Charles Hubbard

[Civil Marriage Act, June 27th, 2005]

Mr. Speaker, I am voting in favour.

[Civil Marriage Act, June 27th, 2005]

Mr. Speaker, the hon. member has had a long history of teaching at community colleges and schools. He did pose a lot of questions, but first of all he had a number of points I would like to reflect on. He should recognize that in terms of our party there is division on this issue, but he should look at the other two corners of the House. In that corner, the NDP members are all for it and the Bloc members are almost all for it. When he looks at us, he sees at least 30 members or so who have concerns with this bill.

I would like to ask him a question. As a teacher he must have some answers. In regard to questions 41 and 42, what are the correct answers?

[Civil Marriage Act, June 27th, 2005]

Madam Speaker, I listened with intent to the speech from the hon. member. Of course, he realizes that marriage, back with the fathers of Confederation, was a division of responsibility between both the federal and provincial governments. He seems to speak almost as if religious organizations have had a copyright on marriage, and they probably have had for a great number of generations, in fact for centuries. But could he inform the House of his vision of what might happen in this country with eight provinces, not one of whom challenged the court proceedings in those provinces to accept marriage, if we don't make a decision on this important issue?

Thank you, Madam Speaker.

[Civil Marriage Act, June 27th, 2005]

Mr. Speaker, it is very interesting to hear the hon. member for South Shore—St. Margaret's talk about the very conservative constituency he represents. I assume that is because he is here representing that party, but when he reassures us that the majority of people in that area support the bill, it certainly may further his argument on the so-called charter or bill of rights. There are many who disagree with the charter in terms of what his interpretation is.

Perhaps he could tell the House in terms of the bill of rights and the charters in so many countries, what other country includes marriage as a charter right under its charter or bill of rights?

[Civil Marriage Act, June 27th, 2005]

Mr. Speaker, I will be voting no.

[An Act to Authorize the Minister of Finance to make Certain Payments, June 16th, 2005]

Madam Speaker, the hon. member spoke about the need for helping students which is part of our program in Bill C-48. I also know that the member and his family are great supporters of foreign aid. Perhaps he could comment on that.

Back in April and early May we saw the party opposite, the Conservative Party of Canada, align with the Bloc trying to defeat our government. We had to look for friends. Perhaps he can tell the people of Canada and tell us in the House tonight why his party joined with the separatists of Quebec to try and force an election in the early spring? Why did his party do that?

[An Act to Authorize the Minister of Finance to make Certain Payments, June 16th, 2005]

Madam Speaker, I hope that the hon. member fully recognizes that the additional spending under Bill C-48 deals with surplus money that will be above $2 billion. He spoke of who might be against this bill.

Over a million families are involved in post-secondary education. There are 600 or more native communities across the country. Nearly 60% of Canadians live in the large cities that need public transit. What constituency does he speak for when he talks about people being opposed to Bill C-48? What do his constituents think?

[An Act to Authorize the Minister of Finance to make Certain Payments, June 16th, 2005]

Mr. Speaker, we have had a very good hypothesis here in terms of budgeting, but we all must recognize that in terms of our budget presented in February and the work that the finance committee has done, we have seen a surplus growing because of the strong economy of our country. We have the lowest percentage of unemployment that we have seen in several decades.

We have an opportunity to invest more money in terms of trying to look to the future of this country. I would ask the hon. member a question in terms of those facts. The investment in post-secondary education, the investment in housing, and the investment in public transit, are those investments for the future? As a society, should we think of the less fortunate in overseas countries and offer more assistance with foreign aid? Is he opposed to those concepts?

[An Act to Authorize the Minister of Finance to make Certain Payments, June 16th, 2005]

Mr. Speaker, I sit on the finance committee with the hon. member. I cannot help but feel the degree of bitterness that he shows toward our Liberal Party and probably to the majority of Canadians.

We have a bill here that states that if there is a surplus exceeding $2 billion that money will be allocated for some very noteworthy and very good purposes, such as housing, post-secondary education and training, public transit and foreign aid.

It is disappointing to hear the adjectives and the nouns he used in describing the bill. Most of us come to this Parliament looking for hope and looking at a vision for this country. He seems to be looking backwards to some other attribute that he wants us to strive for.

Would the member give us an indication as to which of those four noble ventures in the bill he opposes? Is he opposed to post-secondary education, housing, public transit or foreign aid? Which ones does the member want to cut out?

[Budget Implementation Act, 2005, June 10th, 2005]

Mr. Speaker, the previous speaker seemed to indicate that people were confused. I certainly want to ask this question because I know he was a member of the Mulroney government that was in office and looked after our country from 1984 until 1993.

Every tax has a history. We speak in terms of income tax and we go back to World War I. Probably we could ask the chief opposition whip about his relationship to that tax and the history of it as it was effected by his party.