Anne-Marie Day

[Petitions, September 18th, 2012]

Mr. Speaker, I wish to present a petition signed by Quebeckers from across Quebec—from the Gaspé, Gatineau, Mont-Laurier and Laval—who oppose Motion M-312, which is an attempt to reopen the abortion debate.

[Increasing Offenders' Accountability for Victims Act, September 17th, 2012]

Mr. Speaker, there is very little in this bill that the opposition cannot support. The bill aims to intervene to help criminals change their behaviour. It also proposes ways to help victims and groups that support victims.

Our party will support this bill, but why not make an even greater effort and discuss this a little longer in order to come up with something that we could all totally agree on?

[Increasing Offenders' Accountability for Victims Act, September 17th, 2012]

Mr. Speaker, the NDP supports families and victims of violence. In the past, many of us have worked with victims of violence who have gone to groups. It is important to increase funding to help those people. We are 100% for that approach.

Obviously, removing judicial discretion poses a problem. The problem, as rightly stated before, is this: if you are caught speeding—which has nothing to do with the problem at hand—you receive the same fine, whether you earn $300 a week working in a convenience store or $1 million a year. A judge with discretionary power would be able to step in.

The hon. member for Charlottetown has done a fine job of demonstrating that the poorest are affected. We know that, in our prisons, we often find the poorest in society, because they have a lot of problems, such as dropping out of school. The poorest members in our society will get higher penalties, because judges will no longer have the discretionary power to reduce the penalty.

Does the hon. member not think that the cycle of poverty will become bigger and that those people will be trapped in a vicious circle from which they will not be able to escape?

[Petitions, September 17th, 2012]

Mr. Speaker, I am presenting petitions on behalf of thousands of Canadians who are opposed to Motion No. 312, which is an attempt to reopen the abortion debate. It is an affront: women have the right to do what they choose with their bodies.

[Jérémy Gabriel, September 17th, 2012]

Mr. Speaker, today I would like to tell my colleagues the rather extraordinary story of Jérémy Gabriel, a 15-year-old young man from my riding.

Jérémy Gabriel, from Charlesbourg, was born prematurely with major facial deformities caused by a rare congenital disease and was also deaf.

In 2003, he underwent surgery to implant a bone-anchored hearing aid. After the surgery, Jérémy became fascinated by sound and discovered that he could sing. He has undergone 17 surgeries in 10 years.

When he was nine years old, Jérémy sang for Pope Benedict XVI at the Vatican and for Céline Dion in Las Vegas. On July 4 of this year, Jérémy Gabriel was named patient ambassador by the Shriners Hospitals for Children at the national convention in Charlotte, North Carolina. He took to the stage in front of more than 10,000 delegates from around the world to perform a song and share his story.

Bravo, Jérémy.

[Enhancing Royal Canadian Mounted Police Accountability Act, September 17th, 2012]

Mr. Speaker, I would like to welcome all my colleagues and the members opposite.

In such matters there should be zero tolerance. Consequently, in cases of harassment, there must be action and investigations. Zero tolerance means that the people causing the problem must be fired, whether they are men or women, although mostly men have been involved in the harassment.

Will the Minister of Public Safety be able to proceed and actually put in place standards to eliminate harassment in the RCMP?

[Petitions, June 21st, 2012]

Mr. Speaker, today I am presenting a petition signed by people from the Madawaska—Restigouche region. They are asking the government to scrap the employment insurance provisions in Bill C-38, particularly those concerning suitable employment, finding work and the creation of a social security tribunal.

[CANADA-PANAMA ECONOMIC GROWTH AND PROSPERITY ACT, June 19th, 2012]

Mr. Speaker, I would like to tell the hon. member that the NDP does not oppose free trade, but it does oppose time restrictions on debate. The NDP also opposes everything that is hidden in legislation and everything the Conservatives forget to mention. The NDP is in favour of a healthy economy and wants workers to be protected and to have their own rights. The NDP also wants to put an end to tax havens.

Can the hon. member confirm that there is nothing hidden in this bill?

[CANADA-PANAMA ECONOMIC GROWTH AND PROSPERITY ACT, June 19th, 2012]

Mr. Speaker, I commend the hon. member on her speech.

We know that a free trade agreement between Panama and Canada was signed on May 14, 2010. In that agreement, the Minister of Labour and the Minister of International Trade—the same two we have today—stressed that Canada and Panama would respect the fundamental labour rules and standards set out by the International Labour Organization.

Could the hon. member tell us if compliance with those standards will be required in the new agreement?

[CANADA-PANAMA ECONOMIC GROWTH AND PROSPERITY ACT, June 19th, 2012]

Madam Speaker, I listened carefully to the two speakers from the Conservative Party, and I am wondering about a few things. One of the issues the last speaker talked about was development opportunities for Quebec and Canadian companies, including engineering companies like SNC-Lavalin.

I am wondering about the comments the previous speaker made about the hog industry in Quebec. He said that Quebeckers would potentially deprive themselves of exports in that sector. I checked my information and I noticed that we do not have any trade with Panama in pork. We trade with the United States, Canada, Japan, Russia, North Korea, and the list goes on, yet we have nothing with Panama.

I have a question that I would like to ask the hon. member: what are the chances that Panama would export more pork to Canada, rather than the other way around?