Claude Gravelle

[BUSINESS OF SUPPLY, May 21st, 2013]

Mr. Chair, could the minister list the first nations communities he or his senior officials have met with in conjunction with the Ring of Fire?

[BUSINESS OF SUPPLY, May 21st, 2013]

Mr. Chair, I hope the minister can answer the questions.

Could the minister list the companies that he or his senior officials have met with in conjunction with the Ring of Fire development?

[BUSINESS OF SUPPLY, May 21st, 2013]

Mr. Chair, how many Ring of Fire Secretariat meetings has the minister attended?

[BUSINESS OF SUPPLY, May 21st, 2013]

Mr. Chair, I will be using my full 15 minutes for questions.

Does the Department of Natural Resources have a seat at the Ring of Fire Secretariat?

[BUSINESS OF SUPPLY, May 21st, 2013]

Mr. Chair, my questions are for the minister, and he is not here.

[Citizenship and Immigration, May 21st, 2013]

Mr. Speaker, it is time to get rid of the Senate, that is what time it is.

The more time passes, the more the residents of northern Ontario feel betrayed by the Conservatives, who, in addition to moving services to Toronto and Ottawa, are also cutting funding to crucial organizations that help francophone permanent residents and refugees settle in francophone communities in northern Ontario.

This translates into fewer workers, fewer jobs and less assistance to francophone refugees.

Why are the Conservatives once again going after francophones in northern Ontario?

[Petitions, May 10th, 2013]

Mr. Speaker, it is an honour for me today to present a petition from dozens and dozens of people from Gogama and Sturgeon Falls in my riding. The petition asks the Minister of Health and the House of Commons to pass Bill C-356, an act respecting a national dementia strategy.

As baby boomers are getting older and older, dementia is becoming a bigger problem in Canada. Petitioners are asking the government to do something about what is happening with dementia patients right now.

While I am on my feet, I would like to congratulate the member for Edmonton—Leduc for his statement today on dementia.

[Labour, May 10th, 2013]

Mr. Speaker, the government has been nasty with science and statistical evidence. Now it is mistreating the people collecting the evidence.

I have 200 statistical survey operations staff in Sturgeon Falls, part of 1,500 across Canada who have been without a contract for over a year. These workers are important to our local economics. Their hours are cut. They lose their jobs, and they lose income, benefits and pensions. Why is the government so dug in and so unfair to these workers?

[By-election in Labrador, May 10th, 2013]

Mr. Speaker, I was recently in the magnificent big land of Labrador. Meeting Harry Borlase reminds me of what it has been like to work with the young, new members of Parliament in the official opposition caucus. Like them, he is bright, energetic, eloquent and passionate about our country.

Harry Borlase understands that politics are about the people of Labrador. He is no climate change denier. His education covers polar law and climate adaptation policy. His work on northern resource development and sustainable environment technology will serve our future well. He is a fresh wind blowing across the old school of politics, with its backrooms and no accountability. Steelworkers at the Wabush mines support him because he is fighting for working people. Labrador will enjoy a new generation of honest, accountable, grassroots representation.

I look forward to working with Harry Borlase here in the House of Commons.

[Business of Supply, May 9th, 2013]

Mr. Speaker, that is what we are up against. They will say or do anything to keep Canadians from knowing what the real numbers are.