Give us a lesson.
House of Commons photoLost his last election, in 2019, with 39% of the vote.
Canada–Jordan Economic Growth and Prosperity Act June 4th, 2012
Give us a lesson.
Family Tragedy June 4th, 2012
Mr. Speaker, on May 17, a school bus dropped off 13-year-old Lydia Herrle in front of her home near St. Agatha. A garbage truck failed to stop and hit her. She has remained in a coma since then.
I will share some thoughts from the family's blog this past weekend.
It notes on May 31:
She battled fever for most of the afternoon.
Tomorrow we will take the boys to Toronto, to see the hospital, and to see Lydia. They have not yet seen her, so please join me in prayer, that this is a helpful and healing day for them.
It notes on June 1:
Lydia's fever spiked in the night, and she has another infection....
It notes on June 2:
The boys visit with Lydia yesterday went well.
For now, the boys have said they don't need to see her again until her eyes are open.
It notes on June 3:
Over all, Lydia has done well today.
The great relief came this evening when the Doctor wheeled the ventilator cart out of the room, indicating they did not think they would need to intubate Lydia to assist her breathing again.
Today we prayed a lot and invited others to pray for Lydia and for us.
I ask all hon. members and those watching at home to join in these prayers, to pray for the Herrles and to pray for Lydia.
Armenia June 1st, 2012
Mr. Speaker, May 28 is a significant date for Armenians in Canada, Armenia and around the world. On that date in 1918, the first Republic of Armenia declared its independence following the horrors of the Armenian genocide. Although the new republic was forcibly annexed by the Soviet Union in 1920, even 94 years later May 28, 1918, remains an important date for all Armenians.
The Republic of Armenia is again an independent country after declaring its independence on September 21, 1991. I had the honour to visit Armenia in 2010 and saw first-hand Armenia's functioning democracy and vibrant culture.
This past Monday here on Parliament Hill, members of Parliament and Senators commemorated this 94th anniversary with members of Canada's Armenian community. His Excellency Armen Yeganian, Armenia's ambassador to Canada, addressed the group.
I am honoured to serve as chair of the Canada-Armenia Parliamentary Friendship Group and to have shared in this historic commemoration.
Business of Supply May 31st, 2012
Mr. Speaker, I ask that you see the clock at 5:30.
Business of Supply May 31st, 2012
Mr. Speaker, I really enjoyed my colleague's comments, as I always do, and I noted with interest that he was applauding many of the changes, but I have one question for him.
Earlier today one of our colleagues from the NDP commented about the $52 billion missing from the EI program. I wonder if my colleague, who was in the government at the time, would care to comment as to where the money is.
Business of Supply May 31st, 2012
Mr. Speaker, throughout the day today we have been subjected to a lot of misinformation in this whole discussion. In a previous comment, my colleague said that our government made $52 billion of EI funds disappear. I want to clarify that the $52 billion had disappeared long before this government took office. In fact, it was in the period of the Liberal government prior to us that the $52 billion disappeared somewhere into general revenues.
More troubling is the insinuation that it is somehow worse for someone to have a job earning 70% or 80% of their previous earnings than sitting at home getting 55% of previous earnings.
Could she explain how ordinary Canadians who are paying EI premiums would feel about people staying home and earning 55% of their earnings rather than getting a job, feeling productive, having self-esteem with a good job and actually contributing to the Canadian economy?
Business of Supply May 31st, 2012
Madam Speaker, I listened with interest to my colleague across the way and at one point I could hardly contain myself because she was decrying the fact that a Canadian might actually need to take employment at 80% of his or her previous wage. Is it not terrible to take employment at 80% of one's previous wage? Is that not better than accepting employment insurance, which is only 55% of the previous wage?
In addition, employment insurance payment comes from the very people who are causing the opportunities for employment. The employers in this country and the employees are paying into that. Claimants are taking that money.
Would it not be better to earn 80% and have a productive, meaningful job and the self-esteem that comes from that job rather than sitting at home and receiving 55% of one's previous employment wage?
Restoring Rail Service Act May 29th, 2012
Mr. Speaker, I listened with interest to my colleague speak to the issues that are before us tonight. One thing she avoided mentioning was the amazing cost to the economy of this ongoing strike. We talk about it in terms of the weekly cost of roughly $0.5 billion to the economy, but more important is the local cost to our ridings. I have heard from people in my area who have indicated that unless they are able to bring raw materials into their company within a few days, their company is in jeopardy and the jobs of the people that the company employs are in jeopardy.
Does my colleague not care that if this strike continues there would be many more hundreds of people, or probably tens of thousands of people, out of work?
Iran May 14th, 2012
Mr. Chair, as my colleague and many members will know, one of the key priorities of our government that was announced in the throne speech back in June was our commitment to establish the office of religious freedom. That commitment was reiterated by the Minister of Foreign Affairs in late September of this year, whom I will quote. He stated:
History has shown us that religious freedom and democratic freedom are inseparable.
He went on to quote Franklin Roosevelt, who stated:
Where freedom of religion has been attacked, the attack has come from sources opposed to democracy. Where democracy has been overthrown, the spirit of free worship has disappeared. And where religion and democracy have vanished, good faith and reason in international affairs have given way to strident ambition and brute force.
The foreign affairs minister went on to say:
Societies that protect religious freedom are more likely to protect all other fundamental freedoms. They are typically more stable and more prosperous societies.
My question to my colleague is this: how crucial does he think it is that this office of religious freedom be established, and does he agree that protecting religious freedom includes the protection of those who may choose to convert or change their religion?
Federal Framework for Suicide Prevention Act May 14th, 2012
Mr. Speaker, the point that needs to be made here, and I think even the Mental Health Commission in its response made the point, is that improving mental health or indeed suicide prevention is not just the government's problem. Certainly, we need to take an all-of-government approach at the federal, provincial, territorial and municipal levels. That is important. However, it is also important to recognize that we need to support the initiatives of the community groups which are already doing good work on the ground. Therefore, my view is to see the federal government provide the overall vision and coordination, the sharing of best practices and the collection of up-to-date statistics. One of the major challenges we face is that we do not have up-to-date statistics on this issue.
I want to come back to a point that is crucial. We cannot take the view in this chamber that this government, or indeed any level of government, will solve this problem. We need to recognize the important value of community groups that are doing the work on the front lines.
About two weeks ago, I served on a bowling team for the Waterloo Region Suicide Prevention Council. We raised $27,000 in this bowlathon. That is a great amount of cash to help it in its work. However, the more important part of that day for me, and it became so obvious during the afternoon, was the more than 150 bowlers who participated in that activity and who were increasing the level of conversation around suicide prevention. If we consider that probably each of those bowlers had spoken to 10 people in gathering pledges for the initiative, and we multiply that, we have possibly 1,500 people who are now aware of this issue who may not have been aware had government simply signed a cheque for $27,000.
Therefore, we can never take the approach that it is the government's problem alone. We have to work together. My initiative here is to ask the federal government to provide coordination so that when a group like the Waterloo Region Suicide Prevention Council needs resources, it has a central repository where it can go.