Jay Hill

[Canadian Environmental Protection Act, 1999, May 2nd, 2008]

Mr. Speaker, I hardly know where to begin after listening to that, but let me start with a phrase that I heard the NDP member use repeatedly throughout his dissertation: why rush into this?

I do not know how long the NDP would like to study this issue, but as a former farmer and someone who is proud to represent a large rural riding with a large agricultural component, which is unlike the riding the member represents, I have to tell him that a lot of farmers have been waiting a long, long time already for this type of option. They have been waiting for this option to see it impact favourably on commodity prices, even in a small way, so they can receive a better return from the marketplace, as opposed to taxpayers being forced to assist them in order to keep them afloat.

They are looking forward to this. I hope they are watching this debate today. I hope they are watching the NDP members stand in their places and vote against giving farmers this option, this alternative for which they already have been waiting years. They have been waiting for years for governments to catch up to the technology that farmers have known was out there.

What do we see now? Farmers are looking forward to this legislation. They would argue strenuously with the hon. member and would say that we are not rushing into this at all. They have already waited some time for this.

Never mind the environmental benefits, this change in policy could be of great advantage to the struggling forestry sector in my riding and the riding of my colleague from Cariboo—Prince George. We could start utilizing more of the wood waste from trees to produce biofuel. Never mind that advantage. Never mind the environmental advantage in reducing CO₂ emissions, which the member himself admitted.

These are all positive things, yet the NDP wants to vote against this legislation. They want to kill it. They want to stop. They want to wait for another 5, 10, 15 or 20 years while they study this some more. Rather than taking a positive step and moving forward, those members want to send the bill back to committee.

I want that member to stand up and express why he believes that farmers should not view the NDP as being against them when it wants to kill this bill that will help them so much.

[Canadian Environmental Protection Act, 1999, May 1st, 2008]

Mr. Speaker, I would hope, if you were to seek it, that you would find unanimous consent to apply the results of the vote just taken to the motion presently before the House, with Conservative members present voting in favour.

[Committees of the House, April 28th, 2008]

Mr. Speaker, second, I move:

That, in order to attend the Conference of the Canadian Council of the Public Accounts Committees, 12 members of the Standing Committee on Public Accounts be authorized to travel to Whitehorse, Yukon, from September 7 to 10, 2008, and that the necessary staff do accompany the committee.

[Committees of the House, April 28th, 2008]

Mr. Speaker, I think if you were to seek it, you would find unanimous consent for the following two travel motions. I move:

That, in relation to its study on the status of the free trade agreements and ongoing negotiations between Canada, Colombia and Panama, 12 members of the Standing Committee on International Trade be authorized to travel to Bogota, Colombia, and Panama City, Panama in May 2008, and that the necessary staff accompany the committee.

[Controlled Drugs and Substances Act, April 16th, 2008]

Mr. Speaker, once again, if you were to seek it I think you would find unanimous consent to apply the result of the vote just taken to the motion presently before the House, with Conservative members present this evening voting yes.

[Committees of the House, April 16th, 2008]

Mr. Speaker, I think if you seek it you would find unanimous consent to apply the results of the vote just taken to the motion presently before the House, with Conservative members present this evening voting in favour.

[Petitions, April 16th, 2008]

More, more.

[Budget Implementation Act, 2008, April 4th, 2008]

Mr. Speaker, I could go on for quite some time about this, but I know time is short, so I will limit my comments.

I would ask the hon. member to think about a prospective immigrant, a person who would apply, and certainly I have met those people. I have had the great privilege of travelling quite extensively in my role as a parliamentarian over the past almost 15 years that I have been honoured to be the representative for Prince George—Peace River in this House.

When we are in foreign countries, we can see the enthusiasm of especially young people who want to immigrate to Canada. Let us put ourselves in the position of some young people, for example, say, in China. They are 19 or 20 years of age. They are finishing their university education and they apply to come to Canada. They want to immigrate to our great country. Then they are told, over a series of interviews, that the backlog is six to seven years. Imagine the disappointment of those young people and imagine how much could change.

I ask the member to reflect back on his life. Between the ages of 19 and, say, 25 or 26 a lot can happen. People meet future spouses, they fall in love, sometimes they start families, they start a career, and six or seven years later the Canadian authorities get a hold of these individuals after putting their applications for immigration through the process and they say, “Okay, we've accepted you”. Their whole situation has changed.

That is what we are trying to do. We are trying to change this backlog that was created by the previous government.

I ask the hon. member, in all sincerity, to reflect upon that and to say, is there not some way that we can bring forward change as we are trying to do, so that we do not have to disappoint thousands upon thousands of prospective immigrations whose situation changes dramatically?

[Business of the House, April 3rd, 2008]

What's the point of having another committee where you guys are operating?

[Committees of the House, March 13th, 2008]

moved:

That, in relation to its study on Canada's involvement in Afghanistan, 12 members of the Standing Committee on National Defence be authorized to travel to Kabul and Kandahar, Afghanistan and to Brussels, Belgium in the spring-summer of 2008, and that the necessary staff do accompany the committee.