House of Commons photoLost his last election, in 2019, with 8% of the vote.
Questions on the Order Paper January 31st, 2011
With regard to payments issued by Public Works and Government Services Canada in fiscal years 2009-2010 and 2010-2011: (a) how much was issued for payment on behalf of Infrastructure Canada for signage, in each fiscal year; and (b) what cheques were issued for payments on behalf of Infrastructure Canada for signage, in each fiscal year, including the date each cheque was issued?
Questions Passed as Orders for Returns December 3rd, 2010
With regard to the cruise ship industry since 2005: (a) what federal departments have provided support to the cruise ship industry across Canada, to date; (b) how much was spent on each project by each federal department, agency, board and commission in support of the cruise ship industry, to date; (c) what is the annual total number of full-time equivalent (FTE) staff in each federal agency, board, or commission working on implementation of projects related to the cruise ship industry; (d) what specific federal programs support the development of the cruise ship industry in Canada; (e) what were the discharge incidents of sewage, bilge, ballast, grey water, or solid waste by cruise ships in Canadian waters, distributed by date, location, ship, and type of discharge; (f) how many charges, warnings or penalties were issued against cruise ship operators for all sewage, bilge, ballast, grey water, or other discharges in contradiction of regulations, including date, operator, location, offence and amount; (g) how much was spent by each federal agency, commission, department or organization in enforcement of regulations related to discharge of sewage, bilge, ballast, grey water, or other discharges; (h) what is the annual total number of FTEs working in each federal agency, commission, department or organization on enforcement of regulations related to discharge of sewage, bilge, grey water, or other discharges; (i) what onboard observation has been performed by each federal agency, commission, department or organization with respect to discharge of sewage, bilge, ballast, grey water, or other discharges, distributed by year and location; (j) what reports, studies, investigations, conclusions, regulatory changes, warnings, or penalties were issued or undertaken by any federal government body related to the cruise ship Queen Elizabeth II’s September 2005 discharge incident off the coast of Cape Breton; (k) how much was spent by each federal organization for port upgrades in support of the cruise ship industry; (l) how many agreements were signed between federal organizations and private cruise companies for docking in Canadian ports; and (m) what companies signed agreements with the government for access to Canadian waters and on what conditions?
Harmonized Sales Tax December 3rd, 2010
Mr. Speaker, the government's harmonized sales tax will mean whopping home heating costs for families in northern Ontario this winter. Home heating is not a luxury. Up north of Superior, it is a necessity. We should not be raising taxes on necessities.
Will the minister adopt our policy to scrap the HST on home heating, or will he leave northern families out in the cold again this winter?
Telecommunications December 2nd, 2010
Mr. Speaker, most countries either regulate cellphone locks or they ban them outright. Canada does neither.
The government lets big telecom routinely lock all Canadian cellphones. This limits consumer choice and market competition. It means higher prices and worse service.
Will the minister compel wireless companies to unlock our cellphones and give Canadians the fairness we deserve?
National Hunting, Trapping and Fishing Heritage Day Act November 30th, 2010
Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to have a few minutes to talk about this excellent bill, which I support and many of my colleagues in our party support as well.
I am from Thunder Bay in northwestern Ontario. Many people throughout northwestern Ontario indulge in our hunting, fishing and trapping activities, but even the ones who do not actually do it themselves, their brothers, their friends and their cousins do and many of them benefit from the fish and game on their table that they do not hunt themselves.
I am a hunter myself, a fisher person, and a former licensed trapper. I am very proud that for 10 years I lived on a trapline and slogged through snow at -20°, -30° or -40° to do that trapping.
Hunting, fishing and trapping are our national heritage. There was a time when many Canadians, if they were not able to hunt, fish and trap, did not eat. They did not live. It is not only a cultural thing and a personal heritage thing, but for a long time in our country it was their survival.
The licence fees of hunters and fishers across Canada, in many cases, support most of our conservation. In addition to being a hunter and a fisher, I am also a bird watcher, a conservationist and I support the creation of parks and wilderness areas. However, I have always found it ironic that most of the people who do not hunt and fish have not yet found ways to actually put money directly into our hunting, fishing and wildlife conservation funds.
When I learned to trap, I learned from my native friends in the Armstrong area, from the Whitesand First Nation, from the people who live in Namaygoosisgagun, along the CN rail line where there is vast wilderness and wonderful hunting, fishing and trapping.
Those aboriginal people have learned those skills and they have practised those skills for thousands of years. As we know, they were here for many thousands of years before we were. It was generous of them to teach me those skills so that I can pass them along in future years to my son.
We had explorers in Canada, our cartographers, people such as David Thompson and others who were not only cartographers but worked sometimes for the Hudson's Bay Company and other trapping companies. They mapped our prairies, our forests and our rivers. They worked their way to the Pacific Ocean and paved the way for the incredible country that Canada is today.
Today, millions and millions of Canadians still hunt, fish and trap. Hunting, fishing and trapping, especially hunting and fishing, are a very important part of our economy. They are important to our tourism industry. They are important for many Canadians for outdoor recreation, for urban and rural and hinterland folks.
They are a source of healthy food in this day and age when many of our supermarket foods are contaminated by herbicides, pesticides, hormones and additives. Wild foods, country foods, are healthy to eat.
As I have mentioned, it is a family activity. I have already taught my 15-year-old son how to fish and how to fillet, and to cook them too. Soon I will be teaching him how to shoot and how to hunt.
I would like to summarize by saying that I am very much in favour of the bill. I support it wholeheartedly and I urge the House to hurry it along to the other place and pass it as the law of this country.
Questions Passed as Orders for Returns November 29th, 2010
With regard to government polling from January 1, 2006 to September 22, 2010: (a) how much was spent annually (i) broken down by department, crown corporation, foundation, agency, board and commission, (ii) broken down by department, crown corporation, foundation, agency, board and commission and by province and territory; (b) how much was spent, broken down by type of polling technique (phone, online, focus groups, etc.), (i) annually, (ii) annually by each department, crown corporation, foundation, agency, board and commission; and (c) what companies received contracts to complete this polling work, broken down by type of polling technique, (i) annually, (ii) annually by each department, crown corporation, foundation, agency, board and commission?
Questions Passed as Orders for Returns November 29th, 2010
With respect to Canada's Economic Action Plan signs, broken down by government department, agency, foundation and Crown Corporation: (a) how many signs were distributed, broken down by province and by federal riding, during the 2009-2010 and 2010-2011 fiscal years; (b) what was the installation cost of each sign; (c) what is the maintenance cost of each sign; (d) who were the contractors responsible for the installation and maintenance of the signs, broken down by province and by federal riding; (e) which department, agency, foundation or Crown Corporation is responsible for each sign and sign location; and (f) how many signs, broken down by province and federal riding, are planned to be installed by the end of fiscal year 2010-2011?
Fighting Internet and Wireless Spam Act November 23rd, 2010
Madam Speaker, once again the hon. member has raised a good point.
There are banks that do not seem to think they have a partnership with the Canadian public. They think it is okay to charge their clients excessive credit card charges, to charge small businesses excessive bank, Visa and MasterCard processing fees, but think that they have little responsibility to protect their clients, average Canadians, from these kinds of abuses.
Hopefully we will gain a Canadian banking system that is not only profitable but responsible and co-operative with its lenders.
Fighting Internet and Wireless Spam Act November 23rd, 2010
Madam Speaker, it never ceases to amaze me the attention to detail the hon. member for Elmwood—Transcona has. He is sophisticated and well read on many subjects. I thank him for the additional comments.
I would absolutely agree, as I underscored in my speech, that we need to go further. Criminal sanctions are needed against this kind of activity.
It is clear to me that one of the fastest rising kinds of crime in Canada is not crime caused by poverty, nor crime in the blue collar community. It is white collar crime.
In the ancient Greek city states, if a poor person stole, the person was reprimanded and helped. If a rich person stole, the person was executed. In our modern western societies, and all too often here in Canada, if a poor person steals the person is sent to Stony Mountain to be hardened and abused. If a rich person steals we allow the person to go bankrupt and the person moves on to do it again and again.
Fighting Internet and Wireless Spam Act November 23rd, 2010
Madam Speaker, those are good points and a thoughtful question by the hon. member.
Most days I consider myself to be a sophisticated business person, a member of Parliament, and a sophisticated scrutineer of my own spam. I must admit that many of these phishing expeditions have raised my hackles, made my blood pressure go up, and raised my concern when what appears to be my bank or my Internet provider lets me know that my account has been compromised, that action needs to be taken, et cetera. So I can only imagine what a senior citizen who is perhaps new to email banking or email access, or another person who has not had a lot of sophisticated experience, experiences when this happens. The hon. member's comments underscore the importance of taking quick action.
I also agree that after this bill, which is a good start but does not go far enough, we need to go further. We need to taken international action. We need to co-operate. One would have thought that $1.1 billion for the G8 summit would have resulted in meaningful things including this kind of activity where we actually start to show effective co-operation on issues that are important to Canadians.