Erin O'Toole

[Coastal Fisheries Protection Act, September 18th, 2014]

Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank my colleague, the member for Cardigan, for his speech here in the House today. There was a lot of history to his speech. He talked about long past triumphs, so I have to talk about my personal history.

When I was in the air force, I had the pleasure of serving on HMCS St. John's and actually participating in some of our fisheries enforcement measures, along with fisheries officers who would come on the ship. Our Sea King crew would be on the Flemish Cap patrolling our exclusive economic zone. We saw some of those trawlers out there. It is important that we enforce our sovereignty.

We support the industry. I have a personal history that keeps me passionate, and that is why I support Bill S-3 fully.

I have two questions for the hon. member. The first one is based on the port state measures agreement. Does he not agree that it is important for Canada to be part of that and to update global definitions related to fishing vessels, fishing, and that sort of thing, to make sure we address the modern fleets out there?

Second, the member spoke a lot about our small fishermen. These are some of the hardest working Canadians. I have seen them first-hand. Does he not recognize that our European trade agreement presents the most exciting opportunity for Atlantic Canada in a generation? Tariff rates in the double digits would drop for the lobster and mussels that I know his province sells well. Is that not a boon for our industry?

[Royal Canadian Navy, June 20th, 2014]

Mr. Speaker, it is my pleasure to rise in the House today to wish the Royal Canadian Navy, in particular the submariners of our navy, a happy anniversary for 100 years of service to Canada.

Last week I had the honour of representing our Minister of National Defence in Halifax for the opening of the new submarine maintenance facility, a $52-million investment by our government to maintain the Victoria class submarine.

It was named after Captain Bernard Leitch Johnson, a pioneer of submarine service here in Canada, and veteran of World Wars I and II. He won the Distinguished Service Order for saving his crew from a mine strike.

The bravery and service of our navy continues to today, and I have to note my classmate, Lieutenant Chris Saunders, who died in the service of Canada aboard HMCS Chicoutimi in 2004 off of Ireland.

The service and sacrifice of our submariners is appreciated and admired. I wish them a Dolphin code 38, and from a former Sea King navigator, a Dolphin code 25B. Submariners will know what that means.

They remain ready, aye, ready for Canada, and I thank them for their service.

[Committees of the House, June 18th, 2014]

Mr. Speaker, I have the honour to present, in both official languages, the second report of the Standing Committee on International Trade, entitled “Canada-European Union Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement”.

Pursuant to Standing Order 109, the committee requests that the government table a comprehensive response to this report.

[Tourism in Durham Region, June 18th, 2014]

Mr. Speaker, this week is tourism week in Canada, and I would like to invite Canadians to join the Durham Region in all we have to offer this summer.

We have arts. The Visual Arts Centre of Clarington is celebrating our artists, and there is the META4 Gallery of contemporary craft in Port Perry.

We have sports, from Wooden Sticks and Coppinwood, world class courses in the north, to Kedron Dells in the south. We have Treetop Eco-Adventure Park, allowing people to do obstacles on the well-known Oak Ridges Moraine.

We have history, with Scugog Shores Historical Museum, Bowmanville Museum, and Lucy Maud Montgomery House, where she penned 11 of her novels.

Kids will love Durham for the animals: Bowmanville Zoo, the Oshawa Zoo, and Exotic Cat World, some of the best places in Canada for seeing animals.

We have wine from the Ocala Orchard Farm Winery and Archibald's winery, and one can match this with some of our world-class produce from the White Feather Farms, Pingle's Farm Market, Watson Farms, and Knox Pumpkin Farm.

I invite Canadians to come to Durham this summer, enjoy all we have to offer, and have a safe and happy summer.

[High School Graduations, June 17th, 2014]

Mr. Speaker, it is graduation time in high schools across Canada, and I want to rise to mark this milestone in the life of our young people.

First, I would like to thank our teachers: the teachers, in Durham, Clarington, Scugog, and Uxbridge, for their dedication and mentorship to our young people.

I would like to congratulate the graduates on this achievement and wish them well as they embark on the path to college, university, or the workforce.

I would like to highlight three exceptional young leaders from Durham: Mitchell Wootton, from Holy Trinity Catholic School in Courtice, winner of the TD Scholarship for Community Leadership and the Schulich Leadership Scholarship, an academic and peer leader, headed to engineering at Queen's University; Callen Hageman, from Uxbridge Secondary School, winner of the prestigious Loran Scholarship for his academic and leadership potential, also headed to engineering at Queen's University; Keira Royle, from Clarington Central Secondary School, for her academic work and her advocacy for mental health with young people, headed to the University of Windsor.

Congratulations on these achievements, and continue to strive for excellence in the future.

[International Trade, June 11th, 2014]

Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank my colleague from the trade committee for that multiple-choice test he is seeming to give. The real answer is what trade deal has the NDP stood in the House to support? The answer to that question is none of the above. We are here to grow jobs for Canadians, including import and exports to China, and we look forward to a decision. The courts are moving forward on this agreement.

[International Trade, June 11th, 2014]

Mr. Speaker, as the member well knows, the FIPA with China will give a lot of Canadian exporters and companies many of the same protections that Chinese operators in Canada already have. It is about evening and levelling the playing field, helping one in five jobs attributable to trade continue. As for the court case, we will not comment on that at this time.

[Retirement Congratulations, June 10th, 2014]

Mr. Speaker, I rise to pay tribute to a great leader from our community in Durham, a leader who also happens to be my father, John O'Toole. He is retiring this week, after 19 years as our member of provincial Parliament.

While raising a family of five children and working 31 years at General Motors, he was always active in our community, ultimately becoming school trustee, local councillor, regional councillor, and then MPP in 1995. In the government of Mike Harris, he served as the parliamentary assistant to the minister of finance, the late Jim Flaherty, and to the minister health, who is now our President of the Treasury Board.

He served with great distinction, and the families of Durham will be truly thankful for his work as an advocate and a champion for our community. He was the iron man of the legislature and spoke in the House more than any other member. I will have to serve 50 years in this House to have as many appearances in Hansard as my father.

He remains a personal inspiration to me. I thank my dad for his public service, and I wish him and my mom a happy and healthy retirement.

[70th Anniversary of D-Day, June 9th, 2014]

Mr. Speaker, last week I was honoured to be one of the parliamentarians to accompany nearly 100 Canadian veterans as we returned to France for the 70th commemoration of the landings of D-Day and the wider Battle of Normandy. Over 14,000 Canadians served, and 5,000 paid the ultimate sacrifice.

We visited hallowed ground like Juno Beach and the Abbaye D'Ardenne. I was inspired by the veterans I met, including Thomas Wheler, an RCAF Spitfire pilot, who spent part of the war as a prisoner of war, and Francis Goodon, an aboriginal veteran from Manitoba, who travelled to France with his son, also a veteran. He served in the Winnipeg Rifles and landed literally metres from where the Juno Beach Centre now stands.

I was also happy to see hundreds of Canadian youth from across our country on Juno Beach for the 70th anniversary, including high schools like Clarington Central Secondary School and Clarke High School in my riding. That way, we showed that Canadian youth will indeed hold the torch high.

Lest we forget.

[Veterans Hiring Act, June 2nd, 2014]

Mr. Speaker, I was an officer at 12 Wing Shearwater 17 years ago when this hon. member was elected. I enjoyed meeting him. I know he has a passion for veterans. I have spoken about his passion for veterans in this House, so his unparliamentary language directed at me is disappointing.

The very concerns I have raised here tonight, I have raised with Mike Blais and Jerry Kovacs directly. They are nice guys. I get along with them. What I have said to them and to any group that wants to advocate is they have to be an independent and sincere voice. They should hold the government's feet to the fire. That is the job of an advocacy organization.

However, they have to maintain that independence. My concern was when I heard that those members worked out of offices in Sackville—Eastern Shore and of the member for Toronto Agincourt at the time, which I said to them was inappropriate. They should also reveal their funding sources and their memberships, and hold an AGM, like any regular group.

I meet with veterans organizations all the time. A lot of them have serious concerns. However, they have to be serious advocates.

My question is for that hon. member, who I know is passionate. He seems to suggest that the organization really just charges a chair in his office. Is the member telling this House today that that group, and Mr. Blais, have never used the phones and the computers in that office, have never had meetings in that office, and do not hold security passes or parking passes for the office of the MP for Sackville—Eastern Shore?

If they do, I think that is highly inappropriate for a group that should be an independent advocate.

However, I am glad the member is here, because he can clarify whether any security passes and all these sorts of things, the trappings of an office, were supplied to that group.