Yasmin Ratansi

[Multiculturalism, April 21st, 2005]

Mr. Speaker, Canada stands on the world stage as a shining example of a tolerant and pluralistic society that welcomes people from diverse ethnic, cultural, linguistic and religious backgrounds to live in harmony.

Could the Minister of Canadian Heritage inform the House of recent developments that would help Canadians share our experience with the rest of the world?

[Health, April 15th, 2005]

Mr. Speaker, my question is for the Minister of State for Public Health. Last fall the first ministers agreed to establish health goals in order to improve the health of Canadians and reduce the pressure on the health care system.

Could the minister update the House on progress in implementing this part of the accord?

[National Wildlife Week, April 15th, 2005]

Mr. Speaker, during the week of April 10 to 16, Canadians will be celebrating National Wildlife Week in communities across Canada.

Sponsored by the National Wildlife Federation, for nearly 40 years, National Wildlife Week has been a useful tool to raise awareness among Canadians about our precious environment for nearly. This year the federation is encouraging people to think about wild places where they connect with nature. It could be a busy bird feeder in one's own back yard or an officially protected area like a national park.

As part of this year's campaign, the federation will be distributing National Wildlife Week educational kits to schools across the country. Thousands of young Canadians will be encouraged to learn more about wildlife conservation issues and to take an active part in protecting the environment.

[World Health Day, April 14th, 2005]

Mr. Speaker, Canada marked World Health Day 2005 with an announcement by the hon. Minister of International Cooperation of a $90 million pledge to improve maternal and child health in developing countries.

It is a sad fact that each year in the developing world well over 10 million children die and half a million women die from pregnancy related causes. Tragically, most of these lives could be saved through intervention and programs aimed at promoting child and maternal health.

Canada's commitment includes almost $50 million to programs that will improve child health in Africa and an additional $40 million in support of specified programs in Bangladesh and Nigeria.

These new initiatives reflect Canada's ongoing commitment to achieving the millennium development goals, which aim to reduce poverty, hunger and child mortality by 2015.

[Pope John Paul II, April 6th, 2005]

Mr. Speaker, on behalf of my constituents of Don Valley East, I rise in this House to pay tribute to the extraordinary life of Pope John Paul II.

The Pope reached out and touched the lives of millions of people, not only as the Pope of the Roman Catholic Church for 26 years but as a simple human being who lived through remarkable times. In his youth, the Pope challenged Nazi fascism during the occupation of his beloved homeland of Poland, and later he played a key role in the fall of communism in that country with his support for the Solidarity movement.

In Toronto the Pope inspired the ecumenical work of the Scarborough Mission to reach out to people of all faiths and cultures. As one of those involved in the ecumenical work of the mission, I can attest to the fact that these efforts of the Pope have been quite successful locally.

I am certain that all members of the House, along with all Canadians, wish to extend our condolences to the Vatican, to Catholics and to people all over the world.

[Immigration and Refugee Protection Act, March 22nd, 2005]

Mr. Speaker, I appreciate the opportunity to take part in this debate on Bill C-272, an act to amend the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act.

The bill purports to help bring more people and their loved ones to Canada by expanding the current definition of family class. The bill would expand the family class to include siblings, children over the age of 22, aunts and uncles, nieces and nephews, and first cousins. Canadians who are permanent residents would then be allowed to sponsor, once in their lifetime, one of these relatives in addition to those already included in the family class.

I think we all support the principles of the bill and its goal to strengthen the family class. Families bring a sense of stability for many newcomers and often make it much easier for them to adjust to their new lives in Canada. Family reunification also represents a cornerstone of Canada's immigration and refugee program.

The actual provisions of the legislation before us today, however, are unsupportable for a host of reasons.

Canada's recent experience with the removal of limitations on sponsorships clearly demonstrates the flaws in the private member's bill under consideration.

In 1988, the government of the time changed the sponsorship rules to include all unmarried sons and daughters in the family class. Total intake in this category nearly doubled over two years, going from 53,033 in 1987 to 104,199 in 1989.

What did it result in? The increase from 1987 to 1989 consisted almost entirely of never married children of any age and created a massive eight year backlog.

I was quite surprised by some comments made by members opposite. The member for Fleetwood—Port Kells has totally misunderstood the proposal. It just shows how little the member understood the proposal. On one hand, she talked about a huge backlog, forgetting that the backlog was caused by mismanagement of the immigration system by the then Conservative government. It could not manage the system. It had no processes in place and created havoc, which the Liberals then had to handle in 1993.

However, coming back to the proposal under debate, if it were implemented today the family class could potentially overwhelm the immigration program. Who would that benefit? It would benefit neither Canadians nor the newcomers we bring to Canada every year.

The hon. member for Burnaby—Douglas says that the bill is necessary because the government currently achieves only 66% of our annual immigration target every year. This is simply not true.

The hon. member will know that preliminary numbers indicate that last year represents the fifth year in a row that the Government of Canada has met or exceeded annual immigration targets. These targets are set by government each year, in close cooperation with the provinces and territories, as well as other partners and stakeholders.

The hon. member also noted in the last hour of debate that Bill C-272 would make it easier for refugees to reunite with their families.

The truth is that this bill would do little for refugees since family sponsorship is a more financially burdensome course than what is presently available to refugees.

The Government of Canada is fully committed to enhancing the opportunities for family class sponsorship. From 1998 to 2003 the family class in Canada grew from 50,897 to 69,128. That represents an increase of more than 18,000 immigrants in the family class in six years. Such a track record is impressive.

The government introduced new regulations in 2002 to allow even more individuals to sponsor family members and to facilitate the processing of family class sponsorship applications.

The regulations expand the family class to include common-law and conjugal partners of the opposite sex and same sex. They also recognize longer child dependencies and other obligations, such as military duty in some cases, by broadening the definition of a dependent child to include those under the age of 22.

As well, the regulations reduce the age at which Canadian citizens are eligible to sponsor from 19 to 18 years of age. The period of sponsorship undertakings has also been reduced in many cases from 10 years to 3 years.

New application rules have also resulted in the faster processing of applications made on behalf of spouses, common-law partners, conjugal partners and dependent children.

In pursuing these changes, the government has remained mindful of the need to enhance the ability of individuals to sponsor family members while ensuring that the immigration program is managed in a balanced and sustainable way. This approach is clearly in the best interest of every Canadian, every newcomer and every community in the country.

The changes proposed in Bill C-272 run counter to these principles of fairness, balance and sustainability and therefore are not supportable.

We agree with the idea of strengthening families in general and of making it easier for families to reunite with their loved ones. Our recent actions to include out of state spouses in the in-Canada class and the government's commitment to assist the remaining Vietnamese boat people supports and reinforces this commitment.

However the government also has a duty to properly manage the immigration program and ensure that the principles of fairness, integrity and balance are upheld. We therefore cannot support Bill C-272 or any other special provision that fails to take these considerations into account.

[Holocaust, March 22nd, 2005]

Mr. Speaker, this year marks the 60th anniversary of the liberation of the Nazi concentration camps of World War II.

On January 27, 1945, Soviet troops were the first of the allies to liberate the death camps known as Auschwitz-Birkenau.

The Holocaust was a tragedy for the Jewish people that resulted in the suffering and death of at least 6 million Jews. Other innocent victims included the Roma people, Slavs, Soviet prisoners of war, the handicapped, Jehovah's Witnesses and homosexuals.

Sadly, since the Holocaust the world has failed to prevent genocide in Cambodia, Rwanda and the former Yugoslavia.

It is my sincere hope that such events will never be allowed to happen again and that Canada will take its place in the international community to halt or prevent genocide in the future.

[Health, March 21st, 2005]

Mr. Speaker, my question is for the Minister of Health, but before I ask the question, on this day of March 21 I would like to wish all people of Persian descent across Canada norouz mubarak , a happy new year.

Last September the first ministers signed a 10 year plan to strengthen health care, through which the federal government committed $41.3 billion to the provinces over 10 years. Could the minister inform the House of how the federal government will increase funding for federal programs that will improve--

[International Women's Day, March 8th, 2005]

Mr. Speaker, International Women's Day is a time for us to celebrate the women of Canada and the world.

It has been 10 years since the Beijing Platform for Action was signed with the goal of identifying 12 priority areas that affirm women's vital role as stakeholders and key players in environmental decision making. The Beijing Platform for Action underscores a number of key areas of environmental concerns.

With 80% of Canada's population living in urban areas, the challenges are more complex and critical than ever. These issues range from urban sprawl to greenhouse gas emissions and air pollution. Women continue to be deeply concerned about these and other issues.

Let us remember that it was a woman, Rachel Carson, who is considered to be the founder of the modern environmental issues.

This International Women's Day can inspire us to renew our commitment to the environment, a commitment that goes hand in hand with the vital role that women can play in sustainable development.

[Veterans Affairs, February 22nd, 2005]

Mr. Speaker, on January 6 the Minister of Veterans Affairs invited all Canadians to bring forward any information regarding Canadian Forces servicemen and women who have died while on duty in Canada or serving overseas since October 1947, with the exception of the Korean War.

To date, Veterans Affairs Canada has identified more than 1,200 members of the Canadian Forces whose names will be entered into a seventh Book of Remembrance to be titled “In the Service of Canada”.

Veterans Affairs Canada is asking families of deceased CF members and the Canadian public to view the names of the men and women already identified and to submit any other names that may be eligible for the book.

I invite the hon. members and all Canadians to visit the VAC website, under the “Past Features” heading, and to click on “The Seventh Book of Remembrance” icon.

In the year of the veteran we would like to enlist all Canadians in this campaign to remember these brave Canadians who served our country with duty and honour. Recalling them by name--