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Libby's Open Letter to a Minister

Libby's speaking out for Marc Emery
June 9, 2010

The Honourable Lawrence Cannon
Minister of Foreign Affairs
418 N Centre Block
House of Commons
Ottawa, ON K1A 0A6

Dear Minister Cannon,

I write to ask for your immediate intervention into the seemingly harsh treatment of a Canadian citizen currently serving a sentence at the SeaTac Federal Detention Centre in Seattle, Washington.

Since Thursday, June 3, Marc Emery of British Columbia, has been in solitary confinement awaiting disciplinary action for having recorded a conversation he had with wife, in what amounts to a phone interview for a his own internet blog.

An Open Letter to the Public Safety Minister on the Extradition of Marc Emery
May 10, 2010

The Honourable Vic Toews
Minister of Public Safety
House of Commons
Ottawa, ON
K1A 0A6

Dear Minister Toews,

I write to ask that you stop the extradition of Canadian Marc Emery to the United States and allow him to serve his prison sentence in Canada.

Your government took a rare and unnecessary step today, by extraditing a Canadian citizen to serve a prison sentence in America for actions that are not worthy of prosecution under Canadian laws. Further to this uneven approach, it is my understanding that American officials were amiable to Mr. Emery serving his sentence in Canada. Yet your government has refused to cooperate.

Libby calls on federal government to keep Vancouver shelters open
April 16, 2010

Hon. Diane Finley
Minister responsible for
Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation
House of Commons
Ottawa, ON K1A 0A6

Dear Minister Finley,

I write to bring your attention to the urgent housing situation in Vancouver, as the city faces the loss of hundreds of emergency shelter beds on April 30, 2010.

Without immediate support, several Vancouver Homeless Emergency Action Team (HEAT) shelters will close at the end of this month, leaving a shortage of 500 beds in a region where the homeless population has grown by 12% since 2008.

The Vancouver Police have said that the shelters are “nothing short of a blessing” and directly attribute a reduction of crime to the availability of housing. The Downtown Vancouver Business Improvement Association is also speaking in support of funding for the shelters as a benefit to the business community, reducing the number of people on the streets and problems with disorderly conduct.

Air Canada outsourcing - a joint letter from the federal NDP BC Caucus
March 3, 2010

Libby and her BC colleagues sent the following letter to Transport Minister John Baird
March 3, 2010

The Hon. John Baird, P.C. M.P.
Minister for Transport
House of Commons
Ottawa, ON K1A 0A6

Dear Minister Baird,

In your January 12, 2010 letter in response to our colleague Bill Siksay and co-signatories regarding the future of Air Canada and its employees, you recognized the strategic importance of Canada’s air transportation system, of which Air Canada constitutes a critical component.

In addition to referring to the federal government’s role in helping ensure the financial viability of Air Canada, you highlighted Air Canada`s role in connecting Canadians from coast to coast to coast and beyond.

A key component of maintaining the integrity of Canada’s transportation system is ensuring that a critical mass of technical and maintenance aviation servicing expertise remains in Canada. This is, of course, in addition to safety and security concerns.

Regrettably, in spite of Air Canada receiving federal funding support, Air Canada’s management has been relentlessly outsourcing the servicing and maintenance of its aircraft in low-cost developing countries. This is an issue that we have raised many times in the House, and at committee as well as in previous correspondence with your department.

Sisters in Spirit funding at risk
February 18, 2010

February 18, 2010

Helena Guergis
Minister of State Status of Women
733 Confederation Building
House of Commons
Ottawa, ON K1A 0A6

Dear Minister Guergis,

I write to urge you to commit to renewed funding for the Sisters in Spirit initiative of the Native Women's Association of Canada, without delay.

As the Minister of State for the Status of Women you have repeatedly praised the Sister in Spirit initiative in the House of Commons as being a “great research project...extremely successful in raising awareness to the issue of violence against aboriginal women and girls.” As recently as December 2009, the Secretary of State for the Status of Women described the initiative as the “groundwork,” from which to “attack the root causes of violence against aboriginal women and girls.”

Libby Speaking out on Medical Marijuana - Health Canada Must Consult With Stakeholders
February 4, 2010

Hon. Leona Aglukkaq
Minister of Health
House of Commons
Ottawa, ON K1A 0A6

Dear Minister Aglukkaq,

Thank you for your August 2009 letter in response to my call for a full public review of the Canada’s Marijuana Medical Access Regulations (MMAR).

In your letter, you outline your plan to amend the MMAR to address the Supreme Court of Canada’s ruling that Paragraph 41 (b.1) violates the Charter or Rights and Freedoms and “unjustifiably limits the ability” of authorized patients to access medical marijuana. You also mention the need to examine regulations concerning the use of medical marijuana in public.

A calll for action on UN Human Rights Day
December 11, 2009

Libby sent the following message to the Japanese government:

December 10, 2009

To Whom it May Concern,

I urge the Japanese Prime Minister to acknowledge, apologize and appropriately compensate the Korean, Chinese and Filipino women who were forced into prostitution during WWII. I further urge your government to implement measures for investigation and disclosure of the history; inclusion in textbooks; erection of monuments; and punishment of criminals involved in this tragedy.

Libby Davies, Member of Parliament
Government of Canada
Vancouver East

Libby calls on Ministers for a public inquiry
December 10, 2009

The Honourable Peter Van Loan
Minister of Public Safety
House of Commons
Ottawa, ON K1A 0A6

The Honourable Michael de Jong
Attorney General of British Columbia
Parliament Buildings
Victoria, BC V8V 1X4

Dear Ministers Van Loan and De Jong,

I write once again to express my full support for a public inquiry into the actions of the Vancouver Police Department (VPD) and the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) in the investigation of Vancouver’s missing women.

I first raised this issue in Parliament in 2001, calling for an inquiry into police actions, and for the federal government to work with all levels of law enforcement to stop the disappearance of so many women from the Downtown Eastside.

Today, questions remain about the police investigations and why it took so long for a special task force to be put together, whether there was negligence and wrong doing by law enforcement officials in carrying out their duties, and what crucial lessons must be carried forward.

I commend the diligence, perseverance, and courage of Ms. Maggie de Vries in her struggle for justice for her sister, and I am encouraged by the recent news that Police Chief Jim Chu and Deputy Chief Doug LePard now support a public inquiry.

It is critically important to recognize that there are many women in the Downtown Eastside who are still at risk daily, due to neglect, stigmatization and the failure of governments to act. I therefore also urge the government of British Columbia and City of Vancouver to act swiftly to make public the recommendations and findings of the internal investigation by the Vancouver Police Department.

Sincerely,

Libby Davies, MP

Libby calls on Justice Minister to stop extradition of Marc Emery
October 2, 2009

September 28, 2009

The Honourable Rob Nicholson
Minister of Justice
105 East Block
House of Commons
Ottawa, ON
K1A 0A6

Dear Minister Nicholson,

I write once again to ask that you stop the extradition of Canadian Marc Emery to the United States and allow him to serve his prison sentence in Canada.

Canadian law enforcement officials have for a decade ignored Mr. Emery’s well publicized activities. I have expressed to you on many occasions my vehement opposition to sending Mr. Emery or any Canadian to face harsh punishment in another country when we have agreed as a society that these actions are not worthy of prosecution in Canada. Yet, your government has refused to intervene on Mr. Emery’s behalf and he will now serve a five year prison term in the United States.

Fairness for students with disabilities
September 3, 2009

Hon. Diane Finley
Minister of Human Resources and Skills Development
House of Commons
Ottawa, ON
K1A 0A6

Dear Minister,

In Budget 2008 your government made a series of changes to student financial assistance programs including Canada Student Grants. These changes recently came into effect this fall with some distressing consequences for students with disabilities in Vancouver East.

In previous years, students with disabilities in BC were asked to project their expected sources of income and expenses for the coming school term and the Canada Study and Canada Access Grants were allocated based on these projections.