House of Commons photo

Crucial Fact

  • His favourite word was debate.

Last in Parliament October 2010, as Conservative MP for Prince George—Peace River (B.C.)

Won his last election, in 2008, with 64% of the vote.

Statements in the House

Business of the House June 18th, 2009

Mr. Speaker, that is unfortunate. I did not say that I thought we had unanimous consent. I asked that you seek it. There is a difference.

Pursuant to Standing Order 56.1, I move:

That, notwithstanding any Standing Order or usual practice, on Friday, June 19, 2009, the House shall meet at 9 a.m. to consider Government Orders (Supply);

That during consideration of Government Orders on that day, no member shall speak for more than ten minutes, with a five minute period for questions and comments; and

That on that day only, in Standing Order 81(18), “6:30 p.m.” shall be read as “10:30 a.m.” and “10 p.m.” shall be read as “1 p.m.”

Business of the House June 18th, 2009

Mr. Speaker, there have been consultations among all parties, and I am therefore seeking the unanimous consent of the House for the following motion:

That, notwithstanding any Standing Order or usual practice, on Friday, June 19, 2009, the House shall meet at 9 a.m. to consider Government Orders (Supply);

That during consideration of Government Orders on that day, no member shall speak for more than ten minutes, with a five minute period for questions and comments; and

That on that day only, in Standing Order 81(18), “6:30 p.m.” shall be read as “10:30 p.m.” and “10 a.m.” shall be read as “1 p.m.”

Cracking Down on Tobacco Marketing Aimed at Youth Act June 17th, 2009

Mr. Speaker, I move:

That, notwithstanding any Standing Order or usual practice of the House, Bill C-32, An Act to amend the Tobacco Act, be deemed concurred in at report stage; the said Bill be ordered for consideration at third reading stage later this day; and that when the House begins debate on third reading motion of Bill C-32, one Member from each recognized party may speak for not more than ten minutes, after which the Bill shall be deemed read a third time and passed.

An Act Creating One of the World’s Largest National Park Reserves June 17th, 2009

Mr. Speaker, as usual, there have been countless discussions, negotiations and consultations among all the parties, and I think if you seek it, you will find unanimous consent for the following two motions. I move:

That, notwithstanding any Standing Order or usual practice of the House, when the House begins debate on the second reading motion of Bill C-38, an Act to amend the Canada National Parks Act to enlarge Nahanni National Park Reserve of Canada, one Member from each recognized party may speak for not more than ten minutes, after which the Bill shall be deemed to have been read a second time and referred to a Committee of the Whole, deemed considered in Committee of the Whole, deemed reported without amendment, deemed concurred in at report stage and deemed read a third time and passed.

Maa-nulth First Nations Final Agreement Act June 15th, 2009

Mr. Speaker, Bill C-41, I believe, is on the order paper for today.

As to the other matter, it might be better to be raised on Thursday as the standard Thursday question.

Maa-nulth First Nations Final Agreement Act June 15th, 2009

Mr. Speaker, as usual there have been consultations and negotiations among all parties in the chamber, and I think, were you to seek it, you would find unanimous consent for the following motion:

That, notwithstanding any Standing Order or usual practice of the House, when the House begins debate on the second reading motion of Bill C-41, an Act to give effect to the Maanulth First Nations Final Agreement and to make consequential amendments to other Acts, a Member from each recognized party may speak for not more than ten minutes, after which the Bill shall be deemed to have been read a second time and referred to a Committee of the Whole, deemed considered in Committee of the Whole, deemed reported without amendment, deemed concurred in at report stage and deemed read a third time and passed.

Ways and Means June 12th, 2009

Mr. Speaker, there have been consultations between all the parties. I believe you will find unanimous consent for the following motion. I move:

That, notwithstanding any Standing Order or usual practices of the House, the ways and means motion tabled earlier today to introduce an Act to give effect to the Maa-nulth First Nations Final Agreement and to make consequential amendments to other Acts be adopted.

Ways and Means June 12th, 2009

Mr. Speaker, you can tell it is Friday and mid-June with that interjection by my colleague from Ottawa—Vanier.

On a serious note, pursuant to Standing Order 83(1), I have the honour to table a notice of ways and means motion to introduce an act to give effect to the Maa-nulth First Nations Final Agreement and to make consequential amendments to other acts.

I ask that an order of the day be designated for consideration of this motion. Later today, I will seek unanimous consent to adopt this motion.

I also have the honour to table, in both official languages, two copies of the following documents: the Maa-nulth First Nations Final Agreement, the Harvest Agreement, and the Maa-nulth First Nations Tax Treatment Agreement.

Business of the House June 11th, 2009

First of all, Mr. Speaker, with regard to bills C-33 and C-29, which I just mentioned, I would point out that with the cooperation of all parties in this chamber we dealt very expeditiously with those pieces of legislation, both for our veterans and for our farmers. I do not see any reason that the Senate could not have had those passed, at a minimum for royal assent tonight when other bills will receive royal assent by the Governor General.

As to the honorary citizenship for the Aga Khan, certainly I will be returning in due course to the chamber, and negotiations will take place with all the parties. As the Prime Minister would say, I would expect and hope there will be rapid cooperation on that issue from all members.

Business of the House June 11th, 2009

Mr. Speaker, I am very pleased to be able to respond to not just the regular Thursday question about the business of the House for the next week, but indeed to respond to all the questions from my colleague across the way.

In the order that we will dealing with it, today we are debating a motion from the New Democratic Party, which has its supply day today.

Tomorrow we will continue, and hopefully conclude, the third reading stage of Bill C-6, product safety, followed by Bill C-36, the faint hope bill. The backup bill tomorrow will be Bill C-19, the anti-terrorism bill.

Monday, June 15 and Friday, June 19, 2009 shall be allotted days.

On Monday, we will be introducing a bill regarding the Maa-nulth First Nations agreement. It is my intention, provided that I have an agreement from all the other parties, to call and complete that bill on Tuesday. On behalf of that first nation, I express my appreciation to all hon. members and all the parties in the House.

Next week, I will also call Bill C-26, auto theft, for report and third reading. My hope is that we will get that down the hall to get it dealt with at the Senate.

In addition to Bill C-26, we will also consider Bill C-36, the faint hope bill; Bill C-37, National Capital Act; Bill C-38, Nahanni; and Bill C-31, modernizing criminal procedure. All of these bills, as we know, are at second reading.

I am hoping that Bill S-4, identity theft, can be sent over from the Senate expeditiously. If and when it arrives, I will be seeking the cooperation of the opposition to try to expedite that bill in our Chamber.

I might add that despite the assurance of the hon. opposition House leader last week, after we had passed Bill C-33 at all stages, the bill that will extend benefits to allied veterans and their families, I expected the Senate to quickly follow suit. Although sad, it is true that time is running out for some of these veterans and their families. They are waiting to receive these benefits. This bill is not controversial, but the delay of this bill by Liberal senators will become controversial very quickly.

Last week I also mentioned Bill C-29 in my Thursday reply, which the hon. member for Wascana mentioned a minute ago. That is the agricultural loans bill, which will guarantee an estimated $1 billion in loans over the next five years to Canadian farm families and cooperatives. Today the Liberal senators did not grant leave to even consider the bill, let alone agree to adopt it.

Another week has come and gone. I am not sure how the member for Wascana intends to return to farm families in Saskatchewan and explain why his senators in the other place are delaying the passage of Bill C-29.