Rob Anders

[26th Field Royal Canadian Artillery, October 22nd, 2003]

Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank the 26th Field Royal Canadian Artillery commanded by Lieutenant Colonel Dave Fraser for allowing me to participate in their exercises this past weekend.

The 26th Field is a reserve artillery unit based out of Shilo, Manitoba. What was so special about last weekend was that it was the first time in a year that these troops got to fire live artillery. Imagine if our police force only got to practise shooting their guns once a year.

The government has shortchanged our military to the point that reserves are not able to get proper training. Prior to this Liberal government, our troops held live fire exercises on a monthly basis.

In a time when we are relying heavily on reserves to supplement our commitments overseas, we should be giving them the proper tools to do the job.

[Criminal Code, September 29th, 2003]

Mr. Speaker, I want to follow up on the questions I had going before with the hon. member. I think he is right. Canada has missed out on hundreds of millions of dollars of lost tax revenue because Canada Steamship Lines has not been paying taxes here in Canada. I would agree with him on that.

The follow up question therefore is, how many magnetic resonance imaging machines, how many CAT scans, how many nurses and how many doctors could Canada have afforded if Canada Steamship Lines had kept that money and those jobs here in Canada rather than trying to hide everything offshore? How about that?

[Criminal Code, September 29th, 2003]

Mr. Speaker, I want to ask the member a fairly specific question regarding a corporation and not an individual.

How much money does the hon. member think was left on the table, was, in a sense, never paid to Canadian taxpayers, never given to general revenue, was never put into tax collection that should have and could have been collected from Canada Steamship Lines if that company had been registered here in Canada, operating here in Canada, employing Canadians rather than foreigners, and basically being a good Canadian company rather than trying to hide its assets offshore? What does the hon. member think? Could he speculate on how much money has been stolen from the Canadian tax coffers by Canada Steamship Lines by it not operating in this country? Could he please give me his thoughts on that?

[Criminal Code, September 29th, 2003]

Mr. Speaker, I have some questions for my colleague with regard to the whole concept of capital markets fraud. I think we have a prime example of that in the new Liberal leader and I will enunciate why.

The new Liberal leader has been committing a form of tax evasion for years. Talk about capital markets fraud. Somebody who owns Canada Steamship Lines, plus a total of about 132 other related companies, has been hiding his money and his profits offshore. The hypocrisy of it is that while he served as the finance minister in this place he bragged about how Canadian taxes were so good, but he was hiding his money offshore and not paying Canadian tax. Why? He obviously thought Canadian taxes were awfully high. I would say that is a good example of capital markets fraud, which Bill C-46 is all about. The former finance minister would know capital markets fraud all too well.

What does my colleague think about Paul Martin Sr. having acquired Canada Steamship Lines for pennies on the dollar? This was a crown asset that was sold to Paul Martin for next to nothing. Talk about capital markets fraud and taking money--

[National Defence, September 29th, 2003]

Mr. Speaker, in 1991 the air force had 725 aircraft. Today it has 350.

We have to defend our country from deadly drugs like heroin, from snakeheads' illegal cargo, and terrorists, yet the government is passing the buck and handing its national security over to private operators. My question is, will the smugglers get a chance to bid?

[National Defence, September 29th, 2003]

Mr. Speaker, Aurora aircraft patrols are crucial to maintaining Canada's national sovereignty. Over the past decade the navy has seen a 54% reduction in the number of Aurora flying hours. To cope with this shortfall, the government is now looking to hire private companies to conduct patrols along its east and west coasts.

Why are the remaining 18 Aurora aircraft in such bad shape that the government is contracting out their mission and selling Canada's sovereignty?

[National Defence, September 25th, 2003]

Mr. Speaker, for this government to resort to shopping for used planes, less their engines, is a symptom of a much larger problem. These planes are essential to overseas missions, search and rescue and humanitarian assistance. However the lion's share of our fleet is on the ground.

If he honestly believes that he is going to do the best thing, what about the subs and the Sea Kings? He did not care about safety with those.

[National Defence, September 25th, 2003]

Mr. Speaker, an internal defence report indicates that two-thirds of Canada's fleet of Hercules aircraft have been grounded due to maintenance problems. These planes are essential to our military operations yet the government does not have a plan to replace these 40 year old planes. Instead, we see the minister implement a stop-gap measure to buy used airplanes.

Why is the government dumpster diving to keep our Hercules in the air?

[Petitions, June 11th, 2003]

Mr. Speaker, I have the honour to present 708 signatures of people in my riding who feel the gun registry has cost $1 billion, is not supported by the provinces and has not reduced gun crimes. These 708 people have signed their names asking for the government to repeal the gun registry.

[Ethical Foreign Aid, June 5th, 2003]

Mr. Speaker, the right to practise religion is something that most Canadians take for granted. Our religious decisions are between us and our God.

Unfortunately in some countries, the government abuses its power and persecutes religions. In Vietnam, Sudan and China, citizens are imprisoned and killed because of their beliefs. In one case in China, a practitioner of Falun Gong was sexually assaulted in public by the police because of her beliefs.

Yet the Canadian government rewards these states with foreign aid. Taxpayers' money is spent propping up these despotic regimes. In the last three years, these three states alone have raked in over $400 million in CIDA funding.

We cannot control the domestic policies of foreign nations, but we can make the decision not to reward them. That is why I have introduced my private member's bill, Bill C-414, the ethical aid bill.

I call on Canadians watching on television to call their MPs to urge them to support this bill and to stand up for what is right.