Wayne Marston

[Foreign Affairs, February 10th, 2009]

Mr. Speaker, we learned today that Omar Khadr has given up on appealing to the Prime Minister. Instead, he is appealing to the United States to return home.

How could things have gone so terribly wrong that a Canadian citizen gives up on his own country and turns to a foreign leader for the due process he should have been afforded here in Canada? When will the Prime Minister finally take action to bring Omar Khadr home to face justice here in Canada?

[Budget Implementation Act, 2009, February 9th, 2009]

Mr. Speaker, I want to correct the record. A little earlier the Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Finance said that the NDP did not offer any proposals on this budget. Our leader, the member for Toronto—Danforth, met with the Prime Minister and explained to him very clearly the outline of what we believed should have been in the budget.

When I returned to this House, I came back here following the election planning on working hard for the constituents I represent, as did every member of this House. We will all recall that day when the budgetary update was tabled in the House and the glee with which the finance minister presented it. Here he was, looking at a situation where he thought he could finally nail the Liberals. That is what he was up to. There is no doubt. Then we wound up with a prorogation.

Earlier today, now that we are back, I hear the member for Parkdale—High Park talk about working together and how things are flawed. I just want to say what the constituents back home are saying. They are saying that this business of probation is just nothing more than Liberal spin because the government just cannot get the job done.

[Budget Implementation Act, 2009, February 9th, 2009]

Madam Speaker, as I listened to the member opposite from Manitoba talk about the evolution of pay equity, it took me back 35 years in an instant when I became involved with my local union. I became the president of the local union for Bell Canada workers and members will know the struggle the union had to get pay equity for the operator services group at Bell Canada.

I must say that as I sit here today and I look around this place, I see many people who have taken part in the struggle on pay equity for years.

When the member for Toronto Centre became the premier of the province of Ontario, his first speech was at our union. Part of the reception for an NDP government in Ontario from our union came from a sense that this would be a group of people who would fight for us and fight for the women in our organization, and they did. I cannot understand for the life of me why people with credentials of that nature would support this budget after a lifetime of fighting this.

I am not meaning to centre the individual out any more than anybody else in particular in the Liberal Party, but how in the world do we have this kind of a recommendation as part of a budget that is supposed to stimulate our economy and help Canadians? This will set women back 35 or 40 years.

[Situation in Sri Lanka, February 4th, 2009]

Madam Speaker, precisely the point that the member made is what I was referring to moments ago. When this community comes together and is demonstrating and marching and we join with them, at that time we will come to understand their needs more closely in a personal and tangible way.

Many times we lose sight in these kinds of discussions as to the hurt that families and individuals feel when they are separated not only by an ocean but by a conflict such as this one. Everything that we can do in a very personal way is important at this time.

[Situation in Sri Lanka, February 4th, 2009]

Madam Speaker, it is very clear that within the borders of Canada there is a community that is desperately hurting and there is a level of compassion that needs to be shown to those people.

In the past, certain members of this conflict have been labelled by our government and others. It is time to put aside the labels and talk to the ordinary people in the street, the Sri Lankan families who have moved here and made Canada their home, and who are so desperately looking back to their homeland. We have to do what we can to support them. Today in the demonstration in front of this place, we saw terror and fear in their eyes. It is very important that we support these people.

[Situation in Sri Lanka, February 4th, 2009]

Madam Speaker, I want to begin my remarks by thanking the member for Toronto—Danforth, the leader of the NDP, for leading the call today for this emergency debate. I also want to thank the other members present who are taking part in something that is so crucial and so important to the Sri Lankan community in Canada.

We heard just now from the leader of the NDP that the people in Sri Lanka are in crisis and many Sri Lankan civilians are caught between the government forces and the Liberation Tigers in a war zone with nowhere to turn. Earlier today, Human Rights Watch issued a release saying that there are continuing reports of high civilian casualties in the Mullaitivu district of the Northern Vanni area. The Sri Lankan government recently issued a statement saying that it is not responsible for the safety of civilians who remain in the areas controlled by the LTTE.

In addition, we have the International Committee of the Red Cross as well as local health workers reporting over the past week that a hospital was hit by three volleys of government artillery in a 24 hour period which left nine people dead and numerous injuries. Again, on February 2, that same hospital was struck again, killing three additional people and injuring 10 more.

Members present will know that under the laws of war, hospitals are strictly prohibited from attack so long as they are not being used for military purposes and both sides, as my leader has indicated, had been told that these hospitals were not being used in the conflict. In any conflict that reaches such a point of indiscriminate battle, both sides hold a measure of responsibility when it comes to protecting non-combatants.

Reports from Human Rights Watch, as well as Amnesty International, point to accusations of both sides in this conflict putting Sri Lankan civilians at risk and indeed, as we have heard regarding the hospitals and other cases, civilians have died as a result.

One of the problems faced by the international community is the fact that the Sri Lankan government has prohibited independent journalists and human rights monitors from accessing the area. As my leader indicated previously, that has put a wall around getting the story told and engaging the world community.

There is no independent field investigations taking place into the conduct of the government forces, nor for that matter the LTTE. But one thing is very clear, Sri Lankan civilians are being maimed and are dying in this conflict. When either side in a war zone violates the rules of war, it does not in any way legitimize their opposition resorting to similar violations.

Amnesty International says that reports coming from the Sri Lankan government suggest that government forces and the LTTE are violating the laws of war by targeting civilians and preventing them from escaping to safety. My point is that we have numerous reports that civilians are being injured and are dying in this conflict. There are reports of horrendous acts and horrors that the civilians of Sri Lanka are facing. To that point, there is no way under these conditions that these claims can be investigated unless and until countries like Canada use their diplomatic powers to gain a ceasefire.

I believe, and the NDP believes, that Canada must work further with the United Nations and the world community to ensure that the aid that is so desperately needed in the announcement of today reaches the most affected in the conflict, the innocent people of Sri Lanka.

I submit that this is not the time nor the place to try to decide who is more to blame for this situation. It is all too easy to place blame when such a conflict has festered for so many years. I do not want to see my country, Canada, stand by and allow civilians to be so forsaken in such a war zone.

I do not want to see Canada's hard-earned reputation as a nation of people, who believe in peace and who have been counted on in so many ways and so many times in the past to be the voice of peace, have that hard-earned reputation squandered. The Government of Canada must continue to stand up along with the world community and ensure that we take a lead position fighting for an immediate ceasefire and in doing so, open the doors for emergency aid to reach the embattled people of Sri Lanka.

[Omar Khadr, January 30th, 2009]

Mr. Speaker, clearly times have changed. A new day has dawned in the United States. The disgrace that was Guantanamo Bay will soon close, and military tribunals so devastating to fundamental human rights have been suspended.

The reputation of Canada must not be linked to such a disgraceful legacy. I ask the Prime Minister, when will the government relent and accept that Omar Khadr truly was a child soldier, do the right thing and bring Omar Khadr home?

[The Budget, January 29th, 2009]

Mr. Speaker, I want to say to the member opposite that repeatedly, in this place, I have seen that member and other members of the Bloc stand to defend the rights of the unemployed, the rights of those about to be unemployed, and with respect to this motion, women's rights. I am pleased to say today that this raises the level of debate in the House which has been needed for a long time. I really appreciate his demeanour because the passion that is behind such feelings often spills over.

The budget talks about employment insurance. The fact is that we do not get any change not only in the two weeks at the front end but in those who will qualify. I just find it a little bit ironic that the person raising that a few minutes ago was a member of the party that made changes to EI in the first place in 1995.

Beyond that, in my office in Hamilton East—Stoney Creek, we are get many calls currently from people applying for employment insurance who are weeks and weeks behind. There has to be a change as well in the number of folks who are in government offices processing because we are predicting 300,000 more lost jobs for this coming year.

Are people having the same problems in Quebec with the activities around delivery of that service?

[The Budget, January 29th, 2009]

Mr. Speaker, when the folks in my riding of Hamilton East—Stoney Creek looked at the budget, we were struck by the dollars that were supposed to be available to municipalities for infrastructure. The concern in our area is for the water treatment plant that is in desperate need of upgrading. We are talking in the area of $100 million. The Province of Ontario has said that it is in for $100 million but if we are talking about matching funds it makes the project almost unfeasible for Hamilton. I am sure many municipalities across the country, particularly Quebec, are asking the same question.

Could the member tell me what she has heard in regard to those kinds of concerns and the responses they are getting?

[Steel Industry, January 29th, 2009]

Mr. Speaker, like they watched carefully while thousands of Canadians lost their jobs.

Canadian steel companies have been potentially sideswiped by the America bill. We have Americans who are looking for ways to get their economy and their industries working. We should too. That way we can assure that Canadian dollars pay for Canadian steel to build Canadian buildings and Canadian bridges. With buy-Canadian provisions we can benefit from every stimulus dollar.

Other countries are investing in their workers and in their industries. Why is the government not doing the same?