House of Commons photoLost his last election, in 2011, with 31% of the vote.
Afghanistan November 30th, 2009
Mr. Speaker, in addition to its refusal to give us the documentation in its possession, the government is trying to shut Richard Colvin and the opposition up by portraying us as Taliban allies. How nice. There is just one goal behind this crude strategy: covering up the government's failure to take action and its decision to turn a blind eye to the torture of Afghan detainees.
When will there be a public inquiry to reveal the extent of this government's violations of the Geneva convention?
Afghanistan November 30th, 2009
Mr. Speaker, true to form, the Prime Minister and the Minister of Transport, Infrastructure and Communities are attacking all forms of opposition. Today, they said that those who call their government irresponsible because it failed to prevent torture are actually criticizing our soldiers' work. Nothing could be further from the truth. Guess who that reminds me of. It reminds me of George W. Bush, who, when speaking of the axis of evil, said that he was going to separate the good from the bad. That is who they remind me of. It is ridiculous.
Instead of attacking the opposition, will the Prime Minister reveal the extent of his government's negligence on the torture issue?
Afghanistan November 26th, 2009
Mr. Speaker, this goes to the core of what will happen in the next few days with witnesses. Not only do we not have the documents but witnesses are now being threatened, as is the immunity of parliamentary committees. That is unacceptable.
The minister is not answering my question and I am asking him to answer. If Mr. Colvin comes to the committee and tables his documents, does he run the risk of being incarcerated? If so, that is totally unacceptable.
Afghanistan November 26th, 2009
Mr. Speaker, the government is doing everything it can to hide the truth. Without immunity, the diplomat Richard Colvin does not wish to provide his reports on torture to the parliamentary committee. The government's lawyers are threatening him with reprisals, including incarceration.
I am asking the government to confirm for the House that Mr. Colvin has immunity, as do all witnesses, and that he has the right to table all documents he believes are pertinent.
Afghanistan November 25th, 2009
Mr. Speaker, what the minister said is true, but what he did not say is that we need the documents in order to know if everything we are hearing is true. That is what we are asking him.
Today in Le Devoir, a senior official confirmed Richard Colvin's testimony regarding David Mulroney's censoring. If the allegations of torture could not be proven, the government insisted that they not appear in the written report.
Why did this government try to muzzle its diplomats on the ground, if not to hide its inability to fulfill its responsibilities under international conventions?
Afghanistan November 25th, 2009
Mr. Speaker, all of the parties must have access to the documents concerning the treatment of Afghan prisoners. That is a basic principle of justice. The Prime Minister's Office, the Privy Council, the generals and Mr. Mulroney all have access to those documents, including those signed by Richard Colvin, but the opposition parties do not. This government is trying to withhold information to hide the fact that it did not fulfill its responsibilities when it comes to torture. It is as simple as that.
Will the government release all the documents so that the opposition and the public can finally know what really happened?
Afghanistan November 24th, 2009
Mr. Speaker, the government has halted the transfer of detainees three times this year because there was a risk of torture. The problem is that hundreds of other detainees were already in the Afghan authorities' hands when the transfers were halted.
How does halting transfers protect detainees who have already been transferred by the Canadian Forces to Afghan authorities?
Afghanistan November 24th, 2009
Mr. Speaker, the Minister of National Defence confirmed that the transfer of detainees to Afghan authorities has been halted three times since the agreement was signed. We know that detainees were transferred between 2002 and 2007 under an agreement that the Conservative government has called inadequate.
Will the government acknowledge that although there are still concerns about the safety of prisoners transferred under the current agreement, the situation was even more worrisome before and that, therefore, the government failed to fulfill its international obligations?
Points of Order November 23rd, 2009
Mr. Speaker, I would like my colleague to know that I am not responsible for translation.
It is possible that “goons” is much more pejorative than hommes de main or henchmen, but as I said in the question and will say again, people sent to do the dirty work against an individual, a respected diplomat in this case, are henchmen. If the translation was inaccurate, we will have to ask the interpreters to use another term. However, I maintain that henchman were sent to deal with Richard Colvin.
Afghanistan November 23rd, 2009
Mr. Speaker, on Friday, through the Minister of Transport, Infrastructure and Communities, the government continued to evade responsibility in connection with the torture issue by stating that “these stories are about Afghan allegations against other Afghans".
Since Canada was involved in the transfer of prisoners to the authorities that employed torture, and given that the Geneva Convention imposes obligations even when doubt exists, how can the government continue to deny its responsibilities?