Debates of the Senate (Hansard)
Debates of the Senate (Hansard)
3rd Session, 40th Parliament,
Volume 147, Issue 43
Wednesday, June 23, 2010
The Honourable Noël A. Kinsella, Speaker
THE SENATE
Wednesday, June 23, 2010
The Senate met at 1:30 p.m., the Speaker in the chair.
Prayers.
Visitors in the Gallery
The Hon. the Speaker: Honourable senators, just before calling for Senators' Statements, I wish to draw your attention to the presentation in the gallery of delegates of the Girls 20 Summit.
On behalf of all honourable senators, welcome to the Senate of Canada. As you can see, you are very welcome. The girls are the guests of the Honourable Senator Frum.
SENATORS' STATEMENTS
Bombing of Air India Flight 182
Twenty-fifth Anniversary
Hon. Mobina S. B. Jaffer: Honourable senators, today marks the twenty-fifth anniversary of the Air India bombing, an event that is often referred to as the largest mass murder in Canadian history.
In 1985, shortly after the bombing took place, Prime Minister Mulroney called the Indian government and apologized. However, it took 25 years for the Canadian families of the victims to receive a similar apology.
Last week, Justice Major's report on the bombings was released. It was not until a quarter of a century after the bombings took place that it was officially recognized that the Government of Canada had made mistakes and owed an apology.
The events of the bombing were horrific for not only Canada and India, but for the entire world.
The Air India bombing claimed the lives of 329 people, most of whom were Canadian. However, the pain and suffering caused by the tragedy extended to the families whose loved ones were among the casualties.
For 25 years now, the families of these victims have been poorly treated by both our government and its agencies.
These families yearned for justice to be served. These families yearned for the answers to their many questions. These families yearned for compensation. Unfortunately, justice was not served, questions were not answered and compensation was not provided.
As Justice Major so eloquently stated:
The families of the victims of the bombing were poorly treated by their Government. For the longest period of time the Government seemed dedicated to self justification and
denial of fault that led it to cast a blind eye and a deaf ear to the suffering and the needs of the families.
There had been numerous calls by the families for a public inquiry into the event, as they felt unsatisfied with the response that they received at the time. The government, however, consistently refused. The families were left with a sense of frustration and uncertainty.
With the release of the report, one is led to ask why the overall process took so long. Why did it take a quarter of a century for us to get to where we are today?
Justice Major advanced the following theory:
. . . the callous attitude by the Government of Canada to the families of the victims might lead them to wonder whether a similar response would have been forthcoming had the overwhelming majority of the victims of the bombing been Canadians who were white.
Honourable senators, after 25 years, the Air India inquiry concluded that the families of the victims deserve an apology and compensation. Prime Minister Harper will issue an apology today, but when will our government provide these families with the compensation to which they are entitled?
I am aware that this will not happen overnight. However, it is crucial that we establish a timeline to ensure that these families are not forced to wait a long time for compensation.
Honourable senators, these individuals have suffered for two and a half decades. Let us finally dry their tears.
Atlantic Regional Electricity Action Plan
Hon. Fred J. Dickson: Honourable senators, I rise in this chamber as an Atlantic Canadian to encourage timely discussion to address regional electricity opportunities such as renewable energy options and challenges, including electricity transmission both internationally and interprovincially, with the goal being the development of an Atlantic regional electricity action plan by and for Atlantic Canadians.
This regional initiative would build on the agreement and work of the Council of Atlantic Premiers to develop and implement a regional electricity approach, taking into consideration clean and renewable energy technologies and transmission infrastructure and methods for competing in electricity export markets.
The need for a regional approach to energy and electricity issues has been for many decades on the Atlantic public policy agenda and has been the subject of many learned papers and conferences. However, from a regional perspective, up till recently, progress has been slow, to say the least.
The consensus some 30 years ago of those participating in a major conference on energy options for Atlantic Canada was that the four Atlantic provinces must develop a regional strategy compatible with a national plan and then they must realistically plan for their own energy needs. This conference was held under the leadership of the Honourable Ron Barkhouse, Minister of Mines and Energy for Nova Scotia.
The present timing for developing a regional electricity plan is unique because of the actions taken by the federal government, including the announcement by the Honourable Peter MacKay and the Honourable Lisa Raitt of up to a $4 million investment in the Atlantic energy gateway initiative to support the development of renewable energy resources in Atlantic Canada and the accessibility of export markets. The Standing Senate Committee on Energy, the Environment and Natural Resources is authorized to examine and report on the current state and future of Canada's energy sector, which includes many matters similar to the opportunities and challenges identified by the Atlantic premiers.
The committee of which I am a member is to submit its final report no later than June 30, 2011. The federal round table discussion on renewable energy was convened in November 2009. Among the significant policy suggestions made by the round table was the need for a national energy strategy to manage the shift from the age of carbon to the age of renewables. Opportunities identified by the round table included the huge untapped potential for green energy and renewable resources, including wind, hydro and tidal power, which we have in abundance in Atlantic Canada, as well as solar energy.
No discussion of renewable energy from an Atlantic perspective would be complete without focusing on the undeveloped hydro potential of the Lower Churchill in Newfoundland and Labrador and the tidal potential of the Bay of Fundy in Nova Scotia and New Brunswick. The two installations of the Lower Churchill at Gull Island and Muskrat Falls will have a combined capacity of over 2,800 megawatts.
(1340)
Newfoundland and Labrador's direct transmission access, like that of Nova Scotia, is limited to export markets. Two routes are being investigated and pursued for the Lower Churchill: an overland route through Quebec using Hydro Quebec's open access tariff and, after a process of some four years, the Régie de l'énergie of Quebec turned down the application; and a subsea route from the island into the Maritimes, which would bring power to Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, P.E.I and U.S. markets.
Honourable senators, in stressing the need for an Atlantic regional electricity action plan, I borrow the quote that Premier Williams used in his speech before the Canadian Club in Ottawa on June 9, 2010, of Sir Winston Churchill, who once said: ``If we are together, nothing is impossible; if we are divided, all will fail.''
First Nations University of Canada
Hon. Sandra Lovelace Nicholas: Honourable senators, I attended the annual spring graduation ceremony of the First Nations University of Canada in Regina this month. It was a proud moment for my people and my community, the Tobique First Nation of New Brunswick. I was there to attend the graduation of a young woman, Sabrina Bear, a member of my community, who —
The Hon. the Speaker: Honourable senators, the sitting is suspended.
(The sitting of the Senate was suspended because of an earthquake.)
(Pursuant to the order adopted by the Senate on April 15, 2010, the Senate was adjourned at 4 p.m. and the mace was duly removed in the presence of the Speaker, the Clerk and the Table Officers.)
(The Senate adjourned.)