Dan Harris

[Petitions, November 23rd, 2012]

Mr. Speaker, it is my honour today to present a petition signed by dozens of Canadians, among hundreds who have signed this petition.

The petitioners note that the Oshawa Port Authority has given permission to FarmTech Energy to build an ethanol producing plant on Oshawa harbour front on Crown land adjacent to sensitive wetlands containing species at risk, a wildlife preserve and a provincial park.

They call for, among other things, to divest the federal port authority to the City of Oshawa, to halt the construction of the ethanol facility, to instruct that public hearings be held and that a complete environmental assessment be conducted at the site and surrounding areas.

[Ethics, November 23rd, 2012]

Mr. Speaker, once again, he skips and tiptoes around the questions.

This is an obvious shell game. A list of phantom donors was created, with half a million dollars donated to a sleeper Conservative Montreal riding association, then that money was transferred out to other Conservative ridings across Quebec. Who organized the event where all these dirty shenanigans happened? It was a senator, Leo Housakos, appointed by the Prime Minister.

Has Senator Housakos explained this scheme to his caucus colleagues and will they now tell the House what he said?

[Ethics, November 23rd, 2012]

Mr. Speaker, I wish the member would quit skipping over the questions.

This one is pretty simple. Conservatives used the good names of people to funnel money into their countless campaigns. Take Rocco Carbone. Elections Canada had him listed as a $666 Conservative donor. However, what does Mr. Carbone say? “I never gave no money to no party”.

Is this just another Conservative dirty trick used to circumvent the election law, or are they suggesting that Mr. Carbone and others just forgot they supported the Conservatives?

[Taxation, November 21st, 2012]

Mr. Speaker, the Conservatives seem to be in love with making things up, so let us add some facts.

Fact: less is being collected in corporate taxes for the past four years than the first year they took power. Fact: for the past four years they have collected more income tax than when they took power. Fact: since they took power, the Conservatives have collected $47 billion in user fees from Canadians.

What is the Conservatives' excuse for their attack on the middle class? It is make-believe policies and fabricated committee records. When the member for Beauce got caught being spoon-fed untrue pabulum, he did not even seem to care. It must be so nice to live in the Conservative land of make-believe, insulated from the problems of the real world and surrounded by puppets. Canadians do not have that luxury.

Instead of making things up, will the next member please tell Canadians why the government is taking money away from middle-class families and giving it to—

[The Environment, November 8th, 2012]

Mr. Speaker, the Muskoka minister made sure that his lakes and rivers were protected in the budget, just not other important waterways that support recreation and fishing.

The Bowmanville Creek in the riding of Durham is a great example. The creek has recently seen salmon stocks improve due to local efforts. Sadly, the Conservatives' new budget bill would remove protection from this waterway. Bridges and impediments would go through without federal review.

Why did the Conservatives abandon the protection of this waterway?

[Birthday Congratulations, November 8th, 2012]

Mr. Speaker, it is my great privilege to rise today to pay tribute to Stephen Lewis on the occasion of his 75th birthday on November 11. I am very proud to follow in the footsteps of New Democrats. like Stephen Lewis, who have represented my community. Stephen was the MPP for Scarborough West for 15 years, 8 of them as leader of the Ontario NDP.

Among his many accomplishments, Stephen served as Canada's ambassador to the United Nations and the UN's Special Envoy for HIV/AIDS in Africa, work that he continues today through the Stephen Lewis Foundation. Anyone who has heard him speak knows of his oratory skills and mastery of the English language. They also know of his passion: his passion for Africa; his passion for women's rights and equality; and his passion for a just society.

On behalf of the official opposition and, indeed, all New Democrats, I wish Stephen Lewis a happy 75th birthday and I extend our best wishes for many more to come.

[Jobs and Growth Act, 2012, October 29th, 2012]

Mr. Speaker, following up on the point that my colleague raised, Mr. Prentice made his comments in response to the Speech from the Throne.

The Speech from the Throne actually did say that the government would put a price on carbon, and that price was $65 a tonne. If we take the total output, that would actually mean a $45 billion tax on carbon, which is more than double what the entire Conservative caucus is saying we are pitching.

How do we square that circle?

[Jobs and Growth Act, 2012, October 29th, 2012]

Mr. Speaker, like the member, I was also troubled when I heard those comments from RIM at the industry committee.

I want to talk about another aspect of science and technology and Canada's satellite industry. In the first budget of the year we were expecting to see money for the final phase of development of the RADARSAT constellation mission, which is Canada's crown jewel of our satellite program. The money was not there. Now we have part 2 of the budget and the money is still not there.

We have had 31 job cuts at COM DEV, which is a large subcontractor. We have had hundreds of job losses at MacDonald, Dettwiler and Associates. These are scientists and engineers losing their jobs because of the instability created by the government.

Tying into what the member said about the NRC and scientists and all the changes being made, does he have a comment to make about what kind of impact that has on our high tech industries?

[Jobs and Growth Act, 2012, October 29th, 2012]

Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank the hon. member for her remarks.

She talked about respect, which is a fundamental theme. Parliament and Canadians need to be respected and they need to be informed about everything that is in Canada's budget.

In addition, as a result of this second omnibus bill, parliamentarians will surely not have enough time to talk about everything that is in the budget.

I want to ask about the impact that these changes to pensions in particular would have on young people. We have a change in pensions, going from 65 to 67, and in the public sector, from 60 to 65. It would mean for young people it would take longer to get into the market because they would have to work longer and work later in life as well.

Could my colleague give us her thoughts on the impact the budget would have on young people for decades to come?

[Science and Technology, October 25th, 2012]

RADARSAT?