Business of Supply  Mr. Speaker, I want to salute and congratulate my colleague on his interesting remarks, particularly regarding his personal background, as well as the fact that some of his constituents work for Canadair, and therefore for Bombardier. I would remind the House that it was in 1986 that the government of the Right Hon.

Income Tax Act  Mr. Speaker, let me pay all my respects to my hon. colleague who, not long ago was the minister of veterans affairs and did a tremendous job. I know what I am talking about because in my riding I have plenty of veterans. He did a heck of a good job, and I appreciate this member.

Income Tax Act  Mr. Speaker, once again, the member's question refers to a rather broadly defined middle class. Someone who earns $185,000 a year is part of the upper, upper middle class. The other reality, however, is that this is not going to be revenue neutral, as the Liberal Party had promised.

Income Tax Act  Mr. Speaker, first, I want to give my regards to my colleague from Saint-Hyacinthe—Bagot. I apologize for forgetting the name of her riding. Bagot is the land of the late Hon. Daniel Johnson, Premier of Quebec from 1966 to 1968. The second part of what she said had to do with the non-partisan work of the end-of-life care committee.

Income Tax Act  Mr. Speaker, I want to thank my seasoned colleague from Bellechasse—Les Etchemins—Lévis for sharing his time with me. What we have before us today is the debate on Bill C-2, which, to some extent, implements the financial commitments made by the Liberal Party, which now forms the Canadian government.

Points of Order  Mr. Speaker, a few minutes ago during question period the hon. Minister of Small Business and Tourism said that we were “misinforming Canadians”. I want to inform the House that I never misinformed anyone.

Small Business  Mr. Speaker, the Conservatives believe that the real job and wealth creators are our SMEs. We respect them and hold them in high esteem. In fact, the Conservative government reduced the burdens shouldered by SMEs on several occasions. Take, for example, the employment insurance burden.

Small Business  Mr. Speaker, my colleague said “stay tuned”, but the problem is that the Prime Minister, the government leader, did not show much respect for SMEs during the election campaign. He said that “a large percentage of small businesses are actually just ways for wealthier Canadians to save on their taxes”.

Canada Labour Code  Mr. Speaker, I agree, let us not talk just for the sake of talking. Let us get to the bottom of the issue. I listened to the NDP member's remarks, and I want to salute and thank him. He said he supports Bill C-4 almost unconditionally. Bill C-4 eliminates a secret ballot. Secret ballot voting is fundamental to democracy.

Canada Labour Code  Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank my colleague for his interesting speech, which he delivered in both official languages, so I especially appreciated that. How can we, as MPs who were all elected by secret ballot, oppose voting by secret ballot? That is a mystery to me. I would remind the House that our legislation requires that secret ballot voting be used in very specific situations, including establishing or dissolving a union.

Justice  Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister has always praised Quebec's experience and legislation on the sensitive issue of physician-assisted dying. Members know that I personally voted in favour of this law. In Quebec, one of the fundamental requirements is that the person must be at least 18 years old.

Finance  Mr. Speaker, allow me to correct two statements made earlier by government members that do not reflect reality. The Minister of Finance said he inherited a deficit and the Prime Minister also said that we Conservatives are the only ones who believe there was a surplus. That is not the reality.

Finance  Mr. Speaker, I am not sure that was an answer, but what I do know is that a real document from the Department of Finance, his own department, showed that there was a surplus. That is a fact. Another thing I know for sure is that the Liberal Party spent the whole election campaign saying that it had a plan.

Pierre Moreau  Mr. Speaker, it is with sadness and much emotion that we learned yesterday that Pierre Moreau, a minister in the Quebec government, is fighting what could turn out to be cancer. Pierre is a real fighter. He has often proven this, and we know that he will do so once more. He was elected to the National Assembly for the first time in 2003, and held senior cabinet positions.

The Economy  Mr. Speaker, I would like the Prime Minister to trust the civil servants who work for his own finance department. They say that the Conservatives left a $1-billion surplus. However, we should not be surprised by such a poor track record, since barely a year ago, the Prime Minister said that budgets balance themselves.