Peter Stoffer

[Committees of the House, September 19th, 2001]

Madam Speaker, my question is for my colleague on the defence committee. As he well knows, the supply chain will now be under review under what is called alternate service deliveries. The Government of Canada will lose control of supplies going into our military bases throughout the country and overseas in times of crisis.

Does the member not agree that it would be prudent for the government to delay any alternate service deliveries until situations cool off in the near future?

[Committees of the House, September 19th, 2001]

Madam Speaker, I am entering rather quickly into the debate on military procurement. There is one question that arises due to the circumstances of September 11, and that is with regard to the Shearwater air base in my riding.

Very soon a decision will be made by DND to divest itself of the 1,100 acres of land on which Shearwater is located. The problem is not that it is virgin land or land that cannot be used. There is an extremely long runway on that air base. For years I have been trying to protect that base from any kind of downloading or off-loading, because it not only represents 1,200 direct jobs in my riding, it also represents a jewel in the crown of the military infrastructure. It has been there for 83 years.

We never know what may happen down the road and heaven forbid that there may be serious long term consequences as a result of the tragedy on September 11. My question for the hon. member is, due to the circumstances surrounding September 11, would it not be prudent for the Minister of National Defence to hold off on any divestiture of land similar to Shearwater until further decisions can be made? Would he not agree that would be a wise move at this time?

[Supply, September 18th, 2001]

Mr. Speaker, I would like to go on a different tact with the hon. member regarding concerns people have mentioned about bin Laden having over $300 million. I am sure he does not carry that amount of money around in his pocket or suitcase. He must have that money channelled in offshore accounts, Swiss bank accounts or whatever.

Does the member see a role for the government to play in offering help to the international community to find out where that money is and in freezing it or taking it away so that these terrorist acts will not be funded in that way?

[Airline Safety, September 18th, 2001]

Mr. Speaker, my question is for the transport minister.

Canadian public at the airports require more competence from the government that they are getting now. Customs officers receive a full year of intensive training. Pre-flight screening officers receive 20 hours of training. Air Canada and other airlines have asked the federal government to accept full cost, full control and full training for pre-boarding screening officers throughout the entire country.

Will the government accept that recommendation and look into that?

Also, will the government at the logistics of examining and X-raying all baggage in cargo going onto an aircraft on domestic flights and transborder flights within the country?

[Allotted Day--Anti-Terrorism Legislation, September 18th, 2001]

Mr. Speaker, to reiterate what my hon. colleague on the other side said, that if security needs to be reviewed or upgraded it will be, she is quite close to the transport minister, who yesterday said in the House that he does not want anyone to cancel their trips or their flights or their vacations. He wants Canadians to continue normally. However, one thing the travelling public is very concerned about is pre-boarding screening and the fact that no luggage on a domestic flight and no cargo on a domestic flight is ever X-rayed. Terrorists just have to check in baggage without worrying about pre-boarding screening. They could do the kind of damage that has already been done.

Would the member not accept the recommendation coming out, unfortunately due to the tragic events of September 11, to ask the transport minister to review aspects of pre-boarding screening?

For the information of members, customs agents receive a full year of intensive training before they do their job. Pre-boarding screeners in Canada receive 20 hours of training before they are allowed in front of X-ray machines at airports. That is completely unacceptable. Airports are now asking the government to accept complete responsibility for pre-boarding screening. A suggestion from our party is that all articles going onto an aircraft, including cargo and baggage, be X-rayed before that aircraft departs. Would she not agree with those recommendations?

[Allotted Day--Anti-Terrorism Legislation, September 18th, 2001]

Mr. Speaker, I greatly acknowledge the work of the hon. member in bringing to the attention of Canadians the reactionary measures we may have toward the Muslim, Arab and Islam communities in Canada. It is a disgrace.

We read the news this morning about a 15 year old boy who was attacked viciously because of who he was and what he looked like. That is something against which all parliamentarians should stand and say they will not accept in any way.

Given the premise and content of the motion before the House, would the hon. member agree to seek unanimity among all parliamentarians to keep this a non-partisan issue and give confidence to the Canadian public that we are working as a team and not playing partisan politics?

Would the member accept the recommendation of the other four parties in the House of Commons and advise that we withdraw the motion and introduce one that says the act of terrorism should be put to the committee for immediate study? He and other members of the justice committee are doing a good job in that respect. That is where this discussion should be and it should be put forward quickly.

[Attack on the United States, September 17th, 2001]

Mr. Speaker, I appreciate the issue brought up by the hon. member from Manitoba that we definitely have to put more resources into such agencies as the military, CSIS and the RCMP. There will be no argument from me in that regard.

Even if we have legislation similar to the United States, the fact is it will not stop someone like Timothy McVeigh. He was not an immigrant. He was not someone of Middle Eastern descent. He was an American who was trained by the U.S. military. He had a grudge against the government and decided to act in a very despicable manner by bombing the Oklahoma City federal building. The people of Oklahoma understand all too well the emotions felt in Washington, Pennsylvania, New York and around the world.

He is absolutely right that we require the resources and the legislation to put a stop to this but that is not enough. Terrorist acts have been happening around the world forever. There were the ETA in Spain and the Red Brigade in Italy. There were terrorist acts in Germany and California. When I was growing up there was the Symbionese Liberation Army, et cetera. Every faction out there or a handful of people who have a grudge against a particular democracy or government will act in a very despicable way.

I grew up British Columbia where we had the Squamish Five that went against Litton factories. They blew up the factories because of their view of the world.

If we have the legislation and the resources, does the hon. member honestly believe that without looking at the root causes of terrorism and why it happens internally and externally that we can bring justice to the dead and peace to the living?

[Attack on the United States, September 17th, 2001]

Mr. Speaker, I thank the hon. member for his comments, but one subject in the debate that tends to get overlooked a lot is the aspect of our public service workers. As all members of parliament know, PSAC, representing many factions of our various unions and Union of Taxation employees are in a strike mandate with the federal government. When the September 11 events came on they cancelled all strike activities, all further debate on the subject and realized that their efforts should pay attention to the needs of all Canadians and, in fact, to the needs of all of our American cousins, for that matter.

I want to thank the hon. member for his comments that he read from constituents. Yes, it is sage advice. I admit as the religious person I am that the day of September 11 I harboured views of revenge and serious anger. I wanted anything short of extreme violence to get at these people.

That was a human response. That was my first response. However, there is a reality after careful reflection with my minister, my church, my family and especially my children, because the event that hit me the most out of all the things that happened in a very chaotic time was the day care in New Jersey where an awful lot of these WTC employees bring their children for the day: a fair number of those children had no parents to pick them up on the evening of September 11.

I was extremely saddened by that story. It hurts me today as the father of two young children to know that happened and it calls upon the House for all of us to somehow seek justice for the dead and peace for the living.

I want to ask the hon. member how he assumes that in some way we are able to achieve justice for the dead and peace for the living.

[Attack on the United States, September 17th, 2001]

Mr. Speaker, I wish to thank the hon. Minister of Transport for his acknowledgement of the yeomen's work done by airline staff and the authorities throughout the country.

As a former airline employee for 18 years, having served nine years in the Yukon and nine years at the Halifax airport, I know exactly what those people went through during those long hours. The patience and understanding of all authorities, the generosity of all communities and especially the understanding of the passengers who sat on airplanes for 12 hours made their jobs that much more effective and easier.

As the hon. member knows, security for airports is contracted out by the major carriers. I remember trying to assist some Halifax security airport workers on the screening process during their contract deliberations with Air Canada a few years ago. I could not help but notice that Air Canada and others are now writing the minister asking that the federal government take 100% control of airport security and screening processes throughout the country.

I know it is a little premature to ask if he will do this, but will the minister at least take it under advisement and review the screening contracts for the entire country so that it falls under a national screening process devised and operated by the federal government?

[Women Veterans, June 11th, 2001]

Mr. Speaker, I thank all my colleagues on this side of the House and even my good colleague from Sault Ste. Marie. I believe if he had put down the department's notes and read from his heart we would have heard a different speech from him. That is the problem. When one is in government one must sometimes speak the government line. If the department does not want something to happen it simply does not get done.

I appeal to my hon. colleague from Sault Ste. Marie. He says that the government does not want to do things based on gender. If that were the case it would never have addressed the status of women. We even have a secretary of state, a minister, dedicated strictly to the status of women.

Why? It is because a forward thinking government years ago understood that issues of women were not being addressed properly by the government or by the country and that women were left behind in many aspects of society. It therefore created the ministry to build up women and give them an opportunity to address their concerns.

It was therefore disappointing to hear the hon. member say that the government does not want to do things based on gender. It was disappointing and I know personally that he probably does not believe it.

I thank my hon. colleagues from the Alliance Party, the Bloc Quebecois and the Conservative Party who spoke so eloquently on the motion.

In reality it would not cost much money. In all likelihood the government would get tremendous support from the citizens of the cities where the monuments would be. Most important, the government would once and for all be able to tell the women of Canada, who served so valiantly and bravely that, yes, it recognizes them.

It is never too late to do a good thing. The motion is a no-brainer for the government to accept. Mr. Speaker, if it were votable I could almost assure you that the majority of Liberals back there would vote for it. I do not see how they could not.

I would at this time, Mr. Speaker, seek the unanimous consent of all members in the House today to make the motion votable.