Foreign Affairs committee  No matter how many years I'm here, it seems to me that we keep on learning things. I believe the minister has been very clear on his position towards Mr. Abdelrazik, and as I stated, we're going to be supporting the minister in voting against this motion.

Foreign Affairs committee  Walsh talked about the substantive nature, or lack thereof, of the reason why Mr. Abdelrazik is on the list. He said, I heard it loud and clear, and it will be in his testimony—that it is not necessarily for a substantive reason: a party, or a country can state that it does not want him to be removed. That means that, even though we know that it is quite likely that there will be no American base to keep him there, the government does not want him to return to testify.

Canada-Peru Free Trade Agreement Act  Everything was done on the sly. It is worrying when things are not put clearly on the table, when documents are not clear, when we do not have access to certain documents and we do not feel that we are being listened to. Instead they want to pass this bill as quickly as possible to get the Canadian economy rolling in another country, because we are in an economic crisis and we have to make money to repay the debt and see that our companies make money.

Veterans Affairs committee  Having said that, I will say with regard to the ombudsman that the ombudsman can pursue any item that is within the mandate the ombudsman was given through the order in council. What he can do is very clear. Whether it comes from the minister, a client, his own initiative, or his staff, the reality is that he has to operate in that zone that's been defined. For example, with regard to the Veterans Review and Appeal Board and pension decisions, irrespective of where the request may come from, he cannot go in and overturn a decision or go into areas where basically he is not permitted to go.

Justice committee  Just to make it absolutely clear that I have presented the correct evidence before this committee, there are five convictions under section 279.01 to date, all the result of guilty pleas. The few number can partially be explained by the non-retroactivity of criminal laws.

Veterans Affairs committee  Whether the ombudsman should be going beyond that is not a matter for me to comment on. On the Veterans Review and Appeal Board itself, the order in council is very clear that he can't interfere in the process or overturn it. He could conceivably receive some complaints from clients that the lawyer who represented them from BPA didn't act in the manner they expected, or any number of other issues.

Foreign Affairs committee  Walsh has correctly indicated. I think the minister has clearly indicated.... It was a very clear exchange between Mr. Dewar and the minister at the last meeting, where the question couldn't have been posed more clearly, Mr. Dewar, and you have an answer. I doubt very much that a letter is going to change that at this time, and I think members need to respect that the matter is before the courts and let it rest there until it's resolved in that venue.

Justice committee  I think I am very fair; I just cannot understand why anybody wouldn't support mandatory minimums for traffickers of children 18 years and under. Let's just get that cleared up. The thing you asked about was national strategy. My motion number 153 was about the national strategy, calling for a national strategy. Ever since I came to Parliament, my wish and my hope and what I have worked toward is to make this non-partisan, so that all of us would work together to protect victims.

Foreign Affairs committee  No, but he has been asked. He's given a fairly clear indication in question period in the House.

Foreign Affairs committee  That's it. I have no more questions. It's very clear. Thank you.

Foreign Affairs committee  Abdelrazik to return to Canada. Perhaps I am mistaken, but according to the comments that I have heard, it is clear that the minister does not agree with helping Mr. Abdelrazik return to Canada, pursuant to section 10.1 of the order, for reasons of national security.

Veterans Affairs committee  The relationship between the ombudsman and the minister is very clear. He gives a report to the minister. I or other officials do not see it. It goes to the minister. Then it will be published. The officials of the department are not involved with vetting, nor are we involved with saying “that shouldn't be in the report” or those sorts of things.

Veterans Affairs committee  Stoffer on the last meeting's turn of events and the subsequent notes from that. On the ombudsman's report, the ombudsman made it clear during his testimony that his report has yet to be completed. I just wonder if you agree with that.

National Defence committee  The recommendation, in fact, is that there should be a plan at departmental and corporate levels to link the two. We did not look at the reasons behind the procurements—perhaps that is something that is clear now—but there were plans before. I think elements of the Canada First strategy existed before it was officially brought together into one whole. Perhaps also there were needs that clearly had to be met, because, even in our audits, we saw equipment that was at the end of its useful life and that needed to be replaced.

Justice committee  Form 21, the warrant of committal, sets this out as well. It's attached to the bill to make it clear to judges how this will work. So you state the offence, the amount of time a person has spent in pretrial custody, the sentence the judge feels would have been imposed had the person not been in pretrial custody--that's the particular thing we want to get out--and the amount of credit granted.