House of Commons photoWon his last election, in 2011, with 56% of the vote.
Paralympic Athletes May 7th, 2010
Mr. Speaker, this policy decision is completely independent of the government. It is not the government that decides, but the agencies who give financial support to the athletes. I know this is currently being discussed with the athletes and there will be a commitment. Our government is proud of its latest budget and the hon. member voted against it. We made the largest investment in our athletes in the history of Canada.
Film Industry May 4th, 2010
Mr. Speaker, there is no deal before us. This is an entirely hypothetical situation that the hon. member has described.
But I can tell the House what is not a hypothetical situation. It is the upcoming vote on the long gun registry. That member campaigned three times to say that he would scrap the long gun registry. We will see whether or not he flip-flops or whether he will stand up for his constituents on the long gun registry.
Film Industry May 4th, 2010
Mr. Speaker, of course this takeover the member is describing is still in the hypothetical stage. Nothing has been decided. It is a private business transaction.
If the moment comes when there is actually some decision to be made on this issue, of course our government will take responsible action and stand up for what is in the best interests of all Canadians.
Aboriginal Affairs May 3rd, 2010
Mr. Speaker, yes, this is a cause for concern. In fact, in a week and half's time I will be meeting with George Abbott, who is the minister responsible for this in the province of British Columbia, to come together with a plan with first nations communities, the province and the federal government about how we can best protect these aboriginal languages.
It is part of our heritage. It is the responsible thing to do. We are working with the province of British Columbia to get something done.
Arts and Culture May 3rd, 2010
Mr. Speaker, I was very pleased earlier today to be joined by the National Ballet of Canada and the legendary Karen Kain, the Canadian Opera Company and the Writers' Union of Canada in support of our government's proposal to create the Canada Prize for the Arts and Creativity.
This is going to be one of the largest, multidisciplinary prizes for artists in the entire world. It is going to be hosted here in Canada, and it has the support of the artistic community. Here is what Joe Rotman, the chair of the Canada Council for the Arts, said to the Prime Minister. He said, “Thank you for your commitment to our cultural success. Your leadership will recognize Canadian excellence of the highest possible standards. We look forward to creating something significant for Canada's cultural future”.
We are delivering for the arts.
Questions on the Order Paper April 26th, 2010
Mr. Speaker, the response is as follows: a) The costs associated with the Lest We Forget activities are embedded in the costs of the Learning Centre.
b) the total cost of ownership associated with the Learning Centre is approximately $475,000 a year and include personnel, reproduction of documents, digitization, rooms, shipping and mailing, etc.
c) No changes have been made to the mandate of the Learning Centre.
d) The Lest We Forget project is not being eliminated. The staff will continue working on the activities and projects of the Learning centre.
e) The Lest We Forget project of Library and Archives Canada is not being eliminated. The staff will continue working on activities and projects of the Learning centre.
f) Globally, Library and Archives Canada reference levels have decreased by $1.1M in 2010-11 due to the following: An increase of $12.8M for the conversion of the asset in Gatineau, Quebec as a Collection Storage Facility with a high density shelving system; an increase of $4M to cover for increases due to the various collective agreements signed during the fiscal years 2008–09 and 2009-10; an increase of $1.6M to support the modernization of federal laboratories, Budget 2009; a decrease of $6M for the construction of a preservation facility to safeguard Canada's cellulose nitrate-based documentary heritage; a decrease of $5.3M in funding for the AMICAN project to replace obsolete systems and provide the capacity for managing digital publications and digital records of government (end of project funding); a decrease of $4.6M for the 2007 Strategic Review; a decrease of $2M for the Portrait Gallery of Canada--Following the termination of the Request for Proposal for the building project in November 2008, the funds previously allocated for building operating expenses are not required, $1.185M, and the programming activities for the Portrait Gallery of Canada program were realigned with the aim of making the collection more accessible to all Canadians, $814.4K; and a decrease of $1M for a national initiative to improve access to information in multiple formats and to develop a strategy that supports equitable library service for Canadians with print disabilities, end of project funding.
Vancouver 2010 Winter Games April 26th, 2010
Mr. Speaker, what is an insult to Canadians is a Liberal playing ridiculous politics with the most successful Olympics in history.
The Canada Pavilion, our two live sites in Vancouver, our live site in Whistler, the Four Host First Nations Pavilion, the Atlantic Pavilion, Place de la Francophonie, the Cultural Olympiad, all investments by this federal government, helped make the Vancouver 2010 games the greatest games in Olympic history.
Our government is proud of our investments, proud of the Canada Pavilion that saw tens of thousands of Canadians come and have access to the athletes and the games and have a great time. We are proud of the 2010 games and everything we did.
Business of Supply April 20th, 2010
Where is your bill? Thirteen years and no bill.
Business of Supply April 20th, 2010
Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague for wasting 10 minutes making the most obvious and unoriginal observations about representation by population I have ever heard. He talks about being respectful. Of course there is a debate to be had about democratic reform. However, over 13 years, the Liberals did not offer any solutions to representation by population or about any kind of democratic renewal reform of this Confederation.
My hon. colleague fails to recognize that while my province of British Columbia has six Senate seats, his home province of New Brunswick has 10 seats. Of course Labrador, with a population of about 30,000 people, has its own seat in the House of Commons. Of course that will be a fact. Of course the territories, which have smaller population bases, will have their own seats.
The question is how we get better balance. Pure representation by population per riding happens on a province-by-province basis as administered by Elections Canada, but the goal of our bill and of our government is to get us closer to where we have parity and representation in the House of Commons. We cannot have absolute pure. That is obvious. The hon. colleague does not have to waste 10 minutes of the House's time saying something that a grade 6 social studies student knows. We know that.
The question is this. When will the Liberal Party stand up against the Bloc Québécois and ensure that people in my home province of British Columbia, the fastest-growing province, can come closer to having a fair share and a fair set of voices in the House of Commons to represent their needs, just like other folks do?
What we do not need in the House is the member standing up and saying that we should be respectful. He started off his comments saying that the reason why they wanted to have more seats for British Columbia was so they could have less of a voice from people like Acadians and official-language minority Canadians. Shame on him for using those kinds of tactics.
Music Industry April 19th, 2010
Mr. Speaker, I was very pleased this weekend in St. John's, Newfoundland to follow through on our government's campaign commitment to give record support for Canada's music industry.
We made a commitment that we would provide record funding for Canada's music industry and we have done that and we have provided it for a record amount of time over five years.
We had artists there from Newfoundland and Labrador and from across the country support our announcements. In fact, this is what they had to say about our government support.
Heather Ostertag of Factor said that the government has “clearly demonstrated their commitment to culture”, and that the government is doing everything it can to make sure the music industry will go forward for the next generation.
We are doing what we said we would do.