John Rafferty

[Resumption of Debate on Address in Reply, November 27th, 2008]

Mr. Speaker, I appreciate the opportunity to speak. I congratulate the member on her election to the House.

I appreciate the member's comments about forestry. Many jobs have been lost in Northern Ontario and many working families are having difficulties right now. Many of those families and working people do not qualify for EI any more, so we would like to see a strategy on that.

My question for the member is specifically on forestry. Would the member join me in calling for a national summit on forestry in the near future to talk to all the stakeholders to see how we can improve the situation?

[Violence against Women, November 25th, 2008]

Mr. Speaker, in 1999 the United Nations General Assembly designated November 25 as the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women.

However, we still read daily about death sentences carried out against women by stoning and other cruel and inhumane methods, female genital mutilation, honour killings, spousal abuse, verbal and physical intimidation, and other threats against women in their homes and places of work, against women of all racial and ethnic backgrounds and in all countries in the world, including our own.

I hope all members will join me and my fellow New Democratic Party caucus members in recognizing this important day and in renewing our commitment to ending violence against women at home and abroad once and for all.

[Resumption of Debate on Address in Reply, November 25th, 2008]

Madam Speaker, the hon. member and I share a common background in broadcasting. It is clear that he has a perfect face for television and I have a perfect face for radio.

Will the hon. member ensure that his government will not reduce funding for the CBC?

[Resumption of Debate on Address in Reply, November 25th, 2008]

Madam Speaker, the member spoke very eloquently about rural Canada. I thank him for his support of the cattle ranchers in my riding. The House may not know that the Prairies actually begin in the west end of my riding. The member's love of rural Canada is clear.

I am sure the hon. member knows the importance of a national broadcaster for rural and remote parts of Canada. Will the hon. member ensure that his government will not reduce funding for the CBC, yes or no?

[Resumption of Debate on Address in Reply, November 25th, 2008]

Mr. Speaker, I greatly enjoyed the hon. member's fine speech. While it is clear that he is voting against the throne speech, much of what he discussed, particularly in relation to forestry, is of great interest to me and to the people of my riding.

It is clear, however, from the throne speech that the government intends to reduce services in this country to bare bones.

In northern Ontario we depend on a strong CBC for information delivered in a timely, relevant and fair manner. We depend on regional programming that connects us to the rest of Canada, in particular our first nations. It also allows us in Thunder Bay—Rainy River in northern Ontario to tell the rest of Canada our story.

I know the hon. member knows the value of the CBC, particularly in remote and rural areas of Canada. My question for the hon. member has two parts. Will the hon. member defend the CBC against these attacks by the government, and will the member support annual consistent funding for the CBC?

[RESUMPTION OF DEBATE ON ADDRESS IN REPLY, November 24th, 2008]

Madam Speaker, it is wonderful to see you in the big green chair. I say that for people who are watching this on their black and white televisions today.

I was very pleased to hear the hon. member say that the softwood lumber deal was not perfect. He is absolutely right. In fact, on Saturday, I was speaking in Fort Frances with Kendall Lundy, who is the owner of a small business called Nickel Lake Lumber, with 16 employees.

He deals with red and white pine. He sells mostly to the United States and they are all value added products, but he is in trouble. When we were chatting, he specifically mentioned to me that some of the billions of dollars that were left in the U.S. with the softwood lumber deal needed to come back to lumber and mill owners across Canada. He was talking about himself in northern Ontario, but also across Canada.

Will the hon. member work with me and the NDP to ensure that money returns to Canada, returns to the hard-working business owners and the hard-working families across Canada and northern Ontario?

[Resumption of debate on Address in Reply, November 20th, 2008]

Mr. Speaker, the fact of the matter is that billions of dollars have been spent on this long gun registry, money that could have been spent hiring border guards, money that could have been spent stopping hand guns coming into this country through mail and through the Internet. The money was ill-placed. It was simply designed as a tax grab that has gone horribly wrong.

Let me--

[Resumption of debate on Address in Reply, November 20th, 2008]

I have to admit I am a little embarrassed by the Conservative support. Let us make that perfectly clear right off the bat.

To answer the hon. member's question directly, I have not spoken to other members of my caucus. I do not know what other members of my caucus feel about this particular issue, but I would like to remind the hon. member and other members of the House that I was elected for two reasons: to take care of the people of my riding through the constituency work that I am doing already and to honour the wishes of the people of my riding and to represent them in Ottawa. That is what I will be doing.

[Resumption of debate on Address in Reply, November 20th, 2008]

Mr. Speaker, let me be very clear. We are not talking about gun control here. We are talking about the long gun registry.

[Resumption of debate on Address in Reply, November 20th, 2008]

Mr. Speaker, the hon. member should not try to trick us by putting it in some big omnibus bill or a bunch of other bills that we cannot support.

I will emphasize once again that I have promised the constituents in my riding in their support of getting rid of the long gun registry. Almost to a person they believe that it should be gone. I would like to honour that and I hope the hon. member and other hon. members will help me in that.