Ralph Goodale

[Grain Transport, February 5th, 2014]

Mr. Speaker, going right to the issue of potential solutions, I wonder to what extent the government has discussed expanding capacity in the rail system with additional locomotive power, railway rolling stock, and trained staff to increase throughput. To what extent has the government examined a new system for logistical coordination with all of the players in the grain handling and transportation system? That problem was evident two years ago, and not a wheel has been turned since.

Has the government examined the issue of coordination? Has the government tried to get more throughput through Churchill and through the port at Prince Rupert, and to what extent can the government move more grain south through U.S. facilities, if the Canadian system just cannot handle it?

[The Budget, February 5th, 2014]

Mr. Speaker, last year's budget launched a phony jobs grant that still does not exist. It wasted millions on pointless government advertising. It cut services to veterans and vulnerable Canadians. It increased taxes on the middle class, payrolls, consumer goods, small business owners, and credit unions. It produced the worst job creation since the recession, and economic growth was down from the year before, which was down from the year before that, which was down from the year before that.

Is there anything the government plans to do differently this year?

[Foreign Affairs, February 3rd, 2014]

Mr. Speaker, reports say a pro-democracy demonstrator in Ukraine was quite literally crucified at the hands of the Yanukovych regime.

The world needs to be more emphatic in its outrage. Canadian visa restrictions on unnamed officials who may not seek to come to Canada anyway are probably not sufficient. Are tough personal sanctions targeted precisely at Yanukovych and his henchmen being developed? What work has been done so far with the U.S. and other allies to devise a plan to freeze their assets and prevent their foreign travel?

[Rail Transportation, January 28th, 2014]

Mr. Speaker, for the Minister of Transport, grain shipments to the west coast are months behind; 40 ships are stalled at English Bay, costing millions in demurrage; and grain handling and transportation failures have driven prairie prices down by 40%.

Would the Minister of Transport require the railways to lease additional locomotive power and rolling stock for grain? Will she require grain companies to publish their export volumes and justify their grain cheque deductions? Will she take direct responsibility for getting some coordination into a chaotic system that has clearly failed?

[Ukraine, January 27th, 2014]

Mr. Speaker, I thank the hon. gentleman for his comments and his obvious concern about the situation in Ukraine.

I will leave the issue of targeted sanctions aside for just a moment. I take it that the government is actively examining how to do this in concert with allies. I hope the suggestion is taken seriously and constructively.

There are two other ideas that I think could be very helpful in these circumstances, and I wonder what the government's reaction is to them. First, there could be a special expedited and no-cost Canadian visa regime available to injured protestors if they needed to leave the country to receive medical treatment, for example, to family members of protestors who have been killed, and to family members of protest organizers whose lives may be in jeopardy. Would the government consider an expedited no-cost visa regime to allow these people to easily leave Ukraine and come to Canada in these very difficult circumstances?

Second, would the government consider a team of very high-level senior observers to be sent, through our embassy in Kiev, to scrutinize and document the police behaviour, court proceedings against protestors, and the treatment of the injured as they are brought into and managed in hospitals, and to monitor bodies arriving in Kiev morgues? Would that team of—

[Ukraine, January 27th, 2014]

Mr. Speaker, when the House adjourned for the Christmas season, I think one of the very final acts of official business that we conducted in the chamber was to debate the situation in Ukraine as it existed in early December.

At that time, in the debate, I raised, several times, this issue of targeted personal sanctions against Yanukovych and his inner circle, the need to apply pressure to encourage more democratic behaviour.

The government was not in a position to respond officially at that time back at the early part of December. However, it is now two months later and the situation has, sadly, deteriorated. The violence has become worse, and as the hon. member noted, even the Catholic Church is being threatened by certain actions by Yanukovych.

I would like to ask this question, not in any provocative way, but in the sense of building consensus, moving forward and getting ready to deal with the situation, to make it clear to Yanukovych that the world is watching, that we care and that we take this very seriously.

What specifically has the government been able to do over the course of the last two months to get ready for the application of personal targeted sanctions? For example, have the assets been identified? Do we know where they are? Have we opened a dialogue with European countries and the Americans to ensure that we can act with precision and in concert to make these provisions effective against Yanukovych's inner circle?

[Questions on the Order Paper, January 27th, 2014]

With regard to contracts that have been entered into by the government, which require the other contracting party to provide “industrial regional benefits” or other similar offsets across the country, since January 1, 2006: (a) how many have there been; (b)what were the specific commitments made in each case; (c) what is their individual and cumulative dollar value; (d) in which provinces were each of the said benefits/offsets to accrue; and (e) in each case, to what extent have the commitments been honoured?

[Questions on the Order Paper, January 27th, 2014]

With respect to Senate motions No. 2, No. 3 and No. 4 seeking to suspend Senators Brazeau, Duffy and Wallin without pay: (a) was the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) or the Privy Council Office (PCO) consulted or involved in the drafting of the motions, and, if so, who was involved; (b) what are the details of the emails, briefing notes, reports or other documents that were prepared by, or provided to, the PMO or the PCO for the purpose, in whole or in part, of drafting the motions, specifically the titles or files or reference numbers of those documents; (c) what meetings have the PMO or the PCO had, or been involved in, regarding, in whole or in part, the motions; (d) who attended the meetings in (c); (e) what are the details of the emails, briefing notes, reports or other documents that were prepared for or provided, in whole or in part, at these meetings, specifically the titles or files or reference numbers of those documents?

[Questions on the Order Paper, January 27th, 2014]

With regard to the Privy Council Office, and to the following documents: the Information to Obtain a Production Order and a Sealing Order, made on June 24th, 2013 by Corporal Greg Horton of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police in Ottawa, Ontario, before Chantal Dominique Marie Lurette, a Commissioner for the Taking of Oaths in the Province of Ontario, in which he states he has reasonable grounds to believe and does believe that offences contrary to an Act of Parliament have been made by Michael Duffy; the statements made in the Senate by Senator Michael Duffy on October 22, 2013, and statements made to the press on October 21, 2013 in Ottawa by Donald Bayne, a lawyer of that city acting on behalf of Senator Duffy: (a) does the Access to Information Directorate of the Privy Council Office still conclude that no records exist with regard to Access to Information requests A-2013-00231, A-2013-00232, A-2013-00233, A-2013-00075, A-2013-00076, A-2013-00077, A-2013-00080, A-2013-00085, A-2013-00099, A-2013-00101, A-2013-00103, A-2013-00104, A-2013-00105, A-2013-00106, A-2013-00113, A-2013-00114, A-2013-00116, A-2013-00120, A-2013-00125, A-2013-00126, A-2013-00131, A-2013-00132, A-2013-00139, and A-2012-00751; (b) will the Directorate re-examine the handling of those requests in light of the new information outlined above; (c) did the Privy Council Office formerly hold records which would have satisfied one or more of those requests; (d) if so, were the records transferred, removed, or destroyed; (e) if transferred or removed, to whose custody or control were they transferred or removed; (f) if destroyed, when were they destroyed, on what date or dates was the destruction approved, and what is the file number of any order, instruction, directive, or authorization concerning their transfer, removal, or destruction?

[International Relations, January 27th, 2014]

Mr. Speaker, there is deep anguish in Canada about the Yanukovych regime in the Ukraine and its attacks on human rights and freedoms.

Beyond general statements about considering options with respect to Yanukovych, will Canada specifically, one, send official observers to scrutinize what is going on; two, provide expedited visas to any victims who need to leave that country for their own safety; and three, target Yanukovych and his crowd with personal sanctions, asset freezes, and travel bans, for example, to push them to stop their anti-democratic behaviour?