Greg Thompson

[Immigration, October 31st, 2006]

Mr. Speaker, in accordance with Standing Order 32(2), I have the honour to present, in both official languages, the 2006 annual report on immigration.

[Veterans Affairs, June 21st, 2006]

Mr. Speaker, the first thing we want to clarify is that the letter was not written by the Prime Minister.

In terms of the Department of Veterans Affairs, we will be spending an additional $350 million this year alone, which is $350 million more than the previous government.

One of the first things I did as minister was to initiate a health care review. The information from that health care review will be the knowledge base that we will use as we move forward to continue to improve services for veterans and their families, and that includes widows.

[Veterans Affairs, June 9th, 2006]

Mr. Speaker, I know the member apologized for using that word but that is the word they use quite often and I can understand why he would use it so freely here in the House of Commons.

We are committed to veterans. We are delivering a wide range of programs to veterans. We have the best programs in the world for our veterans and we will continue to enhance those programs to benefit our soldiers, their wives and their families.

[Veterans Affairs, June 9th, 2006]

Mr. Speaker, the VIP is a successful program and we have every intention of honouring all our promises. The VIP is a program that allows a lot of veterans to stay at home and receive the kind of care they deserve from their own families.

We will enhance that program when necessary. We will probably do it very soon simply because we know it is good value for money. When that will occur, I do not know, but if they examine our record for the last four months, guess what? We have a habit of keeping our promises, unlike that government.

[Employment, June 9th, 2006]

Mr. Speaker, I will have to repeat some of what I have said.

That party opposed free trade. That party could not get a deal on softwood lumber. That party ignored productivity in Atlantic Canada. That party starved post-secondary education. That party did not deliver on an immigration strategy after promising to do so.

Those numbers he mentioned are just simply numbers. His party did not deliver on any of those promises. In fact, in my home province the Liberals deserted us and left us on Point Lepreau--

[Employment, June 9th, 2006]

Mr. Speaker, that is the previous minister of the last government who fell out of bed one morning and said that he would have an immigration policy for Atlantic Canada. He failed miserably on that.

That same minister fell out of of bed one morning and said that he would have a port strategy for Atlantic Canada and, guess what? He had no port strategy; a complete failure. That is the Liberal record.

On top of that, the Liberals are distorting the very statements the member made yesterday in committee. That is the old Liberal way. If they repeat a fabrication long enough they expect people to believe it. Canadians do not believe that party because its record is a record of failure in Atlantic Canada.

[Employment, June 9th, 2006]

Mr. Speaker, this is again the type of fearmongering that member and that party are famous for with regard to Atlantic Canada.

I want to give an example of what we are doing in our first budget. We are reducing personal income taxes, business taxes, corporate taxes, breeding a climate for investment in Atlantic Canada which results in job creation.

The Liberal Party's record is a record of failure in terms of Atlantic Canada and job creation. We have done more in four months than the Liberals did in four terms. They should be ashamed of themselves.

[Employment, June 9th, 2006]

Mr. Speaker, that is the kind of fearmongering that member and his party have engaged in for years.

Here is their record for Atlantic Canada. They opposed free trade. They could not get a softwood lumber deal. They ignored productivity. They starved post-secondary education in this country for 14 years. They failed on an immigration policy. That is their record.

We have done more in four months than they did in four terms.

[Veterans Affairs, May 19th, 2006]

Mr. Speaker, first, I want to thank the member for Essex for his help with the Essex and Kent Scottish Regiment. It has done good work.

The Government of Canada will be assisting. DND will help in the transport of that monument to Dieppe. We will also be assisting simply because of the presentation the member made to me, to which the Prime Minister was made privy. Therefore, we will be assisting those veterans in their travel needs as well.

I want to commend the member also for reaching out to opposition members, particularly from Essex, Windsor and Tecumseh, for their help on this file.

[Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency, May 10th, 2006]

Mr. Speaker, ACOA is there to do good things for Atlantic Canada, and we will be consistent, not like the former party, where all the decisions were political decisions.

We are going to act in the best interests of all communities in Atlantic Canada, and the evidence is out there in the last couple of months to prove exactly what I have said.