December 6, 2001

Mr. Bill Blaikie (Elmwood-Transcona, NDP): Mr. Speaker, my question is for the Minister of Transport.

 Subsequent to the privatization of CN and the merger with Illinois Central, CN has not only become a railway that is owned by American shareholders, it has also increasingly become a railway that is run by American managers. The result of this in Winnipeg has been that jobs are increasingly leaving Winnipeg and going south. There is a rumour now that the Motive Power Shop at the Transcona shops will close. Other jobs are leaving Symington as traffic is diverted south for repair, maintenance and inspection.

Nov. 29, 2001

Mr. Bill Blaikie (Winnipeg--Transcona, NDP): Mr. Speaker, on Monday I asked the Minister of Justice a question about Bill C-42 and mentioned Kananaskis and she sought to reassure me. She said there was no hidden agenda and I guess she was right. That which may have been hidden has now been revealed by the Minister of National Defence, that Kananaskis is in fact a possible target of the powers that we find within Bill C-42.

November 26, 2001

Mr. Bill Blaikie (Elmwood-Transcona, NDP): Mr. Speaker, my question is for the Minister of Foreign Affairs. He will know of the concern of many Canadians, and for that matter people around the world, for the conditions that women suffered under the Taliban.

Could the minister tell us what Canada is doing to ensure in the reconstruction of Afghanistan, post-Taliban, that the women of Afghanistan will have a place at the table and justice for them will be assured in the new Afghanistan?

November 21, 2001

Mr. Bill Blaikie (Winnipeg--Transcona, NDP): Mr. Speaker, my question is for the Prime Minister.

    I am sure that many Canadians who want Canada to be an environmentally responsible member of the international community would be concerned that yesterday the Minister of Industry seemed to suggest that Canada is not going to keep its commitments on the Kyoto accord.

November 20, 2001

Mr. Bill Blaikie (Elmwood-Transcona, NDP): Mr. Speaker, my question is for the Minister of Justice who repeatedly said in the House that she would listen to the committee considering Bill C-36, that she would listen to the witnesses and respond to public opinion on this matter.

Could she tell the House why today, before the committee, she refused to listen to the many, many Canadians who came before the committee? They asked for a real sunset clause on more than just the two clauses that she has indicated will be subject not to a sunset clause but to some kind of twilight zone into which the minister wants to put these two amendments and which amounts really to a 10 year sunset clause.

November 19, 2001

Mr. Bill Blaikie (Elmwood-Transcona, NDP): Mr. Speaker, my question is for the Minister of Justice who has argued in recent weeks, in defence of Bill C-36, that September 11 changed the world.

Unfortunately for Canadians, who are worried about Bill C-36, they might be less worried if they felt that the government's attitude toward peaceful protesters had changed. Yet that does not seem to have been the case this weekend in Ottawa.

November 7, 2001

  Mr. Bill Blaikie (Winnipeg--Transcona, NDP): Mr. Speaker, my question is for the Deputy Prime Minister and has to do with the ongoing disagreement between the government and the churches with respect to their respective responsibilities in the residential schools question.

    The Deputy Prime Minister will know that the churches are unhappy with the government's latest action and offer. I wonder whether the government would be willing to consider the suggestion by the churches that an independent mediator be appointed to settle this issue once and for all, particularly for the sake of the aboriginal people who are involved in this issue.

November 5, 2001

Mr. Bill Blaikie (Elmwood-Transcona, NDP): Mr. Speaker, my question is for the Right Honourable Prime Minister and concerns Bill C-36.

The Prime Minister is recorded in the press today as being flexible when it comes to Bill C-36. We were worried last week that the government might be changing its mind with respect to openness, with respect to sunset clauses.

October 31, 2001

 Mr. Bill Blaikie (Winnipeg--Transcona, NDP): Mr. Speaker, my question is for the Prime Minister and it has to do with the behaviour of the solicitor general yesterday who, as a maritimer, should perhaps be more familiar with the phrase about loose lips sinking ships.

    Is the Prime Minister not the least bit concerned that the disclosing of the passing on of information so soon after the passing on of that information could jeopardize operations or compromise security? Would he at least assure the House that the solicitor general will not be announcing on a weekly basis what kind of tips they recently gave to the United States that were publicized in the United States?

October 23, 2001

Mr. Bill Blaikie (Elmwood-Transcona, NDP): Mr. Speaker, my question is for the Minster of Health.

In the ongoing struggle between corporate intellectual property rights and the public interest, I wonder if the events of the last few days have caused the minister any moments for reflection. Could he tell us whether in his party there is a rekindling of the flame that once burned, now extinguished, for the protection of Canadian public health interests against the rights of the multinational drug companies, or do the Liberals insist on pursuing the course that they have since 1993?