Pat Martin

[Petitions, February 27th, 2013]

Mr. Speaker, the second petition I would like to table is signed by the Canadian Catholic Organization for Development and Peace and many residents in my constituency.

The petitioners call upon the Government of Canada to restore our overseas development assistance to 0.7% of the GDP and to fully fund, in the spirit of global solidarity, the grant to the Canadian Catholic Organization for Development and Peace of $49.2 million, as requested, over the next five years.

[Petitions, February 27th, 2013]

Mr. Speaker, I have two petitions to present to the House today.

The first petition is signed by thousands of Canadians calling upon the House of Commons and Parliament to take note that the Experimental Lakes Area is a unique, world-renowned research facility for freshwater research and education.

The petitioners call upon the Government of Canada to recognize its importance to Canada's mandate to study, preserve and protect aquatic ecosystems, and to reverse the decision to close the Experimental Lakes Research Station.

[Committees of the House, February 27th, 2013]

Mr. Speaker, I have the honour to present, in both official languages, the ninth report of the Standing Committee on Government Operations and Estimates in relation to its study of the supplementary estimates (C) for the fiscal year ending March 31, 2013.

[Foreign Affairs, February 13th, 2013]

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to salute the Centers for Disease Control in Atlanta and the Province of Quebec for putting in place emergency measures to deal with the possibility of an invasion of zombies. I do not need to tell you, Mr. Speaker, that zombies do not recognize borders and that a zombie invasion in the United States could easily turn into a continent-wide pandemic if it is not contained.

On behalf of concerned Canadians everywhere, I want to ask the Minister of Foreign Affairs: Is he working with his American counterparts to develop an international zombie strategy so that a zombie invasion does not turn into a zombie apocalypse?

[Air Canada, February 5th, 2013]

Mr. Speaker, Air Canada's CEO seems to view Canadians the way P.T. Barnum used to view circus-goers. He is thumbing his nose at the legislation that governs his airline. He treats our Minister of Transport like a doormat.

If government wants to stand up for law enforcement and victims, why does it not stand up for the 400 victims of Calin Rovinescu in my riding of Winnipeg Centre, in Montreal, in Mississauga and around the country? It could stand up and make Air Canada live by the law of the land.

[The Penny, February 4th, 2013]

Mr. Speaker:

Farewell to the lowly old penny,
The most common of coins that we'll see,
And once served us well,
But most people will tell,
It ain't what it once used to be.
There's nothing a penny will buy anymore,
Not a gum ball or small piece of candy,
We don't even use the old fashioned fuse,
Where the penny at least came in handy.
Nope, the penny's a nuisance,
It cost too much to make,
They clutter our change purse,
And they don't circulate.
They build up in piles,
And in old cookie jars,
Under our beds,
And in our desk drawers.
You can't give them away,
They cost more than they're worth,
It's time to put them all out to pasture,
Put them out to the curb.
No, the penny is useless,
But there's one thing I'd say,
I hope they never start treating old MPs this way.

[Financial Literacy Leader Act, November 28th, 2012]

Mr. Speaker, I was interested in my colleague's comment that the NDP put forward six what he considered to be reasonable amendments at the committee and not a single one was favoured with a supportive vote by my colleagues in the ruling Conservative Party. In fact, not a single amendment has ever been allowed to any piece of legislation in the 41st Parliament. Even at times when the Conservatives know full well that the amendments have merit, they act and behave as if they have some kind of monopoly on all wisdom, all knowledge and all good ideas. At times the minister has had to get up at report stage and introduce the very same things that they voted down at the committee stage. They must find that embarrassing, to be hoisted with their own petard in that way.

I am interested in the quote by the member for Saint Boniface. Does it not seem to be contradictory that she spoke in favour of the same principle that my colleague put forward in the amendment? Does my colleague have any explanation for such contradictory behaviour by the parliamentary secretary?

[Petitions, November 28th, 2012]

Mr. Speaker, I am proud to present a petition signed by literally thousands of Canadians in support of Bill C-398. The petition was put forward by the Grandmothers Advocacy Network and it calls upon Parliament to pass, without amendment, Bill C-398 later today.

[Committees of the House, November 28th, 2012]

Mr. Speaker, I have the honour to present, in both official languages, the eighth report of the Standing Committee on Government Operations and Estimates in relation to its study of the supplementary estimates (B) for the fiscal year ending March 31, 2013.

[Safe Food for Canadians Act, November 19th, 2012]

Perhaps, Mr. Speaker, this is what has led to the heightened level choleric in this debate. It is the subject matter of the bill that we are dealing with today.

We are talking about the Canadian food safety act. We are talking about what we put on our children's' plates. We want to be able to ensure that as a western developed nation, we can trust the health and the safety of the food we eat. Therefore, it is particularly galling to lose any opportunity to have meaningful input, debate and witnesses being heard.

We could not hear from a single witness at the XL Foods plant, the workers at the actual plant who may have had some guidance to offer as to the day-to-day operations of the plant that could benefit from the oversight of members of the House of Commons.

It was flawed legislation by its very origins, the fact that it came from the other place. The process was then flawed. The parliamentary secretary keeps saying that we could have met as many times as we wanted. When the motion was put forward to extend committee hearings, it was defeated. I do not know what kind of Orwellian doublespeak those guys—