Kevin Lamoureux

[Canadian Wheat Board, June 15th, 2011]

Mr. Speaker, skip the quote and have the plebiscite. That is what the farmers in the Prairies want to see.

The government has demonstrated that it does not care what the prairie farmer has to say, as the Prime Minister himself has decided to get rid of the Canadian Wheat Board.

At what cost? Producer car-loading rights will be destroyed, the Port of Churchill will be devastated, hundreds of good-quality jobs will be lost in Winnipeg.

Why is the government destroying the Canadian Wheat Board and tell us why the farmers will not be allowed to have a vote? Why no plebiscite for prairie farmers?

[Libya, June 14th, 2011]

Madam Speaker, it is encouraging to see, in the manner in which this motion has come before us, the support for both the subamendment and amendment.

I ask the question of my colleague posed by a previous speaker, who indicated that after three and a half months, we should be looking at pulling out of Libya, at least that is what was being implied.

Does my colleague believe that this would be advisable for the federal government? What potential impact would something of this nature have, if we were to take the advice of that particular member?

[Libya, June 14th, 2011]

Mr. Speaker, we are here today for this review primarily because the government has made a decision to have the House involved in trying to gain unanimous support for going forward with what is taking place in Libya.

I would be interested to hear the Bloc's perspective on whether it feels this is a good way to continue to proceed and whether we should come back to this in September or October in an attempt to continue to have this type of unanimous support from the House of Commons in going forward for what is happening in Libya?

[Libya, June 14th, 2011]

Mr. Speaker, we are encouraged by the degree to which we are engaged in this debate.

Is it the government's intention to continue to have debates in regard to Libya if further extensions will be required three months from now or in September? Could the member give a clear indication of whether this will be an ongoing commitment by the government to ensure we can continue to build on the consensus by allowing debates of this nature regarding Libya?

[Libya, June 14th, 2011]

Mr. Speaker, I listened intently to the member's comments. It comes across fairly clearly that the New Democrats would strongly oppose the mission involving any form of a regime change. Then when I hear the government members, they seem to be completely at odds with that.

Are there any circumstances where the member could envision Colonel Gadhafi retaining any power whatsoever in a new Libya?

[Libya, June 14th, 2011]

Mr. Speaker, in his comments, the member indicated, without any hesitation, that Colonel Gadhafi must leave. Do the current mission objectives include the removal of Colonel Gadhafi from power? Is the government crystal clear on that particular point?

[Petitions, June 14th, 2011]

Mr. Speaker, I present a petition on behalf of constituents and others who are, in essence, calling upon the government to increase support to our seniors in terms of pensions.

Canadians are very much aware, in terms of the policy direction of the government, of it prioritizing things such as corporation tax breaks while, at the same time, not providing the necessary funds in order for many of our seniors to have a decent lifestyle.

The petitioners are asking the government to look at ways in which it can increase pensions.

It was a pleasure to bring this petition before this chamber.

[The Budget, June 13th, 2011]

Mr. Speaker, the member caught my ear when she made reference to this budget in that it is innovative for our farmers. The first thing that came across my mind was what the government is actually doing to the wheat farmers in the prairies of Manitoba.

The vast majority of the wheat farmers do not support the actions the government is taking regarding the Wheat Board. How is it that the government sees fit to give the impression that it is being supportive of the wheat farmer while at the same time the wheat farmer does not want to lose the Wheat Board?

Can the government not listen and at least allow for a plebiscite, so that we can hear and act firsthand on what the prairie wheat farmers actually want as opposed to the government of the day wiping the Wheat Board out without the support of the wheat farmer?

[The Budget, June 13th, 2011]

Mr. Speaker, I want to pick up on the member's comments with regard to the importance of social housing.

I, for one, do look at it in terms of what the national government has done over the last few years in that whole field of national housing programs and so forth. I have found it to be wanting.

There seems to be a need to have a national housing policy. The government needs to come forward and start telling Canadians what kind of housing plans it has going into the future.

Could the hon. member elaborate on what she believes would be important to national housing? In terms of the federal government's role versus just giving money to the provinces, what role does the member believe Ottawa plays in developing the programs?

[The Budget, June 13th, 2011]

Mr. Speaker, I want to go back to the member's comments when he talked about the small businesses in his community. I truly appreciate that.

In fact, the Liberal Party of Canada supports small businesses in many different ways, more so obviously than the Conservative Party, in the sense that the Conservative Party has put its priorities in favour of corporations. It demonstrated that in the budget with the amount of tax money it is giving to large corporations, with a smaller percentage allocated in different ways to small business in the budget.

Would the government not have been better off giving more of those tax breaks to the businesses providing 80% of the jobs in the communities the member made reference to, thereby creating more opportunities for the constituency he represents, as opposed to these large corporate tax cuts?