House of Commons photoWon his last election, in 2006, with 64% of the vote.
Softwood Lumber Products Export Charge Act, 2006 December 5th, 2006
Mr. Speaker, I know that we are talking about softwood lumber, but somehow these members keep bringing in the Wheat Board.
The member mentions not taking our raw products out of the country to be processed in another country, which is a very valid argument when we are talking about a softwood lumber agreement. I wonder, then, how he can possibly defend the Wheat Board, which prevents us from having value added in those grain products in our own country.
Softwood Lumber Products Export Charge Act, 2006 December 5th, 2006
Mr. Speaker, I have a comment more than a question. The comment is very interesting. In his response to the member for Yorkton—Melville the member said that he did not want to speak for Ontario farmers. He is an Ontario MP. Yet, he is quite willing to speak for the farmers of Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba, giving them something that those farmers do not want. That is my comment and I think it speaks for itself.
Business of Supply November 28th, 2006
Mr. Speaker, not many times do we like people stealing from us, but the one time I really appreciated it was after the 1993 election when the Liberals stole our idea of balancing the budget.
We had a plan called zero in three, which was a response to the fact that since 1972 the Liberals had racked up a huge debt and with the annual interest payments, that debt had grown to almost $500 billion. In nine years the then Progressive Conservative Party did not address the Liberal deficit and the growing debt. That was one of the reasons the Reform Party came to be.
Lo and behold, in three years the Liberals balanced the budget just like we had proposed. It has always been a Liberal debt. The member over there is crowing about the fact that they put the fiscal house in order. They are the ones who put it into disorder in the first place. Thankfully we came along and they, to their credit, listened to us. I remember the minister of finance of the day asked our critic to keep the pressure on because he had a lot of pressure to spend over there. I want to correct that part of the record.
This is more a comment than a question and the member can respond if he wants. I am sure he will with some sort of other garbage that will make no sense.
Business of Supply November 23rd, 2006
Mr. Speaker, I do not know if I am different from other members in the House, but I have at least a small need to be liked. I feel better if people like me.
When I think of this wonderful country to which our grandparents brought us, and I kept hearing when I was a youngster all the wonderful stories about how glad they were to be in Canada. They were very grateful. They came from a country where, frankly, they were persecuted.
I think of Canada now as a family. In that regard, families need each other as members. We need to have Quebec and all of its people in our family called the confederation of Canada. Although they do not want to admit it, or at least the separatist faction of them do not want to admit it, they also need us. We work so well together as a confederation. We can cooperate with--
Heritage Hunting, Trapping and Fishing Protection Act November 8th, 2006
Mr. Speaker, I am incredibly embarrassed. I voted yes and then I went to work. My colleagues were all standing up and in a moment of sleepiness, I stood again. I voted yes.
Remembrance Day November 8th, 2006
Mr. Speaker, this coming Saturday will be the 14th time that I, as a member of Parliament, will have the privilege of laying a wreath at the local cenotaph in honour of our veterans.
This annual ceremony allows us to focus on the dedication and commitment that our armed forces members, past and present, have for freedom and peace in our country and around the world.
The ranks of World War I and World War II veterans are decreasing every year. Many of them have carried the marks of the war for their whole lives. We appreciate them and thank them from the bottom of our hearts.
We focus, of course, on those who gave their lives in the wars, some 105,000 of them. During the six years of the second world war, for example, we lost an average of 42 soldiers, airmen and navy personnel every day. What a tremendous sacrifice they made. What dedication and courage.
To all of them and their families we pledge that we will not forget. To those who are serving us now and to their families, we pledge our ongoing support and gratitude.
Criminal Code November 3rd, 2006
Mr. Speaker, I listened with interest and I would like to comment on the tough on crime statement that crime goes up. It does not seem to make sense to me. I would seriously question the statistic. In some cases, at least for petty crimes, the rate goes down because when nothing is done about it, people stop reporting it.
I had an individual in my riding, before my riding boundaries changed in 2004, whose store kept getting robbed. Guys, usually young people, would break in at night. They would break down the door, take some stuff and leave. They would leave the door open so that especially in winter it was really not a good thing. He would report it and by the time the police arrived, the damage was done and when they did find the offenders, they got a little slap on the wrist and kept doing it again.
From the victim's point of view the crime rate went down because when he reported these robberies, his insurance company kept increasing his premiums due to the fact that he was a higher risk. He received the punishment and the other guys went free. He said it only made sense to him that he would not report it any more and so he did not.
The incredible part of the story is that one night he was suspicious that they had not hit for a while and maybe that was going to be the night, so he decided to spend the night in his store. Sure enough, they broke in the door. He caught them and held them for the police. The kids got home before he did because he was left to clean up the broken door before he could go home. The police just took the kids home and that was it.
I would like the member to respond to the fact that we need to have accurate statistics based on fact, not just on what is reported.
Business of Supply November 2nd, 2006
Mr. Speaker, excuse me, my apologies for interrupting, but I rise on a point of order.
Mr. Speaker, I wish to set the record clearly straight on something that happened yesterday. As recorded in Hansard on page 4570 during the conducting of a vote on a private member's bill I rose on a point of order after you had declared that the motion was carried on division.
I would like to put on the record what actually happened and this is how it occurred. If you look at the speeches on that particular bill, you will see that a number of our members indicated that they were voting against it. When you called for the question, there were a number of us who were saying no and I know why you did not hear us. It is because there were many Liberals right next to you, they had your ear and they were very, very loud and so our gentle nos were not heard. I rose on a point of order after that.
There is one other factor. The vote was conducted in French and we who are unilingual Canadians appreciate the work of the interpreters so much, but there is about a five to eight second delay. When you were already proceeding to declare the motion cast, that was only the time at which we were receiving the interpretation.
Mr. Speaker, with that clarification I want you to know that in my opinion you did everything exactly right. Having heard some nos, you then proceeded to ask for all the yeas and all the nays.
Business of Supply November 2nd, 2006
Mr. Speaker, the NDP member becomes quite animated and that makes us all pay attention, which is good. He certainly expresses his point of view without ambiguity. I think that would generally be true.
The problem I have, as my colleague mentioned, is that he sometimes distances himself from the facts. I find it repulsive when he implies that we somehow love war. We do not. I do not know how to express it without becoming really animated myself, but war is very distasteful. We are defenders of peace.
However, every once in a while, whether it is in our own country or on the international scene, some very bad people stand up and do things that are very unjust to innocent people. I am one who would not hurt a flea but if someone was being attacked by someone else, I would be ready to put my body between them.
I do not know why that member wants to characterize us in that way.
The member made another statement saying that somehow we do not care about people who are dying of AIDS. How false. We care deeply and compassionately, which is why we are participants, as the Canadian government, in funding research and in distributing drugs to other countries where people are dying of AIDS.
For the member to say that because we were not represented at the conference we are not fighting AIDS is also false. Two of our ministers were at that conference but the media chose to ignore them. Our Minister of Health was there. I do not know who the other minister was but two ministers were there.
I wish the member would be totally truthful before he so blatantly and falsely attacks us.
Income Tax Act November 1st, 2006
Mr. Speaker, I rise on a point of order. I think you may have gotten ahead of yourself. We were waiting for you to ask for the yeas and nays. You did not get to that stage. You just declared it carried. We were saying no.