Rob Moore

[Taxation, December 7th, 2007]

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to mark 2007 as “the year of lower taxes”.

In the past year, our Conservative government has aggressively reduced the tax burden for all Canadians. Budget 2007 set the stage for lower taxes with the new $2,000 per child tax credit.

Farmers, fishermen and small business owners will enjoy substantial tax savings through the increase to the lifetime capital gains exemption.

The fall economic statement went even further. All Canadians will pay lower taxes because we reduced the GST another percentage point.

This, combined with the reductions to income tax and our commitment to having the lowest corporate tax rate in the G-7, means that Canadians will save a total of $60 billion over the next five years.

Unlike the Liberals who want to go back and raise taxes, we believe hard-working Canadians deserve a break.

As 2007 draws to a close, Canadians can rest assured that they have a government that will continue to fight for lower taxes for all Canadians.

[December 6th, 2007]

Mr. Speaker, this is exactly what I was talking about. Once again, he is talking about a multiple murderer. There was no mention of the two native American victims in this case.

As a government, our position is extremely clear. We have said that we have no intention of changing our laws in Canada. Surely the hon. member acknowledges that our jurisdiction as a government is for our country and our country is Canada. We have no intention of changing the law in Canada.

In cases dealing with Canadians who are in other jurisdictions, the minister has said that this will be dealt with on a case by case basis. I think Canadians are satisfied with that. I will go back to my earlier remark. I do not believe Canadians want multiple murderers roaming their streets. Canadians have told us that they want us to have a justice system that protects them.

We are going to continue to respect our international obligations and our obligations to Canadians. We are going to continue to fight for human rights both here and abroad.

[December 6th, 2007]

Mr. Speaker, I think the hon. member was going on his to eighth point. Three is the number of times the opposition has raised this for the late show this week.

I will point out again, as I did yesterday, that there was no mention of victims of crime. We prefer on this side of the House to have a balanced approach to our criminal justice system where we take into account the rights of victims. I have not heard a member all week mention the plight of victims of crime.

The Minister of Justice has repeatedly stated in the House, on the issue of the death penalty, that the government is not changing the law in that regard. It was in 1976 that Canada abolished the death penalty from the Criminal Code.

Our government acknowledges that the legal systems of foreign jurisdictions have differing views on this issue. Although the government does recognize the sovereign decision of each state to determine its own laws, the government continues to advocate for the full respect for international safeguards where the death penalty is still in use.

On November 15, the UN General Assembly voted on a resolution that calls for a moratorium on the use of the death penalty. Canada supported this resolution and, in keeping with our support for the objective of the resolution, voted with the co-sponsors against efforts to undermine the resolution.

As the hon. member can plainly see, we are taking a stand internationally on this issue.

With respect to clemency, the hon. member's statement is quite incorrect. The minister has said that our government will deal with these issues on a case by case basis. Potentially, however, if another country will only grant clemency on the basis of the offender being repatriated to Canada, we could have a difficult situation inasmuch as an offender who committed murder abroad could be eligible for parole in Canada and subsequently be free to live in our communities.

As is evident from our ambitious justice agenda, our government's first priority is to protect Canadians. We would be abdicating that responsibility by the potential release of a multiple murderer. I am confident that Canadians do not want murderers free to roam our streets, especially if they have not served a sentence proportionate to the seriousness of their crime.

As the Minister of Justice has said in the House:

—this country and this government, in particular, has had an outstanding record with respect to human rights at home and abroad. I think it is a record for which all Canadians can be very proud.

We will continue to fight for Canadians. We will also fight to ensure that our families and our communities are safe.

[December 5th, 2007]

Mr. Speaker, human rights and human dignity are about more than words. We are hearing a lot of words from the other side.

We have been a government of action. One of the actions we have taken is to protect the human rights and safety of Canadians in Canada. We will continue to do that. We will continue to fill the gap that we were left with from 13 years of Liberal inaction, the Liberal soft on crime approach to justice. We will continue to do that. That is protecting human rights as well. If we were to ask Canadians if they want their rights protected and the rights of their children, they would say, “Yes, we do”.

On this issue, the UN General Assembly voted on a resolution that called for a moratorium on the use of the death penalty. Canada supported this resolution. In keeping with our support for the objective of the resolution, we voted with co-sponsors against efforts to undermine it. On this issue, Canada—

[December 5th, 2007]

Mr. Speaker, as colleagues will know, this is the second time there has been a late show from the member on this issue. It is interesting members opposite have raised this issue with no mention of victims of crime. Our government brings forward legislation to address victims of crime and to protect society, we do not hear the members opposite talk about that.

We hear a lot of talk, and that is all it has been over the last 13 years, when it comes to human rights, but it was our government that provided the redress for the Chinese head tax. It was our government that addressed the hepatitis C issue. It is our government that is endeavouring to bring first nations under the Human Rights Act, which was denied under the previous government. It is our government that is in Afghanistan fighting for the rights that the members opposite purport to uphold. Yet we do not hear messages of support for the good work that our troops and personnel do in Afghanistan from members opposite. All we have heard, now twice, is this one issue.

The Minister of Justice has repeatedly said in the House that the government is not changing the law in our country with respect to the death penalty. In 1976 Canada abolished the death penalty in the Criminal Code.

The government also acknowledges that the legal systems of foreign jurisdictions may have differing views on this issue. Although the government recognizes the sovereign decision of each state to determine its own laws, this government continues to advocate for the full respect for international safeguards where the death penalty is still in use.

On November 15, the UN General Assembly voted for a resolution that called for a moratorium on the use of the death penalty. Canada supported this resolution. As members can see, Canada is taking a stand internationally against the use of the death penalty.

However, with respect to clemency, as the justice minister has said, our government will be dealing with the issue on a case by case basis. Potentially, if another country will only grant clemency on the basis of an offender being repatriated back home to Canada, we may have difficulty, as the hon. member should acknowledge, inasmuch as an offender who committed murder abroad could be eligible for parole in Canada and, subsequently, be free to live in our communities. That is not what Canadians want.

It is evidence from our ambitious justice agenda that our government's first priority is to protect Canadians. We would be abdicating that responsibility by the potential release of a murderer, particularly one who had committed not one but more murders. I am confident that Canadians do not want murderers free to roam our streets, especially if they have not served a sentence proportionate to the seriousness of their crime.

As the Minister of Justice has said in the House:

—this country and this government, in particular, has had an outstanding record with respect to human rights at home and abroad. I think it is a record for which all Canadians can be very proud.

We will continue to fight every day for Canadians and ensure that our families and our communities are safe.

[Justice, November 30th, 2007]

Mr. Speaker, as we all know in the House, after years of Liberal inaction on tackling crime, on justice and on protecting Canadians, both personally and in property rights, our government has been moving very quickly and very aggressively to fix that.

I am pleased to report that last week in Montreal a charge was laid. As reported in the Globe and Mail, Douglas Frith, president of the Canadian Motion Picture Distributors Association, said that the fact that the charges had been laid in this case showed the legislation was working.

[Justice, November 30th, 2007]

Mr. Speaker, our government has been clear on this issue. I should add that no government, especially the previous government, has stood for international human rights, as well as human rights here in Canada, more than our government.

The minister has said recently that on this specific issue, there has been an appeal filed. Due to that, we cannot have any further comment.

[Airbus, November 30th, 2007]

Mr. Speaker, the hon. member is making some really irresponsible accusations in our view. Our government and the Prime Minister have done the responsible thing. There is going to be an inquiry into this issue and we should let that take its course.

[Airbus, November 30th, 2007]

Mr. Speaker, as I said before, on this entire issue, the Ontario Court of Appeal has granted a stay of a surrender order. The issue is before the courts and it would be inappropriate to comment.

[Lobbyists, November 30th, 2007]

Mr. Speaker, it is always interesting to see that the hon. member, when he is under the protection of the House, feels quite free to say things that he would never say outside the House.

This matter, as all of us in the House know or ought to know, is before the courts, and it would be inappropriate to comment.