Colin Carrie

[First Nations Elections Act, June 11th, 2013]

Mr. Speaker, we are talking about democracy. I think that is something everyone in this House can stand up and believe in. What the government is doing is trying to modernize. With the system in place right now, there is the possibility of fraud. It is ancient. It is outdated.

The first nations communities deserves democracy. They deserve representation. They deserve to be brought into the modern era. It seems that the opposition wants to delay this type of legislation.

I was wondering if the member could give his opinion as to why it is so important that we finally bring this piece of legislation forward for equality and democracy for first nations.

[First Nations Elections Act, June 11th, 2013]

Mr. Speaker, I want to thank my colleague from Palliser for an excellent speech and for his wisdom on this very important issue.

He talked about how the government took this on and consulted with first nations, a process that he quite rightly said was four years long. It was about engaging first nations.

I think everybody realizes that this is an obsolete election process. As he said, it is fraught with fraud and abuse. It is about giving first nations a process that modernizes it and is respectful of the work of the Manitoba chiefs and other first nations who put so much time and effort into putting this piece of legislation forward.

A Liberal member recently spoke about how paternalistic this is, but this is about democracy and choice. I wonder if my colleague from Palliser could comment on why opposition members do not want democracy and equality for first nations. We are seeing a trend. We saw how they voted on matrimonial real property, which would give equality to first nations women. This is a trend.

I wonder if he could comment on the importance of moving forward with this legislation.

[Questions on the Order Paper, June 11th, 2013]

Mr. Speaker, I ask that all questions be allowed to stand.

[Government Response to Petitions, June 11th, 2013]

Mr. Speaker, pursuant to Standing Order 36(8) I have the honour to table, in both official languages, the government's response to three petitions.

[Fighting Foreign Corruption Act, June 4th, 2013]

Mr. Speaker, I have been listening to the speeches from the NDP, and I want to point out that every opportunity the NDP has to criticize Canadian companies, Canadian jobs and Canadian workers around the world, it seems to take those opportunities to put down Canadian companies, Canadian job opportunities and Canadian initiatives.

Throughout her speech, the member talked about examples. I am wondering if she is aware that as Canadian companies go around the world to different countries, quite often in these countries they actually have higher standards than the countries themselves. Our companies are working to increase the economic viability of the countries they are operating within. They are actually raising the level of economic development and wages in these countries. If Canadian companies do not do that, it is going to be companies from other countries that do it, and they may not have the absolutely high standards that we do.

As Canadians, we want to see our companies out there in the world. I would argue with her that we are leaders. We have some of the best companies in the world in development.

She has stated that the New Democrats would like to support this bill. I wonder if she could put forward the amendments they would be considering so we could have a look at them instead of having them dropped on us during committee. I would like to see how she would improve the bill because I think the bill is very good the way it is.

[The Canadian Museum of History Act, May 28th, 2013]

Mr. Speaker, I was wondering if my colleague could take a moment to contrast how we on this side of the House feel toward Canadian history compared to the opposition.

I mean, as she so rightly said, we have made record investments. We believe in things like Banting and Best, the Canadarm and Terry Fox. One of the things we believe in passionately is our veterans. We believe in the men and women in uniform who fought for this country, for freedom of speech so we could actually hear some of the garbage that was coming from the other side.

I would like the member to contrast the difference on this side versus that side as far as Canadian history—

[Technical Tax Amendments Act, 2012, May 28th, 2013]

Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank my colleague from Bruce—Grey—Owen Sound for his comments on the technical tax amendments act. Indeed, my colleague is very wise. Everyone would be better served if we could just get rid of this backlog of technical amendments.

I wanted to ask him today about something really important to me as the member of Parliament for Oshawa. He talked about Canadian manufacturers and exporters and their support for us and our government. There have been so many challenges facing manufacturers, especially in Ontario.

I wonder if I could get his comments on the different approaches. We have a Liberal government in Ontario that put in a green energy program with feed-in tariffs and we have seen recently how horribly this has affected our economy. It has driven up costs for manufacturers, small businesses and everyone in the province. They have lost at the WTO. It has just been a horrible disaster.

I would like to ask my colleague in his wisdom if he could contrast our plan as a government to lower taxes to continue investing in manufacturers and exporters versus the opposition's plan. He mentioned the topic of taxes. We see from the opposition consistently that they just want to raise taxes and bring new ones in. He talked about the carbon tax and also the $50 billion in unfunded promises from the opposition.

If he could comment on how that is going to affect manufacturers, and contrast the two approaches, it would be beneficial to us here in the House.

[Korean War Veterans, May 24th, 2013]

Mr. Speaker, this Saturday the Oshawa Legion is holding a ceremony in honour of Korean Veterans Appreciation Day.

Korean War veterans deserve our respect and admiration. July 27 will mark the 60th anniversary of the Korean War.

The Korean War is often called the “forgotten war”. It is up to us to ensure that this war, the Canadian veterans who fought and those who paid the ultimate price are never forgotten.

Recent events have shown us why the sacrifices of our Korean War veterans were so important. Were it not for them, the entire Korean peninsula would be living under the oppression and tyranny of the North Korean regime. The south is free and prosperous because of the sacrifices of our veterans. We must never forget them.

Oshawa has many Korean War veterans, including Doug Finney of the Oshawa Legion, who is the national vice-president of the Koreans Veterans Association.

I would like to take this opportunity to thank all of the Korean War veterans in Oshawa and Canada for the sacrifices they made to ensure the freedom and dignity of South Koreans.

[Midwives, May 3rd, 2013]

Mr. Speaker, on Sunday, May 5, Canadians will join communities throughout the world in recognizing the International Day of the Midwife.

Midwives are represented by the Canadian Association of Midwives, who provide leadership and advocacy for midwifery as a regulated, publicly funded and vital part of the primary maternity care system.

Our government's Muskoka initiative on maternal, newborn and child health has helped to train midwives and skilled birth attendants internationally, and increasing women's access to quality midwifery services has been a global focus of ours.

Midwives also save lives at home, and Canada needs midwives more than ever. They are well positioned to address the specific challenges still faced by women in rural, remote and particularly aboriginal communities in Canada.

Personally speaking, for the birth of my third child, my wife and daughter received excellent pre- and post-care from midwives.

This year is their 13th annual conference and exhibit, which will take place this November right here in Ottawa.

I ask my colleagues to please join me in celebrating the practice of midwifery in Canada and in thanking midwives for the health services they provide to Canadians.

[Economic Action Plan 2013 Act, No. 1, May 3rd, 2013]

Mr. Speaker, I appreciate my colleague's perspective and his speech. As everyone knows, he has served Canada nobly and when he brings his comments forward he always gives an overview of the entire country.

I want to ask him about the interconnectivity of Canada's economy, especially for manufacturing. As he knows, I come from Oshawa. Oshawa is a city that is very dependent on manufacturing. He mentioned the SADI program and how that program helps manufacturers in the aerospace industry. There are some excellent things in the budget that would really help Canadian manufacturers.

The member has a lot of knowledge about the energy sector and the challenges it is facing in his province. However, developing energy sector resources creates a great spinoff for places in my community and in Ontario as a whole with respect to manufacturing.

Could he contrast our government's approach to helping manufacturers and creating jobs to the NDP's approach of going to another country and lobbying against Canadian jobs and Canadian industries? If he could give a perspective of the two different approaches to the House today that would be wonderful.