Leon Benoit

[Committees of the House, March 28th, 2007]

I will read the questions to the House. Farmers were asked--

[Committees of the House, March 28th, 2007]

Mr. Speaker, while listening to the member opposite, I was very interested in some of his statements. He indicated that he did not think farmers were smart enough to figure out what they were voting on.

[Committees of the House, March 28th, 2007]

She is no farmer. In fact, she is concerned because she does not want jobs to be lost in that Wheat Board building in downtown Winnipeg. That is all she cares about. She does not care about farmers.

Those members must respect the will of farmers, those who make their livelihood from the land in growing grain, those who have been restricted so greatly in marketing by a monopoly sales situation. I would suggest that they just give up the battle. We have had the vote. Farmers have spoken on this issue. They should respect the result that farmers themselves have provided.

[Committees of the House, March 28th, 2007]

Mr. Speaker, rarely I have heard such a display of partisan politics in the House. I have watched what has gone on with this issue of the Wheat Board and there is something that I have noticed. One thing is that of the two spokespeople from the other side who are favouring the monopoly and who just do not want to free farmers up, in spite of a vote that has been held that has clearly indicated that 62% of farmers favour ending the monopoly, in spite of that, one of the members who is still fighting against this result and against farmers themselves is the member for Malpeque.

Is the member for Malpeque someone who is deeply involved in grain farming or with farmers as their representative in a Wheat Board area? No, he is from Prince Edward Island, which is not even covered by the Wheat Board. There is no Wheat Board monopoly in Prince Edward Island, yet he is the main spokesperson for the Liberal Party on this issue. It seems extremely odd to me that this would be the case.

As for the member who just spoke, why is she so concerned about losing the monopoly?

[Petitions, March 28th, 2007]

Mr. Speaker, I am proud to present, on behalf of my constituents and others, a petition calling upon the government to protect children from sexual predators and to do that by raising the age of sexual consent from 14 to 16 years of age, something this government has been attempting to do and, of course, the opposition parties have been resisting.

[Petitions, March 21st, 2007]

Mr. Speaker, I am honoured to present a petition on behalf of the people of Wainwright, an area which calls for the protection of our children from sexual predators. The petitioners say that should be a top priority of government. They note that studies have shown that 14 and 15 year olds are the most vulnerable to sexual exploitation. They call on Parliament to pass legislation to raise the age of consent from 14 to 16 years of age. I am sure the petitioners know that our government has legislation which would do that, if the opposition would allow it to pass.

[Petitions, March 1st, 2007]

Mr. Speaker, I am happy to present a petition on behalf of people in my constituency. They recognize that it is the responsibility of the government to protect our children from sexual predators and that it must be a top priority of the federal government.

The petitioners believe that Parliament should enact and enforce the Criminal Code to protect the most vulnerable members of our society and they call upon the government assembled in Parliament to take all necessary measures to raise the age of consent from 14 to 16 years of age. I support this petition.

[Petitions, February 28th, 2007]

Mr. Speaker, in federal criminal law now an unborn child is not recognized as the victim with respect to violent crime.

When Olivia Talbot of Edmonton was shot and killed in November 2005, her 27-week old unborn son, Lane Jr., also died, but because he had no legal protection and there is no legal protection for unborn children in the law today, no charge was laid in regard to that death.

Therefore, the petitioners are calling upon Parliament to enact legislation that would recognize unborn children as separate victims when they are injured or killed during the commission of an offence against their mothers.

[Committees of the House, February 28th, 2007]

Mr. Speaker, I have the honour to present, in both official languages, the sixth report of the Standing Committee on International Trade in relation to the order in council appointment of Eric D. Siegel to the position of President of Export Development Canada.

[Star of Military Valour, February 15th, 2007]

Mr. Speaker, on Monday, Sergeant Patrick Tower, who served at CFB Wainwright, will become one of the first ever recipients of Canada's Star of Military Valour.

In true soldier fashion, Sergeant Tower insists that he was just doing his job when he led two of his comrades through 150 metres of enemy fire to help a group of Canadian soldiers who were pinned down and had suffered heavy casualities.

Later that day Sergeant Tower learned that four soldiers, including his best friend, were killed during the battle. His courage and selfless devotion to duty figured significantly in the survival of the remaining platoon members.

A soldier since the age of 17, Sergeant Tower is proud of his troops, his country and his mission and he humbly points to those who did not come home as the true heroes.

However, when heroes do manage to come home, like Sergeant Tower, it is a privilege to recognize and thank them for their service to Canada, to peace and to democracy, and I am humbled to do so today.

Thanks and well done Sergeant Tower.