House of Commons photoWon his last election, in 2025, with 65% of the vote.
Ethics May 24th, 2013
Mr. Speaker, it is obvious that the Prime Minister and his cabinet plan to support the report on Mike Duffy even though everyone knows it has been whitewashed.
Asking Senators Tkachuk and Stewart Olsen to go over the report is a joke. The Prime Minister has an ethical choice to make here and now: carry on with a corrupt process or support the open, transparent and legitimate disclosure of the facts.
What choice is he going to make for Canadians?
Questions on the Order Paper May 10th, 2013
With regard to the Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade and all Canadian missions since January 1, 2008: (a) has there been a gap of more than two months between the departure of an existing Ambassador and the arrival of the replacement; (b) in how many cases has the department had to send departmental officers or former officers hired on contract to fill in these gaps; (c) what has been the cost of these temporary deployments; and (d) what was the cause of each of these gaps?
Questions on the Order Paper May 10th, 2013
With regard to the Minister of Citizenship, Immigration and Multiculturalism’s visit to Iraq: (a) what is the complete list of everyone who accompanied the Minister; (b) what was the time, date, location and nature of all government business conducted by the Minister; and (c) what was the total cost of this trip, including but not limited to, airline tickets, accommodations, meals and security for the Minister and everyone who accompanied him?
Business of Supply May 9th, 2013
Mr. Speaker, I listened with interest to my colleague's speech and I think I heard him say that the money would appear, that somehow it is going to materialize. That is interesting. We will wait to see how that all works out. However, I would like to ask him a question about money that we know exactly how it was spent, and that is money that relates to government advertising. I would like him and his colleagues to listen for a second and then explain how he can justify this when looking into the eyes of his constituents.
The government has erected 9,000 billboards at a cost of $29 million. It is running economic action plans now on an annual basis at about $100 million a year. It spent $23 million doing media monitoring for 60% of the backbench MPs in the Conservative caucus. It is spending $90,000 per advertisement on each and every ad during the hockey playoff series. That alone would pay for 40 to 50 additional summer student jobs. Can the member and other members of the Conservative caucus, who I am sure are ashamed of this, explain to Canadians how this is possibly defensible given the situation we are in now economically?
Petitions May 9th, 2013
Mr. Speaker, I am rising today pursuant to Standing Order 36 to table a petition signed by local residents who are urging the government to impose a moratorium on genetically modified alfalfa.
There has yet to be a transparent process established to determine the genetics, preservation or production of GM organisms, nor are there any measures for establishing the possibility of co-existence or cross-contamination or for appropriate mechanisms for transportation.
I am pleased to table this petition. I look forward to the government's response.
Taxation May 3rd, 2013
Mr. Speaker, in 2006, the government increased taxes on Canada's poorest people, but it did so on the sly. The Conservatives are surreptitiously digging into middle-class Canadians' pocketbooks in order to pay down the deficit. They have increased the tax on EI, which is generating billions of dollars. They have increased taxes on many everyday items.
Why are the Conservatives so bent on increasing taxes while reducing the front-line services that are so important to the middle class?
Taxation May 2nd, 2013
Mr. Speaker, small businesses got hit with a $2.3 billion tax hike in budget 2013.
To help them cope, the Conservatives are slashing the Canada Revenue Agency's business assistance program. The budget will force victims of violent crimes to pay GST on medical records they need for court. Meanwhile the Conservatives have slashed border services programs, like the K-9 units, that help stop guns and drugs at our borders.
Why are everyday Canadians being forced to pay higher taxes for fewer of their cherished public services?
Taxation May 2nd, 2013
Mr. Speaker, Canadians will pay nearly $2 billion more this year because of increased EI premiums.
Meanwhile, the Conservatives have closed every youth employment centre in the country. The Conservatives' tariff hikes mean that Canadians will pay more for hundreds of everyday items. At the same time, they have lost the protection of search and rescue centres on both coasts.
Why are the Conservatives forcing middle-class families to pay more taxes while receiving fewer services in return?
Strengthening Military Justice in the Defence of Canada Act April 29th, 2013
Mr. Speaker, our role and our obligation as members of Parliament in the House is to seize every available opportunity to try to make a positive contribution, which is precisely what we are doing today.
It is simply too important to be, in my view, tangled up in procedural wrangling. This is an appeal to the Government of Canada, and particularly the Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada, who as I alluded to earlier I believe is in breach of his own code of ethics, his own responsibilities as a member of the bar.
We are saying that we can get this better on behalf of the men and women in the Canadian Forces. We owe it to them.
Strengthening Military Justice in the Defence of Canada Act April 29th, 2013
Mr. Speaker, I will try to take those in order.
First, if the Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of National Defence is now saying that the Liberal Party's amendments would pass in the committee, we should have that discussion. However, given the actual behaviour of the government in the last several years, amendments in committee never see the light of day because, with all due respect to my good colleague from Ajax—Pickering, he has no authority here. All the shots are being called by the Prime Minister's office.
Second, with respect to looking to other judicial traditions, the member is either not a lawyer or is disparaging of the Baltic States, of a 1,000-year-old legal tradition. I am not prepared to disparage Lithuanian legal jurisprudence.
Of course we stand on our own two feet. Of course Canada is a wonderful contributor. However, we look to other jurisdictions because we admit our limitations and we know there are really good valuable lessons to be had in other jurisdictions.