Rodger Cuzner

[Citizen's Arrest and Self-defence Act, April 24th, 2012]

Madam Speaker, my colleague from St. John's East has shed a great deal of light on the issue that we are debating here today.

As he said, he was a member of this chamber a great number of years ago. He decided to step down because the oil from the lamps that were used to light this place caused him headaches.

Since he was a part of this process, my colleague may be able to enlighten me on a concern I have. I am leery that this piece of legislation may prompt an outpouring of vigilante justice.

I talked earlier about a neighbourhood watch program that was established in my community because there was a rash of break-ins. If some guy decides to steal a barbecue, the initial reaction is to confront him head-on. If this guy is on some kind of substance—crystal meth, coke, or jacked up—or if he has a weapon on him, or whatever it might be, the citizen confronting him is placing himself at great risk.

My question is in combination with the questions posed by my colleague from Saanich—Gulf Islands. With the passing of this legislation, should there be some type of program that could assist in educating provinces and private citizens?

[Citizen's Arrest and Self-defence Act, April 24th, 2012]

Madam Speaker, in my own riding of Cape Breton—Canso, we had a rash of break-ins over a period of time in the Howie Centre, Sydney Forks area. We were fortunate. A member of the community, Seana Niedzielski, called a community meeting. There was a very good turnout. In conjunction with the Cape Breton Regional Police Services, she set up a neighbourhood watch program.

I am nervous about this piece of legislation because of something shared with us that evening. Police officer Paul Ratchford said that when people see someone trying to steal their barbecue, their initial reaction is to go out and confront the person. However, if someone is stealing something out of the backyard, he or she is probably not a very rational person. The individual may be high on drugs, such as cocaine or crystal meth. Those who confront these people are putting themselves at risk.

My question to my colleague is, should there be an education piece to go along with this legislation so that we do not unleash vigilantes across the country? There is a proper response for someone who sees a crime being perpetrated on his or her property. There is a rational process that should be pursued.

[Questions Passed as Orders for Returns, April 23rd, 2012]

With respect to the Canadian Revenue Agency’s (CRA) searchable charity database, and providing a detailed justification for any information that is not supplied: (a) when was the database created; (b) what was the initial cost to create the database; (c) how many staff were initially required to administer the database; (d) have there been any major upgrades to the database since it has been created, and, if so, (i) when, (ii) for what reason, (iii) at what total cost; (e) what is the annual cost to run and administer the searchable database, including, (i) staffing costs, (ii) technology costs, (iii) general administration costs, (iv) any other major costs for the fiscal years 2008-2009, 2009-2010, 2010-2011; (f) to administer the database in fiscal year 2008-2009, 2009-2010, and 2010-2011, how many (i) staff positions were required, (ii) total employees were required; (g) how many charitable returns were filed with CRA for the fiscal years 2008-2009, 2009-2010, and 2010-2011; (h) what is the aggregate amount of all transactions and all disbursements, or book value in the case of investments and assets, in excess of $5,000 made by the CRA with respect to the functioning and administration of the charitable database, broken down individually by (i) name and address of payer and payee, (ii) purpose and description of the transaction, (iii) specific amount that has been paid or received or that is to be paid or received; (i) for all of the transactions referenced in subquestion (h), what is the breakdown of these transactions according to (i) disbursements for education and training activities, (ii) disbursements for general overhead, (iii) disbursements for administration, (iv) disbursements to employees and contractors including gross salary, stipends, periodic payments, benefits (including pension obligations), vehicles, bonuses, gifts, service credits, lump sum payments, and other forms of remuneration; and (j) what is the description, cost, book value, and price paid for all investments and fixed assets associated with the functioning and administration of the database?

[Questions Passed as Orders for Returns, April 5th, 2012]

With regards to letters or electronic mail messages received by Ministers from Canadians since January 1, 2012, how many have been received: (a) by the Minister of Industry concerning copyright legislation; (b) by the Minister of Canadian Heritage concerning copyright legislation; and (c) by the Minister of Justice concerning “lawful access” legislation in general or Bill C-30, An Act to enact the Investigating and Preventing Criminal Electronic Communications Act and to amend the Criminal Code and other Acts, in particular?

[Questions Passed as Orders for Returns, April 5th, 2012]

With regard to the Canada First Defence Strategy: (a) does the strategy include (i) acquisition of three strategic air transport aircraft and stationing them at CFB Trenton, (ii) doubling the size of the Disaster Assistance Response Team (DART), (iii) acquisition of three armed naval heavy icebreakers, and stationing them in the area of Iqaluit, (iv) building a new civilian-military deepwater docking facility to accommodate the three armed naval heavy icebreakers mentioned in subquestion (iii), (v) establishing a new underwater sensor system, (vi) building a new army training centre in the area of Cambridge Bay, (vii) stationing new long-range unmanned aerial vehicle squadrons at both CFB Goose Bay and CFB Comox, (viii) stationing new fixed-wing search and rescue aircraft in Yellowknife, (ix) increasing the size of the Canadian Rangers by 500, (x) establishing a 650-member regular forces battalion at CFB Comox, CFB Goose Bay, CFB Trenton, and CFB Bagotville respectively, (xi) adding 1,000 regular force and 750 reserve force personnel to the army in Quebec, (xii) establishing a territorial defence unit in Vancouver, Calgary, Regina, Winnipeg, Ottawa, Toronto, Montreal, Quebec City, Saint John, St. John's, Halifax and the Niagara-Windsor corridor respectively, (xiii) recruiting 1,000 regular force personnel for the purpose of improving and enlarging the Atlantic fleet, (xiv) increasing the number of personnel in CFB Gagetown, (xv) stationing new aircraft and personnel at CFB Greenwood, (xvi) increasing the numbers of Pacific navy regular force personnel by about 500, (xvii) deploying new fixed-wing search and rescue aircraft at CFB Comox and CFB Winnipeg, (xviii) upgrading fighter aircraft at CFB Cold Lake; (b) what is the rationale for the inclusion or exclusion, from the Canada First Defence Strategy, of each of the items mentioned in subquestions (a)(i) to (a)(xviii); and (c) for each item mentioned in subquestions (a)(i) to (a)(xviii) that is not a part of the strategy, (i) has the government taken any steps to carry out or implement the item, (ii) if the government has not taken any such steps, does it intend to do so, (iii) if the government does intend to implement the item, when does it intend to do so?

[Thrilla on the Hilla, April 2nd, 2012]

Mr. Speaker,

Two men in the ring, 800 in the stands;
One wrote a cheque with his mouth, he couldn't cash with his hands.
The Tory Nation was cocky, they came out in full force;
But like the F-35 contract, they had backed the wrong horse.
Liberals must be defeated, that's known Tory credo;
They had nothing to hide, you could tell by the Speedo.
Brazeau came out hard and brought the Tories to their feet;
But in less than a minute, he looked pretty well beat.
The red onslaught of punches could not be contained;
Like those Tory attack ads, stinging and sustained.
The bombs came from everywhere, our boy pummelled and pounded;
It looked like the senator thought he was surrounded.
He was dazed and confused, the ref twice stopped the fight;
He got hit with so many lefts, he was begging for a right.
In less than six minutes it was all over and done;
A TKO victory, the good guys had won.
The Tories were devastated by this jaw-dropping blow;
Ezra's microphone went silent, his mouth stuffed with crow.
But the Tories aren't finished, they'll want a rematch I'm betting;
They'll find someone tougher, maybe Marjory LeBreton.

[Financial System Review Act, March 27th, 2012]

Mr. Speaker, a couple of interesting points have been raised in the debates today.

I would like to get clarification from my colleague across the way. Traditionally a bill of this type would be generated and would come from the government. Why in this particular case is this a Senate bill? Why would it have been started in the Senate and taken this approach, this path?

[Financial System Review Act, March 27th, 2012]

Madam Speaker, languishing the praise on the Minister of Finance is pretty cute because, in 2006, we know the Minister of Finance recklessly followed the U.S. lead and brought in the 40-year, zero down mortgages fuelling Canada's personal debt and housing bubble, which certainly did not help a lot of Canadians. Canadians are feeling the impact of that now.

We know that, while in opposition, the Conservatives continually pushed the Liberals to follow the U.S. lead with deregulation of the banking system. When did the light come on for the Conservative government to understand that the banking system in this country stands apart from those in other nations? For years, they chased the deregulation bus.

[Petitions, March 16th, 2012]

Mr. Speaker, I stand today to present a petition that has been signed and presented by members of my constituency from Marion Bridge to Glace Bay to Howie Centre and the Sydney River area, all great spots and good people. These are people who care a great deal about those who live in poverty.

We know that poverty impacts almost 10% of Canadian and that it reaches into their health and well-being and educational outcomes. We know that many provinces have undertaken strategies to reduce poverty. The folks who support this initiative and signed this petition believe that the federal government should take a far greater role in this.

I present the petition on their behalf and support the principle of the petition.

[2015 Pan Am Games, March 16th, 2012]

Mr. Speaker, Canadians are demanding transparency about the government's $500 million contribution to the 2015 Toronto Pan Am Games. There are reports that they have already gone over budget. Municipalities across the GTA are on the hook for 44% of capital costs, but they have no clue what is going on. Everything has been done in secrecy.

When will the government give municipalities, and all taxpayers, an open and transparent accounting of what is going on?