Selected by the people or selected from among party hacks, which would the member prefer? I would like him to be very specific and answer this question, and not go on a big rant on another topic.
House of Commons photoWon his last election, in 2006, with 64% of the vote.
Senate Appointment Consultations Act April 27th, 2007
Selected by the people or selected from among party hacks, which would the member prefer? I would like him to be very specific and answer this question, and not go on a big rant on another topic.
Senate Appointment Consultations Act April 27th, 2007
Mr. Speaker, I remember when I was first elected in 1993 and we had a very strong issue with respect to an elected Senate. I remember standing over there and asking the then Prime Minister Jean Chrétien why the list of his party hacks was a better source of choices for a Senate appointment than the list provided by the people in an election. I would like the member to answer that. In both cases the prime minister would appoint the senator, but which list would he use? In this legislation the list would be from the people.
Criminal Code April 26th, 2007
Mr. Speaker, while we regret very much that the members opposite did not recognize that this was report stage of a private member's bill and we could have proceeded to debate on third reading, I guess we have to forgive the Liberals for not being on the bit today.
Therefore, I would ask, Mr. Speaker, that you seek unanimous consent now to see the clock as 6:30 p.m., so that we can go forward to adjournment proceedings.
Business of Supply April 19th, 2007
Mr. Speaker, with the debate having collapsed, I think you would find unanimous consent to see the clock as being at 5:30 p.m., so we could proceed to private members' business.
Business of Supply April 19th, 2007
Mr. Speaker, I want to respond to the mixed message that we are getting today from the Liberals. They keep saying over and over that they support the troops and that is great. They are the ones who actually sent the troops over there in the first place. I suppose their willingness now to say that we are going to pull them out and give notice right now is a contradiction, at least in my mind.
Last Sunday I was at the Holocaust memorial remembrance. It impressed me to see the pain that those people are feeling a generation or two after the events of the Holocaust.
The people in Afghanistan right now are experiencing the same thing. I believe that we have an obligation and, indeed, even a privilege, as our troops did in World War II, to go there and to stand between victims and their oppressors. The tyrannical Taliban regime needs to be wiped out.
How can the Liberals and that member in particular justify even contemplating pulling out until the job is done? We need to ensure we are focused on the task, not on some arbitrary date on which we are simply going to say that we are pulling out. That would be to admit defeat in advance. In fact, I believe it would be, in a sense, planning that defeat and we ought not to do that.
Democratic Reform April 19th, 2007
Mr. Speaker, responding to Mario Dumont last week, the leader of the Liberal Party said that there was no need for new constitutional negotiations. Yesterday, however, he flip-flopped saying that we need full scale constitutional change to reform the Senate.
While the rapid reversal of position is astounding, it is not new. He cannot hold a position on anything for more than a few days. I suspect his real motive is that he wants to block any Senate modernization.
Would the Minister for Democratic Reform tell the House what can be done without a constitutional amendment to strengthen our democracy?
Holocaust Memorial Day April 18th, 2007
Mr. Speaker, this past Sunday was a very emotional day for my wife Betty and me as we attended the annual Holocaust Memorial Day ceremony in Edmonton. It was a heartbreaking, gut-wrenching reminder of one of the worst atrocities ever in the history of the human race.
I was particularly moved by the reading of the names and ages of children who were brutally murdered. They included children whose ages were identical to those of each of our five grandchildren. As I personalized this part of the ceremony, I could not help but think: how can anyone bring himself to kill innocent children in cold blood? It is beyond belief.
I honour the survivors of the Holocaust and their families. I thank them for keeping this important lesson of history alive in our minds and hearts.
As Canadians joined with our allies to rid the world of Hitler, so we must continue to stand between present-day depraved, heartless killers and their victims.
We must remember them. We must do all we can to prevent this from happening again.
Budget Implementation Act, 2007 March 30th, 2007
On a point of order, Mr. Speaker, perhaps for the edification of other members, some of whom have not been here quite as long as I have, this is a motion that simply precludes the putting of further amendments to the motion. That is what happens, and now we simply resume debate and carry on and hopefully we will get to 1:30 p.m. and we will go to private members' business.
Budget Implementation Act, 2007 March 30th, 2007
It is not unanimous. Mr. Speaker, I am afraid you did not hear this. I moved, seconded by the member for Blackstrap, that this question be now put.
Budget Implementation Act, 2007 March 30th, 2007
Yes, I can do that.