Greg Thompson

[Veterans Affairs, June 1st, 2009]

Mr. Speaker, that very seldom happens in question period, but I thank all my colleagues for that standing ovation. When they are doing that, they are not saluting us; they are saluting our men and women in uniform. I thank every member for that.

With your permission, Mr. Speaker, and the co-operation of the House, I will introduce that bill following question period.

[Veterans Affairs, June 1st, 2009]

Mr. Speaker, I want to thank the chairman of veterans affairs committee and all members of committee on both sides of the House, who do such good work for our veterans and our men and women in uniform.

As the member indicated, it was the wrong thing to do in 1995, so we will restore those benefits to our allied veterans. It is the right thing to do for obvious reasons.

[Veterans Affairs, May 4th, 2009]

Mr. Speaker, I appreciate the member's concern because she has been with me on some of the things we are doing. She has been feet on the ground with me when we have announced some of our OSI clinics, which we have doubled across the country, and that is significant in itself. We are working very closely with our veterans organizations to identify these men and women.

One of the problems is that, by its nature, homelessness is very difficult to identify because many of these men and women suffer from alcoholism, drug dependency and other mental illnesses. We are there to help and will continue to do our best. I appreciate the member's interest.

[Veterans Affairs, April 30th, 2009]

Mr. Speaker, I agree that Robert Shankland was a Canadian hero and served his country well, there is no question about that.

We do have a number of measures in place to ensure that medals of historical significance do not leave the country. But, at the end of the day, as other governments have grappled with this as well in terms of the selling of these medals, it is really a balancing of interests between the Canadian public and the rights of owners. We are cognizant of that and we will do our best.

[Human Pathogens and Toxins Act, April 24th, 2009]

moved that Bill C-11, An Act to promote safety and security with respect to human pathogens and toxins, as amended, be concurred in.

[Points of Order, February 25th, 2009]

Mr. Speaker, I stand by my words. My colleagues saw the actions as well, and I invite them to get on their feet. I would expect more from the member, because many of her members came forward. They saw what she did. We all know what she did. She should be ashamed. She should stand in her place to apologize. I laid it out yesterday. There is no need for me to repeat it, but I invite members and colleagues to stand in their places and describe exactly what she did.

[Point of Order, February 24th, 2009]

Mr. Speaker, as you know, I have been around the House for a long time and not very often on my feet on a point of order, but what I witnessed during question period was unacceptable to every member of the House including, I am sure, members on the other side.

I am referring to the actions of the member of Parliament for St. Paul's. There is no question she was mimicking and mocking the Minister of State for Status of Women when the minister was responding to the question.

It was embarrassing to me. It was embarrassing to all colleagues on this side of the House and I am sure embarrassing to colleagues on the other side, although she did get a round of laughter from some of those surrounding her. However, it was totally unacceptable. It was demeaning to women. It was demeaning to anyone who enters public life and spends some time in this place. I have never seen that type of mocking ever on the floor of the House of Commons.

I believe the minister deserves an apology. All of us, who sat here watched that type of action, deserve an apology. It was totally unacceptable. It is beyond the pale and it is something I am ashamed to see being carried out on the floor of the House of Commons. I demand an apology from the member.

[Veterans Affairs, February 5th, 2009]

Mr. Speaker, this is an important issue. The member is referencing benefits that were taken away by a previous government, a Liberal government.

We are committed to that and we have told the veterans community that we will honour that commitment.

The interesting thing is that for all we have done for veterans, and I think the list is pretty long for the three years that we have been here, the NDP members have stood in their place and voted against every one of those measures that we brought in for veterans and our men and women in uniform. They should be ashamed of themselves.

My advice for the member is for him to leave his seat and have a chat with Jack and see if they will support our veterans.

[Veterans, June 16th, 2008]

Mr. Speaker, our plan is working. When we took office a little over two years ago, we immediately put funding into that. We in fact are doubling the clinics the Liberals had on their shift. We have doubled what they were doing. We are getting the job done. We made those announcements across the country. The latest announcement was in Fredericton, New Brunswick.

[National Defence, June 9th, 2008]

Mr. Speaker, the difference between the Liberal Party and the Conservative Party, of course, is that when the Liberals were in office they neglected our men and women in uniform, including veterans, and spent most of those 13 years taking benefits away from veterans, including the VIP services.

Since in office, as the House well knows, we have doubled the number of stress injury clinics across the country. The member is quite aware of that. We will continue to do that and provide the very best services to our men and women in uniform and veterans.