Paul Calandra

[Extension of Sitting Hours, May 22nd, 2013]

Mr. Speaker, it is a strange thing that we are hearing today. NDP members have said in most of their speeches that when a bill is too long, let us say over 10 pages, that it is too much for them to read, and now they are being asked, God forbid, to stay here until midnight to debate.

Do those members honestly think that the people of Canada, who pay us $160,000 a year to be in this place and to debate issues of importance to them, think that we should be going home early at a time when we have so much on our agenda, including Canada's economic action plan and a whole host of bills?

Those members talk about debate. A bill was brought forward by a Liberal member of Parliament with respect to philanthropy day, and NDP members decided to filibuster that bill. They wanted all of their members to speak to it because it was such a controversial bill. Is that the type of debate they are talking about? They cannot even pass a bill that would see us thank Canadians who give so much of their time and their money to help make our communities better. Is that the type of debate they are talking about?

[Intergovernmental Relations, May 6th, 2013]

Mr. Speaker, of course, the NDP members are all over the place on this. They stopped writing letters to our Minister of Human Resources and Skills Development for temporary foreign workers long enough to ask us to send money so that they could celebrate 1812 events in their ridings.

We are going to bring people in. Today we have Lieutenant General Maisonneuve coming to us today to talk about Operation Husky. What we are going to be doing is talking about the things, the people, the places and the events that have made this country great, so that Canadians can have better access to their history as we approach Canada's 150th birthday.

[Intergovernmental Relations, May 6th, 2013]

Mr. Speaker, let me first apologize to the member for Westmount—Ville-Marie. I answered a question on Friday that I was not particularly proud of, and I just wanted to take the opportunity to tell him that, of course, I am very proud of all our astronauts and our achievements in space, including our first astronaut.

To continue, a study will do no such thing. We will not be interfering in the provincial jurisdiction. We will not be telling provinces what to study or how to interpret.

[Intergovernmental Relations, May 3rd, 2013]

Let me just reiterate, Mr. Speaker. This study is not about how the provinces teach history in their schools. It is not about the interpretation of history in their schools. It is about how we can work together to help people better understand the important events, people and places that have helped shape our country, that have helped shape our provinces and our communities. We heard this loud and clear when we studied Canada's 150th.

A lot of the people around the country, who are in charge of ensuring Canadians understand and respect their history, want us to work together to give Canadians better access to that, and that is what we will do. We are not interfering in any jurisdiction. We are going to promote and work better with our jurisdictions.

[Canadian Heritage, May 3rd, 2013]

Mr. Speaker, of course, the motion says no such thing. What the motion says is that we would like to see how history is treated across the country so that we can work with other governments, so that we can work with our regions, to make sure that we get this history out there, and that we work together.

What is wrong with asking Hansard to make it easier for Canadians to access the important debates of this chamber? What is wrong with asking museum curators about the important stories they want to talk about?

We have things that are very exciting to all of us in our regions and home ridings. I think we should work together to make sure those stories get out there for Canada's 150th birthday and beyond. Canadians want to know more about the things that have made this country great. We are going to work with Canadians to make sure they have access to that.

[Canadian Heritage, May 3rd, 2013]

Mr. Speaker, we have no intention of telling the provinces what they should be teaching in our schools. What we are trying to do is reconnect Canadians with our history, making sure that the federal government works with other governments if possible, works with communities to tell the stories, the events and the things that have helped shape this country.

Imagine the horror. We are going to invite the Library of Parliament to come before committee. We are going to invite the people who do our Hansard to come and talk to us, and museum curators. I will work closely with you, Mr. Speaker, and the Sergeant-at-Arms to make sure that our committee is secure from these very scary people who will come to talk about Canadian history.

[Canadian Heritage, May 3rd, 2013]

Mr. Speaker, it is interesting in the lead question today the NDP members were talking about the fact that they did not want to actually talk about history, that it was not important to talk about history, but now they are talking about how important Canadian history is.

We are very proud of Canada's astronauts. We are proud of the Canadian Armed Forces. In this particular event, the Canadian Space Agency was in charge of who was invited to this event. We are very, very proud of the accomplishments of Canada in space and will continue to recognize that history as often as we possibly can. We are very proud of Canada's astronauts. It is a shame that the Liberal Party rejected him by 80% at their leadership convention.

[Canadian Heritage, May 3rd, 2013]

Mr. Speaker, we obviously have no intention of interfering in what the provinces or territories are teaching. What we are going to do is to look at the places, people and events that have helped shaped and make this country a great place to live. We will take no lessons from the NDP with respect to Canadian history when one of its own members, the member for Rosemont—La Petite-Patrie, actually talks about Vimy as though it were a scar on Canadian history.

We are proud of our veterans. We are proud of our Canadian history. We are going to do all that we can to work with our partners to make sure that Canadians can reconnect with their history and, as we approach Canada's 150th birthday, celebrate it.

[Economic Action Plan 2013 Act, No. 1, May 2nd, 2013]

Mr. Speaker, I found it odd that the member was talking about the last seven years of the Liberal government, because he spent much of that last seven years telling Canadians how bad a government it was. It was not until he was offered a cabinet position that he had a big conversion and thought maybe it was a better government than he remembered.

My question is this: is it now the position of the Liberal Party that our foreign aid dollars should be redirected from helping vulnerable people around the world to actually helping those economies that compete with our Canadian manufacturers to put our Canadian manufacturers at a disadvantage?

Specifically, there is a manufacturer in my riding that competes directly with a Chinese business and has applauded the changes to foreign aid that we have made, which will allow him to compete, succeed and hire more people.

Is it now the Liberals' position that our foreign aid should be directed to—

[Economic Action Plan 2013 Act, No. 1, May 2nd, 2013]

Mr. Speaker, in his comments the hon. member touched on the importance of the mining industry to his community.

I wonder if he might discuss a bit further some of the incentives in this budget with respect to the mining industry and business. As well, could he also comment on the impact that some of the opposition members' comments or suggestions would have on these very well-paying jobs in a sector of the economy that is so important to Canada and to his riding specifically?