Statistics Act  Mr. Speaker, perhaps my contribution is more a comment than it is a question. I would just like to say that I take exception to the fact that the member suggests that somehow the set of questions that Statistics Canada uses should be coming back to the political world in order to be decided upon, whether or not they are appropriate.

Kingston and the Islands  Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize an outstanding citizen from my riding of Kingston and the Islands, Mr. Jamshad Hassan. Jimmy, as he is more commonly known in Kingston, was born and raised in Pakistan. Many years ago, he chose to leave his life there in search of something new.

Business of Supply  Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague for his speech a few minutes ago, and in particular his comments about how this motion got on the floor. He said that this was put on the floor a few days ago, and that somehow this side of the House caught wind of it and was reacting. In reality, what really happened is the opposition could have put a whole bunch of motions on the floor but they had the obligation to submit which one they were going to actually use by 2:00 p.m. yesterday.

U.S. Decision Regarding Travel Ban  Madam Speaker, my colleague has asked this question a number of times tonight. I hope she is not disappointed that I might not be the one to give her the answer she is looking for. It is important to point out that the government has made it very clear what its position is on this, that it will continue to accept refugees who are affected by this travel ban.

U.S. Decision Regarding Travel Ban  Madam Speaker, I thank my colleague for not only addressing her question here, but for reading a letter that one of her constituents wrote to her. That is extremely noble. I would argue that there has not been merely symbolism coming from the government. As pointed out by other colleagues this evening, this government has delivered 40,000 Syrian refugees alone last year to Canada.

U.S. Decision Regarding Travel Ban  Madam Speaker, I appreciate the opportunity to speak tonight. I thank my colleague from Mount Royal for sharing his time with me. He is such a passionate speaker, as we all just witnessed. He is definitely a hard act to follow. I am sure that most members in this House would agree that this is a critical time in the world, but despite this act of the United States, in addition to the act of terror we saw only a few days ago, Canada continues to show compassion, and Canada continues to show love.

Governor General's Literary Award  Mr. Speaker, I rise in the House today to recognize Steven Heighton, a resident of my riding of Kingston and the Islands, who recently won the Governor General's Literary Award for his fifth poetry collection, The Waking Comes Late. This award brings valuable and much-deserved recognition from his peers and readers across the country.

House debate  Mr. Speaker, I am not going to repeat what I just said, because I think I covered it. The important thing is to look at what this bill actually is doing. This bill will change the lives of future generations. This bill will contribute to the security of young people today as they move toward retirement.

House debate  Mr. Speaker, I am not the Government of Canada, so I cannot answer that question, which was sent to the Government of Canada, other than to say that, as the parliamentary secretary pointed out, the Minister of Finance had indicated that there is always room for improvement and room to look at ways to do things better.

House debate  Mr. Speaker, that is very loose connection. I spoke to my time on the health board and a particular issue we had. In any event, if the member is looking for me to say that at some point or another I have, can be, or was critical of the provincial government, yes, as the mayor of a municipality in Ontario, we obviously took positions that were sometimes critical.

House debate  Mr. Speaker, before I get started with my remarks, specifically I would like to reference the previous speaker. At one point during answering questions he talked about the CPP and not using it as an opportunity to provide middle-income opportunities, yet earlier on his speech he talked about how it was the gold standard that his grandfather came to admire so much.

Canada Pension Plan  Madam Speaker, I want to thank my colleague for bringing up the issue of young people as it relates to this piece of legislation. We have heard a lot of commentary, in particular from the opposition today, about older individuals and seniors and how fewer of them require the changes we are talking about today, but in reality, the objective of this legislation is to affect people generations from now.

Canada Pension Plan  Madam Speaker, the member made reference to the fact that there are more people saving now than there were in 1990, but he neglected to mention the fact that there were also many more people paying into employer-generated pensions then that helped people save indirectly through those pension plans.

Points of Order  Mr. Speaker, I rise today to contribute arguments as to why my private member's bill, Bill C-243, would not infringe upon the financial initiative of the crown and therefore would not require a royal recommendation. I appreciate the time of this House to present these arguments.

Kingston Santa Parade  Mr. Speaker, it's that time of year again. This Saturday, in my riding of Kingston and the Islands, the 13th annual greater Kingston Santa parade will be taking place. The community will join together for the parade and the annual tree lighting ceremony in market square to kick off the holiday season, but the holidays are not always an easy time for everyone.