Dan Harris

[Points of Order, April 9th, 2014]

Mr. Speaker, during question period, after the Minister of the Environment answered a question by the member for Churchill, the Minister of International Trade made an inappropriate gesture, making a gun with his hand while saying “boom” in the direction of the member for Churchill.

I am sure that every member would agree that this gesture has no place in the House of Commons, and I would like to ask the minister to apologize.

[Economic Action Plan 2014 Act, No. 1, April 8th, 2014]

Mr. Speaker, there are, as the member mentioned, some disagreements on some of the changes. There is the new health transfer, which was put in place without any negotiation with the provinces.

However, I want to raise an issue that rural and suburban students are facing. I would like to ask the member what he would say to the students in his riding about this. Why did the government eliminate the $5,000 vehicle exemption credit for students who are seeking student assistance, which is actually going to make life more difficult and make education less affordable for students in riding like his?

I just want to pass along a statistic. Students who live 40 kilometres to 80 kilometres from a post-secondary institution are 31% less likely to attend an institution. For students in ridings like his, with rural and suburban areas, what would the member say to them about that cut?

[Economic Action Plan 2014 Act, No. 1, April 8th, 2014]

Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague for her speech. Certainly it segued nicely into what I want to talk about, which is, of course, young Canadians and students.

We have already heard about the crushing unemployment that youth are facing, and now we have the cancellation of the small business hiring tax credit. However, something else is also happening to young people, and it has not been discussed yet.

For some odd reason, the government decided to cancel the $5,000 vehicle exemption that students would get when they applied for student loans. This will make life much more difficult and education less affordable and accessible for rural and suburban students in particular.

Statistics show that if we live between 40 and 80 kilometres away from a post-secondary education institute, we are 31% less likely to attend. Now, with the cancellation of the vehicle exemption of $5,000 that students used to be able to put against their student loans, students will face larger costs in attending school. That applies in particular for a school like U of T Scarborough Campus, which is in my colleague's riding.

[Canadian Women's Hockey Tribute, April 2nd, 2014]

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to invite all Scarberians to a very special event this Saturday to congratulate and honour our homegrown Olympic hero, Natalie Spooner. Natalie was a key member of our women's hockey team in Sochi, where she and her teammates made us all so proud, not only winning the gold medal but displaying their tenacity, grit, and determination in staging one of the greatest comebacks in Olympic history. All of Scarborough is so proud of Natalie, and I am honoured to be co-hosting a very special tribute this Saturday, April 5, at Scarborough Village Arena. I encourage everyone to join us at noon to celebrate with Natalie.

The day will be capped off when Natalie joins us for a free family skate from 1 to 3 p.m. We are partnered with 41 and 43 divisions of the Toronto police and their outstanding skate donation program. I ask everyone to come on down and donate their old skates so that we can make sure that every kid who joins us can lace up skates and show Natalie how we are all Scarborough proud.

[Business of Supply, April 1st, 2014]

Mr. Speaker, as it is the first time I have risen after the speech by our colleague, the member for Scarborough—Agincourt, I would like to congratulate him on his more than 25 years of service to the House and for being such a strong defender of Scarborough and of his constituents. I wish him luck in his future endeavours and much happiness with his family.

On today's debate, I just heard the member say that he would have liked the government to have come forward with a stronger blueprint in regard to the use of the Challenger jets by the government and by the Prime Minister. Of course, with opposition motions, we collectively, as a House, try to make the determination that the government should provide that clearer blueprint in the future.

Of course the jets should not be used to transport anyone other than those required for the safety and security of the Prime Minister and his family. I would like to ask the member if he actually has any suggestions to give the government in regard to how we could offer better transparency and accountability with regard to the use of the Challenger jets.

[The Conservative Party of Canada, March 26th, 2014]

Mr. Speaker, last night, disturbing new reports surfaced about troubling activities involving senior Conservative operatives and a new federal riding.

The member for Mississauga—Brampton South went to the riding association meeting for Oakville North Burlington on March 19, uninvited.

Members of the executive asked her to leave. When she refused, they called the police. Out in the hallway, though, to back her up, was none other than Conservative Party boss Dimitri Soudas. Quickly followed were allegations that the member threatened to use information in the Conservative Party database against members of the riding association.

When a Conservative organizer complained about this incident, Mr. Soudas had him fired.

All members from all parties should treat party volunteers and staff with respect, and allow democratic, contested nominations to play out fairly.

[Energy Safety and Security Act, March 25th, 2014]

Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague for his speech.

He just spoke about ministerial discretion, which is in the bill. However, he did not really have an opportunity to say why we should perhaps be concerned about these types of discretionary powers.

Could taxpayers in the ridings of Drummond and Scarborough Southwest be obliged to pay more if the minister decided that $1 billion was too much in a given situation?

[Democratic Reform, March 7th, 2014]

Mr. Speaker, top election experts were crystal clear yesterday that the minister's bill is based on make-believe and fearmongering. His plan to unilaterally end all use of the voter information card is not based on any evidence of voter fraud whatsoever.

In 2011, 73% of the electors who voted in seniors residences and long-term care facilities cast their votes using their voter information cards. Now, that is as many as 800,000 seniors.

Why is the minister so hell-bent on disenfranchising hundreds of thousands of seniors?

[Canada-Honduras Economic Growth and Prosperity Act, March 6th, 2014]

You guys failed and the Conservatives felt the impact.

[Ethics, February 25th, 2014]

Mr. Speaker, Canadians were shocked to learn today that staff members of the Prime Minister's Office have literally been eating their lunches. Treasury Board guidelines only allow for paid lunches outside of working hours, but in just three years, PMO operatives spent almost $68,000 on weekly staff lunches, claiming free lunches in violation of Treasury Board guidelines.

Average folks enjoy going to Boston Pizza, but they do not charge up $7,724 and then ask taxpayers to pick up the tab.

We even have a letter from the office of Nigel Wright, the very model of PMO fiscal integrity, stating “Your dependability, professionalism, and especially the delicious food have been greatly appreciated over the past two and a half years”.

Another restaurant encouraged patrons to “order the Prime Minister's favourite dish”.

Canadians are also big fans of local restaurants, but regular people do not try to get hard-working Canadian taxpayers to pay for their lunch.