Larry Miller

[National Hunting, Trapping and Fishing Heritage Day Act, November 27th, 2013]

Mr. Speaker, this is a topic that is very near and dear to my heart. Like the member for Northumberland—Quinte West, who is an avid sportsman and a conservationist, I enjoy the outdoors just as much as he does, as many Canadians do. I know many people in his riding and my riding do as well. I would like to personally thank him on behalf of everyone here for bringing the bill forward. It is long overdue.

As I listened to the member who spoke before, I cannot help but say that this government has done more to protect the rights of hunters and fishers in this country than any other party in the history of Canada. We got rid of the gun registry, something that should have never been put in place to start with. It was really nothing about safety. It was trying one step at a time to take away guns because people for all intents and purposes are against hunting. That is a known fact.

I want to talk about what has made hunting and fishing such a passion for me. I can remember when I was around age six or seven and my dad, who is still an avid hunter at 81, took me out on a hunt with him. I was not carrying a gun, but he took me along. He stood me under a balsam tree by a pond. I remember standing there as it started to get dark, and a fox came for a drink. At that age in the middle of a big wilderness I remember wondering if my dad was going to come back. Not long after the fox left, a doe came for a drink with two fawns.

I think that entrenched in me the beauty of wildlife. It stuck with me and I have been an admirer and a hunter of white-tailed deer, among other species. My dad gave me my first gun at age 12. It was a Christmas present but a couple of weeks before that he and his friends were going to go on a fox hunt. He unwrapped the gun and said he should not be giving it to me, but he did because we went out hunting that day. I did not shoot anything that day. I did not see anything, but not long after that I shot my first deer with that gun. I did not realize I had that first deer. Being a rookie at hunting deer at 12 or 13 years old, I thought I had missed it. I went off to school with my siblings the next day and my dad checked and I had shot the deer. When I came home from school, there was a strict lesson for my brother Tom and I. My dad told us where the deer was and we were to go back and get it. The lesson in all that was that a hunter never wastes meat. I have taught that to my boys. I know my brothers have taught that to their boys.

People do not understand hunting and do not hunt, and that is fine. I respect their choices in life. However, a lot of them do not understand that it is not just about the kill or the catch of the fish. It is being outdoors, quality time and if a hunter is fortunate enough to take something from the land, he is to look after it well, take it home and consume it. There is nothing any healthier than good venison, a fresh perch, trout or salmon out of Georgian Bay near where I live. It is all very healthy and managed right. There are some bad examples as in anything, but most hunters and fishermen respect where they hunt and where they fish. That is why the bill is so important and we should never forget that.

I talked about getting my first deer and I hunted for years with my brothers and my dad, and then friends. I can remember the day that my own sons got their first deer. I think their dad was as happy as anybody was. It gave me great pleasure in seeing that.

My family still goes to the hunt camp. In this job I do not get there as much as I would like to. It is one of the things that I miss the most being in this place, but that is something that one has to do when one commits to a job.

My family and brothers still go there. It now includes my brothers-in-law, my sons and my nephews, and that is not going to change. On Thanksgiving here recently, we were at one of my brothers' places and what did we do that day? With my nieces, nephews and brothers, we had a skeet shoot that day before a great Thanksgiving dinner.

That is why it is important to remember that hunting, fishing and trapping outdoors is a heritage. The bill would protect that and enshrine it, and I fully support it.

[Tom Thompson Art Gallery, November 26th, 2013]

Mr. Speaker, the old adage goes, “a picture paints a thousand words”.

I rise in the House today to recognize the Tom Thomson Art Gallery in Owen Sound for its recent recognition as an A-rated gallery by the Ontario Arts Council. The Tom was established in 1967 and was named after Tom Thomson, a famous Canadian artist who was born, bred, and now rests in Owen Sound.

Since its establishment, the Tom has been home to the largest collection of art in the area. The gallery is being commended for its outstanding collection as well as the programs and services it offers to the community. I am very proud that a small-town gallery like the Tom is showing the big boys how it is done. I congratulate Virginia Eichhorn, director and chief curator of the Tom, and all of her staff and volunteers, on a job very well done. I and all residents of Bruce—Grey—Owen Sound are very proud of their accomplishments and their service to our community.

Mr. Speaker, I invite you and all members to visit the best, visit the Tom.

[Committees of the House, November 20th, 2013]

Mr. Speaker, I have the honour to present, in both official languages, the first report of the Standing Committee on Transport, Infrastructure and Communities in relation to supplementary estimates B, 2013-14.

[Veterans Affairs, November 18th, 2013]

Mr. Speaker, after seven long, quiet days, the leader of the Liberal Party has refused to retract and sack his veterans critic for his baseless and hurtful comments on Remembrance Day and order him to retract those comments.

We already know the Liberal Party does not trust Canadians with their hard-earned money. Who could forget the Liberals accusing moms and dads of wanting to spend the universal child care benefit on “beer and popcorn”?

Sadly, on Remembrance Day no less, the Liberal critic confused his role and began criticizing veterans themselves. That member said that veterans can't be trusted with their own money, saying they will blow it on “booze”. To treat Canadians and especially veterans like that is uncalled for. Shame on him.

How many more days will Canadian veterans have to wait for a full retraction from the Liberal leader? How many more days until he wakes up and fires that disrespectful member?

[Middle East, October 30th, 2013]

Mr. Speaker, once again, the UN Special Rapporteur Richard Falk has shown his biased, ill-informed and, frankly, anti-Semitic views regarding the Middle East peace talks. His recent comments threatening the state of Israel with sanction at the International Court of Justice are totally unhelpful and do nothing to help the Middle East peace process. Those comments actually poison the environment for peace.

Canada has been clear on this issue. We believe in a two-state solution where final status issues are to be resolved directly between the two parties without preconditions, but which also recognizes right of the state of Israel to live in peace and security.

Richard Falk's latest rantings come from the same man who implied that the Boston terrorist attacks this past spring were somehow the fault of the U.S. and of Israel.

Mr. Falk must resign from his role at the UN because his continued service damages the Israeli-Palestinian peace process and damages what little credibility Mr. Falk and the UN still have.

I also call on the leaders of the NDP, the Liberal Party, the Bloc Québécois and the Green Party to make their views on Richard Falk public. Do they stand with our government or do they accept Mr. Falk's remarks?

[Public Safety, October 29th, 2013]

Mr. Speaker, our Conservative government has consistently taken action to protect Canadians from violent foreign extremists who seek to harm us. We brought forward Canada's first counterterrorism strategy and we have listed numerous groups as terrorist organizations. It has come to light that the member for Toronto—Danforth wrote a letter of support for a confessed terrorist, who also happened to volunteer on his NDP campaign.

Can the Minister of Public Safety please tell the House the government's position on the Tamil Tigers?

[Economic Action Plan 2013 Act No. 2, October 28th, 2013]

Mr. Speaker, the member for Newmarket—Aurora has been in my riding and I think she would agree that it is a pretty special place. She represents a great riding as well and does a great job of that.

My people are no different than hers. They are average, hard-working Canadians. Any time we give honest, hard-working Canadians extra money in their pockets, we know what they will do. Their kids will benefit from it. Seniors will benefit from it. As I said in my speech, $3,200 is nothing to sneeze at. It is significant. That $3,200 is a lot of money which allows Canadians to do those little extras that they might not have been able to do.

[Economic Action Plan 2013 Act No. 2, October 28th, 2013]

Mr. Speaker, it is really good to hear an opposition member, particularly a Liberal, stand and recognize the great Minister of Finance we have in our country. It is one thing for one of his colleagues like myself, who obviously already knows that he is a great finance minister, to say it, but to hear that member say it is fantastic.

I talked about the $40 billion that we used to pay down the deficit. If the Liberal Party of Canada would pay back the $40 million that went out of this place in paper bags, we could add that to it.

[Economic Action Plan 2013 Act No. 2, October 28th, 2013]

Mr. Speaker, in response to his question about the auto industry, it is fair to say that in any industry, whether it is agriculture or the auto industry, there are components of those industries that can attract niche markets.

I am not aware of the comments that he referred to, but from some of the figures I have seen, in the last year 17,000 cars from Canada went to the European Union. Under this agreement, that could rise to somewhere between 100,000 and 120,000 cars. If that is not significant, then I do not know what is.

[Economic Action Plan 2013 Act No. 2, October 28th, 2013]

Mr. Speaker, I am very pleased to rise in the House today to speak to the second budget implementation act. This act builds on many important measures that are part of the 2013 economic action plan and puts them into practice for Canadians. Today I would like to highlight several of these measures that I feel would benefit constituents in my riding of Bruce—Grey—Owen Sound, and indeed Canadians across the country.

To begin, it should be noted that the Canadian economy has been recognized globally as a leader through the current global economic recession. In fact, Canada has had the strongest job creation record in the G7. Furthermore, both the International Monetary Fund and the OECD are projecting that Canada will have among the strongest growths in the G7 in the years to come. Finally, the World Economic Forum has ranked Canada's banking system as the soundest in the world, and a great part of that can be attributed to the great finance minister that we have in this country.

These global accolades are a strong indication of the economic success that this country has seen. This government knows to spend when spending is necessary and it knows to save when saving is possible. In fact, leading up to the recession, this government took almost $40 billion in surpluses and paid down the national debt. That is nothing to sneeze at. I was very pleased to see that budget 2013 and this implementation act continue this proven, successful Conservative tradition.

One principle that is very important to me is keeping taxes low for hard-working people and allowing workers to keep their hard-earned money, yet still providing necessary services. Since 2006, we have done just that. We have cut taxes over 150 times, resulting in the overall tax burden being reduced to its lowest level in 50 years. This is translated into the average Canadian family saving approximately $3,200 each year.

Expanding further, this budget will introduce more measures to save money for the average Canadian. This will be achieved by the freezing of employment insurance premium rates for three years, leaving $660 million in the pockets of workers and job creators. Therefore, Canadians will be saving money through tax breaks and other incentives while still benefiting from federal stimulus initiatives.

The new long-term infrastructure plan is a fantastic measure in the 2013 economic action plan. It will support economic growth and development in Canada.

The livelihoods of Canadians depend on a network of highways and roads, water and waste water infrastructure, transit systems, and recreational and cultural facilities. I and many of my colleagues on all sides of the House have spent time in municipal politics; in my case, it was almost 13 years. At this level of government, one of the main challenges that all of us had was addressing the needs of local infrastructure. That is why I am pleased to see that this budget addresses the need to support this network of infrastructure. Instead of a patchwork program, we have dedicated $32.2 billion over 10 years. The community improvement fund will support construction of, or improvements to, local roads, public transit, recreational facilities, and other important infrastructure, as well as provide a consistent and steady source of funding for local municipalities across the country. It is long overdue and well anticipated.

Along with supporting the development of infrastructure, economic action plan 2013 also contains measures to support a knowledgeable and healthy workforce. For example, the Canada job grant will provide $15,000 or more per person through federal, provincial, territorial, and employer funding to help Canadians get the skills they need for in-demand jobs. This program is expected to reach approximately 130,000 Canadians at eligible institutions each year.

Furthermore, I was pleased to see that this budget would reduce barriers to apprenticeship accreditation by working with the provinces and territories to standardize requirements for apprentices in the skilled trades across Canada. This is very welcome news in Bruce—Grey—Owen Sound, as many students and young workers obtain the skills they need for future employment through apprenticeship programs with local businesses that also benefit from the skills of these young workers. In fact, one of my own sons apprenticed with a local business and achieved his red seal in carpentry. That example of a great program happens all over the country every day.

Representing a riding that is surrounded by water on three sides puts the protection of our waterways, local fisheries and environment among the top priorities for me. That is why I was happy to see that budget 2013 contained measures to support these initiatives.

The first of these would be the recreational fisheries conservation protection program. This program would support local groups and sportsmen associations on local conservation projects. In fact, I was very pleased recently to welcome the Minister of Fisheries and Oceans to my riding to announce funding for a couple of local groups which had been approved for funding through this program. Remember that this program was just announced in the recent budget. To actually get some money flowing two to three months after that, if anyone knows how the government works, was a phenomenal thing to get through. It just does not usually happen that quickly, so kudos to the minister on that. It is a great program.

Along with this program, I was also pleased to see that the budget set aside $4 million to monitor and enforce ballast water regulation. This would help to protect our Great Lakes and other waterways from invasive species, such as Asian carp.

With Remembrance Day right around the corner, we should all take some time to recognize the strides that have been taken to better the lives of our honourable veterans. Specifically, this budget would enhance the funeral and burial program by simplifying it and by more than doubling the current funeral services reimbursement rate from $3,600 to just over $7,300. This program means a great deal to the families and friends of veterans who have passed away. These amendments certainly come as welcome news. These changes go along with other initiatives that have been implemented to support our veterans, such as the helmets to hardhats program and more.

Finally, I would like to conclude by saying that the current global economic recession is just that. The impacts of this recession have been felt all over the world. Global co-operation will be required to fix the problem and create a strong and stable international economic system. That is why the new and historic free trade agreement between Canada and the European Union is an outstanding accomplishment that we should certainly celebrate. Canadian companies will now benefit from free access to one of the world's largest consumer bases, which will create much more economic activity in Canada. Approximately 500 million people in agriculture, small business and all the other aspects of the Canadian economy have an opportunity here. That is what it is. Trade just does not happen overnight, but we have the opportunity to now make it happen. Having a very large and rural agricultural riding, my constituents will benefit from this.

This agreement has the potential to boost Canada's income by $12 billion annually and will increase bilateral trade by 20%. In other terms, this will add $1,000 to the average Canadian family's income and will also result in 80,000 new Canadian jobs. With statistics like these, it is very easy to see why this agreement is something to be celebrated. I look forward to taking questions.