House of Commons photoLost his last election, in 2015, with 31% of the vote.
Aviation Safety March 18th, 2010
Mr. Speaker, in its report on the crash of a medevac flight at Sandy Bay, Saskatchewan, the Transport Safety Board said that the department was so busy getting out of safety oversight that it really did not know what was going on with the airline involved. The problem is that inspectors must be inspecting, not checking paperwork.
Will the minister put the inspectors back in the field, right now, ensuring the safety of all Canadians when we fly across this great country?
Aviation Safety March 18th, 2010
Mr. Speaker, on Tuesday the government acknowledged that it was wrong for leaving safety in the hands of business jet owners. I am glad they are taking back the responsibility for safety, something the NDP and safety advocates have been pushing for, for many years.
However, most Canadians do not fly on business jets but on major carriers like Air Canada and WestJet, where Transport Canada has also gotten out of the safety business.
Will the minister do for the major carriers what he has done for business aircraft and take back responsibility for safety?
Resumption of Debate on Address in Reply March 11th, 2010
Mr. Speaker, having sat with my colleague on the natural resources committee in the previous Parliament, I know of her concern about the environment. I enjoy very much her dedication in that direction.
When it comes to the throne speech and the budget, the Conservatives have been greatly lacking in new policy on climate change. It may be because of the failures of some of the climate change ideas they came up with in the past. We could speak to the ethanol and biofuels policy that was put in place which has turned out to be a complete and utter waste of time and effort.
We have seen the failure of the cellulosic ethanol proposal and the fact that these things are just not working. We can then move on to the carbon sequestration process. Once again, the Conservatives put forward huge dollars in this process but nobody wants to take it up because it is not working. It is not going to be effective.
Could one of the major reasons why the Conservative government has not brought forward anything on climate change this time around is that its bad ideas have run out and it does not have any new bad ideas to give us?
THE BUDGET March 9th, 2010
Madam Speaker, I thank my colleague for an excellent presentation on the environmental issues that are key within the budget document and how they impact on our society and on the way we will do business in the future. It is quite clear that we cannot let this happen in the fashion that it is with the degradation of the environmental process.
Coming from a region of the country that I do where the sensitivity of the environment is so high, we cannot afford to see this kind of action take place.
I would like my colleague to elaborate more on how she sees the direction that the government is taking on the environment and how we need to stand up to that direction.
Aviation Safety March 5th, 2010
Mr. Speaker, yesterday Canadians learned that the government has secretly agreed to participate in the U.S. secure flight program. So, before Canadians can board an aircraft in Canada, even if they are flying to another Canadian destination, their private and personal information will be shared with the United States and that country will determine if Canadians can fly on Canadian flights.
In November 2008, just before they prorogued for the first time, the Conservatives assured the House that the secure flight program would not apply to Canadian domestic flights. The government then told the House that the U.S. had indicated the secure flight program would be exempt for countries with a comparable security system. This was in response to a tame question from the government's own benches.
I am not going to suggest there is anything really fishy going on here, but I can assure Canadians that our aviation security system is as good as the one in the U.S. Why the flip-flop? Why was this never brought before the House for debate?
Is the government as contemptuous for the privacy rights of Canadians as it has shown contempt for democracy? Why are Conservatives hiding?
The Budget March 5th, 2010
Mr. Speaker, I want to thank my colleague, the leader of the Liberal Party, for his rendition on the budget.
He said that there were two distinct visions in this Parliament. That suggests to me that he may be changing the fiscal policy of the Liberal Party as well. We see what the Conservatives are doing by continuing the corporate tax breaks, continuing the change in the basic revenue-generating capacity of the government onto the people, moving it away from the corporations, the banks and the people who are exploiting our natural resources that create profit.
Does this mean the Liberal leader's vision of the fiscal development of our country is somehow different than the Conservatives, that on the largest item within this budget the greatest difference between those two parties is no difference at all? Is that correct?
Provincial Choice Tax Framework Act December 8th, 2009
Madam Speaker, the study that came out yesterday, for which we had waited quite awhile, examined the impacts on the environment of the air emissions that fell onto the ground from the tar sands, fell into the snow pack. The estimation is that the air emissions from the tar sands plants are the equivalent of a major oil spill every year in the region. The polycyclic aromatic compounds that are released into the atmosphere and then fall onto the snow and the ground end up in the water stream and end up in my constituency. I have a great deal of concern about it, and I am glad the hon. member has spoken up on this issue.
On the issue of the responsibility of the federal government towards Aboriginal people in our country, how does the fact that we are ramming this legislation through in such a hurry speak to the fiduciary responsibility of the Government of Canada to first nations in B.C. and Ontario?
Provincial Choice Tax Framework Act December 8th, 2009
I grew up in that area. We called them tar sands long ago and I will continue to call them tar sands.
Provincial Choice Tax Framework Act December 8th, 2009
Madam Speaker, I would like to stand up and speak because I live on the river system directly north of the tar sands.
Provincial Choice Tax Framework Act December 8th, 2009
Mr. Speaker, my colleague's speech was very interesting. She spoke of all the issues around real people.
She mentioned some of the issues that were brought up by the first nations. It is my understanding that the Government of Ontario has actually tried to get the federal government to allow an exemption from the HST for point of sale purchases as there is now for the provincial sales tax, but the federal government has refused to do so.
Could my hon. colleague shed any illumination on why the federal government is taking a hard line against aboriginal people on reserves in Ontario and B.C.?