Peter MacKay

[Veterans Affairs, June 5th, 2014]

Mr. Speaker, I hear the member opposite chirping.

This is an issue that we have taken very seriously from the moment we took office, and we continue to support veterans.

[Veterans Affairs, June 5th, 2014]

Mr. Speaker, again, I reference the unanimous report that came from the veterans affairs committee, which speaks directly to the level of support and co-operation that exists to continue to support our veterans, their families, those who have served our country in uniform.

We have established a record over the last eight years of having been very committed to the needs and the support of veterans: the $4.7 billion in additional funding that has been made available to them, the efforts that have been made to support those suffering from post-traumatic stress.

[Privacy Commissioner, June 5th, 2014]

Mr. Speaker, it is of course to your discretion, but I heard the question being put, as I was here.

[Justice, June 4th, 2014]

Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague for her question.

Indeed, we have a substantive and comprehensive plan. It is absolutely necessary to work with the provinces and territories to give the necessary support to the most vulnerable—the women concerned by this issue—in each region of the country. I invite my colleague to work with my colleagues on this.

[Government Accountability, June 4th, 2014]

Mr. Speaker, our government intends to introduce the new bill this morning, this very day. We consulted many groups and many people on this complex and serious subject for our country.

I invite my colleagues to study this bill and to comment on the issue and not the polls.

[Government Accountability, June 4th, 2014]

Mr. Speaker, cue the scary music. The reality is this is a very serious and complex issue, and that is why we have taken the time and made the effort to consult broadly. We heard from some 31,000 Canadians through an online consultation, one of the most comprehensive polls ever undertaken by the Department of Justice. There is other polling information available that will be released in due course.

[Privacy, June 4th, 2014]

Mr. Speaker, based on the way that Bill C-13 is constructed, which would enable the police to act with modern tools not only to enforce the existing law but also to enforce the new legislation that would criminalize the non-consensual distribution of intimate images, it makes no sense to split the bill. We have to not only protect the public through passing the legislation; we also have to enable the police to have the modern tools necessary to enforce that law.

[Justice, June 4th, 2014]

Mr. Speaker, I thank the leader of the third party. I agree with him. I think this is an inspired choice. It has been a choice widely applauded, particularly in the province of Quebec.

With respect to a future process for the appointment of the Supreme Court judges, of course we intend to, again, consult widely and certainly within Quebec and with those in the legal community.

However, we are concerned with the process and the compromise that occurred in the leaking of information around it the last time, and so we will proceed with caution and haste in the future.

[Veterans Affairs, June 4th, 2014]

Mr. Speaker, first let me thank Madame Migneault and her husband for their incredible service to our country. Of course, we respect the challenges they are facing with respect to post-traumatic stress within their family unit.

The reality is that we are dealing in a very comprehensive way with the challenges faced by veterans and their families with respect to improving benefits. I note that, through eight budgets, our government has now earmarked more than $4.7 billion to improve upon the services available to veterans and their families. I note the NDP has voted against those improvements.

[Veterans Affairs, June 4th, 2014]

Mr. Speaker, the Leader of the Opposition has been around here for a while. I think that means that we act on them.