Mr. Speaker, I think the House, and probably all Canadians, would take note that the member was admonished at least twice during his speech for inappropriate, unparliamentary remarks.
In fact, there were many others, but I took personal offence to his comment about me and my commitment to the family, to children, and to the institution of marriage.
When I became a member of parliament I made a commitment as a private member to do some things which I felt very strongly about. I would like to list a few for the member's edification.
The first bill I introduced was Bill C-237, which had to do with income splitting between spouses, so that one spouse could stay at home to care for pre-school children.
Then I introduced the conversion of the child care expense deduction to a credit so that there would be fairness and equity in terms of the tax benefit to the family.
Since I became a member of parliament I have written five books. I wrote a book called Divorce: The Bold Facts . I wrote a book called Strong Families Make a Strong Country . I wrote a book called Tragic Tolerance of Domestic Violence . I wrote a book called The Child Poverty Solution . I have just issued, last month, a book called Fetal Alcohol Syndrome: The Real Brain Drain .
If the member would like to see those, he could look them up on my website. They are all available on paulszabo.com.
If the member wants to know about my commitment to the definition of marriage as being the lawful union of one man and one woman to the exclusion of all others, he should check the transcript of the justice committee when the amendment from the justice minister came forward. He would see that there was one person who spoke up to make sure that the motion was relevant and acceptable to the chair of the committee. That person was me. I spoke on behalf of the government to make sure that the motion was there and that the definition of marriage was incorporated into that statute of Canada.
He could look at Motion No. 30, which deals with the caregiver benefit for those who provide care in the home for pre-school children, the chronically ill, the aged or the disabled. It is my motion. It passed in this place by a vote of 163 to 29. In the following election it was in the platform of this party. In fact, it is in the Income Tax Act now. There are caregiver benefits for those who provide care for an aged parent.
He could look at the increases in the child tax benefit. If he looked at the report called “Investing in Children and Valuing our Caregivers”, he would see that recommendation and he would see that I was the author of that report.
If he were to look at Bill C-204, he would see a bill on extending parental leave to a full year—