Ron Cannan

[The Budget, March 4th, 2008]

Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank the hon. member for St. Catharines for the great work he is doing on the finance committee and for his presentation to us this afternoon. I also wanted to thank the hon. Liberal colleague who mentioned Kelowna. I have the great privilege of representing the constituents of Kelowna—Lake Country and there were some comments about municipal council.

I had nine years of service on local council, as did my colleague from St. Catharines, and I know the importance of investing in infrastructure.

It was the hon. member for Port Moody—Westwood—Port Coquitlam who pushed the previous government to get the gas tax in on a sustained basis for local governments. I am really proud to be part of the government that is going to have that long term stable, predictable funding for local governments, so when they go to prepare their budgets each year, they know that the money is there and they can rely on the government for investing in infrastructure, people and knowledge.

I would like to thank my colleague for his comments about the tax-free savings account. Talking about the economy, there is also another issue, the other component in social, cultural and arts perspective, which is the environment. I would ask my colleague to bestow some of his wisdom on this group here as far as what is in the budget and how our government is investing in the environment.

[Uganda, February 27th, 2008]

Mr. Speaker, the ongoing war in northern Uganda has claimed an estimated 300,000 lives, displaced more than 1.5 million people, and seen the kidnapping of tens of thousands of women and children. It is Africa's longest running armed conflict. Next to Darfur, it is being called the world's worst humanitarian disaster.

Could the Minister of Foreign Affairs please inform the House what our government is doing to support the current peace talks to stop this terrible war in northern Uganda?

[Afghanistan, February 26th, 2008]

Mr. Speaker, I want to expand a little on my colleague's experiences. She mentioned meeting with some of the ladies in parliament and the micro loans. Those are great success stories.

I have been speaking with some ladies in my riding who have recently returned. In particular, I spoke with an ICU nurse who told me about the incredible first-hand experiences she had encountered. People volunteer their time to give freedom, democracy, the rule of law and respect for the freedoms we take for granted.

One specific young lady, 11-year-old Alaina Podmorow, is the founder of “Little Women 4 Little Women in Afghanistan”. We are excited that she will be here next week to share with members of Parliament the success of a group of young girls in grades five to seven who raise funds for educators in Afghanistan.

Could my hon. colleague share a little about some of the students, specifically the girls who are now able to go to school because our men and women have worked with the UN sanction mission to provide some peace and stability in their country?

[Petitions, February 26th, 2008]

Mr. Speaker, the second petition calls upon Parliament to confirm that our mission in Afghanistan will continue until February 2009 and conclude combat thereafter.

[Petitions, February 26th, 2008]

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to present two petitions from the constituents of Kelowna--Lake Country.

The first petition calls upon Parliament to take action on climate change and that Canada take effective and timely action to meet its obligations under the Kyoto protocol.

[Vision Impaired Curling Championship, February 13th, 2008]

Mr. Speaker, I am honoured to stand and salute the competitors of the 2008 Canadian Vision Impaired Curling Championship, which took place last week here in Ottawa.

I am proud to announce that Team Canada, represented by the Kelowna rink, remained undefeated, winning its fourth consecutive championship.

Dean Martell, Bob Comba, Frank Costello and Sandy Neddow and dedicated coaches Janet Dyck and Barb Hansen-Comba are great ambassadors for Canada and the sport of vision impaired curling. They will make us proud as they go on to compete at the world championship later this year.

This is another success story for the city of Kelowna, which recently received special recognition from the Canada-wide Winter Lights Celebration, part of the popular Communities in Bloom program. Kelowna has received a five star rating as a four season city that all ages can enjoy at any time of the years.

We thank all the hard-working volunteers who made it happen.

I extend a warm welcome for all Canadians to come and enjoy our hospitality and discover for themselves why Kelowna is considered the jewel of the Okanagan.

[Tackling Violent Crime Legislation, February 11th, 2008]

Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank my hon. colleague for his excellent presentation this morning. I am hopeful that the Senate can expedite Bill C-2 through the Senate as soon as possible.

As my colleague mentioned, I do not think there is an issue that resonates more through constituencies across the country, through all 308 ridings, than reforming our justice system. We had a forum in our riding on Friday and yesterday we had a mother calling us. We need to toughen up the legislation and give the tools to our RCMP and police services across the country.

We have a catch and release program with our justice system and I want to help our enforcement agencies. As mentioned, I want to give some help to those who are victims, and also to people who have done wrong, by giving them the ability to have some training within the penal system.

Could the minister briefly update the House on drug impaired driving? How will this change from the present legislation?

[Committees of the House, January 31st, 2008]

Mr. Speaker, our government is very concerned about the 2010 Olympics. We want to make sure that the infrastructure is built on time and obviously as close to budget as possible. The labour shortages have presented some challenges within the construction aspect, but that is the buildings.

We are looking at human beings and the physical aspect implications for men, women and specifically the children. Our government is looking at law enforcement to make sure the games are safe for all who attend, and to ensure the safety of those mentioned previously, and to avoid the potential abuse of using the games for financial benefit. The figure of $3.2 billion was mentioned with respect to the human commodity market.

Just over 200 years ago William Wilberforce abolished the sex trade in the U.K. and last year the film Amazing Grace was released. I think of how far we have come, yet how far we have to go.

Our government is doing diligent work in building a strategy not only for 2008, but for the 2010 Winter Olympics. Once again I reach out to my colleague, who is a member of the Liberal Party, to encourage his senator colleagues to act quickly and responsibly and pass Bill C-2, the age of protection legislation. It would be one way of helping our children for the 2010 Olympics and for the future.

[Committees of the House, January 31st, 2008]

Mr. Speaker, we just heard from another B.C. member of Parliament. We should remember that the Olympics are for all Canadians. We all might want to celebrate and acknowledge the fact that in 2010 the games are in Vancouver and Whistler, but they will be a benefit to all Canadians.

Human trafficking is a concern for all Canadians. I look at it and ask, why wait until 2010? The fact is that our government is taking action now. The Minister of Citizenship and Immigration introduced legislation in June regarding additional measures to help assist victims of human trafficking being brought in from abroad.

We specifically looked at extending the temporary resident permits from 120 to 180 days. The fact that the initial temporary resident permit and initial work permit will be fee exempt is another way of trying to help these individuals who are in very precarious situations. The victims are not required to testify against the traffickers in order to receive a temporary resident permit. This extension also helps victims apply for work permits and receive health care benefits and counselling services on an interim basis. Sometimes those 180 day extensions can be extended further.

Why wait until 2010? We are working on that now. We are getting things done not only for Canadians now, but for our children and our future. That is why I am so supportive of working together in doing all we can. Let us not wait until 2010. Let us move forward with what we have and build on that.

[Committees of the House, January 31st, 2008]

Mr. Speaker, my colleague from British Columbia and I both have a concern for this issue. As she mentioned, it is not isolated to one specific age group or sexual orientation. We have a real concern in dealing with this issue and in allocating the additional resources that I mentioned.

I had the pleasure of hosting and working with the International Justice Mission in my riding. That organization has worked in an integrated and coordinated approach with our government, led by our Minister of Public Safety, who also spoke at that event in my riding.

We have allocated resources in our budget to increase the number of RCMP members by a couple of thousand to help deal with issues such as human trafficking of all ages, not only in Canada but all around the world.

A video documentary identified a situation in Thailand. It showed how young boys were being lured in. We all have to be cognizant of this. It is not exclusively females, but it is a concern for young boys as well who are being abused at a young age. In many cases it ruins them for life.

I truly support the initiative that we have taken. I agree that it is something we have to invest in for all ages and all sexes.

As well as the allocation of dollars that we have put into our budget, we have also put forward Bill C-2 to increase the age of protection. This is something that is near and dear to my heart and the hearts of many of my constituents. I have met with the mayor of Kelowna who had worked for many years on this issue trying to ensure that we raise the age of protection from 14 to 16. That legislation is being held up in the Senate. Anything the Liberal opposition members could do to convince their colleagues to get off their hands and support this bill would be the best thing for all Canadians.