James Lunney

[Jobs and Growth Act, 2012, October 25th, 2012]

Mr. Speaker, I compliment the member on her speech on this important bill, Bill C-45.

I have heard some complaints from opposition members about the size of the bill. I would like to point out that in reality there are 24 sections. They complain about the number of pages but half of them are in French. One can choose a language, English or French, and that reduces the size.

Some of these 24 sections consist of only one clause. For example, the EI change is only one clause. The Fisheries Act section consists of four important clauses that would actually protect fish and that talks about fines for people who put fish at risk.

Ten committees will look at the clauses in the bill to ensure committees can apply their expertise and ensure they are satisfied.

I would like the member to comment on the hysteria that some are exhibiting. This is a jobs and growth bill, and that is exactly what it is intended to ensure.

[Iran, October 17th, 2012]

Mr. Speaker, this week Iranian TV featured riots in the streets, Indian reserves described as concentration camps and state-sponsored extermination of the disenfranchised.

That is the disparaging image of Canada being promoted by two errant former first nations leaders, Terry Nelson and Dennis Pashe, before the state-run media in Iran.

Canada listed Iran as a state-sponsor of terror for very good reasons: Holocaust denial; genocide promotion; training, equipping and supplying arms to terrorist organizations bent on blocking any peace in the Middle East. Arrest, imprisonment, torture and execution of dissidents top the list of flagrant human rights abuses.

These ignorant emissaries have insulted the memory of Holocaust survivors and thousands of Iranian Canadians who know the realities of this brutal regime. Zahra Kazemi, Canadian photojournalist, was arrested outside the infamous Evin prison in 2003, tortured, raped and beaten to death. Her family in Montreal would still like to have her body returned for a proper burial.

This sad spectacle speaks to an ancient proverb:

If...the light that is in you is darkness, how great is that darkness!

[Petitions, October 15th, 2012]

Mr. Speaker, the second is a petition for Development and Peace, again from about 50 persons in my riding, calling for financial support for the Canadian Catholic Organization for Development and Peace. They draw attention to the extensive work of Development and Peace, with 186 partners in 30 countries over the years, and they are calling for increased full funding of $49.2 million requested by D and P—

[Petitions, October 15th, 2012]

Mr. Speaker, I have two petitions to present today.

The first is calling for a moratorium on GM alfalfa. This petition is signed by some 188 persons from Vancouver Island, largely from the Parksville and Qualicum Oceanside area and Nanoose Bay.

The petitioners are calling the attention of the House to the concerns about GM alfalfa. They say that genetically modified alfalfa has been planted in test plots and that unwanted contamination from GM alfalfa is inevitable and may contaminate or threaten organic farming. They are also concerned that organic farming prohibits the use of genetic modification. Alfalfa is used as a high-protein feed for dairy cattle and other livestock as well.

Therefore, the petitioners are calling upon Parliament to impose a moratorium on the release of genetically modified alfalfa until a proper review of the impact on farmers is conducted.

[First Nations Financial Transparency Act, June 20th, 2012]

Mr. Speaker, I notice the member went on at some length about the terrible water situation on reserves. I would just like to remind the member that when her government was in power it allowed an atrocious situation to develop on reserves. Since the current government has been in position, we have spent an extended amount of time doing an audit of water resources and water quality systems on reserves. In the last several budgets we have put millions of dollars into improving water systems on reserve.

Why will the member not take responsibility for the situation we received from her government, when water systems on reserves were allowed to develop into such a terrible state?

[Jobs, Growth and Long-term Prosperity Act, June 13th, 2012]

Madam Speaker, I want to ask the member about his selective recollection. He talked about all these spirits that seem to be missing. I think he forgot to mention the spirit of Christmas past.

There was a lot of mythology about a former government that he wanted to recollect. I remember the days of good old Liberal freedom and some of the members over there do as well under a former prime minister.

In the 37th Parliament when I was first elected, I remember being at committee and seeing members who had heard testimony pulled when it came time to vote on the outcomes and conclusions of that committee hearing and replaced by members who had not heard the testimony. I also remember a former Liberal prime minister who wanted to override his members' freedoms of religion and conscience because he had made a decision on a moral issue that he wanted to decide for all of his members.

I want to ask the member if the good old days of Liberal government were actually the good old days of the member's selective memory.

[Tyee ha'wilth Bert Mack, June 7th, 2012]

Mr. Speaker, it is with great sadness that I rise in the House to announce the passing of Tyee ha'wilth Bert Mack, hereditary chief of the Toquaht First Nation on Vancouver Island. He was in his 89th year.

Chief Mack worked in the forestry industry for 40 years. He was instrumental in the development of a community forest. He was one of the driving forces that saw his people persevere in treaty negotiations with Canada and British Columbia as part of the Maa-nulth Treaty. The treaty means a new world of opportunity for the Toquaht people, through cash settlements and lands adjacent to spectacular Barkley Sound.

For 67 years Chief Mack, affectionately known as King Bert, led his community with grace and compassion. He had a great love for learning, for his culture and his people, and especially his family. He was married to his wife Lil for over 60 years and had three children.

In 2009 his youngest daughter, Anne, inherited the chieftainship from Mack.

Bert's vision and leadership have positioned his people to carry on with a great legacy. Respected by all and a gentleman, King Bert will be sadly missed but fondly remembered by all who knew him.

[Jobs, Growth and Long-term Prosperity Act, May 7th, 2012]

Mr. Speaker, our government has been promoting science and technology and being competitive on the world stage through the last number of budgets. It is a knowledge-based economy that drives our economy and gives us an economic advantage. The investments in Genome Canada offer great promise for moving ahead on a number of important issues and understanding how biology works. We are hopeful that it will lead to great opportunities for Canada and for the Canadian Foundation for Innovation, investments that help stimulate the kinds of improvements that will keep Canadian businesses competitive and leading the world.

[Jobs, Growth and Long-term Prosperity Act, May 7th, 2012]

Mr. Speaker, indeed I remember the years when the member was chair of the fisheries committee. Actually, in those days he was pretty collegial, for the most part, on fisheries issues. Members from coast to coast have a focus on trying to do what is right for their communities.

However, the member would also know that the Fisheries Act that we deal with in the House is one of the oldest pieces of legislation still in existence. It goes back to 1868. There are all kinds of provisions in there. There are definitions that are outdated. The authorities are not established. For example, aquaculture was not even considered in those days, so the act desperately needs to be updated.

The changes we are introducing will bring reasonable change that will keep the focus on the kinds of water resources that impact the fish that are important to our communities economically. These changes will take the effort off highway people who are trying to replace a culvert or do a little repair on a bridge or a farmer who is trying to drain his flooded land, as has happened recently in Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu.

That is what these changes are about. It is time to move ahead.

[Jobs, Growth and Long-term Prosperity Act, May 7th, 2012]

Mr. Speaker, I know the member is a new member in the House. Some of us were here through three minority parliaments on our way to the present majority government situation. We advanced and discussed many of these issues over the previous five years of minority government.

The economic situation worldwide demands that we move ahead on a number of projects that were held up in minority parliaments. Many of these issues have been debated for years. It is time to move ahead and to get Canada's economy moving. It is time to keep jobs going at a time of economic recovery and to keep moving in the right direction. It is time to move beyond the stimulus measures of the previous two budgets to balancing our budgets.

That is what our government is doing: keeping an eye on the ball, an eye on the economy and an eye on what is happening worldwide. Our government is advancing international trade and making sure that we create the jobs that will keep Canadians employed.