Early Learning and Child Care Act  Mr. Speaker, I rise today to extend my support for Bill C-303, the early learning and child care act. The bill is based on the Liberal child care plan and the side agreements between the previous Liberal government and 10 provinces. Those agreements were all cancelled by the current minority Conservative government.

Government Policies  Mr. Speaker, the minority Conservative government backtracked on a commitment to protect the young child supplement portion of the Canada child tax benefit and, get this, it also cancelled the summer youth program. The Conservatives cancelled Canada's youth international internship program.

Child Care  Mr. Speaker, today Canada marks National Child Day. It is an opportunity to assess how we are meeting the needs of this and future generations of young Canadians. Sadly, the minority Conservative government is moving backward by cancelling our investment in 600,000 new child care spaces.

Foreign Affairs  Mr. Speaker, while it appears that the Prime Minister's biggest international preoccupation is to avoid questions about his neglect of Kyoto, dozens of innocent civilians are dying on a daily basis in various parts of the world and he is not even flinching. Women and children are dying in Gaza, students are being bombed in Sri Lanka, villages are being destroyed in Darfur, madness is rampant in Iraq and the Prime Minister has done nothing.

Income Trusts  Mr. Speaker, Canadians have learned the hard way what it means to put their trust in the minority Conservative government's word. Investors in income trusts have lost billions of dollars of their hard-earned money, which they planned on using in their retirement years. For the government to betray them by imposing a tax that it promised would not come has left them angry and jaded.

Canada-U.S. Relations  Mr. Speaker, it is mid-term election time in the United States and a republic television attack ad has outraged many Canadians. The ad says in part, “Let Canada take care of North Korea, they're not busy”. Is this what Canadians should be expecting as the outcome of cozying up to Mr.

Maher Arar  Mr. Speaker, as if Mr. Arar and his family needed any more pain and misinformation from the Conservatives, yesterday the Parliamentary Secretary to the Prime Minister falsely claimed that the Liberals took actions “which ended up putting Maher Arar in a Syrian jail”. It is no wonder the Conservatives have not apologized to Mr.

Maher Arar  Mr. Speaker, I will say what Canadians have not forgotten. When Mr. Arar was in detention, the Minister of Public Safety called for an inquiry to determine why the Liberals were defending him. The member for Calgary—Nose Hill convicted Mr. Arar as having links to al-Qaeda. The Parliamentary Secretary to the Prime Minister was the first to leap to his feet to applaud those members every time.

Government Programs  Mr. Speaker, Canadians have greater respect and confidence in our judicial branch than that republican minority government. Through the court challenges program, Canadians have been able to enhance minority rights and improve our laws. However, the Prime Minister continues to expose his disregard for our courts.

Maher Arar  Mr. Speaker, this week the government has been dodging questions about the case of Maher Arar. Parliament has unanimously passed a motion that calls for an apology and the whole country regrets what happened. Now that the Prime Minister, the Minister of Public Safety and the member for Calgary—Nose Hill have had time to reflect, do they regret jumping to conclusions and convicting Mr.

Justice  Mr. Speaker, I am delighted that Mr. Arar received his well-deserved resounding exoneration. Mr. Arar and his family were victims of severe systemic flaws. The Prime Minister has said that he will not apologize to Mr. Arar but rather leave it to the courts. However, when Mr. Arar was first arrested in 2002 the Prime Minister had no hesitation in jumping to conclusions and repeating the unfounded accusations about Mr.

Committees of the House  Mr. Speaker, this is the way we need to react as parliamentarians. This motion calls on the government to ensure that any time it acquires any significant real estate properties, that it go through a competitive bid to ensure that we get the best value for Canadian taxpayers' money.

Committees of the House  Mr. Speaker, I am very amused by the hon. member's remarks. We are suggesting exactly the opposite. We are asking to confirm that any transactions, especially large transactions, conducted by the government, and regardless of who is in government, are done through an open and transparent process.

Committees of the House  Mr. Speaker, I want to reiterate that this is precisely why the motion is necessary. I cannot comment on the specific involvement of any individual. I do not have any specific facts. We are trying to protect any government, including, believe it or not, the Conservative government, from being accused of lack of transparency and mismanaging public funds.

Committees of the House  Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to speak to this motion today. Canadians expect their government and parliamentarians to manage the matters of our great nation with a high sense of responsibility and diligence. The executive branch, the government, is expected to manage the day-to-day operations while Canadians, through their elected parliamentarians, act as a sounding board and a safety valve for the government's conduct.