Pierre Lemieux

[Petitions, April 15th, 2010]

Mr. Speaker, I have a petition I would like to table from people in my riding. It includes over 160 signatures from such places as Maxville, Alexandria, Dunvegan, Vankleek Hill, Alfred, et cetera. The people who have signed this petition value human life, particularly at its most vulnerable stages. I am speaking of the elderly and the sick. The petitioners are asking parliamentarians to vote against Bill C-384, which is the bill that seeks to legalize euthanasia and assisted suicide.

[National Engineering Month, April 14th, 2010]

Mr. Speaker, as a mechanical engineer who served for 20 years in the Canadian Armed Forces Electrical and Mechanical Engineering Branch, I would like to acknowledge the contribution that engineers are making today to Canadian society and will continue to make in the future.

Last month was National Engineering Month. This year's theme of “Designing the Future” is very timely as we look forward to creating the jobs of the future. This annual celebration of Canadian engineering excellence promotes engineering as an important career choice for youth. As engineers, they will discover that they can shape the way Canadians live, work and play.

I invite my colleagues to recognize the valuable role that engineers play in protecting the safety and quality of life of all Canadians, and to encourage our youth to consider engineering as part of their future.

[Agriculture, March 26th, 2010]

Mr. Speaker, farmers are best positioned to make decisions on what is best for their business, which is why industry must continue to work with our producers to evaluate any new products.

Our government understands that in order to be competitive our farmers deserve timely access to the cutting edge inputs they need, but we also understand that our system must be based on sound science. What the NDP is proposing would put a choke on research and development in the agricultural sector and would diminish the competitiveness of our farmers.

[Agriculture, March 26th, 2010]

Mr. Speaker, safety is very much a concern of this government. Canadians have seen the actions that we have taken to defend their safety. The member should check his facts. In fact, certain segments have met with me, as I mentioned, and they are working with the departments in this regard.

[Agriculture, March 26th, 2010]

Mr. Speaker, I am aware of this concern as is the Minister of Agriculture. I met with the agri-retailers yesterday. They have stated their case to me. I know that they are also working with public safety. We are having a look at this matter.

[Resumption of Debate on Address in Reply, March 22nd, 2010]

Madam Speaker, I would like to make it clear for my colleague across the floor that I do not in any way defend the salaries, pay increases or bonuses that are associated with the financial sector of our economy. I have no influence over that and our government has no influence over that.

However, I will say that Canada, like the rest of the world, has gone through very difficult economic times and because of the economic policies that our government has put in place and the financial prudence shown by the banking system within Canada, we are the envy of the world. The other G8 countries lag Canada in their recovery during these difficult economic times. We should be thanking our Conservative government and the banking sector for the tremendous work they have done to protect our economy.

[Resumption of Debate on Address in Reply, March 22nd, 2010]

Madam Speaker, to address the first comment about child care, just the other day one of the member's Liberal colleagues made a comment that women of Canada want to hear about early learning and child care in order to go back to school and then to get a real job and to be able to go to work. This kind of phraseology from a Liberal member is insulting to women who choose to stay at home to raise their children because, in effect, the member is saying that staying at home to raise children is not a real job. That is the Liberal mindset when it comes to daycare across this country. The Liberals would rather have the state raise children than have parents raise their children. They said so openly before the last election.

Let me conclude by saying that when I speak to young mothers across my riding, they greatly appreciate the financial help that we are offering parents.

[Resumption of Debate on Address in Reply, March 22nd, 2010]

Madam Speaker, I am very pleased to speak today in the House of Commons in response to the Speech from the Throne.

I would first like to thank my family for their constant support of my work as a member of Parliament for the past four years. I would also like to sincerely thank the people in my riding of Glengarry—Prescott—Russell for trusting and supporting me. It is an honour to represent them here in the House of Commons, especially as I begin my fifth year as a member of Parliament.

Our Conservative team has been in power for four years now and although we are a minority government, we have accomplished many things. I would like to underscore three things that are particularly important for the people of my riding of Glengarry—Prescott—Russell, namely agriculture, official languages and family.

I begin with agriculture, an issue that is of significant importance to the people in my rural riding. As I have mentioned previously, agriculture is the economic backbone of my riding of Glengarry—Prescott—Russell. Dairy farming is the most prevalent, as we produce milk for Ontario, but our farming sector also includes chickens, eggs, pork, beef, goats, lamb, a wide variety of crops, and the list continues.

Our government has helped the agricultural sector weather the turbulent economic conditions of the past year by launching various initiatives that assisted the sector in adapting to external pressures and improving its competitiveness. In our recent budget we announced an additional $75 million for slaughterhouses and to encourage innovation and minimize the impact of specified risk material, or SRM, on our beef sector.

The Dairy Farmers of Canada has applauded this announcement which demonstrates our Conservative government's support for beef and dairy producers. Jacques Laforge, president of Dairy Farmers of Canada has stated:

The Government of Canada has really stepped up to the plate. This announcement confirms they heard dairy and beef producers’ requests for assistance to alleviate the cost disadvantage we face in processing our cattle.... In the end, all Canadians will benefit from this government action through even better quality and safety standards in the food chain.

This measure has been warmly welcomed by dairy farmers and beef farmers in my riding.

It is important to mention that as the Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Agriculture, I sit on the agriculture committee. During our committee meetings the member for Malpeque, the member for British Columbia Southern Interior and the member for Richmond—Arthabaska talked at length about how important it was for the government to take action on the issue of specified risk materials, SRMs. As Conservatives we strongly agreed that the issue of SRMs was critical for our cattle industry. We assured the opposition members that this matter had the attention of the Minister of Agriculture and that he was working on a solution.

The Minister of Agriculture acted on our concern and he ensured that budget 2010 included $25 million to address the issue of SRMs for slaughterhouse facilities dealing with cattle over the age of 30 months. As well, $40 million will be provided over three years to support the development and commercialization of innovative technologies related to the removal and use of SRMs to reduce handling costs and create potential revenue sources from these materials.

The Canadian Cattlemen's Association has congratulated our government for announcing this much needed funding. However, what is truly regrettable is that the Liberal member for Malpeque, the NDP member for British Columbia Southern Interior and the Bloc member for Richmond—Arthabaska voted against these measures to help our beef industry. They had the opportunity to vote for key funding measures in support of our farmers, but instead, they voted against. In doing so, they voted against our beef and dairy farmers.

It is our Conservative government that is truly on the side of farmers and that acts and votes in their best interests. We say that we put farmers first, but more important, we take action and we vote for them.

I would now like to talk about the support the government and I provide for official languages.

As the member of Parliament for a largely francophone constituency, I am proud to say that the government believes in investing directly in our linguistic minority communities. We enrich and strengthen our cultural vitality. We recognize that the country's official languages are economic, social and cultural assets for all Canadians.

Last year, we celebrated the 40th anniversary of the Official Languages Act and I can attest to its importance on a very personal level. My riding is the perfect example of what anglophones and francophones can accomplish together in both official languages.

The government is showing leadership in promoting both official languages across Canada, as illustrated by our commitments in the Roadmap for Canada's Linguistic Duality 2008-2013. This $1.1 billion investment in the official languages represents a 45% increase over the official languages budget of the previous Liberal government. This contribution and this commitment by the government are invaluable to the people of my riding.

I want to remind the House of the following passage from the Speech from the Throne:

We are a bilingual country. Canada’s two official languages are an integral part of our history and position us uniquely in the world. Building on the recognition that the Québécois form a nation within a united Canada, and the Roadmap for Canada’s Linguistic Duality, our Government will take steps to strengthen further Canada’s francophone identity.

This statement and the commitments we made in the budget were well received by language community leaders, including the president of the Assemblée de la francophonie de l'Ontario, or the AFO. Mariette Carrier-Fraser stated, “The AFO is satisfied with the recent throne speech and federal budget. We are pleased that the federal government has decided to maintain its commitments and investments in support of linguistic duality.”

I would like to end with a few words on our government's commitment to families. To help families with the stresses of parenthood, our government introduced significant tax cuts to reduce the financial pressures they face. In addition, we initiated the universal child care benefit, which provides $100 per month for each child under the age of six.

The Liberals scoff at this, but over the first six years of a child's life, the total amount received by a family would be $7,200. If the family has three young children, the amount could total $21,600, potentially tax free if one of the parents does not work. This is tremendous support.

I remember when I had four children six years of age and under. All I ever received from the Liberal government at the time was higher taxes.

What we have delivered is the kind of support and flexibility that Canadian families have been asking for. It is the kind of support and flexibility the Liberals of today would take away if they ever became government again.

The Liberals had a number of opportunities to help families; instead, they continued to make promises they did not keep. Now, the Liberal leader is touring the country asking Canadians what issues are important to their families, but he is thinking in terms of taxes and expenses.

Canadian families do not have a great deal of trust in the opposition leader. For 13 long years, the Liberals promised a national child care system and never delivered on that promise.

The Conservatives are very different from the Liberals. In our first term in office, we introduced the universal child care benefit.

In the next few days, I will be urging our opposition colleagues to support our initiatives, to set aside their differences, and to work with the government in order to contribute to Canada's rapid economic recovery.

Canadians have been very clear: they do not want an election. They want us to govern and they want us to continue to lead the way in building a stronger and more prosperous Canada.

[Petitions, March 19th, 2010]

Mr. Speaker, I have a petition from people across my riding that acknowledges that animals can feel pain and can suffer. They ask the House of Commons to prevent animal cruelty and reduce animal suffering, and specifically they ask the Government of Canada to support a universal declaration on animal welfare.

[Medical Isotopes, March 19th, 2010]

Mr. Speaker, as I said before, no one is more frustrated than our government with the slow progress of this project and the continued delays that are completely unacceptable.

The health and safety of Canadians remains the top priority of the government of Canada, and the security of the isotope supply is a global issue requiring a global response. That is why our government led the way in the creation of the high level group on medical isotopes to make the global supply more secure and more predictable.