Bev Shipley

[Donald Gordon, March 15th, 2012]

Mr. Speaker, the community of Wallaceburg is mourning the recent passing of a great Canadian, Donald Gordon, most affectionately known as “Chip” or “Mr. Wallaceburg”.

A former member of the Chatham-Kent Council, Chip was the driving force behind the Wallaceburg Antique Motor and Boat outing for over 20 years. His efforts as a community and sports booster were legendary. Chip was a man of unbridled enthusiasm and tireless energy. He never started or ended a conversation without a joke, a quip or a pun, but as a man of humble means, he possessed untold wealth in friendships and goodwill. His lone fault was an inability to say no to anyone needing a helping hand.

Chip will be missed, but his legacy of community service will live on in the thousands of people he helped along life's journey. I ask the House to join me in extending our sympathy to his wife Darlene, daughter Heather and son Donald Jr.

[Business of Supply, February 16th, 2012]

Mr. Speaker, my colleague across the way talked about building partnerships and, quite honestly, that is what gives strength across the country.

In 2010 we introduced about $15 million in a partnership that is ongoing among the first nations, the federal government and the Province of British Columbia. It is established through a steering committee. Could the member share her thoughts on that partnership approach?

[Ending The Long-Gun Registry Act, February 15th, 2012]

Mr. Speaker, I am confused when the member talks about united Canadians. The long gun registry has criminalized the innocent, farmers, hunters and sports shooters. However, when we bring forward bills for justice that will actually take on serious criminals, whether they be drug dealers or pedophiles, you vote against those.

Therefore, I am confused about the phrase “united Canadians” when you are trying to protect the criminals and wanting to criminalize the innocent.

[Petitions, February 15th, 2012]

Mr. Speaker, I have four petitions to present today. Each of them calls on the House to enact legislation that restricts abortion to the greatest extent possible. These individuals have a strong personal conviction for the protection of the unborn.

The petitions come from Grace Canadian Reformed Church in Kerwood, the Providence United Reformed Church in Strathroy, the Association for Reformed Political Action, and also the students and teachers at Providence Reformed Collegiate.

[Ending the Long-Gun Registry Act, February 13th, 2012]

Mr. Speaker, I thank the member for Crowfoot for all the work he has done on this issue. When he talks about wasteful, taking a program that was costed at $2 million and is now $2 billion would be one good reason. Another one is that the Auditor General actually said that it was unreliable and flawed. Now we have people saying that we should give this to the provinces. The reality is that it would leave a false sense of security.

Is the database not the gun registry?

[Ending the Long-Gun Registry Act, February 13th, 2012]

Mr. Speaker, early in his speech the member said that having 13 members of law enforcement in our caucus did not really make much difference. Actually, having these people really gives us depth and understanding of the reality of the gun registry.

Nonetheless, the member's main point was actually about time allocation and continuing the debate. As we have heard in this House, the NDP is not actually interested in voting but only in debating: it wants to continue debates without voting. I wonder if this member agrees with that principle.

[Ending the Long-Gun Registry Act, February 7th, 2012]

I will not take the whole minute and a half, Madam Speaker.

We need to resolve the problem. One of the key issues is that the registry targets innocent people and the NDP and the other side continue to vote against targeting criminals with the justice system.

It seems to me that if we are to resolve the issue, we first need to put the forces in place to correct the injustices done against criminals, because we are allowing them to get off free. Yet the members opposite want to target those who--

[Ending the Long-Gun Registry Act, February 7th, 2012]

Madam Speaker, I thank the--

[Ending the Long-Gun Registry Act, February 6th, 2012]

Mr. Speaker, I listened to the hon. member with some frustration, quite honestly.

We already know the long gun registry cost $2 billion and has not saved a life. We already know that it is flawed. The Auditor General has indicated that. We know that criminals do not register their weapons.

The member said we should talk to some of the professional people. We have eight or nine law enforcement officers in our Conservative caucus. Not one of them says we should not be getting rid of the registry.

Let me give a scenario. An individual has a registered gun. A criminal breaks into the individual's house, steals the weapon and uses it for criminal activity. The gun is found. To whom do the police come? The person to whom it is registered. That person now has to defend himself or herself about where the gun came from.

What kind of solution do you see by keeping the registry to solve that problem?

[Business of Supply, February 2nd, 2012]

Mr. Speaker, it is interesting to listen to my colleague from Malpeque. I know he was in business and I understand he knows business but I think he has had a lapse in terms of taxes.

Simply put, we will have twice as many people coming on in 20 years, it will cost us three times as much and we will have half as many people paying.

In the minister's mind, with any type of inversion that we have with these numbers, does that not mean that we are heading for a collision course in terms of sustainability of a program that we need for my kids, my grandchildren and for all of those in the future across Canada, whether it is in Lambton--Kent-Middlesex or anywhere else?