Peter Stoffer

[Foreign Missions and International Organizations Act, November 29th, 2001]

Madam Speaker, we watched in horror what the RCMP did to protestors at the APEC conference. We heard Mr. Stewart say “All right, folks, my job is to clear out of it.” Without giving people a chance to get off their feet and move, he very quickly peppered sprayed them with about eight seconds' notice.

[Foreign Missions and International Organizations Act, November 29th, 2001]

Madam Speaker, I listened to the remarks of my colleague across the way with regard to terrorism and the government's lack of effort in this regard. In some ways he is correct and in some ways he is wrong. I have a very simple question for him.

Yesterday an historic vote was held in the House of Commons. I know the member did not vote with the majority of his party. I believe he voted with the Bloc. The NDP voted against the bill because of the egregious errors it would commit upon all Canadians.

The leader of the Canadian Alliance stood in the House time and time again and spoke for well over an hour yesterday complaining about the faults of the bill. He then stood and voted for the bill.

Why did this member's leader and the majority of the party that he represents cry about how bad the bill and the government were and then vote for the legislation? When the rubber hit the road those members stood and voted for the legislation. I cannot believe they did that.

I give this member credit because, true to his word, he voted against it. However the majority of his party overwhelmingly denounced the bill in committee and in public and then turned around and voted for it. I would like to know why his leader did that.

[Petitions, November 28th, 2001]

Mr. Speaker, it is a great privilege to present a petition on behalf of practitioners of Falun Gong and Falun Dafa who would like the government to protect the SOS rescue team going to China to investigate the persecution of people who practise it.

Falun Gong is a peaceful and truthful form of meditation practised in over 40 countries around the world. It gives me great pleasure to present the petition on behalf of many residents of Toronto and of Sydney, Cape Breton.

[Anti-terrorism Act, November 27th, 2001]

Mr. Speaker, I rise in condemnation of this piece of legislation. The previous member of the Liberal Party who spoke made comments about the bill being balanced. Those types of comments originate from the south end of a northbound cow. They have no justification whatsoever. The reality is that if the bill does not get dropped immediately to be reworked and redone for the benefit of all Canadians, my fear is Canadians will wake up to something that they will regret for a long time.

There are 116,000 young Canadians who fought for freedom and democracy buried in over 60 countries around the world. They did not fight for a country to create legislation like this. This is a major overreaction to what happened on September 11.

If one looks at the way the government works with its economic policies, it is probably the cheapest way to deal with what happened on September 11. The budgets of our enforcement agencies, military and others have been drastically cut over the years on a continuous basis by the government. Now the government says there are huge loopholes in the system because of those cuts and terrorists may take advantage of them. It figures the only way to deal with it is to bring forth legislation that would take away the rights of many Canadians.

I am not a lawyer, but the last time I checked a person was innocent until proven guilty. The premise would now be that a person would be guilty before proven innocent. It is unbelievable.

In an era of government when everyone says we need to be more open and transparent my colleague from Pictou--Antigonish--Guysborough introduced motions to dispense with becoming even more secretive. Where is the openness and transparency in that? There is not one piece of evidence that this would protect Canadians or allow them to sleep better at night. I suspect Canadians would have great nightmares over this.

What about the visible minorities? We read over and over again in the media how individuals of Arab descent are looked upon with a jaundiced view because of their nationality. That is unacceptable. This type of legislation would create fear among visible minorities in the country and would do away with the hard work that has been done over many years of attempting to create equality and bring an end to racism.

The bill would create a strong racist notion in most people's minds because determination of whether or not they were guilty or innocent would be based on perception of who they are and what they look like. That is something that our party could never support.

We encourage the government to drop the bill, go back to the table, look at it again, and this time work with all members of society to bring forth a bill that would provide the security we are looking for and end terrorism once and for all.

[National Defence, November 8th, 2001]

Mr. Speaker, when our troops go overseas it is tough enough for them to be away from their families. It is tough enough for them to be in harm's way. The government has now placed severe restrictions on schoolchildren across the country from sending get well wishes and Christmas cards to our troops overseas.

My question is for the Minister of National Defence. Why put severe restrictions on schoolchildren sending Christmas wishes and best wishes to our troops overseas? Why put this hardship on children?

[Veterans Affairs, November 6th, 2001]

Mr. Speaker, it gives me great pleasure to rise today on behalf of my New Democratic colleagues across the country to pay tribute to our Canadian veterans. As fellow parliamentarians we are proud to see and hear the hon. Minister of Veterans Affairs deliver the government statement on behalf of all veterans.

Many historians have repeatedly stated that Canada's sense of being and coming together as a nation came as a result of the heroic efforts of our fallen heroes on the battlefields in Europe in the two world wars between 1914-18 and 1939-45. We must also remember the heroic efforts of the Newfoundlanders and Labradorians who fell at battles such as Beaumont Hamel.

In more than 60 countries around the world, over 116,000 young Canadians have died in the effort to spread freedom and democracy around the world so that other countries could live in peace and freedom as we in Canada do today.

Mr. Speaker, I stand before you as a citizen who was born in Holland. My parents and oldest brother were liberated by Canadians. I have to say how proud I am to be able to stand in the Chamber where the decision was made to send liberators over so that my mother, father and oldest brother could be free. As this is the International Year of Volunteers I must say that no greater volunteers have ever come from Canada than those who volunteered to serve as a duty to their country in order to free other nations around the world. I pay special tribute to those honoured veterans and their families.

I encourage all Canadians to take time this week and on November 11 to reflect on and thank our veterans and their families, to get out and visit our local cenotaphs and legions and to say a special prayer for our current military personnel and pray for their safe return from their overseas duties.

May God bless the memory of all fallen heroes and those who are still with us:

At the going down of the sun, and in the morning, We will remember them.

[Depleted Uranium, November 5th, 2001]

Mr. Speaker, after the death of her husband who served this country very proudly, Susan Riordon of Nova Scotia has brought to the attention of our committee in the House many times the death of her husband in regard to the depleted uranium that was found in his bones.

Depleted uranium has a devastating effect not only on the environment it is used in but also on the men and women and military personnel who handle it.

My question is for the Minister of National Defence. Is depleted uranium being used by the U.S. led coalition in Afghanistan in the current conflict?

[Yukon Act, November 5th, 2001]

Mr. Speaker, first, I would like to make a correction. In my previous question, I talked about the porcupine herd. I can just see Canadians thinking that 130,000 porcupines went from Yukon. I meant to say the porcupine caribou herd. I apologize for that.

When we talk about Yukon, I cannot help but notice the alluring effect it has on people. By talking about it, I think it would encourage people to say “What are these guys talking about? I have to go up there and see this place”. People there have a fairly historic value to not only Yukon but Canada. Byron Delzell was one of the original bush plane pilots in Yukon, even before the Alaska Highway. I think of Hector Lang, whose children Archie and Dan Lang live in Whitehorse, and the exploration work that he did. Also, Peter Gzowski, a known commentator in Canada, cited Watson Lake, Yukon, as one of his favourite places to go in Canada. When someone like Peter Gzowski thinks that way, then it is quite obvious Yukon has a very special effect for all of us.

When the transfer agreement is finally done, could my colleague from Oxford comment on the long term effects, say 10 years from now, that will arrive from this agreement for Yukon as well for all of Canada.

[Yukon Act, November 5th, 2001]

Mr. Speaker, could the hon. member list the advantages and benefits that he sees in agreements, for example the agreement with the government of Alaska in terms of not only the Alaska Highway but also shared resources?

The famous porcupine herd is controversial now because the United States wanted to open the Arctic refuge for oil and gas drilling prior to September 11. Many of us, including those in our party, would like to see that area preserved in perpetuity so the porcupine herd could travel the normal migration route that it has for thousands of years.

Could the member give us details of what the benefits would be to the Yukon government of being able to deal effectively with the government of Alaska on issues of this nature?

[Yukon Act, November 5th, 2001]

Mr. Speaker, as a former Yukoner who lived in Watson Lake, Yukon from 1979 to 1988, it is a pleasure to rise in the House today and compliment the government and the member for Yukon on their speeches. I would also like to compliment the minister of aboriginal and northern affairs for allowing his colleague from Yukon to really get the debate going. I compliment my colleague from Yukon on his great speech. I am sure everyone in Yukon is very excited about today's dialogue.

I also thank my former colleague from the House of Commons, Louise Hardy, who served in the House from 1997 to 2000. She was a great member of parliament. It was a close race. She is probably watching the debate or hearing about it and is very pleased with the government's actions toward her territory.

Also there are a couple of local territorial leaders of the New Democratic Party in Yukon from back in the 1980s and 1990s whom I would like to point out, Mr. Tony Penikett, and more recently in the 1990s, Piers McDonald. They were very supportive of this legislation many years ago. As well, there is my colleague Audrey McLaughlin and as has already been mentioned, the infamous 25 year member for Yukon, Mr. Eric Nielsen. There is a long line of parliamentarians who have come here. Our former leader of the party, Audrey McLaughlin, came from Yukon and served our party for many years. All of these people are very excited about this legislation.

One of my favourite things is to encourage everyone to visit us in Nova Scotia and the maritimes, but I also encourage everyone to visit Yukon. They should have a look at what is up there. It is an excruciatingly beautiful part of Canada. Once someone is there it is hard to turn the car or plane around and go back. It grabs hold of someone. As Robert Service said, it is a stillness that fills one with peace. Once it gets hold of people it is hard for them to leave. While I do not live there anymore a large part of my heart is with Yukon and many Yukoners who live there today.

One thing which I am very pleased about is the consultation with first nations groups. The first nations people of Yukon are getting it right in terms of co-operative dialogue with the territorial and federal governments. I am sure I speak on behalf of many of my friends who live in the aboriginal community in Yukon. They may not be pleased with the speed of the dialogue that is going on; things could move a little quicker, but we could have that debate another day. However they are very pleased that more power in making decisions will be with the territorial government in Whitehorse, not necessarily in Ottawa, although Ottawa will have some control in that regard.

As the member for Yukon and the minister know quite well, anyone who has been there or lived there for a while knows how precious Yukon's environmental concerns are. We encourage the government and those of the territories and all members of the House of Commons when development concerns come up, as they did in Faro on forestry issues and the Liard basin, that we keep in mind how precious the environment is north of 60, especially in Yukon.

I am convinced that the hon. Pat Duncan, the leader of the territory government, along with other members of the Yukon territorial government will deliver very sound and positive environmental concerns when it comes to any other development.

In 1942 Yukon was just a place on the map, not very many people had heard of it. Then the American corps of engineers told the Mackenzie King government that a road was needed from Dawson Creek all the way to Fairbanks. The engineering marvel of that century was probably that they were able to build 1,500 miles of road out of virgin territory from Dawson Creek right to Fairbanks. I lived in Watson Lake which was known as mile 635. That road was built in nine months fearing Japanese invasion of the Aleutian Islands. It was a tremendous economic benefit to the north as well as a wonderful engineering marvel.

Since then Yukon has welcomed millions of visitors. It is home to the largest mountain range in all of North America in Kluane park. Again, I encourage everyone who gets the opportunity to visit Yukon.

There is a dialogue among all the political parties. We understand that the Yukon party may not be supporting the legislation in full. I am sure that if it carefully read the brochure and understood what benefits, economic and otherwise, this would bring to the people of Yukon, it would change its mind and understand exactly what the member for Yukon was saying earlier.

I do not have too much more to say on this except that I encourage the government to ensure, and we have heard it in the House today, that the federal servants are well looked after, that their economic needs and their job prospects are not deterred in any way. It must also ensure that all first nations groups have a continuous dialogue and full and open access to the governments in order to ascertain their needs. The government must also ensure that the environment is protected along with development to encourage job and economic growth and tourism for Yukon.

I am proud to stand on behalf of the federal New Democratic Party and support the legislation. I would be willing to entertain any questions or statements the House may have.