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Posted by Al Gordon on 09:12:04 2004/11/17
http://www.parl.gc.ca/38/1/parlbus/chambus/house/debates/025A_2004-11-16/ques025A-E.htm#Int-1010744
Said in Parliament November 16 2004
Citizenship and Immigration
Mrs. Diane Ablonczy (Calgary Nose Hill, CPC): Mr. Speaker, the immigration minister personally helped one of her campaign workers do an end run around the immigration system. She ordered civil servants to give a you get to stay in Canada card to a stripper who came here on a temporary work visa.
The woman's new husband admitted they volunteered for the minister hoping to avoid going through normal channels. Sadly, it worked. The minister cut a special deal. How can the minister be trusted to fix a system that she herself bent for a political supporter?
Hon. Judy Sgro (Minister of Citizenship and Immigration, Lib.): Mr. Speaker, let me thank the hon. member for the question, and unfortunately I was not here yesterday or I would have answered it then as well.
It is clear that under the Citizenship and Immigration Act and under my parliamentary responsibilities I have the opportunity to grant humanitarian and compassionate grounds on individual cases. I get hundreds of requests from every member in this House, including the Leader of the Opposition, on these cases. They are looked at on a case by case basis on humanitarian and compassionate grounds.
Mrs. Diane Ablonczy (Calgary Nose Hill, CPC): Mr. Speaker, it is certainly funny that the minister used her discretion so generously in support of one of her own political workers.
Thousands are waiting anxiously for their Canadian status. Thousands have made these kinds of applications. Sometimes it takes years to go through the normal channels, but suddenly this woman who worked to help the minister get re-elected gets fortunate enough to get a you get to stay in Canada card on the orders of the minister. Why does the Prime Minister and why does the government see nothing wrong with the minister giving an unfair advantage to one of her supporters?
Hon. Judy Sgro (Minister of Citizenship and Immigration, Lib.): Mr. Speaker, let me thank the member again and let me just remind the member that on June 11 she put in a request, and what was that, 10 days before the election, on humanitarian and compassionate grounds. I issue hundreds of--
Some hon. members: Oh, oh!
Hon. Judy Sgro: You asked the question. Yes, she did.
The Speaker: Order, please. I am sure the minister appreciates all the help with her reply, but the minister was asked a question. She seems to have a reply of her own. All hon. members will want to hear it. We will have a little order in the House while the minister has the floor.
Hon. Judy Sgro: Mr. Speaker, as I indicated earlier, Parliament has given the Minister of Citizenship and Immigration, under the act, the ability to exercise humanitarian and compassionate grounds. It is something that is done for hundreds of members of Parliament and people all across Canada. Many of those are members from the opposition.
Mr. Rahim Jaffer (Edmonton Strathcona, CPC): Mr. Speaker, it looks like the minister is getting help from her friend on dancing around the question.
The immigration minister's lack of credibility must have been common knowledge during the election as a man wanted for deportation by her own department delivered pizza and brazenly hung out at her campaign office. It is almost as if the minister put out a sign, Help me get elected and I'll let you say in Canada .
Why does the minister believe that the rules apply to everyone but her Liberal friends?
Hon. Judy Sgro (Minister of Citizenship and Immigration, Lib.): Mr. Speaker, hundreds of people volunteer in election campaigns. I am not sure about Conservatives, but in Liberal ridings we have lots of people who volunteer.
Let me tell the House that issues of national security are extremely important to all of us on this side. If the member has any allegations or any evidence to support this allegation, I suggest he should bring it forward and not just use his mouth to put the words.
¸ (1435)
Mr. Rahim Jaffer (Edmonton Strathcona, CPC): Mr. Speaker, the immigration minister has a responsibility to uphold the rule of law. Yet she failed to report the fact that she had a deportee working for her. We know it is not because she is incapable of working the phone. After all, she made a call to get a minister's permit for her stripper friend.
Why the double standard when it comes to her Liberal friends? Why did the minister not report this individual to her own department?
Hon. Judy Sgro (Minister of Citizenship and Immigration, Lib.): Mr. Speaker, it would be great if the hon. member would get his facts straight rather than taking them as whatever he reads in the media as being the gospel truth.
As I said before, issues of national security continue to be very important to me, as they are to all of us on this side of the House...................
Middle East
Mr. Stockwell Day (Okanagan Coquihalla, CPC): Mr. Speaker, the government has made a decision to fund the UN Relief and Works Agency despite the fact that there is clear evidence that this UN agency has on its payroll agents of the terrorist group Hamas.
Why is the government taking such a casual attitude toward the security of Palestinians while it has terrorists in its midst?
¸ (1455)
Hon. Dan McTeague (Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Lib.): Mr. Speaker, it is clear to us that we will take a position that is important for the security of all, particularly given the situation that exists today in the Middle East, and that provides us an opportunity to strive toward a better peaceful outcome.
I know the hon. member is passionate about some of these notions that float around from time to time. However, the reality is that the government will continue to work very hard to ensure that there is a peaceful resolution in the Middle East, and one that ensures a just and peaceful solution for all.
Mr. Stockwell Day (Okanagan Coquihalla, CPC): Mr. Speaker, protecting people from terrorism is not a notion. It is a necessity. The member probably does not realize that Canada is not one of the four nations at the table negotiating a road map to peace in the Middle East. The very least we could be doing is ensuring that Canadian taxpayer dollars are going to Palestinians in need, not to terrorists who are determined to wreck the process.
Why is the government afraid to demand accountability from these agencies that we fund?
Hon. Dan McTeague (Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Lib.): Mr. Speaker, it is passing strange that the member and his party at one point were actually suggesting the abolition of UNRWA. That is not even a position that the Israeli government would have taken under the circumstances.
We will work very hard with all of our parties and all those who are there to ensure that there is in fact a peaceful solution to what is occurring in the Middle East. We think this is a good time to talk about these things. It is important that Canada reflect very clearly on some of the values that it can import and bring to bear on this very important discussion.
* * *
Justice
Mr. Navdeep Bains (Mississauga Brampton South, Lib.): Mr. Speaker, as the minister knows, this is Restorative Justice Week in Canada. It is a time when interested groups come together to discuss new ways to resolve disputes and new ways to view Criminal Code acts.
Can the minister tell us what the Liberal government has done and is doing to promote the use of restorative justice in our justice system?
Hon. Irwin Cotler (Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada, Lib.): Mr. Speaker, restorative justice represents a paradigm shift in our understanding of crime and criminal justice. Crime is seen not only as a wrongful act by the offender, but in terms of an assault on relationships and community peace. Justice is seen in terms of not only accountability, but in terms of greater healing relationships. Our justice programs have shown lowered recidivism, validation of the victim, and restitution compliance. We will continue to promote and enhance these projects.
* * *
Royal Canadian Mounted Police
Mr. Ken Epp (Edmonton Sherwood Park, CPC): Mr. Speaker, Cathy Maurice and Margaret Galloway in my riding and Lesley Massey in Calgary are the widows of Alberta RCMP officers who gave their lives on the job. Their husbands were given full regimental funerals and rightfully so. Commissioner Zaccardelli was there and rightfully so. Hundreds of fellow officers were there and rightfully so. These widows were billed for a large part of the funeral costs. That was wrong.
Will the government immediately correct this shameful injustice and pay for these funeral costs?
Hon. Anne McLellan (Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness, Lib.): Mr. Speaker, the hon. member does raise an important question. I want to reassure the hon. member that the RCMP consulted with the families in question, as it does with all families when the tragic death of a serving member occurs. I understand that, while this is an operational matter for the force, the situation involving the three families mentioned is under review and there are ongoing consultations with all three families.
Mr. Kevin Sorenson (Crowfoot, CPC): Mr. Speaker, formal funerals were held for these RCMP officers who were killed in the line of duty because formal funerals were requested by the RCMP. The Treasury Board has no difficulty paying the $3,600 first class ticket and other frivolous expenses for the commissioner of the RCMP to be there, yet it is denying grieving widows full reimbursement.
I ask the President of the Treasury Board, why does this continue?
¹ (1500)
Hon. Anne McLellan (Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness, Lib.): Mr. Speaker, as I have said, the RCMP consulted with the families in question as it does with all families in these kinds of tragic circumstances. It is my understanding that the commissioner has taken this matter up. It is under review and discussions are ongoing with the families.
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