Joe Preston

[Clean Water Initiative, September 29th, 2014]

Mr. Speaker, recently, along with the Minister of Public Works, I was pleased to celebrate major milestones of a project I have supported since 2006, the Huron-Elgin-London project for clean water, more commonly known as the HELP clean water initiative.

It is exciting to see the clean water initiative come together as a result of the funding partnership between the Government of Canada, the Province of Ontario and the HELP clean water regional partnership. I am proud to be part of it. This initiative will enhance the quality and reliability of clean drinking water for over half a million people in 14 municipalities in southwestern Ontario between Lake Huron and Lake Erie for generations to come.

Thanks to our government's Building Canada fund, I was proudly able to see this project come to fruition during my time as the member of Parliament for Elgin—Middlesex—London. I thank all who played a part in this successful initiative.

[Business of Supply, September 29th, 2014]

Mr. Speaker, I would like to congratulate the member on his speech and his mention of theatre. As an amateur actor, he is absolutely right. Sometimes that is exactly what question period looks like. It is another way of getting messages across.

The member has been here as long as I have, and on many days after question period, we see members who feel that they have been wronged during question period. They think that their point was not made in debate or that someone made a point about them that they did not think was fair. They stand on a point of order, and the Speaker has to remind them that it is a matter of debate and not a point of order in order to correct the record.

A problem I see with this change to the Standing Orders is that there would now be a direct standing order to stand on a point of order to say, “Mr. Speaker, sometime during period someone said something about me in a question that wasn't exactly what I'd like to hear and, as it is relevant, I would like to have it corrected.” It would go back and forth, and we would have a whole section after question period that would be another level of theatre.

Therefore, I ask the member this: does he truly believe that what he would like to see happen is that we codify the theatre after the theatre?

[Removal of Imprisonment in Relation to Mandatory Surveys Act, September 22nd, 2014]

moved for leave to introduce Bill C-625, An Act to amend the Statistics Act (removal of imprisonment).

Mr. Speaker, this private member's bill would amend the Statistics Act to remove the possibility of imprisonment for the failure to fill out mandatory Statistics Canada surveys and to allow the release of data from the 2011 National Household Survey in the future.

The constituents of Elgin—Middlesex—London have told me that they are happy to volunteer information to Statistics Canada and that no one should ever go to jail for refusing to do so. I hope members of the House would also agree.

I thank the member for Dufferin—Caledon for his help today.

(Motions deemed adopted, bill read the first time and printed)

[Democratic Reform, June 19th, 2014]

Mr. Speaker, today the Governor General will grant royal assent to the fair elections act, which will require all voters to present a physical copy of their ID proving who they are before they vote. Identity vouching is gone and so is the use of unpaid loans to get around donation limits.

Could the minister comment on how the fair elections act will keep everyday Canadians in charge of democracy?

[Strengthening Canadian Citizenship Act, June 12th, 2014]

The War of 1812.

[Committees of the House, June 12th, 2014]

Mr. Speaker, I will try one more time. If the House gives its consent, I move:

That the 16th report of the Standing Committee on Procedure and House Affairs presented to the House yesterday be concurred in.

[Committees of the House, June 11th, 2014]

Mr. Speaker, I would like to ask for consent to return to the rubric of motions for the purpose of asking for concurrence in a motion from procedures and House affairs I presented earlier today.

[Committees of the House, June 11th, 2014]

Mr. Speaker, if the House gives its consent, I move that the 16th report of the Standing Committee on Procedure and House Affairs presented to the House earlier today be concurred in.

[Committees of the House, June 11th, 2014]

Mr. Speaker, I have the honour to present, in both official languages, the 16th report of the Standing Committee on Procedure and House Affairs, requesting an extension to a later date to consider Motion No. 431, election of committee chairs. If the House gives its consent, I intend to move concurrence in the 16th report later today.

[Committees of the House, June 10th, 2014]

Mr. Speaker, if the House gives its consent, I move that the 15th report of the Standing Committee on Procedure and House Affairs, presented to the House earlier today, be concurred in.