan until at least General Baril has had the opportunity to find the reasons for the incident so that this type of incident again will never occur again? Has he at least considered postponing future live exercises?

[National Defence, April 19th, 2002]

Mr. Speaker, I rise today with a heavy heart to offer condolences on behalf of the New Democratic Party and, I am sure, of all parliamentarians on the deaths of Corporal Ainsworth Dyer, Private Nathan Smith, Private Richard Green and Sergeant Marc Léger.

As a representative from Nova Scotia where two of those brave men came from I also offer condolences to the families and friends of all military personnel who suffered through this terrific and unfortunate tragedy. I also want to say on behalf of our party and the people of Nova Scotia how proud we are of the Governor General of Canada and her husband John Ralston Saul for breaking their itinerary so quickly to be with the troops who were injured and those who have fallen.

Again on behalf of all Nova Scotians and on behalf of all of us we offer our prayers to the injured. We offer our heartfelt prayers and condolences to the families and their friends. We also offer our support to the government to ensure adequate resources are put in place to help communities and families deal with this tragic incident.

May God bless their memory, and God bless our troops in Afghanistan and elsewhere around the world.

[Royal Assent Act, April 19th, 2002]

Mr. Speaker, it gives me pleasure to rise on behalf of the New Democratic Party to support Bill S-34, a basic act to make the procedures of royal assent a little easier here in the House of Commons.

I also wish to state that our House leader, the member for Winnipeg--Transcona, was an integral part of the committee that brought these changes forward. We believe that his leadership on this file has assisted in many ways in getting this to the forefront of where we are today.

The question of reforming the royal assent process in the Canadian parliament has risen on a number of occasions in recent years, notably in the report of the McGrath committee of 1985. Many significant reforms to the House came out of this report. In fact our House leader, again the member for Winnipeg--Transcona, was a member of the committee which introduced, among other things, the ability to have some private members' businesses votable, maybe not as many as I personally would like but it was a start.

This is what happens when we have a very effective parliamentarian in the House of Commons from the New Democratic Party to bring these great issues forward to all levels of government and all other parties.

Bill S-34 will continue to remind us how laws are passed in Canada, how the House, the Senate and the Governor General each play a unique role in bringing legislation forward, and of the ability for us as members of parliament to bring forward issues or amendments on various pieces of legislation and watch that legislation flow through the process in a parliamentary reform.

I also want to mention the fact that although this is a very important aspect of changes to our House of Commons in terms of forming more of a simple procedure in this regard, it maintains the traditions that we hold so strongly in our parliamentary tradition. It is worth noting that the majority of members of parliament here would support this initiative. We in the New Democratic Party support this and hope to see quick passage of the bill as soon as possible.

[National Revenue, April 11th, 2002]

Mr. Speaker, my question is for the Minister of National Revenue.

One of the most despicable acts this government has ever portrayed is upon our senior citizens with the changes to the disability tax credit.

This morning at the veterans affairs committee we heard that thousands upon thousands of veterans who fought for this country will now lose their ability to collect on their disability tax credit because of the changes made by this government.

My question is quite clear: Why does the minister not get rid of that most offensive form which will steal money from the most vulnerable in our society, cancel the Challenger jets and give the money back to those people who fought for this damn country?

[Statistics Act, April 9th, 2002]

Mr. Speaker, I wish to tell my colleague from Dufferin--Peel--Wellington--Grey that I tried.

We in the New Democratic Party thank the former industry minister for setting the task force forward to come up with recommendations for the government to provide legislation to release the census of 1911.

We want to make it clear for the record that people note that in the bill itself, which the member has provided, information is not automatically transferred to the archives. People can object to the transfer of their own information before 92 years are up allowing any information to remain confidential if they so wish.

We in the New Democratic Party believe it is time to support the panel report, call for the government to bring in legislation allowing the release of census information to the archives after 92 years for genealogical research.

I thank the hon. member for bringing this timely subject to the House for debate. I received many calls asking that the census be released. I find it unfortunate that we cannot have unanimous consent on such a worthwhile bill but I thank the hon. member for bringing it to the attention of the House.