David Sweet

[Foreign Affairs, November 18th, 2010]

Mr. Speaker, before his constituents kicked him out of office in the U.K., George Galloway was videotaped giving fistfuls of cash to the terrorist group Hamas, yet York University rolled out the red carpet for him.

What is worse, the National Post is reporting that York's president is threatening to sue a Jewish rabbi who organized a successful protest against Galloway's speech.

Would the minister remind York's administration that Jewish rabbis still have freedom of speech in Canada? Will he remind him that articles 7, 22 and 32 of the Hamas charter are not and never will be the law of this land?

[Statistics Act, November 5th, 2010]

Mr. Speaker, I am delightfully surprised that the member brought faith into the conversation on the census. I would like to make sure for the record what she mentioned in history:

And it came to pass in those days, that there went out a decree from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be taxed.

I think that this possibly reveals a secret agenda of the Liberal Party and the Leader of the Opposition, where the Liberals want to force people to do the census in order to raise the GST, in order to raise corporate taxes. It is exactly why they want to compel people to do this. It was Caesar who first forced it, and forced people to travel miles and miles to do it.

I would like to ask the member, is that what the Liberals are trying to do, actually make sure that they can tax people more efficiently?

[Committees of the House, November 3rd, 2010]

Mr. Speaker, I have the honour to present, in both official languages, the 10th report of the Standing Committee on Industry, Science and Technology. In accordance with its order of reference of Tuesday, October 18, the committee has considered Bill C-28, An Act to promote the efficiency and adaptability of the Canadian economy by regulating certain activities that discourage reliance on electronic means of carrying out commercial activities, and to amend the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission Act, the Competition Act, the Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act and the Telecommunications Act, Fighting Internet and Wireless Spam Act, and agreed, on Tuesday, November 2, to report it with amendments.

[Committees of the House, November 1st, 2010]

Mr. Speaker, I have the honour to present, in both official languages, the ninth report of the Standing Committee on Industry, Science and Technology, in accordance with its order of reference on Wednesday, March 3, 2010.

Your committee has considered Bill C-393, An Act to amend the Patent Act (drugs for international humanitarian purposes) and to make a consequential amendment to another Act and agreed on Monday, November 1, 2010, to report it, with amendments.

[Immigration, October 29th, 2010]

Mr. Speaker, last week we introduced tough legislation that would prevent human smugglers from abusing our immigration system. Canadians want to know what the Liberal Party's position is on human smuggling. Yesterday the Liberal spokesman said that he would, “take the time to speak with experts and our caucus”.

Canadians want to know this. Will the Liberals support tough rules on human smuggling, or will they let human smugglers continue treating Canada as their doormat?

[Petitions, October 27th, 2010]

Mr. Speaker, I have the honour to present a petition signed by hundreds of individuals who are concerned that, although the Charter of Rights and Freedoms protects human life for decades, there has been no law protecting life before birth, and they are calling on the Parliament of Canada to do just that.

[Immigration, October 22nd, 2010]

Mr. Speaker, our government has a long and proud tradition of welcoming newcomers. Last year alone we welcomed almost one-quarter million new immigrants to this country.

Through the Balanced Refugee Reform Act introduced last year, we committed to resettle 2,500 more refugees and increased their funding by 20%. It is obvious that Canada is a generous and compassionate country, but Canadians are not naive and are not pushovers.

Yesterday our government introduced the preventing newcomers from abusing Canada's generosity bill. This tough but fair bill would give law enforcement officials the tools they need to crack down on human smugglers and ensure the safety and security of Canadians.

The Peel Tamil Community Centre released a statement yesterday congratulating our government on this bill stating, “We are pleased to see the Government taking...action to deter human smugglers”.

Cultural groups across the country are congratulating and thanking our government for introducing this important bill. Why are the opposition parties so quick to criticize what so many Canadians think is an important and necessary policy?

[Committees of the House, October 20th, 2010]

Mr. Speaker, I have the honour to present, in both official languages, the eighth report of the Standing Committee on Industry, Science and Technology.

In accordance with its order of reference of Thursday, May 13, your committee has considered Bill C-14, An Act to amend the Electricity and Gas Inspection Act and the Weights and Measures Act, and agreed on Tuesday, October 19, to report it with amendments.

[The Economy, October 7th, 2010]

Mr. Speaker, Canadian families will be gathering this Thanksgiving weekend and there is no doubt the economy will be weighing on their minds. They are reading media stories and watching economic indicators that show the economic recovery remains fragile. They are feeling uneasy. The last thing they can afford right now is a tax increase.

That is why I am pleased that the Minister of Finance has led the way at home and abroad to keep a lid on taxes.

I want to congratulate the Prime Minister and the finance minister for working so hard at the G20 and on the international stage this summer to stop the global bank tax. It would place a crushing and unnecessary burden on our economic recovery.

I am also pleased that the minister announced last week that we will limit potential increases in EI premiums next year; this, despite how badly the EI surplus was raided by the previous government for its pet political projects.

Taxpayers across the land have an advocate in the finance minister, and this government and people in my riding are thankful for it.

[Aerospace Industry, September 29th, 2010]

Mr. Speaker, yesterday CEOs from some of Canada's leading aerospace companies held a news conference to tell Canadians of the economic benefits that will be generated from our government's investment in the F-35 aircraft program.

We heard that Canada's world-class aerospace industry is ready and willing to bid and win contracts for the global supply chain estimated at 5,000 planes. They also said thousands of jobs will be created and billions of dollars will be generated in benefits.

Can the Minister of Industry explain why the Liberal leader wants to put Canadian jobs and benefits to Canadian industry at risk by simply playing politics?