Softwood Lumber  Madam Chair, I have only 20 seconds, but I can say it very succinctly. It was promised within 100 days. We are now at eight years and 97 months, or 2,929 days. The Liberals have not gotten it done. It is time to get it done.

Softwood Lumber  Madam Chair, the member for Manicouagan and I worked on the fisheries committee earlier today and I always value her input. The question for the member just now from the parliamentary secretary has me puzzled. He was asking her what she thought could be done better. I thought it was the government's job to do the best it can for Canadians.

Softwood Lumber  Madam Chair, the member for Abitibi—Témiscamingue mentioned government loans and government security to reinvest in businesses and the forestry sector. The forestry workers I know are very proud of their work. The small mill owners, the loggers and the road builders, I think, would far rather develop things on their own.

Softwood Lumber  Mr. Chair, the member's question is a regurgitated question from the PMO. I am not sure how many times it has been asked tonight. Conservatives do care about the softwood lumber agreement and the families who depend on the jobs that are so reliant on this industry. We are having this take-note debate tonight to draw attention to a minister who has failed to get this job done and a succession of ministers who have failed to get this job done.

Softwood Lumber  Mr. Chair, international trade agreements are the responsibility of a federal government. It is possible that the provinces may be able to work a better deal than what the current federal government has done because it has not negotiated anything. It has simply failed. In the province of British Columbia, the lumber industry is also struggling, under an NDP government that will not get permits processed in time.

Softwood Lumber  Mr. Chair, I enjoyed working with the member for Courtenay—Alberni when he was on the Standing Committee on Fisheries and Oceans. His question is about legislation I have not had a chance to read yet, so I cannot say whether I would support it. However, he just talked about clean, affordable energy from wood products.

Softwood Lumber  Mr. Chair, I will be splitting my time with the member for Mégantic—L'Érable. I am honoured to rise tonight to speak in this take-note debate on softwood lumber as an elected representative of the hard-working forestry and related service-industry companies and their families in the North Okanagan—Shuswap.

Carbon Tax  Madam Speaker, after eight years of NDP-Liberal inflationary spending and taxes, Canadians are struggling. The NDP, the Liberals and the Bloc had a chance to listen to their constituents, the 70% of Canadians who oppose the April 1 tax hike and 70% of provincial premiers who have asked the Prime Minister to stop this painful tax increase before it is too late.

Carbon Pricing  Mr. Speaker, $100,000 is not chicken feed. Richard, a farmer in the Shuswap, paid that out in carbon tax to run his farm instead of buying feed to raise chickens and put food on Canadians' tables. Now, the NDP-Liberal Prime Minister wants to raise the carbon tax by 23% as part of his plan to quadruple it.

Government Business No. 35—Extension of Sitting Hours and Conduct of Extended Proceedings  Mr. Speaker, I rise on a point of order. I do not see the relevance of this conversation to the debate at hand. I would like the member to get on with the actual debate at hand.

Petitions  Madam Speaker, I rise today to present two petitions. The first one is geared towards assisting in the recruitment of volunteer firefighters. It is from undersigned citizens and residents of Canada calling on the Government of Canada to support Bill C-310 and enact amendments to the Income Tax Act, subsections 118.06(2) and 118.07(2), in order to increase the amount of tax credits available for volunteer firefighters and search and rescue volunteers from $3,000 to $10,000 per year.

Petitions  Madam Speaker, the second petition I rise on today is from 69 residents of North Okanagan—Shuswap calling on the Government of Canada and the House of Commons to give citizens a voice on the subject of electoral reform and the right to make recommendations and to support Motion No. 86 calling for a citizens' assembly on electoral reform.

Points of Order  Mr. Speaker, I have been very patient. I asked you a direct question that I did not receive an answer to. I hope that will also be included in your response to the House.

Points of Order  Mr. Speaker, I rise on a point of order. I would like to bring to your attention your lack of consistency on this issue. The member from the NDP raised a point or order, and you immediately followed, saying that when presenting petitions, it should be the matter of the petition only that is addressed.

Committees of the House  Mr. Speaker, Conservative members on the Standing Committee on Fisheries and Oceans submitted our supplementary report to this study on foreign ownership and corporate concentration of fishing licences and quota because Canada's fisheries are shared common resources owned by the citizens of Canada.