Nina Grewal

[Christmas, December 15th, 2010]

Mr. Speaker, Christmas is fast approaching and tales of political correctness fill the air as many seek to remove all that is Christian from Christmas.

Nativity scenes are banned, holiday trees replace Christmas trees and references to God, Christ and the Lord are cast aside, leaving us with just another meaningless, consumer-oriented holiday. The spirit of Christmas should not be taken out of Christmas. Non-Christian, new Canadians or immigrants are not offended and do not want to be protected.

Every year thousands of all faith gather to celebrate the Chinese New Year, Vaisakhi, Diwali and more. We accept and respect each other's beliefs and traditions. Therefore, let us not strip Christians of their identity and faith and let us not abandon the traditions of religion.

I wish my Christian friends a happy Vaisakhi and they wish me a merry Christmas and we all celebrate together. Let us celebrate Christmas as it is and as it should be.

[Status of Women, December 8th, 2010]

Mr. Speaker, sexual assault is a serious and an all too common form of violence that continues to victimize thousands of women and girls every year.

Our government introduced legislation to bring the age of consent for sexual activity from 14 to 16. We also introduced legislation to impose stricter conditions on repeat offenders. This would protect young people from sexual exploitation by adult predators.

We promote personal safety and empowerment through the women's program of Status of Women of Canada by funding important community projects aimed at eliminating violence against women and girls across the country.

During the 16 days of activism on violence against women, we must remember the countless women and girls worldwide who suffer or lose their life because of violence.

Let us raise our voices and call an end to sexual assault and all forms of violence against women.

[International Trade, November 17th, 2010]

Mr. Speaker, Canada is on the threshold of a new partnership with India. Yesterday, the Minister of International Trade launched free trade negotiations with India, one of the world's fastest growing markets.

Enhancing and securing trade opportunities for Canadian businesses is a key initiative for our government. Over the last four years we have negotiated new trade agreements with eight countries and we are holding negotiations with close to 50 others.

The Canada-India partnership holds great promise for workers and businesses. A free trade agreement has the potential to boost Canada's economy by $6 billion to $15 billion and increase bilateral trade by 50%.

I have long promoted stronger ties and better trade relations with India. We must capitalize on our common ties and the large and thriving Indian community in Canada to create new jobs and new opportunities.

Free trade is both logical and a win-win situation for both countries and should be applauded.

[Status of Women, October 28th, 2010]

Mr. Speaker, yesterday the Liberals held an invitation-only event asking women to make a big donation to join the Laurier Club, a high-dollar donor group with privileged access to Liberal Party insiders. They sold the night as an event to “build your networks in the capital”.

Selling access to female Liberal MPs, is that how the Liberals reach out to Canadian women? Why are the Liberals interested only in women who can pay $1,000 at the door?

Our government cares about all Canadian women. We have listened to the concerns of Canadian women. That is why we have taken action to toughen our crime laws. That is why we have given families a choice in child care through the universal child-care benefit. While the Liberals only care about the chequebook in the women's handbag, we have taken action to protect the jobs of Canadian women and the safety and economic well-being of all families.

[Employment Insurance, October 18th, 2010]

Mr. Speaker, the Liberal, Bloc and NDP coalition, headed by the Liberal leader, is at it again. It will try yet again with its relentless pursuit to push its irresponsible and costly EI plans when NDP Bill C-280 is debated this Friday.

Our Conservative government does not support the bill or any other expensive coalition EI bills. The idea of getting a year's worth of EI after only having worked 45 days is offensive to hard-working Canadians. The coalition's EI plans would cost workers and job-creating small businesses $7 billion per year and result in a permanent 35% increase in payroll premiums.

It is our Conservative government that will stand up for hard-working Canadians and fight against the Liberal leader's coalition plans to increase taxes on workers and job-creating small businesses.

[Public Safety, October 8th, 2010]

Mr. Speaker, the Liberal public safety critic continues to side with criminals. First he talked about dramatically cutting sentences, and now he wants to delay our legislation to eliminate accelerated parole with a cost analysis.

Victims already know the true cost of crime. When will the Liberals do what is right and commit to keeping criminals behind bars?

Could the Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Public Safety please update this House on our efforts to keep criminals behind bars?

[Justice, October 5th, 2010]

Mr. Speaker, today the Minister of Justice announced the reintroduction of legislation to end sentence discounts for multiple murders. It would allow judges to impose consecutive parole ineligibility periods on individuals convicted of more than one first or second degree murder.

Under the current system, criminals convicted of multiple murders serve their parole ineligibility periods concurrently and are eligible to apply for parole after just 10 to 25 years.

This is just one more step in our government's efforts to restore Canadians' faith in the justice system. We are the only party to stand up for victims and law-abiding citizens in this country and which is committed to ensuring the safety and security of our communities.

We hope that the parties opposite join us in supporting this bill, as well as Bill S-6 aimed at repealing the faint hope clause, in the days to come.

[Employment Insurance, September 30th, 2010]

Mr. Speaker, last night, Liberal MPs, with their coalition partners, voted to endorse the fiscally irresponsible BillC-308 and its 45-day work year plan. If implemented, it would cost Canadians $7 billion and increase EI premiums permanently by 35%.

Our Conservative government was the only party to unanimously oppose this irresponsible coalition plan. These irresponsible coalition schemes will harm jobs and job creators.

Could the Minister of Finance please inform the House what--

[Petitions, June 16th, 2010]

Mr. Speaker, the second petition, signed by dozens of Surrey residents, calls on Parliament to support a universal declaration on animal welfare.

[Petitions, June 16th, 2010]

Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to rise on behalf of the constituents of Fleetwood—Port Kells to present two petitions.

The first petition deals with an issue debated in the House earlier this week in a take note debate. The petitioners call upon Parliament to recognize venous anomalies to be a separate and distinct health issue that may or may not be related to multiple sclerosis and to immediately apply the principle of the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, and release a statement supporting the rights of persons with MS to receive diagnostic services and recommended treatment related to impaired cerebrospinal venous return by a qualified medical practitioner.