Ethics  Mr. Speaker, Canadians deserve to know how the new Minister of Fisheries, Oceans and the Canadian Coast Guard can do his job effectively without breaking the Ethics Commissioner's ban on communications with the Irving Group. The fact is that J.D. Irving has a position on the minister's very own advisory committee on Atlantic salmon.

Petitions  Mr. Speaker, I present three petitions today, all on the same issue. The petitioners call on the House of Commons to pass legislation which would recognize preborn children as separate victims when they are injured or killed during the commission of an offence against their mothers, allowing two charges to be laid against the offender instead of just one.

Petitions  Mr. Speaker, I rise today to present a petition initiated by Mr. Bob Spiers of Vernon, B.C. and signed by Canadians from coast to coast to coast. The petitioners call on the Government of Canada to establish a tax credit for auxiliary police officers, similar to that already given to volunteer firefighters and search and rescue volunteers.

Privilege  Mr. Speaker, I would like to speak to the concern I have for the disrespect that has been showing up in this House. We sit across from the Prime Minister, and since my first day here, I have seen the arrogance. Other members on this side of the House have witnessed it when the cameras are not on him.

Budget Implementation Act, 2016, No. 1  Mr. Speaker, I am honoured today to fill in on House duty for the hon. member for Fort McMurray—Cold Lake as he is working with his community, trying to bring things under control there. It gives me great pleasure to rise in his place today and ask a question that might be appropriate.

Criminal Code  Madam Speaker, I feel very fortunate to rise to speak to this issue today. Unfortunately, as you mentioned, I will not have the full time. I was hoping to speak fully on the issue, especially on behalf of the constituents who have continuously contacted me in my office with their concerns over the issue.

Criminal Code  Mr. Speaker, the member mentioned that we were going down a path that we may not be able to turn around. He spoke about eligibility as open to interpretation. I wonder about some of the definitions in the bill. What really bothers me is the lack of definitions and the lack of clarity.

Community Spirit in North Okanagan—Shuswap  Mr. Speaker, all small towns have great community spirit, but a couple in the North Okanagan—Shuswap deserve special recognition. The first is Falkland, which will be holding the 98th annual Falkland Stampede on the Victoria Day weekend. One of the oldest and best rodeos in Canada only shows part of the spirit of this small town.

Business of Supply  Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague across the way for his speech today. However, what I have heard in the last two presentations is much rhetoric around what they are going to do for Canadians in other ways, such as bringing Wi-Fi to the rural communities, and so on. What we need is a fix right away for this issue.

The Budget  Mr. Speaker, there are a few things the member opposite did not mention in her speech. I have heard other members from the government speak about how they are proud of this budget, but what I have not heard them speak about and what I am wondering if they are equally proud of are the cuts that are made in this budget to the textbook tax credit, the children fitness tax credit, and the arts tax credit, and the cuts that were promised but were not made to the small business tax credit.

The Budget  Mr. Speaker, this is certainly a concern in my riding, as well. We have many dairy producers in the riding. I have met with them. I understand their concerns. This is something that has developed over time. When the previous trade agreements were put in place, no one envisioned that milk could be broken down into, I believe it is 26 different protein products.

The Budget  Mr. Speaker, during the previous government's time, we showed that we could balance budgets increasingly, and in fact provided a surplus budget in the last year. I certainly recognize the need, especially after the emergency debate which I took part in the other night, to support these northern communities.

The Budget  I stand corrected, Mr. Speaker, thank you. In budget 2016, the Liberal government had an opportunity to provide some stability to our economy and reassurance to investors and business owners. Instead, the Liberals delivered a cloud of uncertainty that hangs over our economy. The government promised to reduce the small business tax rate to 9% from 10.5% to allow small businesses to invest in their operations and their employees, but the government has now decided to subject small business to the higher tax rate of 10.5% and not deliver on the promised reduction.

The Budget  Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague, the hon. member for Red Deer—Mountain View, for sharing his speaking time with me this morning. It is an honour to stand today as the elected representative of the North Okanagan—Shuswap. In recent weeks, I have heard members on the government side speaking of being proud of the budget that was tabled by the Minister of Finance on March 22.

The Budget  Mr. Speaker, I would like to make one correction to the member's speech. The member stated that the area through northern Ontario is the only portion of Canada that does not have a four-lane highway. I would contradict that with the fact that there are areas through British Columbia that are also waiting to see our Trans-Canada Highway have four lanes.