Women and men of the military are willing to make the ultimate sacrifice and we owe them our respect and gratitude. November 11th is a time for national reflection.

We remember those who gave their lives willingly.

We remember the shattered lives of soldiers who return wounded not only physically, but psychologically.

We remember that the sacrifice is not just that of a single soldier but their entire family and often an entire community.

We remember the overwhelming, countless loss of civilians who didn’t choose to die.

We remember how easy it is to begin a war but not to end it.  There is no such thing as a short war–the effects of violence remain long after the last shot is fired.

We remember the sacrifice of those who work for peace and to end violence.

We remember that violence does not happen just between nations but contaminates our entire society and our way of thinking.

On November 11th we remember, with gratitude.

On November 11th, we remember and pray that war will be no more.

The post Statement on Remembrance Day appeared first on Elizabeth May.

There are a zillion reasons to support local agriculture – reducing greenhouse gases (shipping apples to BC from New Zealand doesn’t seem to make any sense), supporting our local economy, being sure our children are eating healthy food, taking good care of the land on which it is grown.  And now we have another reason. The E.coli outbreak at the XL slaughter house in Brooks, Alberta, shown a spotlight on the risks of going for the opposite of local — one giant facility slaughtering up to 5,000 cattle a day.

I had a great time at an auction on Salt Spring Island this fall to support the building of a local abattoir. The local abattoir is needed to allow the production of Salt Spring Island lamb. The alternative is to add the huge financial burden of trucking the lambs by ferry to an abattoir up island. Considering I became a vegetarian when I was eight and adopted a pet lamb, I never really saw myself as someone willing to donate for an abattoir. However, with what is going on in the increasingly industrialized, corporate concentrated world of food production, I am ready to chain myself to the next cannery or abattoir I see being shut down. Of course, food contamination can occur in large or small operations. But in small operations, the impact is limited and local and quickly traced. Public health was compromised in the XL case because the key federal agency took nearly two weeks to sort out what products were contaminated and because the scale of the outfit made them hesitate for fear of undermining the image of Canadian beef. We need to fight for local agriculture, for local farmers making a decent living and to assure Canadians that the food we put on the table is safe.   

In This Issue…

• Centre for Plant Health Saved!
• XL Foods – a Few Facts on the Biggest Food Recall in Canadian History
• XL Foods – Moments from the Emergency Debate in the House of Commons – October 3, 2012
• Town Halls Coming in January
• National Food Policy Vision: to Improve Food Safety, Security, and Sovereignty
• Statement on Remembrance Day
• Your opinion matters!
• Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal Awards Ceremony

The post Winter 2012 Newsletter – Food Safety appeared first on Elizabeth May.

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Women and men of the military are willing to make the ultimate sacrifice and we owe them our respect and gratitude. November 11th is a time for national reflection.

We remember those who gave their lives willingly.

We remember the shattered lives of soldiers who return wounded not only physically, but psychologically.

We remember that the sacrifice is not just that of a single soldier but their entire family and often an entire community.

We remember the overwhelming, countless loss of civilians who didn’t choose to die.

We remember how easy it is to begin a war but not to end it.  There is no such thing as a short war–the effects of violence remain long after the last shot is fired.

We remember the sacrifice of those who work for peace and to end violence.

We remember that violence does not happen just between nations but contaminates our entire society and our way of thinking.

On November 11th we remember, with gratitude.

On November 11th, we remember and pray that war will be no more.

The post Green Party Statement on Remembrance Day appeared first on Elizabeth May.

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November 11 is a day to remember all of the soldiers who died knowing that they had been sent to the front lines to protect our freedom. We owe our respect and gratitude to the men and women of the armed forces who made the ultimate sacrifice by giving their lives to this noble cause. November 11 is an opportunity for Canadians to remember.

We remember those who gave their lives. We remember the shattered lives of the soldiers who returned from the war wounded in body and spirit.

My father was one of the veterans of the Second World War. He grew up in London during the blitz. I think he saw more death and destruction before joining the army than once he was in uniform. It was in going to war that my father became a pacifist.

We recognize the sacrifice of so many who have gone into peacekeeping missions, into armed conflict, selflessly. There is no greater example of selflessness than people who give their lives for a larger cause and we always say that their lives must not be in vain, but in doing so, we need to commit to greater efforts to avoid war, to avoid conflict.

We have mentioned many war heroes today in this chamber. I will not take long to mention a few more names, those who have sacrificed so much in war, have come back home to Canada and have had to continue to fight on behalf of other veterans.

I would like to particularly recognize Lieutenant Louise Richard, co-founder of Gulf War Veterans Association of Canada who, together with Captain Sean Bruyea, did so much to defend and help other veterans; Colonel Pat Stogran, who did so much as an ombudsman; and Corporal Dennis Manuge, whose recent effort selflessly helped so many.

I want to thank again the Minister of Veterans Affairs for putting the matter to rest after Corporal Manuge’s efforts in court.

We recognize on November 11 the great sacrifices in war time, sacrifices not only of individual soldiers, but of those who love them, those who lost them, those who welcome them home with open arms. We remember on November 11 that many have given their lives for the life that we enjoy today.

On November 11, we remember with gratitude. On November 11, we remember and pray that war will be no more.

The Acting Speaker (Mr. Bruce Stanton): I invite hon. members to rise and observe two minutes of silence to commemorate our veterans.

The post Tribute to Veterans appeared first on Elizabeth May.

Those of us who have never served owe much to those who do. We owe them proper care, concern and support when they come home. We owe them the responsibility to avoid conflict, to near glorify war, and to seek peaceful solutions.

On this the first 11-11-11 ever, let us remember, reflect, and re-commit to war no more.

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The post Remembrance Day appeared first on Elizabeth May.

However, it has been a source of great grief. I have heard from Green Party members across the country. They are stunned that independent members were not allowed to speak. Others have spoken from other parties to reflect on the sacrifices of those in previous wars and those currently in military action.

Patriotism is not something that is the exclusive province of one party on one side of the House. If anyone has politicized any issue inappropriately it was government members who two days in a row have refused the Bloc Québécois members in Parliament and the duly elected Green Party member of Parliament in speaking to Remembrance Day.

I think the matter of unanimous consent is usually negotiated. It is negotiated with goodwill and that goodwill was absent in this case.

Mr. Chris Alexander: Mr. Speaker, I would simply urge our hon. colleagues opposite, the member for Saanich—Gulf Islands, and those other independent members who made their views known at the start of today’s debate, to find a different way of expressing their displeasure.

The decision rendered on June 2 by the Court Martial Appeal Court was one that declared our current military justice system invalid because of the lack of security of tenure for judges. The provisions of this ruling were suspended until December 2 to allow this House to act, to allow the Parliament to Canada to correct this situation. December 2 is coming quickly.

Those members have a position that they wanted to express. They are entitled to use the rules of this place for whatever ends they choose. However, I would appeal to them to choose a different context, to make a different piece of legislation, a different measure, the object of their disapproval or their disruption in this case. Military justice and the integrity of the justice system serving the Canada armed forces is too important.

The post Security of Tenure of Military Judges Act appeared first on Elizabeth May.

I rise here today to recognize Veterans’ Week. It is very important to commemorate—

The Speaker: The hon. member must have unanimous consent to respond to a minister’s statement.

Does the House give unanimous consent?

Some hon. members: Agreed.

Some hon. members: No.

The Speaker: There is no consent.

Hon. Bob Rae: Mr. Speaker, I rise on a point of order. Let the record show that when a member of the House rose to pay tribute to the veterans of our country on behalf of his political party, a party with which I do not agree, the members of the Conservative Party would not allow that member to speak.

It is shameful that there are people in this House who do not want to hear the opinions of others. It is shameful.

Mr. Stephen Woodworth: Mr. Speaker, I want to raise an objection to what the member just said. There is no question that I said nothing in response to the request for unanimous consent. I do not know how many of my colleagues over here did or did not. It is inappropriate for the member to make that a partisan comment by referencing the members on this side of the House.

The Speaker: Order, please. The Chair sought the consent of the House and consent was not given.

Mr. Louis Plamondon: Mr. Speaker, I would like to seek unanimous consent once again, as dean of this House, as a member of this House. Like all other members, I would like to pay tribute to veterans on behalf of the four members of my party. I also ask on behalf of the Green Party. I do not see this as a partisan act. I see it simply as a noble gesture in order to say to those individuals who went and fought, and those who gave their lives, that we pay tribute to them.

How is it that I cannot get unanimous consent? This is not meant to be a precedent that I will use any other time. Today is a special day. That is all. I simply want to pay tribute to veterans, like everyone else, as we have always done.

I am seeking unanimous consent and I appeal to the Conservative members to grant it. It is only fair. The minister said in his speech that this House is a symbol of our freedom and democracy. He said that. I think I should have the right to speak.

Hon. Gordon O’Connor: Mr. Speaker, the Standing Orders say, in response to a minister’s statement, that only members of recognized parties can make statements. The Bloc is not a recognized party.

The Speaker: I hesitate to allow this to evolve into a debate. Consent has been sought and consent has been denied. It seems rather straightforward to the Chair.

I will hear the hon. member for Winnipeg North, but I hope it is not just a continuation of debate. Normally, in order to seek unanimous consent, some proceedings have to precede before the Chair would entertain the same question. However, I will hear the hon. member for Winnipeg North and hope that it is on a specific point.

Mr. Kevin Lamoureux: Mr. Speaker, you will find that parliamentary tradition says that, yes, we do have Standing Orders of sorts. Those are what we are expected to follow. However, if you look back in terms of the tradition of the chamber, what you will find is, on occasion, members have stood and asked for leave to go outside the Standing Orders in order to do the right thing. I would suggest that this is an appropriate request when a member would like to comment on the importance of November 11.

The point of order is to ask for the government to give consideration that this is an exceptional situation in which we believe in the—

The Speaker: Order, please. I am going to stop the member there. As I said, it is very simple for the Chair. In order for the Chair to recognize members of parties that are not recognized parties there needs to be unanimous consent of the House. There is no discretion in that. Consent was sought and consent was denied. We will have to move on.

Hon. Ralph Goodale: Mr. Speaker, just to be absolutely clear, when the point was raised by the leader of the Liberal Party that consent had been denied, a member of the Conservative Party rose to say that he had not denied consent. I think, as put on the floor now, the question is was consent denied or not.

Could we have some clarity on that point, since from our side it seemed that some Conservatives said “no”. A Conservative has risen in his place to say that this is not the case. Could we seek clarity on whether consent was or was not denied.

The Speaker: I am happy to provide clarity. Consent was denied. The Chair clearly heard members withhold their consent.

Ms. Elizabeth May: Mr. Speaker, I recognize that a similar point of order was raised by my hon. colleagues from the Bloc, but in this circumstance we have heard it said that members of recognized national political parties, such as the Bloc Québécois and the Green Party, do not have as a right the opportunity to speak when other leaders have spoken as a result of a ministerial statement.

We also know that the House is the master of its own procedures. By unanimous consent, anything is possible. Surely on an occasion when we mark the sacrifices for democracy, voters in the hundreds of thousands who have supported our parties should not be silenced in this place, while we mark the sacrifices of our veterans.

The Speaker: Requests for unanimous consent are neither debatable nor technically votable. It is consent or not. Clearly in this case, to the Chair, there was no consent. It is very simple in that regard.

I now invite the House to rise and observe two minutes of silence to commemorate our war veterans.

[Two minutes of silence observed]

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