Business of Supply  For example, when we look at the millennium development goal of maternal and child health in developing countries, the numbers are appalling. Too many women are still living in poverty and do not have access to basic health care. Here are some statistics. Every day, 1,600 women and more than 10,000 newborns die from truly preventable complications during pregnancy and childbirth.

Business of Supply  In 2008 and 2009 the Conservatives were responsible for about 62% of the printing costs incurred by MPs, even though their members represented only about 45% of Canadian households. I have been a target of the Conservative smear machine. As a Jewish MP who represents a large Jewish population, the Conservative Party outrageously attempted to label me as anti-Semitic.

Committees of the House  While the problems of the 39th Parliament are still to some degree with us today, there is a new game being played. The tyranny of the opposition majority has turned its attention to the men and women who make up our political staff, men and women who did not sign up to be tried by a committee, to be humiliated and intimidated by members of Parliament. The chairman of the ethics committee rose on a question of privilege when the House last met complaining about being intimidated because the government began to push back on his conduct at the committee he chairs and his committee's treatment of our staff appearing before it.

Veterans Affairs committee  I'm not arguing that they're not receiving everything they've paid for. No one has ever argued that they didn't. But the reality is that the men and women of our services and the RCMP play a different public service role from anybody else in this country. I have met a great many individuals who have travelled across this country, and I met one guy who did that 22 times in following his military career across the country and around the world.

Citizenship and Immigration committee  That needs to be addressed if immigrants are to feel included. That has to come from proactive leadership from local leaders, local MPs, councillors, MPPs, educational institutions, and other institutions. We try to do this at CASSA with the support of CIC. We are very thankful to the multicultural branch for this project.

International Women's Day  Presently, only 22% of the House of Commons seats are held by women compared to 37% in Norway and 56% in Rwanda. In her book The Unfinished Revolution, the late Doris Anderson wrote that what women want is simple and real.

Human Resources committee  On May 13, MP Tony Martin noted in the House of Commons that the Canadian Council of Churches and the Evangelical Fellowship of Canada had together hosted an MP Roundtable on Parliament Hill on Faith and a Sustainable Economy.

Canada-Colombia Free Trade Agreement Implementation Act  It took a lot of courage for members of the coalition to come to Canada, hoping to raise awareness of their plight among Quebec and Canadian MPs. Closer to me, last week, at my constituency office, I personally met with six Colombians, including a couple who had left four of their children behind in Colombia and lost track of them.

Resignation of Member  There is one other issue I must draw attention to, and that is the glacial rate of progress toward gender equality in this place. The first woman MP, Agnes Macphail, was elected in 1921. This was a breakthrough for my grandmother's generation, my mother was not even born then. Now in 2009, women represent just over 22% of the House of Commons.

Employment Insurance Act  Maybe it is time we seriously looked at the structural issues of EI, as to how they affect women and part-time workers who are not well treated in the EI system. We know that. My colleague from Cape Breton—Canso is in the House tonight. He was on the human rights committee, along with others, when it looked at this issue.

Justice committee  This bill is jointly seconded by members from three parties and, as you know, during the vote on April 22 received near unanimous support from the Conservative, Liberal, and NDP parties. This support is encouraging. When it comes to the protection of our children, nothing should unite us more.

Afghanistan  In 2001, there were only 700,000 children, all of them boys. I often wonder how the Taliban ever expect women to receive medical care because they prohibit male doctors from taking care of women, even in childbirth, and yet they refuse to educate women. What we would be doing by allowing that kind of regime to stay in place, or to return, would be to condemn women to substandard medical care and all the dangers associated with childbirth.

Canada Elections Act  Obviously we need some kind of a system of reform to reflect how people vote in Canada. In 2004 more than 500,000 Green voters failed to elect a single MP anywhere, while fewer than 500,000 Liberal voters in Atlantic Canada alone elected 22 Liberal MPs. In 2000, 22 candidates became MPs despite winning less than 40% of the votes in their ridings.

The Budget  Speaker, I rise today to speak to the budget on behalf of my constituents of Brampton--Springdale, a budget which impacts seniors, families, children, women and men not only in my own constituency of Brampton--Springdale but all of Canada. In a time of growing economic crisis, many Bramptonians, like many other Canadians across the country, are suffering.

Criminal Code  Two-thirds of those referrals were made because shelters were full. Eight in ten abused women in shelters were there to escape a current or former spouse common law partner”. While the Liberals were wasting over a billion tax dollars on the gun registry over the last 10 years, hundreds of women and children were being turned away from women's shelters every day.