Mr. Speaker, that is not true. All of the Minister of Labour's expenses have been made available on websites. The fact is that the Conservative Minister of Labour's expenses in 2006 were lower than those of his Liberal counterparts in 2005.
House of Commons photoWon his last election, in 2015, with 50% of the vote.
Ministerial Expenses May 7th, 2007
Mr. Speaker, that is not true. All of the Minister of Labour's expenses have been made available on websites. The fact is that the Conservative Minister of Labour's expenses in 2006 were lower than those of his Liberal counterparts in 2005.
Afghanistan May 7th, 2007
Mr. Speaker, according to what is being said, this is a very good agreement. For example, in an article in the Globe and Mail, Paul Koring said, “The new deal transforms Canada into the standard-bearer for all foreign countries in the monitoring of transferred prisoners in Afghanistan”.
We are proud of this agreement.
Afghanistan May 7th, 2007
Mr. Speaker, on Friday I read considerable excerpts from the agreement that covered that and indeed answered those questions in the affirmative.
Apparently the deputy leader for the Liberal Party is following in the steps of his leader in failing to read the agreement, but somebody else read it, somebody named Michael Byers, who is not traditionally a fan of the government. He said that the enhanced agreement is now better than the Dutch-Afghan agreement, in fact, it is first-rate. If he is satisfied, I would hope they would finally be satisfied.
Afghanistan May 7th, 2007
Mr. Speaker, again the Leader of the Opposition has his facts wrong.
The facts are, as Colonel Noonan's affidavit indicates, that this is not an issue of a detainee who was transferred to Afghan authorities. It is an issue that happened out in the field, that Canadians observed and then intervened.
Perhaps this is the reason the Canadian public has so much confidence in the Leader of the Opposition that they delivered the lowest total ever in contributions, 10% of what the government did in its first quarter, the lowest total ever in Canadian history for Liberal contributions since reporting started. That is a pretty good accomplishment. It must be in his questions.
Afghanistan May 7th, 2007
Mr. Speaker, we are not dealing here with a prisoner that had been turned over and was tortured in a prison. It is no such situation like that. It was a situation out in the field where Canadian soldiers observed this taking place and intervened to ensure that the situation could be ended.
That is something we should be proud of, but the Liberals persist in harping on it as if the Canadian Forces did something wrong. The Canadian Forces conducted themselves in an exemplary fashion. We have put in place now an agreement to deal with the treatment of any prisoners who are in place.
I will simply read what Paul Koring said in the Globe and Mail:
The new deal transforms Canada into the standard-bearer for all foreign countries in the monitoring of transferred prisoners in Afghanistan.
One would think he would--
Afghanistan May 7th, 2007
Mr. Speaker, I am very puzzled why the Leader of the Opposition continues to try to distort and mislead this House and others on the facts, because the reality does not accord with what he described. The situation is not at all what he described.
In fact what we have here is actually a situation where we can be very proud of our Canadian troops. They saw an individual receiving a little rough treatment at the hands of some Afghans and they intervened to protect him and ensure his well-being.
I think that is something we would be proud of and I cannot imagine why the Leader of the Opposition would think it is a bad thing or would want to continue to attack our Canadian troops on the subject.
Criminal Code May 4th, 2007
Mr. Speaker, there have been discussions among the various parties and I believe you would find unanimous consent for the following. I move:
That, notwithstanding any order or usual practices of the House, Bill C-22, An Act to amend the Criminal Code (age of protection) and to make consequential amendments to the Criminal Records Act, be deemed adopted at third reading on division.
Afghanistan May 4th, 2007
Mr. Speaker, I am stunned that a party that is calling for the immediate withdrawal from Afghanistan now wishes us to build permanent Canadian facilities as if this will be a permanent Canadian occupation with Canadian prisons in Afghanistan.
I know the leader of the Liberal Party mused out loud about doing that or about bringing Taliban prisoners to Canada, but even he, on reflection, saw that was a bad idea. The Globe and Mail even agrees. It states:
Canada cannot get into the business of warehousing suspected Taliban, and the prisoners should not be transported to this country.
Afghanistan May 4th, 2007
Mr. Speaker, I am befuddled as to why the opposition is unhappy with what is a good news story. It is a story about Canadian troops in the field who saw something inappropriate and immediately took action to protect a detained individual and ensure that the detainee's human rights were respected. I thought that was how those members wanted things to work.
Afghanistan May 4th, 2007
Mr. Speaker, I would like to continue.
—the Government of Afghanistan will investigate allegations of abuse and mistreatment and prosecute in accordance with national law and internationally applicable legal standards and the Government of Afghanistan will inform the Government of Canada, the AIHRC and the ICRC of the steps it is taking to investigate such allegations and any corrective action taken.