House of Commons photoWon his last election, in 2015, with 50% of the vote.
Public Sector Integrity Commissioner December 7th, 2011
Mr. Speaker, pursuant to Standing Order 111(1), I have the honour to table, in both official languages, a certificate of nomination, with biographical notes, for the proposed appointment of Mario Dion to the position of Public Sector Integrity Commissioner. I request that the nomination be referred to the Standing Committee on Government Operations and Estimates.
Fair Representation Act December 6th, 2011
Madam Speaker, Bill C-20, which is currently being debated, moves every province closer to the principle of representation by population but the fair representation act needs to be passed soon in order for this decade's redistribution, which starts in early February, to use the fair updated formula outlined in the bill.
Therefore, I wanted to provide the following notice: I must advise that agreement has not been reached under the provisions of Standing Orders 78(1) or 78(2), concerning the proceedings at report stage and the third reading of Bill C-20, An Act to amend the Constitution Act, 1867, the Electoral Boundaries Readjustment Act and the Canada Elections Act. Under the provisions of Standing Order 78(3), I give notice that a minister of the crown will propose at the next sitting a motion to allot a specific number of days or hours for the consideration and disposal of proceedings at those stages.
Organ Donations December 5th, 2011
moved:
That this Committee take note of the importance of organ donations.
Telephone Calls to Mount Royal Constituents December 5th, 2011
Mr. Speaker, it is quite clear that the member for Mount Royal is still here in the House. Members of the government accept that and do not dispute that.
Search and Rescue December 2nd, 2011
Mr. Speaker, the Minister of National Defence has already answered all these questions.There are no new facts here. The Minister of National Defence paid for the travel to and from his personal vacation. Government aircraft were used only when he was called away on government business.
Search and Rescue December 2nd, 2011
Mr. Speaker, as I said, none of the facts here have changed. The Minister of National Defence paid for the travel to and from his own personal vacation. Government aircraft were only used when he was called away on government business.
Without any facts and without any changes, I know the hon. member can make a great deal of noise. I know he knows a lot about the use of government aircraft from his own personal experience. Our practices are very different from those of his government.
Search and Rescue December 2nd, 2011
Mr. Speaker, the Minister of National Defence has already answered these questions. There are really no new facts here. The fundamental facts remain the same. The Minister of National Defence paid for air travel to and from his personal vacation; government aircraft were used only when he was called away on government business.
Our government has reduced average annual spending on ministers' Challenger flights by some 80% compared with the previous Liberal government. It was not that difficult, because that hon. member used to use the Challenger every weekend as his personal taxi to get home.
Employment December 2nd, 2011
Mr. Speaker, Quebeckers understand that the global economy is currently facing major challenges. Fortunately, Canada has an economic action plan that has created more than half a million jobs since the end of the depression. That is the success of our economic action plan. We intend to focus on the economy and job creation.
Employment December 2nd, 2011
Mr. Speaker, on the contrary, we are working to implement our low-tax plan for jobs and growth, which is aimed at delivering jobs and opportunities for Canadians.
We recently had votes in this House on the next phase of that economic action plan, seeking to deliver things like a job creation tax credit. That member voted against that job creation tax credit. He is the one who does not care about creating jobs.
We took action by extending the accelerated capital cost allowance that allows Canadian companies to invest in equipment to make them more competitive, to allow them to continue to function, to create jobs, to do better on the world stage, to be able to export more. Again, the NDP voted against that effort to make our workers more competitive.
We are the ones focused on creating jobs. That is why Canada is healthy.
Employment December 2nd, 2011
Mr. Speaker, while we saw full-time job gains in November, we are of course disappointed that the overall job figures show, because of part-time job losses, a drop in employment of some 19,000. We do sympathize with all Canadians who have lost their jobs.
That said, after we emerged from the recession, we have still seen significant increases in jobs in Canada since the economic downturn took hold. That is in very stark contrast to most of our companion developed economies. That is actually evidence that our economic action plan is working.