House of Commons photoWon her last election, in 2021, with 61% of the vote.
Justice May 12th, 2008
Mr. Speaker, the minister means there is no death penalty in Canada yet.
The Conservative government has been clear that it is in favour of the death penalty. This case by case basis of cherry-picking used by the minister is unacceptable. It ensures that some Canadians will be put to death as a result of this position. Will the Minister of Justice tell the House what criteria he is using to decide who lives and who dies?
Justice May 12th, 2008
Mr. Speaker, this weekend the governor of Montana stated that he would have entertained a request for clemency for a Canadian on death row. The Minister of Justice and the Minister of Foreign Affairs were both given the opportunity to intervene, but neither did.
Clearly the old Reform policy to not seek clemency for Canadians on death row is now Canada's policy under the Conservative government. Who specifically made this life or death decision?
Airbus May 9th, 2008
Mr. Speaker, it was over a month ago that the government House leader said, “We expect that will happen very soon”. It clearly turns out that “very soon” means in their own sweet time.
I know the government is tied up with one ethical crisis after another, but how could it possibly have forgotten this one? Or is this crisis just too large and the spin unit in the PMO just too busy to deal with another one?
Airbus May 9th, 2008
Mr. Speaker, it has been more than six months since the Prime Minister promised an inquiry into the Mulroney-Schreiber affair and over a month since the government received the final report from Dr. Johnston.
Can the government House leader please tell us when the commissioner is going to be named? Also, will it be a true public inquiry or will it be held in secret and behind closed doors?
National Youth Week May 5th, 2008
Mr. Speaker, National Youth Week is held during the first week of May and is dedicated to the celebration of youth and their active participation in their community.
Youth Week brings young people of different communities together to promote youth achievement, activism and volunteerism.
Its goal is to motivate and inspire young people in Canada and internationally to contribute to their community year round.
I encourage all members of the House and all of the communities across this great country to celebrate this highly enthusiastic and immensely valuable segment of our society.
National Youth Week is an opportunity for all communities to celebrate our youth.
Religious Persecution April 30th, 2008
Mr. Speaker, on Saturday, April 13, I attended a very special rally in Toronto.
Many of my constituents and many people from across the GTA and Ontario gathered to call for peace in Iraq. We came together to call for the end of persecution of Christians in Iraq. We prayed together for an immediate end to the killing of Christian religious leaders in Iraq. The air at the rally was filled with children singing “peace for Iraq, no more killings”.
Religious persecution is an international crisis affecting many religious groups in countless countries of the world.
I am calling on the federal government to develop automatic interventions that may be imposed by Canada against foreign governments, such as Iraq, when they support religious persecution or fail to prevent it, and to improve measures for refugees who have suffered religious persecution.
Ontario Economy April 29th, 2008
Mr. Speaker, that was not much of an answer for the workers who were just laid off.
The current Minister of Finance ran huge deficits and pretended to have balanced budgets while closing hospitals, schools and firing water inspectors. With a $13 billion federal surplus, the minister still cut funding for child care, women's equality, literacy services, the court challenges program and more.
Now that he has pushed the federal government to the edge of a deliberate deficit and has promised to cut more, what is next? Who will be the next victims?
Ontario Economy April 29th, 2008
Mr. Speaker, jobs are being lost. At Stream in Belleville, 144 people just received layoff notices, and there are more layoffs in Kapuskasing and North Bay, all of this in only the last week.
Why is the do-nothing finance minister more concerned with finding jobs for his Conservative buddy Hugh MacPhie than he is with saving the jobs of Ontarians?
Ontario Economy April 29th, 2008
Mr. Speaker, just listen to the litany of problems facing Ontario today: in Oshawa, 900 jobs were lost, and in Ottawa, 1,100 jobs--
Government Contracts April 17th, 2008
Mr. Speaker, just a reminder that the minister is responsible, no one else. He is the minister. He takes the last hit on it.
We already know about two of Mr. MacPhie's finance contracts, one for $122,000 and another for $25,000. We also know there was a third contract for work on a tax credit scheme, originally for $7,500 but ballooned to $20,000. That is more than $160,000 in untendered contracts to this Conservative crony.
Why should taxpayers be on the hook for the minister's political debts?