Bill Blaikie, MP - Questions 2005

International Aid

Thu, 02 Feb 2006 19:15:08 -0500

Friday November 25, 2005

Hon. Bill Blaikie (Elmwood-Transcona, NDP): Mr. Speaker, my question is on the same topic.

U2 singer Bono has said that he hopes his music will last for 100 years. I think Bono himself will have to last for 100 years if he wants to see the Liberals keep the commitment they keep making over and over again. In fact, they now will not even make a commitment to 0.7% of GDP for overseas development assistance, unlike many of the other more progressive countries in the world.

Agent Orange

Thu, 02 Feb 2006 19:14:58 -0500

Friday November 18, 2005

Hon. Bill Blaikie (Elmwood-Transcona, NDP): Mr. Speaker, yesterday evening, the Standing Committee on National Defence and Veterans Affairs heard very compelling evidence from the Agent Orange Association of Canada; the MLA from New Brunswick, Jody Carr; and many others about the extent to which Canadian armed forces personnel, civilian personnel on the base and other civilians who worked on the base in various capacities over the years were sprayed over a period of 20 years with cancer causing chemicals and herbicides.

Veterans Affairs

Tue, 21 Nov 2006 12:28:29 -0500

November 18, 2005

Hon. Bill Blaikie (Elmwood—Transcona, NDP): Mr. Speaker, yesterday evening, the Standing Committee on National Defence and Veterans Affairs heard very compelling evidence from the Agent Orange Association of Canada; the MLA from New Brunswick, Jody Carr; and many others about the extent to which Canadian armed forces personnel, civilian personnel on the base and other civilians who worked on the base in various capacities over the years were sprayed over a period of 20 years with cancer causing chemicals and herbicides.

Kyoto Accord

Thu, 02 Feb 2006 18:44:30 -0500

Kyoto Accord

February 15, 2005

Hon. Bill Blaikie (Elmwood-Transcona, NDP): Mr. Speaker, tomorrow the Kyoto accord comes into effect and I hope that some day we might look back on that day as the day we began to actually save the planet but it seems to me the most appropriate thing that the Prime Minister could do tomorrow would be to apologize to Canadians for a decade or more of inaction.

Election Timing

Thu, 02 Feb 2006 19:15:04 -0500

Monday November 14, 2005

Hon. Bill Blaikie (Elmwood-Transcona, NDP): Mr. Speaker, my question is for the right hon. Prime Minister.

I want to ask the Prime Minister why, contrary to what he said outside the House just before question period began, he is deliberately endangering everything that this Parliament could do between now and the Christmas break by insisting that the only choices available are either a non-confidence motion or his own timetable, that is to say, the timetable of the Liberal Party?

Afghan prisoner swaps

Thu, 02 Feb 2006 19:14:58 -0500

Friday Nov. 4, 2005

Hon. Bill Blaikie (Elmwood-Transcona, NDP): Mr. Speaker, the Deputy Prime Minister's capacity for self-congratulation seems to know no end. The Liberals continue to be ethically challenged with respect to their own behaviour, but I would hope against hope that they are not ethically challenged when it comes to something like torture.

Ethics - Gomery Report

Thu, 02 Feb 2006 19:15:05 -0500

Wednesday Nov. 2, 2005

Hon. Bill Blaikie (Elmwood-Transcona, NDP): Mr. Speaker, my question is for the right hon. Prime Minister.

I seem to remember a time when the Prime Minister and his colleagues were in opposition and they were quite willing to hold the Conservative Party of Canada responsible as an institution for the scandals that happened while the Conservatives were in government.

Afghan prisoner protocol

Thu, 02 Feb 2006 19:14:58 -0500

Friday September 30, 2005

Hon. Bill Blaikie (Elmwood-Transcona, NDP): Mr. Speaker, my question is for the Minister of National Defence and it concerns Canadian policy in Afghanistan with respect to the handing over of captives, whether that be to the Americans or to the Afghan government.

I wonder if the Minister of National Defence could tell us how the Canadian government intends to ensure that Canadian troops are not in violation of Geneva conventions. Does he intend to work with NGOs, such as the Red Cross and Amnesty International, to make sure that Canada is not in violation of these conventions?

Housing - Zonolite

Tue, 21 Nov 2006 12:29:56 -0500

September 30, 2005

Hon. Bill Blaikie (Elmwood—Transcona, NDP): Mr. Speaker, we know that the Americans sometimes take a rather creative approach to international law, so I would urge the Minister of National Defence to keep his eye on the situation.

While Canadian troops are putting themselves in danger in Afghanistan, we find out that many of their families back here at home are also in danger because they are being compelled to live in Zonolite infested homes on base. Last night there was a program about a woman whose husband is in Afghanistan.

Ethics Commissioner

Thu, 02 Feb 2006 19:15:05 -0500

June 22, 2005

Hon. Bill Blaikie (Elmwood-Transcona, NDP): Mr. Speaker, my question is a follow-up to the question by the deputy leader of the Conservative Party with respect to the Ethics Commissioner. Mr. Shapiro appears to be able to do the impossible now, which is to make Mr. Wilson look good.

I want to ask the Deputy Prime Minister about this. She made the point that Mr. Shapiro is an officer of this House. Would she therefore be prepared to say on behalf of the government that it would respect a recommendation by this House that Mr. Shapiro be removed for incompetence?

Health Care

Thu, 02 Feb 2006 19:15:08 -0500

June 22, 2005

Hon. Bill Blaikie (Elmwood-Transcona, NDP): Mr. Speaker, my second question is on a completely different topic. It has to do with health care. The question is for the Deputy Prime Minister, also a former minister of health.

She may be aware that the doctor who successfully challenged the ban on private insurance in Quebec is now being feted by conservatives in America. He is probably being quietly feted by Conservatives here, but they are not as open about it. He has gone to the United States and he says:

Devil's Lake Diversion

Thu, 02 Feb 2006 19:15:03 -0500

June 14, 2005

Hon. Bill Blaikie (Elmwood-Transcona, NDP): Mr. Speaker, my question is for the right hon. Prime Minister.

Canada Day is approaching and yet Canada Day is the day that North Dakota, in a perverse sense of what it means to be a neighbour, has decided to turn on the tap of the Devils Lake diversion.

The Prime Minister has talked to George Bush. When does he expect to hear back from the White House as to whether or not we are going to celebrate Canada Day from here on in as the day the United States chose to ignore the boundary waters treaty?

Devil's Lake Diversion

Thu, 02 Feb 2006 18:44:26 -0500

June 7, 2005

Hon. Bill Blaikie (Elmwood-Transcona, NDP): Mr. Speaker, my question is for the right hon. Prime Minister. It has to do with the very serious need now for a full court press on Washington with respect to the Devils Lake diversion.

We only have a few weeks left. The Prime Minister has said that he has been in touch with the President. I wonder if the Prime Minister could tell us when he expects to hear back from the President or Condoleezza Rice.

Grewal Affair - Ethics

Thu, 02 Feb 2006 19:15:07 -0500

June 6, 2005

Hon. Bill Blaikie (Elmwood-Transcona, NDP): Mr. Speaker, we certainly have every intention of respecting your ruling, but I wonder why it is possible to do indirectly what is forbidden to do directly.

We have all been back in our ridings and we have all learned the extent to which these conversations have brought the whole place into disrepute. I want to ask the Prime Minister, who has said he also intends to respect your ruling, whether or not he thinks it would not be good for everyone, for the whole place, and everyone associated with this to step aside until the Ethics Commissioner has done his work?

Residential Schools

Tue, 21 Nov 2006 12:31:33 -0500

May 17, 2005

Hon. Bill Blaikie (Elmwood—Transcona, NDP): Mr. Speaker, my question is for the Deputy Prime Minister or for the minister of aboriginal affairs.

We in the NDP are heartened and encouraged by the progress that is being made toward a reconciliation package for survivors of the residential school system but we also feel, along with a great many people in the aboriginal and first nations communities, that what should accompany this is an unconditional or unqualified apology by the Prime Minister for this tragic chapter in Canadian history.