Randall Garrison

[Public Safety, February 4th, 2015]

Mr. Speaker, the current government does not seem to get the message. More powers for CSIS means a need for better oversight. In case the minister missed it, let me quote the latest annual report from the Security Intelligence Review Committee. This report said that “...it seems reasonable for Canadians to ask whether the intelligence accountability framework that was designed 30 years ago is still appropriate to deal with the realities of contemporary intelligence work.” That is what the SIRC annual report says.

The Conservatives agree that the intelligence environment has changed, so why are they so opposed to better oversight?

[National Defence, February 2nd, 2015]

Mr. Speaker, emails released to the Ottawa Citizen today show that on the day of the shooting on Parliament Hill in October, Canadian military leaders were saying that the event presented a “strategic opportunity” to affirm Canada's participation in the war in Iraq.

Subsequently, senior officials expressed the desire to appear alongside Ottawa Police at a press conference the next day.

These are emotional times for all, but would the government agree that describing the events on Parliament Hill as a strategic opportunity is regrettable?

[Protection of Canada from Terrorists Act, January 28th, 2015]

Mr. Speaker, I am a bit astounded by this debate. First we have the Liberals endorsing the concept of time allocation, and now we have the minister telling us not to worry, that it can be debated in the Senate.

When this bill was introduced, time allocation was used at second reading. At that time, the minister told us that there was time to fully debate and consider the bill, and that was at committee. Then the parliamentary secretary and the majority on the committee limited debate severely. When he said there were 92 minutes for each clause, we were left with about a minute and a half per amendment and limited to four expert witnesses.

I think the government is afraid of a couple of things that came up. One was that some expert witnesses said that some parts of this bill might be unconstitutional and that if these were declared unconstitutional by the courts we were wasting time here.

The other issue we raised was this. Is the government providing sufficient resources to agencies like CSIS and the RCMP to make use of the tools they already have?

The government is afraid of debating those two questions. I think that is why it is introducing time allocation.

Therefore, my question for the minister is this. If it is not the time to debate the bill at report stage, at second reading, or at committee, when is it time for a full public debate of this bill?

[Public Safety, December 11th, 2014]

Mr. Speaker, the U.S. Senate report on the CIA's so-called enhanced interrogation techniques is very clear: torture is not only morally wrong, it does not work. Information obtained through torture is unreliable.

However, despite this, the Conservatives have directed Canadian security agencies to use and share information obtained through torture.

Why is the minister making Canadian agencies go along to get along with states that torture?

[Petitions, December 10th, 2014]

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to present a petition containing dozens of signatures from the Greater Victoria area, the majority of them from my riding, forwarded to me by the very engaged citizens of Fair Vote Canada.

The petition notes the unfairness of our winner-take-all system, which results in a House of Commons that is not representative of the votes actually cast by voters, and calls for an equal and effective vote system for fair representation in Parliament. It also calls on us to introduce a form of proportional representation at the earliest opportunity.

[Correctional Service of Canada, December 10th, 2014]

Mr. Speaker, it is way simpler than that. This minister needs to stop putting the mentally ill in solitary confinement and start getting them the treatment they need.

It has now been almost a year since the inquest into Ashley Smith's death. That inquest made 104 recommendations to prevent similar tragedies.

We have heard nothing from the minister by way of response. How many more tragedies will it take before the minister does respond? When will he put an end to the use of solitary confinement for the treatment of the mentally ill in Canadian prisons?

[Economic Action Plan 2014 Act, No. 2, December 9th, 2014]

Mr. Speaker, I would like to ask this member the same question I previously asked the member for Don Valley East

When the Conservatives talked about enabling small businesses to create jobs, they came up with the EI job credit that the Parliamentary Budget Officer said would cost half a billion dollars and create only 800 jobs. That means the government is putting out money to small businesses at a rate of $550,000 per job created.

Does he really think this is good value for money for taxpayers? Why was this program not run by the Department of Finance or the Department of Employment and Social Development and instead was allowed to be written by a lobbyist?

[Economic Action Plan 2014 Act, No. 2, December 9th, 2014]

Mr. Speaker, I thank the hon. member for his comments, but I was particularly interested when he talked about the government's commitment to create jobs. I just wondered whether or not he really agrees with the Parliamentary Budget Officer, because the Parliamentary Budget Officer has told us that the EI job credit would cost $0.5 billion and create only 800 jobs. That means it would cost something around $550,000 per job created. When the member is talking about the government's ability to create jobs, does he think this is really good value for money for taxpayers?

[Economic Action Plan 2014 Act, No. 2, December 9th, 2014]

Mr. Speaker, I was particularly moved by the colleague's comments about refugees. I have been involved with refugees in my riding for a long time, and the Conservatives are trying to somehow cast aspersions on those who are seeking a safe place for their families when they come to Canada.

Has the member had the same problem, and not just the attempt by the Conservatives to deny access to social assistance? My riding has lost a lot of the training programs that were directed at refugees because of the federal government's insistence on cutbacks in these areas and underspending its budgets. Therefore, more and more people who have arrived here and are trying to get themselves established are having trouble getting access to the language and skills training courses they need to become productive members of Canadian society, which of course is their goal.

[Protection of Canada from Terrorists Act, December 8th, 2014]

Mr. Speaker, the minister gave the speech I expected to hear from him, again trying to create some kind of divide on national security that does not exist. The divide is on the proposed legislation, and the fact that it is flawed legislation.

I would like to know whether the minister has thought very seriously about something that was raised by two of the witnesses at committee, and that has to do with the protection of sources.

Right now, the courts can protect the identity of human sources for CSIS on a case-by-case basis, and they do so. However, the bill proposes to give blanket protection. Two of the witnesses in committee warned us that there would be two problems if we grant that blanket protection: one, it might be found unconstitutional; and the second more specific problem is that it might make it more difficult to prosecute people who are actually guilty of terrorist acts using CSIS information.

Does the minister not think that this problem is important enough to pause on and solve, so that we could make sure we prosecute those who are actually guilty of terrorist acts?