Peter Stoffer

[Modernization and Improvement of the Procedures of the House of Commons, October 4th, 2001]

Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague from Fraser Valley for his speech but I will remind him, and he probably knows this, that it was not just the Liberal government that invented that type of culture. Previous Conservative governments also had that culture.

One thing I would like to reiterate in the House, and my colleague for Saanich--Gulf Islands was on our committee when we did this, is that the 1998 east coast fisheries report was a unanimous report by all members of the committee, including the parliamentary secretary. The nine Liberals and five political parties agreed to every single word in that document. It cost us over $180,000. My colleague from Saanich--Gulf Islands can easily say that people were out there pouring out their heartfelt emotions to us. We had a unanimous report and brought it to the House. Nine Liberals signed the document and then stood in the House on a vote of concurrence and voted against their own report.

I would like the member's comments on that.

[The Acadians, October 3rd, 2001]

Mr. Speaker, it gives me great privilege to rise in the House to debate Motion No. 241 on behalf of the Acadian residents of West Chezzetcook and Grand Desert in Nova Scotia.

It is a sin and a shame that the member for Tobique--Mactaquac whom I respect very much would play politics with this serious and compassionate motion. The member for Lanark--Carleton is trying to rewrite history.

I would suspect that probably not one person from his caucus has ever gone to Grand Pré and read the 300 names on the stone in the church in Grand Pré which is in Wolfville, Nova Scotia.

It is one of the most beautiful sites in all of Canada. It is a place of remembrance. It is a sort of Holy Grail for all Acadians to visit when they come to Nova Scotia. They come from around the world to Grand Pré to worship and pray for those people who were expelled in 1755. It is a sin that these people would play politics on a motion of this regard.

All we are asking is that the House of Commons send a message to the Queen through parliament to request an apology. It does not say when. Nor does it have to be tomorrow. We are only asking that it be given careful consideration.

The Queen is making a visit to Canada in 2002. The Acadian festival is happening in Nova Scotia in 2004 and there is another festival in 2005. The Queen has a lot of time in which to decide. We owe it to the crown to allow it time to mull this over and give it careful consideration. We should not play politics with the motion. It is a sin that we get caught up in this. It is no wonder that many minorities in the country, including Acadians, give up on parliament so easily.

Every Acadian association supports the motion. It is really misleading for the minister responsible for official languages, for whom I have great respect, to say there is no support coming from the Acadian group. It is simply not true, as every association supports the motion.

All that Acadians are asking for is the correction of an historic wrong. The Pope apologized to the Jewish nation for the expulsion of Jews during the war. Canadian churches apologized for the residential schools. Mr. Mulroney, a former prime minister, stood in the House and apologized for Japanese internments during the war.

In an era of compassion and forgiveness we should be able to apologize on behalf of the Queen, when she comes to Canada or through other means that she may decide, for the expulsion of Acadians in 1755.

For anyone to assume that the king at the time was unaware of the actions in the colonies is simply nonsense. That kind of talk originates from the south end of a northbound cow. It is simply unacceptable.

I must say how proud we all were in Nova Scotia when the Governor General of Canada, Roméo LeBlanc, a very proud and distinguished gentleman, became the first Acadian to reach the highest post in our land. I am also very proud to see his son sitting in parliament today.

The New Democratic Party also had a first. In 1997 the first two Acadians ever elected to the House of Commons under the New Democratic banner were the hon. member for Acadie--Bathurst, our party whip, and a previous member who jumped ship, Angela Vautour. They were two Acadians who were very proud to run in New Brunswick under the Acadian banner.

We are very proud to have had them in our caucus. We are very proud of our whip for the job that he does. He brings the passion and the caring of the Acadian community to our caucus and to the House of Commons on a daily basis. It is a voice that I am sure the House of Commons will hear for many years to come.

It is also remarkable that the Minister of State for the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency, who is from West Nova, does not support the motion. When one goes through West Nova one can see the pride and the outstanding ability of the Acadian people. Their flag, language and culture are everywhere.

In the two communities I represent, West Chezzetcook and Grand Desert, the people are very proud to be Acadian and very proud to be part of Nova Scotia and part of the greater country of Canada.

It is remarkable that the minister for ACOA would not want to support this motion when ACOA just gave $4 million to the Grand Pré site. The government gave $4 million in tax dollars in order to build up the site, to make it better, to improve the historical aspect of Grand Pré. On the one hand he gives the money to support them and on the other hand, in a hypocritical sense, he turns around and will not support the motion. It is absolutely incredible.

Here is what I recommend to everyone in the House. If members really want a taste and a feel of what Acadian culture is all about they should visit Grand Pré, Nova Scotia. They will not be disappointed. Then members can take a trip to the Acadian villages throughout all of Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, parts of P.E.I. and to everywhere else Acadians reside.

What happened to the Acadians from 1755 to 1763 was a sin. Thousands of people were ejected from their land. These were hard working people who wanted nothing to do with war. All they wanted to do was farm their land, look after their children and live in peace. They were not allowed to because they refused to swear an oath to the king. Because of that they were told either they were with us or against us. At that time they were kicked out.

Members can imagine that happening. All those families suffered greatly from it. Families were separated. I know of one family, that of Joe Jacquard of Wedgeport, Nova Scotia. He told me the story of his great-great-grandfather hiding in the woods at that time to get away from the English.

Many of the Acadians there have the oral histories of what happened to their families. The names of those original families are in the church in Grand Pré. I recommend that everyone have a look at it, especially the member for Lanark--Carleton. His was a disgraceful display. I respect the man having his opinion in the House of Commons, but to try to rewrite history and say that we do not have any responsibility in today's society for something that happened is simply nonsense. I stand in the House and I refute the hon. member's speech because it is simply wrong.

Many things have happened because of this event. My wife is from Longueuil, Quebec and my daughter is in full French immersion, and what the Acadian people have brought to my family is absolutely fabulous. I know I am not very good at the English language, let alone the French language, but I cannot thank the Acadian population of my province enough for what they have done, not only for our communities but for our way of life and the diversity of our culture.

Lately we have been talking about the diversity of cultures in Canada with our Arab and Muslim people. We should not forget that the Acadians themselves gave us a diversity of culture that was fabulous, that was fantastic. We are indebted to those people. Every single one of them through their associations is asking for this motion to be passed. I again encourage the House to carefully reflect upon the motion, damn well keep politics out of it and just reflect on what we should do to make an historic wrong right.

All the Acadians are asking for is the ability to have an apology from the Queen and to allow the Queen to do it herself. Allow the House to be mature enough to have the debate, move it in a positive sense and allow Her Majesty to make that decision. We should not do it, and there should be no sleazy politics about it.

Mr. Speaker, I cannot thank you enough for the opportunity to speak to this today on behalf of all the Acadians of West Chezzetcook and Grand Desert and anywhere in my riding, and especially on behalf of my colleague, the MLA Kevin Deveaux, himself an Acadian and an elected official to the assembly in the Province House in Nova Scotia, and many others.

We stand in the House to support Motion No. 241 and also to support our great colleague from Acadie--Bathurst. I cannot say his name, but he is our whip as well.

[Supply, October 2nd, 2001]

Mr. Speaker, there are a large number of Middle Eastern and Asian population groups in Nova Scotia. After September 11 one could feel the tension within those groups about the acts of vigilantism against them.

A lot of them were very nervous and very frightened even in the perception sense. I spoke to a couple of them in my area who run small businesses and they said that it reminded them of the countries they had left. It reminded them of the fear they had. They did not think Canada would instill that type of fear in them.

The NDP motion brought forward today is asking for leadership from the government to tell Canadians to stop the racist attacks against our Arab and Muslim friends and neighbours. The names Osama and Mohammed are just as Canadian as the names Michael and David.

Could the member for Palliser give some examples to the government of what it could do to educate all Canadians in preventing racism at its source?

[Canadian Airline Industry, October 1st, 2001]

Madam Chairman, I have listened to the debate now for over two hours and would probably have to admit that I am only member of parliament now in the House of Commons who can speak from personal experience, because I am technically on leave from Air Canada. I worked for the industry for over 18 years and I am now on leave as I perform my public service in the House of Commons.

Before I begin my remarks, I would like to extend my condolences to the members of all the families of those airline employees who were killed in the unfortunate circumstances of September 11. As an airline employee I know exactly how those people must have felt. That day they stood on the bridgehead, closed the door, said good-bye to the flight attendants, gave a thumbs up to the captain and less than an hour later that plane was on the ground in a disastrous way. I must say that I spent a long time crying during those days, knowing that those airline employees perished in a terrible way. My heart goes out to those families, along with my condolences and those of my colleagues from Dartmouth and Halifax and the rest of the NDP caucus, provincial and federal, across the country.

I would like to give the House the names of some airline employees so that we can put this in perspective. The fact is that we are not talking about numbers. We are talking about human beings and their families. I was a proud airline employee for 18 years. I must say that in 1997 when I was nominated Paul Withers of the CBC said: “The Sackville--Eastern Shore nominations are now complete. The Conservatives have picked the well known, hard working member Ken Streatch, the Liberals have picked the former hard working member of council, Beverley Peters, the Reform have picked the former lieutenant-colonel of the military, Robert Cuthbert, and the NDP picked some airline worker named Pete Stoffer”.

That is exactly what he said after the nomination in 1997. I have yet to forgive that man for that comment, because the fact is I am proud to be an airline worker. I am proud to say that if I am not elected in the next election I would be proud to go back to the airline industry. For the thousands of airline people, their families and the affiliated associations connected to the airlines, I must say that it is a proud and noble job to have. I was very proud to work nine years in Yukon and nine years in the Halifax airport. I take offence to anyone saying that this is just a numbers game, let the market decide everything and we will have it.

I cannot believe the PC/DRC would stand up and say let the markets decide. The fact is that the United States has the most unregulated, market oriented airline industry on the planet and it is begging for money from the government. That was long before September 11.

There are many combinations in the problems of the airline industry. It has very little to do with September 11. I will give you the names of Bob Lochyer, a 26 year employee of Air Canada, Harvey Lane from Newfoundland, a 40 year member of the airline industry, Dan and Jennifer Carrier of Nova Scotia and Dave and Ronalda Savard of Nova Scotia. What a lot of people fail to understand is that this industry has a lot of husbands and wives working together. There are a lot of partners working together in this industry throughout the entire country. When the airline goes into a tailspin for whatever reason it does not affect just one income. It affects the entire income of that whole family. Probably there is not a pilot, an agent, a mechanic or a cleaner on those aircraft who would not move anywhere in the country to follow the job. Airline people are like that. I was like that.

In 1998 I was told I no longer had employment and that if I wanted employment I had to go where my seniority held. Thank God I had a union to protect my interests. I moved to Halifax, a decision I have never regretted.

It is very easy for me to stand up here and rally against Robert Milton, the CEO of Air Canada, but that will not solve the problem of the day. However I will tell Mr. Milton how offended I am by a comment in an e-mail sent to all the employees of Air Canada on September 26. This is the part that absolutely offends me as a person who has watched many of my colleagues follow down to the Canadian regionals, Air Atlantic and everyone else with the promise of jobs, equitable wages and everything else, only to have the rug pulled out from under them.

In the e-mail he says that it is expected that the launch of the low fare carrier will mitigate job losses in both the mainland and regional carriers as qualified surplus staff will be hired on a preferential basis by the low fare carrier. What that basically says is to hell with everyone, but by the way when the low fare carrier starts up, hopefully with a lot of government money, everyone will be hired back. We have no idea of what the circumstances, wages or conditions will be. It is incredible that this can happen.

I also want to thank the regional carriers. One suggestion I should make is that if Air Canada wants any government money or if the airline industry wants any government money they will have to sell off the regional carriers and allow them to be profitable on their own.

Another suggestion is that if the government plans to put in more money it has to have an equity share in the airline industry. It has to make sure that the government has people on the board of directors to give the public a say in the future of the airline carrier.

I could go on forever in this regard, but I want to say in closing that as an airline employee myself and now a member of parliament, I salute each and every one of those airline people throughout the country. I ask them to stop fighting among themselves and work toward a positive conclusion so that we can have an airline industry in the future that we can all be proud of.

[Airline Safety, September 24th, 2001]

Mr. Speaker, while Canadians line up for what seems to be an awfully long time at security points to have their nail clippers removed from their baggage, on board the aircraft all too willing flight attendants are giving us metal serrated knives and forks. The United States has decided through the FTA to remove all metal cutlery on board aircraft due to the concerns of September 11.

Would the Minister of Transport not think it prudent for Canada do the same and remove all metal cutlery from aircraft for the safety and protection of all travellers?

[Airline Safety, September 24th, 2001]

Mr. Speaker, I would like to relate a story to the House of Commons about something that happened to me this morning and to my leader as well.

We waited in an airport security lineup for over 30 minutes for dangerous articles such as nail clippers to be removed, boarded our aircraft and had a wonderful breakfast. They gave us a serrated knife to cut our eggs and our meat. Surely there is a bit of hypocrisy here in terms of our airline security.

The United States has moved very quickly to remove all metal cutlery from all aircraft within its borders. We in Canada, due to the circumstances of September 11, should take all precautions necessary and remove immediately from our aircraft any metal cutlery or metal objects that could pose any hazard to passengers.

As well, we call upon the government to take over complete control of pre-flight screening for boarding in every airport throughout the entire country as well as to initiate a process whereby all cargo and baggage is thoroughly x-rayed and reviewed before it goes onto the aircraft.

[Sir John A. Macdonald and the Sir Wilfrid Laurier Day Act, September 24th, 2001]

Mr. Speaker, it gives me great pleasure, on behalf of the New Democratic Party, to thank the hon. member for Don Valley West for bringing this very relative bill, which originated in the Senate, before the House of Commons.

There is no question that we should set aside a day to honour and support the builders of our country. This bill would put forward the particular enactment.

I recommend that the member for Don Valley West convey to the finance minister that one of the problems we have in Canada is the history lessons taught in our classrooms. It is very important that the House pass the bill as an enactment for the particular day, but it does absolutely nothing if it does not reach down to our classrooms.

As a kid growing up and going through the school system in Canada I learned more about American history than I did about Canadian history. I always thought that was a flaw in the process. One of the problems is that the provinces are responsible for the delivery of education.

However I will give credit where credit is due. We have an education minister in Nova Scotia by the name of Jane Purves who is pushing that history be made a mandatory subject in our schools. I could not agree with her more. I say this because she is a minister of education in our province who has gone through some very rough times, most of it brought on by herself. However in this circumstance I support her recommendation.

What better time than now to teach students about the first prime minister of the country and one of the longest serving prime ministers of our country, two people from different political parties who even today have a very strong influence on the way that the House runs, especially in terms of bilingualism.

Sir Wilfrid Laurier was stressing that need being our first prime minister of French origin. It is imperative that the House be able to communicate in both official languages throughout the entire country. That is the vision of those two men and it should be honoured by the particular day.

Perhaps the hon. member for Don Valley West would accept a friendly amendment, not that I am proposing one. However if he nods his head I will let him propose the amendment that we not only make it Sir John A. Macdonald Day and Sir Wilfrid Laurier Day, but also include J. S. Woodsworth who was one of the finest democrats this country has ever seen. Maybe he would like to include that name as part of the bill.

This is not to speak critically in any way of Mr. Macdonald or Mr. Laurier, but at the time they were building the country an awful lot of people were left behind in the vision of the future of Canada. This is where J. S. Woodsworth was effective, along with M. J. Caldwell and the late great Tommy Douglas. These were three democrats who helped build the country.

If the member for Don Valley West wants to throw in the name of J. S. Woodsworth he would have no argument from the New Democrats in that regard.

It is imperative that we recognize the contribution these two gentlemen made to Canadian history, but I impress upon the member to advise the finance minister to ensure that the provinces have adequate funding through the transfer programs to put money back into the classrooms so that teachers have the resources by which to teach Canadian history.

That would do more than just honour the commitment of these two men. It would ensure the memory of these two men in terms of educating our children, which I believe is imperative. If we do not know our history we cannot know where we are going.

I thank the hon. member on behalf of the New Democratic Party for bringing forward the bill.

[Criminal Law Amendment Act, 2001, September 20th, 2001]

Mr. Speaker, I thank my hon. colleague from the Bloc Quebecois for his questions. I must speak without the privilege of consulting my justice critic, the member for Winnipeg--Transcona, on what our party would quickly pass and what it would send to committee. However speaking for myself I would probably fight for anything to do with children, Internet pornography and so on. I would do everything I could to convince my party to pass such legislation quickly.

When it comes to cruelty to animals the bill should go to committee to allow the general public further discussion. The same is true for the gun concerns of police officers.

Although I cannot speak for my party without consulting other members I can rest assured that when it comes to protecting children from Internet child pornography our party would quickly support such legislation.

[Criminal Law Amendment Act, 2001, September 20th, 2001]

Mr. Speaker, I knows this goes in Hansard so I hope not too many people read it. It is not often that I agree with my Alliance colleagues but on the issue of whether the bill is about animals or children I agree with the hon. member. He says the issues should have been talked about in separate bills. He is absolutely correct. We New Democrats say the same.

A former colleague of ours, the hon. Chris Axworthy who is now the Saskatchewan justice minister, introduced a bill in the House many years ago to protect children from Internet pornography. Another former colleague of ours, Mr. Gordon Earle, introduced an even broader bill. Bill C-210 would have expanded that protection to material which advocated, promoted or incited racial hatred and violence against women or other minorities.

I will pick up on what the previous member was saying about whether the current bill is about animals or children. Many Canadians are confused about this. If the House were at all mature or responsible it would never in its wildest dreams have combined the two issues.

When it comes to cruelty to animals there are many debates about that topic alone. It is of concern to farmers, hunters, aboriginal communities and people in urban centres. When it comes to the issue of child pornography the mere act of discussing it on the Internet incites debate throughout the country.

It is folly to think we can debate the two issues in the same bill. It is simple nonsense. Only the Liberals could do something like that. It is incredible that they would even attempt to get away with it. If they had separated the bill as some of my colleagues had asked them to prior to the summer recess, strong child pornography legislation might be in place as we speak.

However we went through the entire summer without further debate. The government twiddled its thumbs and sat on the issue. As a father of two young girls, it is imperative that the House of Commons and all legislatures across the country do everything they can to protect our children.

One of my concerns in taking over Mr. Chris Axworthy's bill and reintroducing it into the House has been that with the rapid rise of Internet use an awful lot of children have been inadvertently getting sucked into a trap by pedophiles. It is one of the greatest sins anyone can commit on a child.

Children have a fascination with television sets and the Internet. No matter how well parents or guardians protect their children, look over their shoulders and examine everything they do on a computer, no one can be there 24 hours a day to watch what children do.

Pedophiles are extremely intelligent at using the right words and terminology to entice our children into these traps. There are far too many examples where children of all ages have been sucked into that trap and dire consequences have been the result.

What do we have? We have a bill in the House of Commons which combines the protection of children with cruelty to animals. We must be the laughingstock of all legislatures in the free world when it comes to this type of debate. There is probably no precedent in the Commonwealth or anywhere else where a government in its right mind has combined the protection of animals with the protection of children.

What are we saying about children? Are we comparing them to cats and dogs? Are we comparing them to cattle? Are we comparing them to game? Is this what we are doing? That is the impression the omnibus bill gives. It is simple nonsense to think we can have a rational debate on these or any other subjects in the bill.

We cannot presume to tell Canadians, after the bill is passed by Liberal majorities in the House and Senate, that we can protect children. It does not make sense.

We ask the government to quickly split the issues into separate bills. It could put the cruelty to animals issue in one bill, the child pornography issue in another, the gun issue in another and so on. This way there could be fair and equitable debate in the House of Commons.

As a father of two young girls who is extremely nervous about the big, bad world in terms of Internet pornography I urge the government to look at the previous bills, Bill C-212 and Bill C-210. They are already done up. The government can take them, steal them or do whatever it wants but it should incorporate them into its legislation and do so quickly. I am sure that after reviewing the bills all members of the House would support their measures and pass them quickly.

If we can pass a retroactive pay raise within a couple of days, surely to God we can pass legislation to protect our children from the infamous pedophiles and dangerous criminals who are out there.

Mr. Speaker, I thank you for the time on behalf of my children and all the children of Canada. The government and all legislators should do what we can to protect children from danger on the Internet and elsewhere.

[Fisheries, September 20th, 2001]

Mr. Speaker, I rise in the House to express my deep disappointment and frustration with a small group of fishermen who fired 30 shots into the fishing grounds off Burnt Church earlier this week.

It is important to emphasize that the group does not represent the majority of hard working and law-abiding fishermen in the Miramichi area. I commend the leadership of the non-native commercial fishery and that of the aboriginal community for exercising restraint given the events of this week. I encourage them to continue to show restraint.

I also call upon all sides to work together toward a peaceful solution to the ongoing crisis within the fishery. That means that the government must create an environment where fair and peaceful settlements are possible.

The Minister of Fisheries and Oceans must personally get involved with all stakeholders and other ministers and, if necessary, re-examine the existing quota allocations and management practices.

The Mounties were not able to prevent this week's raid. Nor have any arrests been made. In order to create an environment where peaceful settlements are possible, the government must commit the needed resources to enforcement.

I call for the minister to get personally involved because in Burnt Church nobody should die over lobsters.