Mark Holland

[Canada Elections Act, November 24th, 2005]

Mr. Speaker, yesterday in the House the deputy leader of the government tabled legislation that would limit contributions for election advertising by third parties.

Could the minister update the House as to whether progress has been made to seek unanimous consent from the opposition to pass this important legislation?

[Privilege, November 3rd, 2005]

That is what they are doing.

[Privilege, November 3rd, 2005]

Mr. Speaker, I think we need to take a look at this practice. Instead of saying, “This piece of libellous material is so wonderful I want to send it everywhere,” let us have a real conversation about members sending material into other ridings, whether or not it is 10 percenters or householders or franked material. I have never sent one thing into anybody else's riding, not a single thing.

When the member opposite criticized me for raising a question of privilege that we need to take a look at this issue, I take great exception to it. When time after time this partisan material is being fired off into ridings, it serves no purpose. It does not add to the public discourse. It only has one purpose and that is to malign reputations. Let us look at the whole process. Let us stop sending this stuff into other people's ridings. Let us adhere to a better process and let us stop this ridiculous partisan nonsense.

[Privilege, November 3rd, 2005]

Mr. Speaker, when we see that this householder was sent out before Gomery had even reported, before they even bothered to get the facts, that they would try to destroy a reputation, that they would cast aspersions without fact is not new. We know the Bloc Québécois wants to destroy Canada and frankly, the Bloc members do not care what they say or what they do to get there.

What really is upsetting and is a new low is that the member opposite would stand in this House and proudly say that he would send that out across the country, to try to destroy reputations without facts, without any basis. It is disgusting to play directly into their plan to undermine this country.

I think the time has come, and this whole episode displays it, instead of talking about proudly sending something out that is false, that attacks members' reputations unnecessarily--

[Privilege, November 3rd, 2005]

Mr. Speaker, we have really seen a new low here today. When we see a householder that was sent out before the Gomery report was issued--

[Year of the Veteran, October 27th, 2005]

Mr. Speaker, on November 11 at 2:11 p.m., students from across the province of Ontario will join in readings of In Flanders Fields . This will not only honour veterans in the Year of the Veteran but it also will honour and promote literacy.

In creative and innovative ways, they will come together in this program that was started in my own riding, I am proud to say, by the Durham West Arts Centre. I want to take a moment to thank Ontario Power Generation, Veterans Affairs Canada, and particularly Ontario Power Generation and Angie Littlefield. Angie Littlefield is with the Durham West Arts Centre and started this initiative.

It is my sincere hope that this program will spread across all provinces and that next year on November 11, at 2:11 p.m., every school in the country will be reading In Flanders Fields and celebrating our veterans.

Going forward, I would ask all members to look at this program and to promote it in their own constituencies.

[Health, October 24th, 2005]

Mr. Speaker, I and many other Canadians are deeply concerned with the rising levels of obesity, particularly among Canadian children.

We have seen illnesses that were previously rare in children, like type 2 diabetes and hypertension, now become prevalent. In fact, for the first time in generations, we see that the life expectancy for Canadian children is being jeopardized and is going down.

My question is for the Minister of State for Public Health. What is the government doing at this time to address this very important issue?

[Animal Rights, September 29th, 2005]

Mr. Speaker, over the course of the summer I was truly taken by the number of constituents, and indeed Canadians, who spoke up on the issue of animal cruelty and the lack of strength in the current legislation.

The last time these laws were changed was in 1956 and those were only minor amendments from the changes made in 1892. In fact, animals are still in our property section and are really afforded no protection. As various abuses occur, the reality is that nothing is being done.

The House has been dealing with an animal cruelty bill since 1999. We are now on our seventh incarnation of the bill. It is imperative that we take action. Bill C-50 is hopefully going to be presented to the House soon. It needs to be passed by all members of the House with great expediency. It is essentially the same bill that was passed previously. The bill that is currently before the Senate is woefully inadequate. It does not protect animals. It keeps them in the property section.

It is important to say this because there are a lot of people in the hunting community who have received false information. They have nothing to be worried about—

[Canada Elections Act, June 8th, 2005]

Mr. Speaker, it came as news to me that I am only young at heart. It certainly will come as news to my constituents. I was elected in the last election at the age of 29. Frankly, I think that really misses the point. I will speak to that a little bit later.

I wish to thank many of my hon. colleagues who worked along with me on this bill, particularly those that travelled to different schools across the country and talked to students. I want to thank the member for Verchères—Les-Patriotes, a member from the Bloc, who spoke with great passion earlier. He certainly spoke with great passion in the schools. I am deeply appreciative of all the work he did. I also appreciated the work done by the NDP member for Skeena—Bulkley Valley who did a tremendous amount of work.

I think we were able as a group, along with the member for Newmarket—Aurora, who is now the Minister of Human Resources and Skills Development, to be a team that went out and showed how we can work in a non-partisan way about engaging youth. That is an excellent starting point, to say that we got together from all different parties and were able to get into classrooms, put our partisanship aside and ask, how can we get youth interested in politics? We were very successful in that regard. I would also like to thank the NDP member for Churchill who had previously introduced this bill.

I would also like to thank from the Conservatives the member for Selkirk—Interlake and the member for Edmonton—Strathcona who also took part in those discussions in schools, and the member for Mississauga—Brampton South for the discussions he held in schools in the Brampton area.

There were a tremendous number of members who participated in this process. As I was going around and participating with other members there were some additional thoughts beyond what I first said that really struck me.

The first thing that really struck me was the incredible opportunity that we have in that classroom. Here we have a group of individuals that will go on to become plumbers, tradespeople, doctors or perhaps politicians and who will go into all different fields. Yet, this is the one time in their life that we have them in one room.

We have this unique opportunity to engage them and talk with them about the political process, not in some vague academic way but to give them support in a very real and tangible sense about how they can participate in the electoral process.

We look at why 18, 19, 20 and 21 year olds and older are not voting. It is often because they have considerations such as: do they vote at home or do they vote at their school? How do they find out about their candidates?

They ask questions about issues because they do not have a formal venue. For example, politics does not come up for those studying marine biology. It is not part of the formal education. We have lost the opportunity.

Therefore, in that classroom, it was done right. My hon. colleague from the Bloc hit the nail on the head. Reducing the voting age unto itself does nothing. It is incorporating it with that opportunity that we have in that classroom to have all candidates' debates, to provide them with information and to have discussions. They can have a more informed opinion and decision, frankly, than their peers who are 18, 19 or 20 and do not have that opportunity.

This provides them with a base which will last a whole life. We have seen time and time again that if we can get young people to vote once, they are going to vote again and again. It is about giving them that opportunity in a supportive network.

We talked earlier about the fact that the Conservative Party, the Liberal Party, the New Democratic Party and I believe the Bloc as well, all allowed 14 or 16 year olds to vote in nomination meetings and in leadership contests. They were allowed to select the leaders and through the leaders who the prime ministers were going to be. In that forum they actually have a larger say than in a general election where their vote would be more diluted. We allow them to vote in that forum, but not in the general forum. I think that is contradictory and causes problems.

The second thing that really struck me, when I was in those classrooms, was the energy and the enthusiasm and the excitement of those young people. What a wonderful thing to be able to go into a classroom and have young people being responded to and actually listened to. Not only do we value what they had to say, but we wanted to them the opportunity to express it in a vote, to be part of the broader system of how governments are selected, and how their country is run.

In that process we have to look at it as a chicken and egg scenario. In order to show young people that we are taking them seriously, we have to give them a voice. We have to stop patronizing them, and telling them that they are too stupid and they do not know enough.

In my youth wing that I have in my riding the young people who are there and also sit on my executive provide tremendous impetus for many of the things that I do. They are equal players. If there was not a youth wing when I started, I am not sure that I would have become a member of Parliament. These things are vital. As we seek ways to engage young people, this as an important step and an important piece in that tool kit.

I thank all members for the opportunity to work with me on this bill and provide the level of debate that has led the bill to this point.

[Fisheries, June 8th, 2005]

Mr. Speaker, why would the Conservatives want to place the $50 million a year Ontario fishing industry at risk? Why are they preparing to vote against critical regulations that help Ontario manage and ensure the conservation of fisheries in this province?

The Ontario minister of natural resources is gravely concerned about Conservative support for the removal of this key provision of the Ontario fishing regulations. The minister states, “without this provision, Ontario would literally have its hands tied with respect to the enforcement of the commercial fishery”. He further states that this would, “threaten the sustainability of our fisheries resources”.

The Conservative Party has a history of rejecting conservation when it comes to management of our fisheries. Their laissez-faire free market approach to ocean fisheries did not work when the Conservatives were in government and it is an approach that will not work for Ontario's inland fisheries either.

I would call on all MPs from all parties to support the government motion. It would be nice to see the Conservatives stand and support a sustainable environment, instead of employing empty rhetoric.