Canada Winter Games  Mr. Speaker, I rise today to pay tribute to the 2003 Canada Winter Games Host Society and the more than 7,000 volunteers who successfully hosted the Canada Winter Games in Bathurst and Campbellton, New Brunswick. Thanks to their dedication and effort more than 2,800 athletes rep

Canadian Forces  Mr. Speaker, the government has replied ad nauseam, as have the Minister of Foreign Affairs and the Minister of National Defence, that our soldiers are there in the context of exchanges with our allies. We, on the government side, were very proud that the House strongly supporte

Canadian Forces  Mr. Speaker, the hon. member for Acadie—Bathurst knows that the Prime Minister would never mislead the House of Commons. The only thing that perhaps the member is having trouble understanding is the answer that has been given time and time again. Our forces are in the region in

Canadian Forces  Mr. Speaker, as we have said many times, the soldiers who are there right now are taking part in exchange programs. They are not there for direct combat. Perhaps the member has difficulty understanding this because he may not have realized that the House clearly stated that it w

Canadian Forces  Mr. Speaker, the hon. member poses a question that is entirely hypothetical as to what may happen to our exchange officers. If members perhaps would stop shouting and listen, what I can tell the House is that the Canadians forces have always looked after personnel who have been

Iraq  Mr. Speaker, as has been said on a number of occasions, these military exchanges have been going on for decades. The minister clearly indicated yesterday that the exact facts on this are being looked into. I can tell you that the minister met yesterday with the department's hist

Iraq  Not in the least, Mr. Speaker. The government has stressed that these soldiers are involved in exchanges that have been taking place for some years now. The House spoke clearly on this matter when it voted not to pull out soldiers on exchange. The only precedent that has been cr

Supply  Madam Speaker, I will be sharing my time with the very distinguished member for Mississauga South. I wish to speak briefly on the second part of the motion before the House, that regarding the close relationship between Canada and the United States. I do not think there is any d

Supply  Madam Speaker, I will answer the question very directly. No, it does not concern me at all because we have not been cut off from access to important intelligence from our allies. What does concern me is the continual push from members of the Alliance to have the Solicitor General

Supply  Madam Speaker, I think the Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Foreign Affairs is absolutely correct. The relationship between our two countries is based on decades of co-operation, certainly on economic co-operation, and co-operation in national defence. I have outlined s

Criminal Code  Mr. Speaker, I want to thank the member from St. John's. His kind comments as he began his statement made me think that his long parliamentary experience, both in this House and in the Newfoundland House of Assembly where he served in many roles, gives him a great knowledge of fi

Criminal Code  Mr. Speaker, the member for St. John's West was at committee when the minister was there on the estimates. He was asked very precisely if he would revisit the decision and the minister gave a very clear answer at that time. He said that he would only revisit the decision if he h

Criminal Code  Mr. Speaker, I thank the member for Renfrew--Nipissing--Pembroke for her interest not only in the men and women who serve at CFB Petawawa but also her genuine interest in JTF2. She has asked questions about JTF2 in the past. She is on the defence committee. She does have a genuin

Criminal Code  Mr. Speaker, I hope there is no misunderstanding with respect to what the member refers to as a cloak of secrecy put over JTF2. The only reason the government does not talk about the operational missions, the deployments and the military persons serving in this regiment is for th

Reserve Forces  Mr. Speaker, today we honour Public Service of Canada employees who also serve our nation as members of the reserve forces. Reservists train on evenings, weekends, and for periods of full time service usually during the summer. To facilitate this training the government is takin