Rob Anders

[Economic Freedom, May 1st, 2012]

Mr. Speaker, in 1998, just one year after I was first elected, Canada ranked 27th on the Index of Economic Freedom. Now, in 2012, Canada ranks sixth for economic freedom. So says the Wall Street Journal.

I should share the credit with my Conservative colleagues, for I needed their votes to cut taxes and support free trade agreements. These fine Conservatives reduced the GST from 7% to 5% and just repealed the gun registry. However, I am not done yet. I sense my Conservative colleagues like the taste of freedom, and so we shall do more. I hope for more free trade agreements coming to the floor of the House. Budget belt-tightening has only just begun.

Let us just imagine what us Conservatives can do with several more years to go before the next federal election. We intend to streamline environmental regulations so jurisdictions do not overlap. Let us just think of all the jobs we can create, removing people from unemployment. So much done, yet so much to do. We have to love economic freedom.

[Petitions, March 28th, 2012]

Mr. Speaker, I stand today on behalf of many Calgarians to present a petition stating that the communist government of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam continues to violate the basic human rights of its people.

The communist government arrests and detains its citizens whose only crime is to expose to the people of Vietnam the current situation of the country, namely, corruption and the Chinese occupation of the Paracel and Spratly islands. The communist government also arrests and detains religious dissidents whose only crime is practising their religion and promoting freedom of religion for the people of Vietnam, both Buddhists and Catholics. The communist government also arrests and detains political dissidents whose only crime is petitioning for political reform, justice and democracy for the people of Vietnam.

The petitioners request that our government call upon the Government of Vietnam for the release not only of the detainees, but all the prisoners of conscience in Vietnam.

[Points of Order, March 6th, 2012]

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to express my sincere apology for my comments with respect to Mr. Lowther and Mr. David MacLeod.

Further, I want to apologize for any offence my comments may have caused veterans or anyone else. I have, and continue to have, enormous respect for the men and women who have sacrificed in the service of our country. I recognize the democracy we have today is, in large part, attributable to them.

[Firearms Registry, February 15th, 2012]

Mr. Speaker, this evening there will be an important vote to save taxpayers money. I would like to thank the members of Parliament from Yorkton—Melville and Portage—Lisgar for their hard work and dedication to abolish the Liberal gun registry.

Allan Rock promised that this registry would only cost $2 million. Access to information reports have proved it cost over $2 billion that should have been used to crack down on real criminals. All the registry has done is target law-abiding citizens while doing nothing to reduce crime. People are being forced to navigate red tape, waste time filling out forms and deal with bureaucracy.

We will destroy all records pertaining to the registration of long guns. Our government instead is enacting important mandatory minimum sentences for drive-by shootings. We are also creating longer sentences and tougher bail conditions for using a gun in the commission of another crime.

Once again, I urge all members of Parliament to vote for abolishing the long gun registry.

[Petitions, February 1st, 2012]

Mr. Speaker, the United Nations special rapporteur on torture reported that 66% of the victims of torture and ill-treatment in China were Falun Gong practitioners. More than 3,448 Falun Gong practitioners have been verified as having been tortured to death to date. The U.S. State Department reported that Falun Gong practitioners constitute half of the people in forced labour camps. Therefore, the petitioners call for an end to the persecution of Falun Gong and for our government to speak out at meetings with top Chinese leaders and at international forums to end their persecution and eradication by the Chinese Communist Party.

[Human Trafficking, December 13th, 2011]

Mr. Speaker, the holidays are approaching. Most of us will be spending time with family and friends. Unfortunately, there are some who will not have this opportunity. There are those out there who will be forced to spend this holiday far away from those they truly love.

Miss Hunter, whose mother, Lisa, lives in my riding, has paid a heavy price. At 16, she was drugged, and people paid to sexually abuse her. This year she turned 18; in May was found with a man three times her age, overdosed with Valium. Paramedics were called more than four hours after she stopped breathing. They determined she had been lying dead next to her john for five hours by the time they arrived.

Human trafficking takes a tremendous toll both inside and outside our borders. The Salvation Army states that 700,000 to 4,000,000 people are trafficked annually worldwide. That is why I encourage all parliamentarians to support Bill C-310, put forward by the member for Parliament for Kildonan—St. Paul to punish human trafficking.

[Freedom of Speech, November 29th, 2011]

Mr. Speaker, “I may not agree with what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it”. These were the words of Voltaire, and it is in this spirit that I would like to voice my support for private member's Bill C-304, titled “An Act to amend the Canadian Human Rights Act” put forward by the member for Westlock—St. Paul.

Similar private members' bills have been introduced in the past. Keith Martin and the member of Parliament for St. Catharines deserve note.

Freedom of speech is a fundamental right that all Canadians should be able to exercise without a government watchdog. Many Canadians in the past have fought and died for our free speech. Many have already criticized section 13 of the Canadian Human Rights Act for its subjective and ambiguous nature.

Therefore, I encourage all parliamentarians in the House of Commons to support Bill C-304 and allow for true freedom of speech.

[Justice, November 23rd, 2011]

Mr. Speaker, our government is committed to putting real criminals behind bars. Canadians who have been a victim of a crime should not be recriminalized by the criminal justice system. That is why our government has introduced Bill C-26. This legislation would bring much needed reform for Canadians to defend themselves and their property and arrest the perpetrators.

Last year Joseph Singleton, a resident of Alberta, while trying to protect his property, was charged with assault. Rather than being supported, his brave act to defend his home and his family has caused him more harm than good. Mr. Singleton had to go through the complex and lengthy court system to clear his own name.

There should be no more innocent victims who are penalized for defending their property. Bill C-26 would help police and judges to determine who the actual criminals and victims are and will prevent similar cases. Canadians would now have the fundamental right to protect themselves, their family and their property.

[Natural Resources, November 16th, 2011]

Mr. Speaker, a key economic priority for our government is the Keystone XL pipeline that will create over 140,000 jobs in Canada.

However, the opposition parties seem to disagree. They do not want these jobs, or any jobs, in the oil sands.

NDP leadership candidate Brian Topp and the former environment critic have openly called for a moratorium on oil sands development.

Could the Minister of Natural Resources inform the House about the latest NDP anti-jobs plan?

[Petitions, October 31st, 2011]

Mr. Speaker, I have the honour to present the first of thousands of petitions asking to end the patently unfair taxpayer subsidy of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation.

Canadians from British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba and Ontario all want to end the $1,160,000,000 taxpayer subsidization of the CBC.

Rural Canadians from Innisfail, Alberta; Chemainus, British Columbia; Waldheim, Saskatchewan; and Exeter, Ontario, are calling for an end to the $1 billion public subsidy of the state broadcaster.

When we live in a 1,000-channel universe, why spend over $1 billion on a state broadcaster like the CBC?