Stockwell Day

[Royal Canadian Mounted Police, November 19th, 2007]

Mr. Speaker, the kindest words I could find is that is one of the most unfortunate, deliberate torques of a very serious situation that I have heard in a long time.

I might also add that when it comes to the situation of tasers and what happened in that very tragic incident, the first province to introduce and encourage taser use was the province of British Columbia. That was done while that particular member was the attorney general and while there were many concerns being raised about taser use.

We have raised concerns about taser use. That gentleman brought them into his province without questioning them. We are raising questions about them.

[Royal Canadian Mounted Police, November 19th, 2007]

Mr. Speaker, we share the concern about what happened to this particular individual. It is one of the reasons that we have asked for answers. That is one of the reasons there are at least three independent reviews going on right now in terms of what took place.

We want everything to be put in place to see that something like this would never happen again. Those answers are being sought after intensively right now, and I hope the member opposite would exercise patience as these investigations continue, so that we can find out exactly what did happen.

[Canada-U.S. Border, November 19th, 2007]

Mr. Speaker, my colleague is quite right in reflecting on the historic relationship between Canadians and Americans in times of crisis and times of need. They have been able to move quickly across borders and assist one another in those particular times.

We have raised a number of issues related to the western hemisphere travel initiative which is a U.S. law that has had some unintended consequences in terms of how it is interpreted at the border. I have communicated with the secretary of state on this particular issue and the department of homeland security.

We have registered our concern. We do not want to see this continue. It has to come to an end.

[Royal Canadian Mounted Police, November 19th, 2007]

Mr. Speaker, as the Prime Minister has said and as I said last week on a number of occasions, anybody who saw that video shares the shock and the grief. The disturbing elements of that were seen by everyone.

A number of reviews are ongoing right now. Four days after the incident, which would be about a month ago, I asked for a review to immediately be put in place. On Friday, the Canadian Police Research Centre, which is separate and independent of the RCMP, also announced it is doing a very thorough review. The RCMP is reviewing it.

[Public Safety, November 16th, 2007]

Mr. Speaker, first, I want to say that it is not acceptable for a member to say that the minister said something and, in his second question, to say that the minister did not say it. It is important to state the facts, the truth.

The truth is that we have given the police more funding and more resources to deal with illegal tobacco. In 2005, the value of illegal tobacco was $250,000, and we have seen—

[Public Safety, November 16th, 2007]

Mr. Speaker, I never said it was illegal to seize vehicles whose owners break the law. This does not go against the bill. That is not true. There is a bill designed to allow the police to seize the owners' effects.

In addition, last year, there was an increase in interventions by the RCMP and other police forces to deal with the illegal tobacco situation. This is a huge problem, and there are—

[Royal Canadian Mounted Police, November 16th, 2007]

Mr. Speaker, a number of investigations, quite rightly, are going on. The RCMP has a process itself and it has involved other police agencies in that.

Further to that, the complaints commissioner has also taken up this concern, which we all share, and he has launched an investigation into this. There is also a coroner's inquest.

Just a few days after this tragic incident took place almost a month ago, I asked for a review in terms of tasers themselves. Other reviews are ongoing. We want to get this information to ensure something like this never happens again.

[Royal Canadian Mounted Police, November 16th, 2007]

Mr. Speaker, most Canadians and most people in this House watched that video. It was a tragic, disturbing and grievous event that took place. A number of investigations are ongoing to determine what exactly happened and what series of circumstances could have led to such a disastrous conclusion to that particular matter.

We want to get all those answers and surely the member opposite is not suggesting that we judge the matter based on watching the video alone. There are a number of inquests that are ongoing. We want to find out what took place there.

[Airbus, November 16th, 2007]

Mr. Speaker, detailed information appears to be in the hands of members opposite. We know there is a lot of information out there generally. That is why we want to get to the bottom of this. That is why the Prime Minister has called for this full public inquiry. As soon as he had that affidavit with the allegations from Mr. Schreiber, he moved on this very quickly.

We are looking forward to all this information coming forward. I encourage members, if they have information that will help us and Professor Johnston get to the bottom of these questions, to by all means bring that information forward.

[Airbus, November 16th, 2007]

Mr. Speaker, if the member opposite has information that is somehow going to be pertinent to this full public inquiry, then she should absolutely bring that forward to Professor Johnston.

The other thing I find very interesting is that members opposite seem to have great details, which I appreciate because all Canadians want to get to the bottom of these questions. They have great details, but when it comes to details of where the $40 million in stolen money went, which have come out through the Gomery inquiry, with Liberal friends they seem to have no information at all. I wish they would be as aggressive in helping us pursue that $40 million as we are in wanting to pursue this $300,000.