Bryan Hayes

[Finland, October 9th, 2014]

Mr. Speaker, today we have the sincerest pleasure of welcoming His Excellency Sauli Niinistö, President of the Republic of Finland, and his spouse Mrs. Jenni Haukio.

Canada and Finland have much in common. It is a bilingual northern parliamentary democracy and has a similar geography.

On the world stage, Canada and Finland have shared values. Both our countries are committed to advancing democracy, freedom, human rights and the rule of law around the world.

On the Arctic, our two countries maintain strong co-operation of the Arctic Council, as we address the most pressing issues in the region.

Our government looks forward to deepening our ties with Finland, particularly in the field of science, technology and trade.

[Employment, October 3rd, 2014]

Mr. Speaker, like their comrades in the NDP, the Liberals continue to aimlessly attack the government's overhaul of the temporary foreign worker program, which includes tougher penalties for abusers and reduces the use of the program.

Would the Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Employment and Social Development update this House on why the government overhauled the program and how this position differs from the Liberals'?

[Instruction to the Standing Committee on the Status of Women (violence against women), September 30th, 2014]

Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to make some closing comments on Motion No. 504 on the prevention of violence against women.

I would like to thank all members who spoke on my motion. Actually, it really is not my motion at all; it is the motion of my constituents, delivered by me as their representative. I am pleased with the unanimous support of moving this motion to committee.

I would like to pay special thanks to the member for Macleod and congratulate him on what may have been his first speech in the House. I am not really sure, but it could very well have been.

I want to reiterate the motive behind my choice of this topic for my private member's motion—the choice of my constituents.

In 2010, in my riding of Sault Ste. Marie, there were 258 criminal charges laid for domestic incidents. Each year, across Canada, more than 40,000 arrests result from domestic violence. Overall, men were responsible for 83% of police-reported violence against women.

As a man who believes in equality, I simply do not believe that violence by men against women and girls should be tolerated. It has become epidemic and shows no signs of slowing down.

There is so much more proactive intervention that could be done to minimize the chance of our children becoming violent offenders, so that the cycle of violence is broken.

I believe that if best practices and prevention are implemented at appropriate stages in an individual's life, then domestic violence can be dramatically reduced.

Before we can implement these best preventive measures, we must first determine that those best practices in education, social programs, and policies that exist in Canada that prevent violence against women are identified. By passage of this motion, that identification would be the task of the Standing Committee on the Status of Women.

I have heard from some opposition members that this motion would not go far enough and that we need to move beyond prevention. That may be the case; however, identification of best practices in prevention and implementation of those would be an integral part of any plan; so let us get that piece completed as soon as possible. As a matter of fact, I believe it is the most significant piece, as do the many groups I spoke with in my riding on whose behalf I table this motion.

As my honourable colleague the member for London North Centre stated so eloquently in her speech on the launch of my motion:

As we debate this motion here today, let us keep in mind how often women and girls are tragically denied the peace, safety, and comfort of a day without violence or just the threat of violence, which can be just as damaging.

I am proud to stand here today. There is no necessity for this to go to a standing vote. By a majority tonight, we could move this right to committee, and I would be more than happy to do that.

[Committees of the House, September 23rd, 2014]

The RCMP report—

[Committees of the House, September 23rd, 2014]

Mr. Speaker, I noticed my hon. colleague mentioned the 35-year span of approximately 1,200 murdered and missing aboriginal women, but what was not mentioned is that according to the RCMP reports, 88% of these murders have been solved.

We know from the report that 30% were murdered by their husbands, 23% by another family member and 30% by an acquaintance. Fully 88% of these cases have been solved.

We also know through the report that 44% of the murderers were under the influence, 74% of the murderers were unemployed, 71% already had a criminal record, 62% had a history of violence, and 62% had a history of violence with the specific murder victim herself.

I wonder if the hon. member can tell us what further questions would be answered by a public inquiry that our action plan will not address. What further questions would be answered by a public inquiry?

[Afghanistan, September 23rd, 2014]

Mr. Speaker, this past Sunday we learned that Afghanistan's leaders were able to put their differences aside to form a government of national unity. We congratulate the president-designate, Dr. Ashraf Ghani Ahmadzai, who yesterday moved decisively to confront Afghan corruption. We also congratulate his former rival, Abdullah Abdullah, who will assume the role as newly created chief executive. This agreement will bring about additional stability and prosperity to Afghanistan by ensuring that the new government will represent all Afghan citizens.

Our government welcomes and congratulates the people of Afghanistan in this historic transfer of power from one president to the next. Afghanistan still faces many challenges and the new government must be united in its efforts to address them. Our government stands ready to assist the new government in tackling these challenges.

[Taxation, September 19th, 2014]

Mr. Speaker, our government's low-tax plan is saving the average Canadian family nearly $3,400, but the Liberals voted against our tax cuts and against middle-class families. Now the leader of the Liberal Party has threatened to reverse income splitting. Seniors in Sault Ste. Marie will be outraged if they are forced to pay back their pension income-splitting savings.

Could the Minister for Democratic Reform please tell the House how the government will stand against the Liberal leader to protect seniors' hard-earned dollars?

[Petitions, June 12th, 2014]

Mr. Speaker, I rise to present a petition from several hundred people in my riding. The petitioners call upon the Government of Canada to intervene to ensure the promised protection of the Great Lakes and the Lake Superior watershed to sustain its vision, which I will not read, in the interest of time.

[Instruction to the Standing Committee on the Status of Women (violence against women), June 6th, 2014]

Mr. Speaker, yes, I consent to that change.

[Instruction to the Standing Committee on the Status of Women (violence against women), June 6th, 2014]

Mr. Speaker, in every facet of life, best practices are necessary. They speak to efficiencies in taxpayer-funded programs. Social service agencies are, in general, funded by the taxpayer. We want to make sure that the very best programs are in place. We do not want programs that do not work. I want the status of women committee to really have a close look at those programs that work efficiently, and hopefully we will adopt those Canada-wide.