Peter Stoffer

[An Act To Authorize The Minister Of Finance To Make Certain Payments, May 19th, 2005]

Mr. Speaker, after listening to that drivel for so long, I have to remind Conservative Party members that they are the ones who voted against every single farm assistance program from 1993 to 1997, every single one.

I would also like to remind Conservative members, who have been up talking about palliative care and everything else and what a shame there is not enough, that they voted against my assistance bill that would have given people time off from their work for six months to a year while collecting EI to look after their dying loved ones. The Conservatives voted against that. Shame on them.

The Conservatives stand up and say they will spend more money on day care. They say they will spend more money on the military. They say they will spend more on the environment. The way they are talking, we would be bankrupt by 6 o'clock tonight.

That is all I have to say to that member. I wish him good luck in whatever he does.

[Act to authorize the Minister of Finance to Make Certain Payments, May 19th, 2005]

Mr. Speaker, although I probably disagree with the Bloc on many items, one thing I would agree with is the fact that the Bloc has supported a national shipbuilding policy for many years.

I would like to give the member the opportunity to stand on behalf of his party and tell me why the Liberals have been so reluctant to support shipyards like Victoria, the Davie yard in Lévis, Quebec, Marystown and, for that matter, Halifax.

[Shipbuilding Industry, May 18th, 2005]

Mr. Speaker, my question for the Minister of Industry is quite simple. For years now the industry minister has had on his desk a shipbuilding policy designed by the industry and shipyard workers throughout the country. From Victoria to Marystown, Halifax, Lévis and Port Weller, we have the capability, we have the industry and we have the workers to build these ships that Canada so desperately needs.

We cannot help but notice that the federal government is moving to assist the auto sector, which we support, and it is willing to assist the aerospace sector, which we support. We would also support the government if it put in a new shipbuilding policy so that our industry and our workers can get back to work.

[An Act to Authorize the Minister of Finance to Make Certain Payments, May 16th, 2005]

Madam Speaker, it is a pleasure and honour to ask my hon. colleague a question.

However, before I do, I wish to congratulate the Atlantic Institute for Market Studies, the AIMS institution in Nova Scotia, and its President Brian Lee Crowley on their recent award, the Templeton Freedom Award for Institute Excellence. I thank them for bringing prestige to Atlantic Canada.

When I first came here in 1997, it was like watching a master at work. The hon. member was able to dice, slice and do everything he wanted to because he was, as I often said to myself, like a younger Stanley Knowles. He seemed to know the rules of the place very well.

As he knows, we have pages in the House of Commons who are probably the same age as he was when he was a busman in our restaurant. What advice would he have for the pages in this room today or for those who serve the House with distinction who are thinking of a political career in the future?

Again, on behalf of my constituents and our party, we wish him and his family the very best in the future.

[Veterans, May 3rd, 2005]

Mr. Speaker, in the eight years that I have been a member of Parliament, I have never in my entire life been so ashamed to be in the same House as the Conservative Party.

The reality is this is a time when we put politics aside and remember our greatest heroes of the country, those people who fought and died for our country. This is the liberation of Holland. As a Dutch-born parliamentarian, I cannot say how ashamed I am of that party over there, playing cheap politics with Canada's greatest heroes. I ask them to put their swords away for a short while so we can honour our veterans in the manner that is dignified to them.

Everything we have in this country we owe to our veterans. The last thing we need to be doing is playing politics. I remind them that this is the year of the veteran, not the year of the politician.

[Electoral Boundaries Readjustment Act, March 24th, 2005]

Mr. Speaker, if I may indulge upon yourself and the members of the House of Commons, if I could seek unanimous consent to immediately send the bill to third reading it would be greatly appreciated by not only the people of my riding but the people of Canada as well.

[Electoral Boundaries Readjustment Act, March 24th, 2005]

moved, seconded by the member for Dartmouth--Cole Harbour, for leave to introduce Bill C-356, an act to change the name of the electoral district of Sackville--Eastern Shore.

Mr. Speaker, it gives me great pleasure to rise today on a very straightforward bill to change the electoral district of Sackville--Eastern Shore, which I now represent, to include the community of Preston. The riding name would then be formally known as Sackville--Preston--Eastern Shore.

I am proud to have my colleague from the Liberal Party, the member for Dartmouth—Cole Harbour, second the bill. For those who may know, his parents, the late Mr. and Mrs. John Savage, John being the former premier of Nova Scotia, were great advocates of the people of Preston and we think it would be an honour, not only to their memory but to the people of Preston, to include that great community in the federal riding of Sackville--Preston--Eastern Shore.

(Motions deemed adopted, bill read the first time and printed)

[Petitions, March 21st, 2005]

Mr. Speaker, I have a petition I wish to present on behalf of a very good friend and a wonderful person named Laurel Gibbons.

The petitioners ask Parliament to amend the Canada Health Act and corresponding regulations to include IBI and ABA therapy for children with autism as a medically necessary treatment and to require that all provinces provide funding for this essential treatment for autism.

Also, the petitioners encourage the federal government to work very closely with the provinces and territories to provide the necessary funds for all children and families who go through this terrible disease

[The Budget, March 8th, 2005]

Mr. Speaker, first, I wish to remind my hon. colleague from P.E.I. that Prince Edward Island is not a have not province. Nova Scotia is not a have not province. We are have provinces. We have fabulous people and great resources. We may not be as economically strong as other provinces. For a minister from P.E.I. to even indicate that we are have not provinces, gets to me. I am not from Atlantic Canada originally, but I am very proud to call it my home. I have never once considered myself to be a have not citizen in a have not province.

However, here is my question. As the minister for Atlantic Canada opportunities, the recent budget has allocated $275 million to replace and acquire new vessels for the Coast Guard. I would like him to stand in the House and actually commit to, if at all possible, whether he believes the $275 million worth of Canadian tax dollars should go to give opportunities to shipbuilders in Atlantic Canada and for that matter across the country. Should those ships not be--

[The Budget, March 8th, 2005]

Mr. Speaker, my hon. colleague and I come from the same province. He talked about the families he has met who earn $20,000 to $30,000 and the day to day difficulties in which they find themselves. However, I noticed the minister did not talk much about the budget about which this debate is.

Therefore, I want to ask him two questions.

First, the corporate sector of the country reported an 18.8% profit under the current tax system this year. The insurance companies and the banks are reporting record profits, profits on the backs of the people about whom he so eloquently talked. Where did the tax breaks go? Generally to those big corporations at 2% over the years, a $4.2 billion tax break.

We have asked on this side of the House for many years to remove the GST on home heating essentials to give an equitable tax break to those hard-working families.

My second question for him is as the minister in charge of procurement. I could not believe the lob ball question by the member for Dartmouth—Cole Harbour for the Minister of Fisheries and Oceans about whether the new Coast Guard vessels would be built in Canada. The Minister of Fisheries and Oceans could not even answer a simple lobbed question from his own backbencher.

Let me ask this of the minister who will eventually end up signing the cheque on these new ships whenever they come. We in Halifax and in shipyards across the country have asked this very clearly. In the new procurement process for Coast Guard and military vessels, will these vessels be built in Canada using taxpayer dollars.