Ruby Dhalla

[Chalk River Nuclear Facilities, December 12th, 2007]

Mr. Speaker, yesterday the government identified a former nuclear power executive at Pickering, Mr. Bob Strickert, as an independent expert who could verify that the research reactor at Chalk River is safe.

Can the government please confirm that Mr. Bob Strickert is the same person who serves as the executive vice-president of the Durham Conservative Party Riding Association?

[Manufacturing Industry, November 27th, 2007]

Mr. Speaker, in my riding of Brampton—Springdale, the manufacturing industry is in a state of crisis. The high dollar, border issues and one-way imports have made for a perfect storm of challenges, resulting in the recent elimination of the third shift at the Brampton Chrysler plant and a loss of over 1,100 jobs.

Many Bramptonians who depend on the manufacturing sector are now facing unemployment. They are hard-working Canadians whose families are left struggling to make ends meet, yet the Conservative government has done nothing.

There is no comprehensive strategy and there are no solutions to address the manufacturing crisis and stop the job losses. Nor is there an action plan to help those who have lost their jobs. The government is also ignoring calls to end the Canada-Korea trade talks, which will further devastate the industry.

I urge the government to stop wasting time and to help the struggling auto industry and those people who have lost their jobs.

[Youth Criminal Justice Act, November 26th, 2007]

Mr. Speaker, the experts across this country have stated that reintroducing deterrence would be a mistake. That is why we on this side of the House are recommending that the bill go to committee and that we ask the experts and the witnesses to put forward solutions which are actually going to achieve results to reduce crimes committed by young people in Canada.

[Youth Criminal Justice Act, November 26th, 2007]

Mr. Speaker, I thank the hon. member for his great question and also for his concern in regard to fighting poverty in this country.

We have had a chance to see the extensive number of poverty levels. In a country such as ours which is probably one of the leading nations in the world in terms of our economic surplus and our economic prosperity, a million children continue to live in poverty.

Research has shown that those children who are living in poverty are perhaps in some way, shape or form going to commit some of the crimes that we are talking about in this very bill.

We need a poverty strategy that talks about targets, which has benchmarks and ultimately has a vision and a plan. That is why it was a great honour for me that the leader of the Liberal Party introduced his poverty plan, the 30:50 plan. This plan would ensure that over a period of five years poverty would be reduced by 30% for Canadian families, and children living in poverty would be reduced by 50%. We need action and we need a game plan. In that regard, Quebec is to be commended for its great policy in regard to early learning and child care which is going to ensure that we not only prevent poverty, but provide the tools and mechanisms for families to succeed.

[Youth Criminal Justice Act, November 26th, 2007]

Mr. Speaker, it is a pleasure to stand before you today and speak to Bill C-25, An Act to amend the Youth Criminal Justice Act.

It is an act that is extremely important to many of my constituents in Brampton--Springdale. When we take a look at the recent deaths of youth in my riding, they have caused extreme fear, angst and anguish among those living in our community.

As one of the fastest growing cities in the country, Brampton has become a true symbol of hope for so many. However, the recent deaths of youths across Brampton have left many feeling shocked, dismayed and with a feeling of profound sadness. From youth who have been killed by gangs to people dying as a result of drunk drivers, families not only in Brampton but across Canada are suffering.

Many constituents in my riding have written to me to express their frustration about these senseless acts of violence. They, like many Bramptonians, are calling on the federal government to take a stand against the violence that is plaguing our communities.

What we need is a comprehensive crime strategy, one that commits to putting more police officers on our streets, more prosecutors in the courts, and protecting the most vulnerable, our children and seniors. We must ensure that our police officers have the resources and tools that they need to do their jobs, and we must demand that government bring forward legislation which will make people think twice about their actions.

However, in talking to many of these constituents and Canadians across the country, one realizes that the answer to fighting crime is not the republican or the Bush strategy of locking everyone up and throwing them in jail.

To ensure the safety of all Bramptonians, we need an effective program to fight crime, one that has input and involvement from our young people. Spending money today on skills training and providing youth with opportunities is going to ensure that if we combine that with strategies to fight crime, it will actually prevent it. It will be money that is saved in the future on putting people in prison.

We need to listen to the youth of Canada. To help jump-start this process in my own riding of Brampton--Springdale, I have created a youth advisory council which will provide student representatives from all the schools in Brampton--Springdale an opportunity to speak openly and directly to their elected officials and community organizations on issues that matter to them, on issues of violence, gangs, and drugs in their schools and neighbourhoods.

It is my hope that this youth advisory council will empower students, community members and elected officials to take a stand against violence, the violence which we are discussing in this particular act today. The youth advisory council will work closely with all stakeholders and organizations to discuss strategies that will actually prevent crime, initiatives to create a safe city and rehabilitate criminals.

The Liberal Party has been trying to put an end to violence in our neighbourhoods by offering to fast-track many of the pieces of justice legislation. Unfortunately, many of these bills have not moved forward. In fact, last fall, we offered our support to the government for fast-tracking six of these criminal justice bills, but unfortunately, rather than accepting our offer, it chose to only fast-track one of the bills.

These delay tactics have resulted in Canadians having to live without effective legislation. We need to put aside political gamesmanship. We need to put aside political partisanship and ensure that we get results for the people that we are representing.

We acknowledge that the Youth Criminal Justice Act has been a significant improvement over the old young offenders legislation, and we now see that there are gaps in the legislation, specifically with respect to repeat violent youth offenders. We must address these gaps, but we must ensure that this bill is not undermined by any of these amendments that are being brought forward today.

We have been stating for some time that the Conservatives need to look at the report that was issued by Justice Nunn in Nova Scotia for reasonable reforms to the Youth Criminal Justice Act to address the problem of repeat youth violence. We believe that Justice Nunn, who led a public inquiry on this issue, actually struck the right balance with the recommendations that he provided.

Some of the changes that are being proposed in this particular bill today are actually similar to the recommendations made by Justice Nunn.

However, there are some changes that are contained in the bill which have not been supported by nor come from Justice Nunn. We need to ensure that the changes brought forward actually concern a judge's ability to detain repeat violent offenders pre-trial.

We must ensure that when we talk about this bill and the amendments being brought forward that there is the right balance to achieve the goals to prevent youth violence across the country. In particular we take a look at this bill and realize that the Conservatives are attempting to reintroduce deterrence, a sentencing principle which many experts across the country have warned is a mistake.

Martha Mackinnon of Justice for Children and Youth, a legal aid clinic for low income youth, has stated that the Conservatives are addressing a perception that has actually been exacerbated by politicians and the media. She has criticized the government's move to bring back general deterrence for youth and has pointed out that there is no evidence that deterrence works for young people.

It has been said that this bill ignores many of the important concerns Canadians have about legislation which is going to be fair and adequate and which is actually going to produce results. Canadians and Bramptonians are looking for real leadership when it comes to fighting crime in Canada.

We need to have a comprehensive and integrated strategy that talks about the root causes of crime. We need to have a strategy which is comprehensive and talks about the rehabilitation of those who have committed crimes. We need to ensure that we provide assistance for those who are the victims. It is only going to be by putting aside our partisanship and our gamesmanship that we are going to ensure that we have legislation which is fair and adequate, and ultimately produces results for our end goal, which is to help the children of Canada.

[Poverty, November 26th, 2007]

Mr. Speaker, the government needs to stop playing games, rise above partisan politics, and take some action for the children of Canada.

The report shows that single income, first nations and immigrant families are also living in poverty. It confirms what the Liberals have been saying for months. It confirms that we have a leader and we have a party that cares. We have a national action plan to reduce poverty, versus a Prime Minister and a government that simply refuses to listen.

Are Canadians who are living in poverty being ignored because the Conservatives think they have no votes?

[Poverty, November 26th, 2007]

Mr. Speaker, today Campaign 2000 condemned this government for failing Canada's children. The report shows almost a million children live in poverty in Canada and over 280,000 children in Canada use food banks.

The Liberal Party has proposed a plan which will help 30% of Canadian families living in poverty get out and will cut child poverty by 50%.

When will the government show some leadership, step up to the plate, and take action with a plan to reduce poverty in Canada?

[Privilege, November 23rd, 2007]

I rise on a question of privilege, Mr. Speaker. Thank you very much for giving me this opportunity.

In our parliamentary system we have ministerial responsibility. Ministers of the Crown are directly responsible to the public and to this House for all actions taken by their political staff or departmental officials.

The present Minister of Justice was the minister responsible when the investigation was being carried out by the Department of Justice into the settlement Mr. Mulroney received in 1997, a settlement that came at a time when no one in government knew about the $300,000 cash payment he had received from Karlheinz Schreiber. The present Minister of Justice was also the minister when this departmental investigation was brought to an abrupt and unexplained halt.

On November 14, on a CBC program, I stated that the Minister of Justice stopped the investigation when in fact the question of who stopped the investigation or why remains unanswered. Canadians would like to know who did.

To the extent that the distinction between personally stopping the investigation and being the minister responsible while the investigation was stopped troubles the minister or has caused him any embarrassment or discomfort in any way, I wish to make clear my apologies to him.

On behalf of Canadians, we will vigorously pursue the issue of who stopped that investigation, so I ask the minister again, who stopped the investigation and why?

[Child Care, November 20th, 2007]

Mr. Speaker, it is National Child Day and the children of Canada are not celebrating.

They look at the Conservative government and all they see are broken promises. They see a government that has turned its back on progress and the future. They see a government that tore up the Liberal early learning and child care agreement which would have provided quality, accessible and affordable child care. They see a government that has broken its promise to create 125,000 child care spaces.

When will the government show some leadership, take action and reach out to Canada's children?

[Child Care, November 20th, 2007]

Mr. Speaker, today is National Child Day and the children of Canada are not--