Mr. Speaker, I agree to apply and vote no.
House of Commons photoLost his last election, in 2019, with 8% of the vote.
Supplementary Estimates (C), 2012-2013 March 20th, 2013
Mr. Speaker, I agree to apply and vote no.
Business of Supply March 20th, 2013
Mr. Speaker, an assault on science is an assault on good government policy.
I am a biologist and an ecologist. I was a scientist before becoming an MP, and what I see in the House of Commons is disturbing. On this side of the aisle there are a lot of people who believe in facts, data, statistics and science as a basis for policy. On that side of the aisle, all too often I see government policy formulated based on belief, faith and ideology.
Many of the people on the other side of the aisle remind me of little Johnny. When Johnny was a little boy, he prayed repeatedly for a bicycle, but he did not get one. Then he took a new approach, maybe after watching the proceedings in the House of Commons: he stole a bicycle and prayed for forgiveness.
Petitions March 20th, 2013
Mr. Speaker, I have four batches of petitions today, all on the same subject. They continue to pour in on the subject of the Experimental Lakes Area. The petitioners call on Parliament to reverse the decision to close the ELA as well as to continue to support staff and have financial support for this important Canadian research institution.
The first batch is from the riding of Simcoe North. The second batch is from the riding of Kitchener—Conestoga. The third is from the Aurora area, and the fourth batch is from throughout southern Ontario.
The Environment March 19th, 2013
Mr. Speaker, the DFO has notified scientists they cannot continue their work at the Experimental Lakes Area past March 31. They cannot even visit the facility.
This kills fully funded current research worth tens of millions of dollars. If the minister was really ever negotiating in good faith to find a replacement operator, why would he cancel ongoing research prematurely and fire our valuable scientists?
Petitions March 19th, 2013
Mr. Speaker, I rise again today with yet more petitions rolling in from across Canada, including Toronto, Whitby, Peterborough, Waterloo, Long Lake No. 58, Kenora and Winnipeg, exhorting the government to restore funding and reverse its ill-advised decision to close the Experimental Lakes Area in Northwestern Ontario.
Petitions March 18th, 2013
Mr. Speaker, the second petition is in support of my “revive Superior rail” motion, calling for the re-establishment of passenger rail service on the north shore of Lake Superior and across Canada.
Petitions March 18th, 2013
Mr. Speaker, I have two petitions today.
With the looming deadline of March 31 and despite the fact that buildings are already being bulldozed at the ELA, we are still receiving hundreds of petitions imploring the government to rethink its foolish decision to close the ELA and to continue the staffing and funding for the Experimental Lakes Area.
Rail Transportation February 28th, 2013
Mr. Speaker, the United States, China, Japan and Europe are all investing heavily in passenger rail, but Canada is going backwards.
The Conservatives seem determined to kill VIA Rail, chopping more than 60% of VIA's budget over two years. These reckless cuts will cause a train wreck for service across Canada.
Which services will be slashed as a result of these drastic cuts, and will the last remaining trans-Canada service be further cut?
Proportional Representation February 27th, 2013
Mr. Speaker, in 2011 most voters did not get what they voted for. Whether they favoured Greens, NDP or Liberals, they often received a Conservative MP due to our undemocratic voting system.
Most of the world's democracies have some kind of proportional representation. If we had fair elections, then Conservatives would have only 122 seats, the NDP 96, the Liberals 58 and the Greens would have at least a dozen. Canadians would have the Parliament they voted for, most likely a NDP-Liberal-Green government.
Only one of the candidates running for the Liberal leadership has a real plan for electoral reform, putting democracy before party politics.
I hope that Canadians will seriously consider the ideas of the member for Vancouver Quadra and that other candidates will also put their country before personal and political ambitions.
The Environment February 13th, 2013
Mr. Speaker, we are no closer to any answers with that woefully inadequate response.
Let me tell the member what we do know. We know that the DFO has started procedures for decommissioning the ELA, at great cost. We know that no other organization has the resources to pay $50 million to decommission the ELA. We know that the transfer of the ELA to anyone else will require transition funding.
Time is running out. It is mid-February and the facility is scheduled to close on March 31 if no arrangements can be made to keep it open.
I have two simple questions. Will the government extend the March 31 deadline, as is clearly needed? If not, will the government at least commit to bridge financing to keep the ELA open for three to five years until a good partner can take over in an orderly fashion?