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NDP Motion to Let War Resisters Stay Passes
NDP Motion to Let War Resisters Stay Passes
OTTAWA – Iraq War Resisters residing in Canada received overwhelming support from the House of Commons following today’s passage of an NDP motion to let them stay in the country.
NDP Citizenship and Immigration critic, Olivia Chow’s (Trinity-Spadina) motion reflected ordinary Canadians’ belief that George Bush’s war in Iraq is wrong and that resisters should not be deported to jail.
The motion calls on the Harper Conservatives to allow American war resisters who have refused or left military service related to the illegal invasion of Iraq and their immediate family members to stay in Canada and be able to become permanent residents. Furthermore, the motion would force the government to immediately withdraw any removal or deportation orders against War Resisters.
NDP MP Bill Siksay (Burnaby Douglas), moved a similar motion a year ago on May 8, 2007 at the Standing Committee on Citizenship and Immigration. His motion was rejected by the Conservatives, Liberals and Bloc.
Through ongoing campaigns and mobilizations, supporters have finally been able to sway the Liberal and Bloc vote in support of the war resisters
“Ordinary people want the Iraq war resisters to stay,” said Chow. “The Harper Conservatives must respect this and immediately implement this motion.”
Speaking Out on the Conservative Government’s Appeal of InSite: Dead People Do Not Go Into Treatment
Speaking Out on the Conservative Government’s Appeal of InSite: Dead People Do Not Go Into Treatment
Ms. Libby Davies (Vancouver East, NDP): – Mr. Speaker, stopping InSite will drive the most vulnerable, often homeless, drug users in Vancouver’s downtown east side back to sharing dirty needles, risking HIV infection in alleyways with filthy conditions and no medical assistance if they overdose. Dead people do not go into treatment.
Does the minister realize the safe injection site is the first point of contact for many users looking for help? In fact, has the minister ever met a person who shoots up? Has he ever taken the time to talk to a homeless drug user and ask them what they need to get off drugs?
Hon. Peter Van Loan (Leader of the Government in the House of Commons and Minister for Democratic Reform, CPC): Mr. Speaker, the interest of this government is ensuring that people can get off drugs. The view of the government and the view of the Minister of Health is that supervising injection and supporting injection is not a way to get somebody off drugs.
Injection not only causes physical harm, it also deepens and prolongs an addiction. We believe that programs to help people get off their addictions should be supported and we believe that to spend money on supporting injection is actually to take money that could otherwise be used to help people get off their addictions and assist them in that kind of program.
That is what this government is interested in doing. That is why the Minister of Health is asking for an appeal.
Ms. Libby Davies (Vancouver East, NDP): Mr. Speaker, that is exactly what InSite is doing. It is helping people get off drugs.
I am so disgusted by this reply. I spent decades working in my community to make it safer. We have some minister with a chip on his shoulder who comes along and decides that drug users in my neighbourhood do not deserve to live. Why? Because he claims that the science is mixed.
The science is solid and it says that InSite saves lives. It is an outright lie to say that the science is mixed. It is an outright lie to say that only one life has been saved.
I ask again, will he immediately reverse his decision or is he content to see drug users die?
Hon. Peter Van Loan (Leader of the Government in the House of Commons and Minister for Democratic Reform, CPC): Mr. Speaker, the view of this government is that drug addiction, heroin addiction, is very harmful to people’s lives and the way we help people with those kinds of addictions is by helping them to get off of those addictions.
The most important harm reduction measure is to get people off drugs. That is why we have incorporated harm reduction into our new anti-drug strategy. It is two-thirds prevention and treatment and one-third enforcement. That is the way that we think we can help people.
It does not help to send mixed messages to young Canadians that drug use is proper. It is wrong and we want them not using drugs.
Speaking Out on the Conservative Government's Appeal of InSite: Dead People Do Not Go Into Treatment
Libby speaks out on the First Nations National Day of Action
Libby speaks out on the B.C. Supreme Court Decision on Insite
Libby Speaks Out for Forestry Workers and Their Communities
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NDP CONDEMNS FTA : KILL A LABOUR ACTIVIST AND PAY A FINE
NDP CONDEMNS FTA : KILL A LABOUR ACTIVIST AND PAY A FINE
NDP CONDEMNS FTA : KILL A LABOUR ACTIVIST AND PAY A FINE
OTTAWA – NDP International Trade critic Peter Julian (Burnaby-New Westminster), and NDP Labour Critic, Libby Davies (Vancouver East) were joined today by Hassan Yussuff, secretary treasurer of the Canadian Labour Congress (CLC) to launch a public campaign to call on the Harper government to immediately halt free trade negotiations with Colombia. The campaign comes in light of the revelation of a major flaw in the labour protection clauses of the future Canada-Colombia Free Trade Agreement (FTA).
The flaws in the agreement were revealed when Julian questioned senior Canadian government trade negotiators at hearings of the House of Commons Standing Committee on International Trade.
According to the negotiators’ testimony, the Colombian government would be required to make a token monetary payment into a “cooperation fund“when a Colombian trade unionist is murdered.
“The weakness of this so-called labour protection measure amounts to the decriminalization of murder,” said Julian. “Fines are the type of penalty given out for speeding or parking violations, not for murder. This deal leaves the door wide open for continuing violence against workers and activists.”
With the support of the trade union movement and civil society organizations, the NDP is launching a petition campaign to block the Canada-Colombia free trade negotiations. Julian says that no further negotiations should take place until there is an effective human rights assessment framework and enforceable labour and environmental standards built into negotiations with Colombia.
“In the current context of ongoing human rights abuses, asking for a trivial monetary penalty to offset the killing of trade unionist would only add to the deplorable human rights situation in Colombia,” said Davies.
“The Canada-Colombia FTA betrays fundamental Canadian values,” said Yussuff. “I am appealing to labour activists and other Canadians concerned about human rights to join us in the fight to stop this agreement”.