Ted Hsu

[Petitions, November 29th, 2011]

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to present a petition on Bill C-10 that has been signed by Canadians across the country.

Bill C-10 is the omnibus crime bill. The petitioners say that it crudely bundles together too many pieces of unrelated legislation, some of which makes sense and some of which does not. There is also a big problem with its implementation because Ontario and Quebec may refuse to pay for the costs of some of the measures in this bill that would be downloaded to them.

The petitioners call upon Parliament to separate Bill C-10 into its pieces and allow members to vote on each part separately.

[Pharmaceutical Drugs, November 22nd, 2011]

Mr. Speaker, a constituent on chemotherapy cannot get his decades-old drug for nausea. Another cannot afford the brand name drug to replace a missing generic. The drug shortage affects a wide range of medications.

In the U.S., President Obama just took decisive action. Yesterday, our minister was pleased that drug companies would voluntarily give notice of impending shortages.

When will the minister be pleased to get to the bottom of why Canadians are suffering from these shortages and what to do about it?

[Senate Reform Act, November 22nd, 2011]

Mr. Speaker, I will agree with the member's party that the Senate needs to be reformed. There is an argument being made that I made once before but I think is wrong, and that is making a comparison to the provincial legislatures which do not have upper houses. The difference is that provinces are much more homogeneous than Canada as a whole.

The Senate was created partially because there are very different geographic regions of Canada with different histories and requirements that need to be balanced. There are parts of the country which just do not have as many people as other parts of it. In order not to disadvantage those regions, the Senate was created.

I wonder if the member would care to comment on whether there is a real qualitative difference between Canada as a whole and the diversity across the country as compared to, say, a provincial legislature.

[Senate Reform Act, November 22nd, 2011]

Madam Speaker, if we were to reform the Senate, if the Senate were less partisan, if senators were appointed by provincial premiers, if the seats were attributed by region and political party, would by colleague still be in favour of abolishing the Senate?

[Senate Reform Act, November 22nd, 2011]

Madam Speaker, my question is about the difference between provincial legislatures and Parliament.

Within provinces, there is much less diversity than across the country. It seems to me that the country needs a chamber that can balance the interests and the powers of different regions. The Senate, to me, is the place where there can be a little bit more balance.

I think that is why Quebec is not necessarily in favour of abolishing the Senate, and I wonder if my hon. colleague would comment on that.

[Sir John A. Macdonald, November 18th, 2011]

Madam Speaker, I rise today to pay tribute to an immigrant who worked hard to build his country.

He had a long-term vision for a big Canada, the Canada we are fortunate to inherit. He believed the federal government should lead in realizing that vision. He worked for this vision by serving as the first occupant of the seat that I am now proud to occupy and as the first prime minister of Canada.

In 2015 we will celebrate the bicentennial of Sir John A. Macdonald. I thank Mr. Arthur Milnes and the Sir John A. Macdonald Bicentennial Commission in Kingston, Ontario for organizing the commemoration.

As the Minister of Finance said, “All eyes should be on Kingston on January 11, 2015”. I thank him and Tory senators Mike Duffy and Linda Frum for their continuing support. As well, I thank the first person to lead a VIP Sir John A. tour in Kingston, the leader of the Liberal Party, the member for Toronto Centre.

Together, let us celebrate and honour our history.

[Keeping Canada's Economy and Jobs Growing Act, November 15th, 2011]

Mr. Speaker, I think Canadian corporations have roughly $500 billion in cash in their coffers. This does not contribute to investment, economic growth or job creation. What is missing from this bill to ensure that this money can be used for our economy and the Canadian public?

[Keeping Canada's Economy and Jobs Growing Act, November 15th, 2011]

Mr. Speaker, I would like to comment on the eco-energy retrofit program for homes which my hon. colleague brought up twice in his remarks. There is a problem with it. Let us look at the program from the point of view of small businesses which are in the business of retrofitting homes. These are businesses that are hiring people and there are many of them in my riding. A one-year program is not something that businesses can use for planning, hiring and training.

We put forward a proposal that this program go for five years so that small businesses could take advantage of the supposed stability of the majority government to actually grow their businesses. At the end of five years we could have a viable industry doing energy retrofits for homes and helping people save energy and money.

Is the hon. member disappointed that in this budget bill no thought has been given to having a longer period, say five years, for the eco-energy retrofit program so that small businesses could count on that kind of stability?

[Fair Representation Act, November 2nd, 2011]

Mr. Speaker, I would like some clarification.

Imagine that, one day, in the House, we decided to say that a certain region of our country was unique and special. In such a case, would the NDP change the formula for assigning seats to that region? Is that the NDP's policy?

[Business of Supply, October 31st, 2011]

Mr. Speaker, I bought a house about four years ago that had vermiculite in the attic. It was tested and found to contain tremolite asbestos. I had to pay thousands of dollars to have it properly removed.

I was wondering if the member might tell us when Canada banned that particular form of insulation containing asbestos as a precedent for dealing with it.