Nycole Turmel

[Firearms Registry, November 1st, 2011]

Mr. Speaker, let me quote the Conservatives' Associate Minister of National Defence:

A very obvious concern to us in policing is that I want my police officers to know where there are firearms when they respond to calls, especially those that very often entail dangerous situations.

Does the Prime Minister agree that the semi-automatic weapon used at École Polytechnique is dangerous?

Does he agree with his Associate Minister of National Defence that it is an obvious concern for our police officers to know where these guns are when they respond to a dangerous situation?

[Firearms Registry, November 1st, 2011]

Mr. Speaker, we know where the Conservatives stand. They would rather destroy the data and put the police and the public at risk, but we do not understand why.

Say that in a house there is an armour-piercing gun, a Steyr HS .50, an L115A3 long-range rifle and a TAR-21 assault rifle, but the police do not know because the Prime Minister decided to destroy that data.

Abdicating his responsibilities is one thing, but why refuse to give the provinces the existing data?

[Firearms Registry, November 1st, 2011]

Mr. Speaker, we are seeing some absurd situations as a result of the Conservatives' irresponsibility when it comes to the firearms registry. For example, owners will no longer be required to register the semi-automatic Ruger Mini-14. The Ruger Mini-14 is the weapon that was used in Norway this past summer. It is also the weapon that was used at the École Polytechnique.

If the Prime Minister were a police officer, I would think that before walking into a building, he would want to know whether there was a Ruger Mini-14 inside.

Why destroy all the data? Why endanger our police officers?

[The Economy, October 31st, 2011]

Mr. Speaker, this does not help the economy.

The GDP numbers should wake the Conservatives up. The economy needs further stimulus, not an abrupt end to the money already promised.

In Saint-Eustache, for instance, work was delayed because of federal red tape. The city is not to blame, but the Conservatives are using that as an excuse to cut funding for the bridge to Îles Corbeil.

Instead of cutting off the stimulus funding, why not prolong or even expand the program?

[The Economy, October 31st, 2011]

Mr. Speaker, not only are Conservatives refusing to act to help our economy, they are also turning off the taps of the previous stimulus package.

The city of Hamilton stands to lose $7.8 million in infrastructure funding today. There is no reason for the government not to invest the money that was budgeted for infrastructure.

Why not ensure that every penny allocated to stimulate the economy will actually go to stimulate the economy?

[The Economy, October 31st, 2011]

Mr. Speaker, the latest GDP numbers show a stagnation of the economy with one exception, the oil and gas sector, thanks to the Conservatives' favouritism. However, high productivity sectors like manufacturing and infrastructure were flat or down.

Is this not further evidence that we should prolong the stimulus package and target high productivity sectors?

[Firearms Registry, October 27th, 2011]

Mr. Speaker, that is not what the police and the provinces are saying. The homicide rate in Canada is the lowest it has been in 45 years, mainly as a result of fewer gun-related deaths. It is important to note that this decline is related in part to the firearms registry, which is consulted by police 17,000 times a day. The elimination of the registry is a problem, but the destruction of the data is even worse.

Why prevent the police and the provinces from accessing the data currently found in the firearms registry?

[Firearms Registry, October 27th, 2011]

Mr. Speaker, the National Assembly of Quebec has supported the firearms registry on more than one occasion. Today, we have learned that Quebec opposes the Conservatives' plan to destroy the data. The National Assembly is saying “no” to this government because the police need this information to keep our communities safe. That is what the police want and that is what the Government of Quebec and the provinces want.

Why is this government going to war against the police and the provinces?

[Canadian Wheat Board, October 27th, 2011]

Mr. Speaker, if the Prime Minister has time, I suggest he tour the Australian wheat board. This once-proud single desk marketer benefited family farmers for decades before a reckless conservative government dismantled it. How did that work out? Wheat growers lost leverage, countless family farms failed, and the defunct board was sold off to an offshore big agri company.

Why is the government repeating that failed experiment?

[Firearms Registry, October 26th, 2011]

Mr. Speaker, despite the fact that the number of homicides committed with long guns has decreased, the Conservatives have decided to turn a deaf ear with regard to the firearms registry. They are turning their backs on women, victims, the police, the victims' ombudsman and the Canadian Association of Chiefs of Police. They are even going to destroy the data in their ideological blindness.

Why destroy $2 billion in accumulated information when the provinces and the police want to keep it?