John Rafferty

[Violence against Women, November 25th, 2008]

Mr. Speaker, in 1999 the United Nations General Assembly designated November 25 as the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women.

However, we still read daily about death sentences carried out against women by stoning and other cruel and inhumane methods, female genital mutilation, honour killings, spousal abuse, verbal and physical intimidation, and other threats against women in their homes and places of work, against women of all racial and ethnic backgrounds and in all countries in the world, including our own.

I hope all members will join me and my fellow New Democratic Party caucus members in recognizing this important day and in renewing our commitment to ending violence against women at home and abroad once and for all.

[Resumption of Debate on Address in Reply, November 25th, 2008]

Madam Speaker, the hon. member and I share a common background in broadcasting. It is clear that he has a perfect face for television and I have a perfect face for radio.

Will the hon. member ensure that his government will not reduce funding for the CBC?

[Resumption of Debate on Address in Reply, November 25th, 2008]

Madam Speaker, the member spoke very eloquently about rural Canada. I thank him for his support of the cattle ranchers in my riding. The House may not know that the Prairies actually begin in the west end of my riding. The member's love of rural Canada is clear.

I am sure the hon. member knows the importance of a national broadcaster for rural and remote parts of Canada. Will the hon. member ensure that his government will not reduce funding for the CBC, yes or no?

[Resumption of Debate on Address in Reply, November 25th, 2008]

Mr. Speaker, I greatly enjoyed the hon. member's fine speech. While it is clear that he is voting against the throne speech, much of what he discussed, particularly in relation to forestry, is of great interest to me and to the people of my riding.

It is clear, however, from the throne speech that the government intends to reduce services in this country to bare bones.

In northern Ontario we depend on a strong CBC for information delivered in a timely, relevant and fair manner. We depend on regional programming that connects us to the rest of Canada, in particular our first nations. It also allows us in Thunder Bay—Rainy River in northern Ontario to tell the rest of Canada our story.

I know the hon. member knows the value of the CBC, particularly in remote and rural areas of Canada. My question for the hon. member has two parts. Will the hon. member defend the CBC against these attacks by the government, and will the member support annual consistent funding for the CBC?

[RESUMPTION OF DEBATE ON ADDRESS IN REPLY, November 24th, 2008]

Madam Speaker, it is wonderful to see you in the big green chair. I say that for people who are watching this on their black and white televisions today.

I was very pleased to hear the hon. member say that the softwood lumber deal was not perfect. He is absolutely right. In fact, on Saturday, I was speaking in Fort Frances with Kendall Lundy, who is the owner of a small business called Nickel Lake Lumber, with 16 employees.

He deals with red and white pine. He sells mostly to the United States and they are all value added products, but he is in trouble. When we were chatting, he specifically mentioned to me that some of the billions of dollars that were left in the U.S. with the softwood lumber deal needed to come back to lumber and mill owners across Canada. He was talking about himself in northern Ontario, but also across Canada.

Will the hon. member work with me and the NDP to ensure that money returns to Canada, returns to the hard-working business owners and the hard-working families across Canada and northern Ontario?

[Resumption of debate on Address in Reply, November 20th, 2008]

Mr. Speaker, the fact of the matter is that billions of dollars have been spent on this long gun registry, money that could have been spent hiring border guards, money that could have been spent stopping hand guns coming into this country through mail and through the Internet. The money was ill-placed. It was simply designed as a tax grab that has gone horribly wrong.

Let me--

[Resumption of debate on Address in Reply, November 20th, 2008]

I have to admit I am a little embarrassed by the Conservative support. Let us make that perfectly clear right off the bat.

To answer the hon. member's question directly, I have not spoken to other members of my caucus. I do not know what other members of my caucus feel about this particular issue, but I would like to remind the hon. member and other members of the House that I was elected for two reasons: to take care of the people of my riding through the constituency work that I am doing already and to honour the wishes of the people of my riding and to represent them in Ottawa. That is what I will be doing.

[Resumption of debate on Address in Reply, November 20th, 2008]

Mr. Speaker, let me be very clear. We are not talking about gun control here. We are talking about the long gun registry.

[Resumption of debate on Address in Reply, November 20th, 2008]

Mr. Speaker, the hon. member should not try to trick us by putting it in some big omnibus bill or a bunch of other bills that we cannot support.

I will emphasize once again that I have promised the constituents in my riding in their support of getting rid of the long gun registry. Almost to a person they believe that it should be gone. I would like to honour that and I hope the hon. member and other hon. members will help me in that.

[Resumption of debate on Address in Reply, November 20th, 2008]

Mr. Speaker,

[Member spoke in Ojibway as follows:]

BooZhoo. Awbinogeeyak. Eekwayuwug. Ininnywug.

[English]

I begin in Ojibway and give greetings in Ojibway to the House because I would like to honour the elders of the many first nations who are in my ridings. I would like to respect those elders and the work that they and their predecessors have done to help build our country. I would like to ask the government today to ensure that our brothers and sisters in the first nations, the Métis and the Inuit are all included in the continuing building of this nation.

I would like to take this opportunity to thank Pam and our children, Zara, Elizabeth, Liam, Jennifer and Jacob.

I would like to also particularly thank my mentor, my friend and my neighbour, Howard Hampton, the leader of the Ontario New Democrats and all the ONDP.

I would like to thank the member for Toronto—Danforth and my caucus for their support. I would like to thank the federal party for the support, particularly in this last election, that it has shown me.

I would like to thank my friends in broadcasting, particularly Fraser Dougall who gave me my first job on radio.

I would like to thank World University Service of Canada, headquartered in Ottawa, for the six and a half years that I spent overseas as a volunteer and working for the organization.

I would like to thank the elementary school students in the west end of my riding who laughed at my jokes and who listened to my stories of adventures with African wildlife.

I would like to thank the terrific volunteers in my riding for their support, many of whom have been with me for the whole time.

Of course, I would like to thank the people of Thunder Bay—Rainy River who have honoured me with their confidence and their belief that I can help make Thunder Bay--Rainy River a better place to live, a place where no one gets left behind.

It takes more than five hours to drive across my riding. It spans two time zones. It is, bar none, arguably the most beautiful riding in our country. We have Kakabeka Falls, Niagara of the north. We have Quetico Park, the most accessible wilderness park in the country. Little do members know, I am sure, that the Prairies actually begin in the west end of my riding. Our farmers have been hit hard in Stratton, Emo and Bergland, seniors in Rainy River, Morson, forestry families in Barwick, Fort Frances, Sapawe, Upsala and Thunder Bay and Atikokan, too.

However, I would like the members in the House to know that we have a fighting spirit and that we are willing to work with all levels of government to ensure we have the wherewithal and the tools to make lives better for our families.

People in Thunder Bay—Rainy River are worried about their jobs, their pensions and their savings. We were hoping there would be some bold and strategic moves by the government in the throne speech, but what we have is a throne speech that does not match the urgency and the depth of the problems facing Canadian families.

We have proven again by not supporting this throne speech, just as in the 39th Parliament, that we are the effective opposition in the House.

The Speech from the Throne does not secure jobs for our families. It does not secure and ensure sound budgeting. Just today the parliamentary budget officer announced that we could be facing a $13.8 billion deficit. Cancelling the scheduled $7.3 billion in corporate tax cuts in 2009-10 would go a long way to putting Canadians and Canada on a sound financial footing.

However, let me be clear, I want to work with the government. People in my riding have told me that they do not want another election any time soon. They want me to work with the government. We need to ensure that no one gets left behind or no families get left behind.

I was pleased to hear some of the words in the throne speech. I was pleased that I heard, at least two or three times, the term working families. Everyone in the House will recognize where that term came from.

I look forward to working with the government on home retrofit programs. I welcome the language on the new world-class research facilities, reducing gun crime and ending cross-border smuggling of guns. It was in our 2008 election platform.

I have spoken with three ministers so far and I have pledged my co-operation on a broad range of issues. Every educator knows that success breeds success.

I heard this morning, and I heard recently from the hon. Conservative member, that the government finally would get rid of the long gun registry. I am very pleased to tell the House that for eight years, since the turn of the century, my constituents have told me that we need to get rid of that long gun registry. They have told me that it unfairly penalizes farmers, gun collectors and hunters. If that bill appears as a stand-alone bill, I will honour the wishes of the constituents in my riding.

As I said, success breeds success. We can make the government work for all Canadians, where no one gets left behind. Do not let anyone tell you, Mr. Speaker, that it cannot be done.

[Member spoke in Ojibwa]

[English]