Rob Nicholson

[Foreign Affairs, November 18th, 2016]

Mr. Speaker, UN peacekeeping missions are among the most dangerous deployments in the world. For example, 106 UN peacekeepers have already died in the UN Mali operation.

Despite the dangers to our troops, the Liberals are still keeping Canadians in the dark about where they intend to deploy Canadian troops on the planned peacekeeping mission.

Can the minister be transparent with Canadians and tell us how this is in our national interest? Will it be a combat mission? How long will our troops be deployed? Canadians deserve to know this.

[Human Trafficking, November 16th, 2016]

Mr. Speaker, as minister of justice and attorney general of Canada, I was proud of the work of the former Conservative government in the area of human trafficking. In particular, I would like to acknowledge the remarkable efforts of my colleague, Joy Smith, for the contributions she made in this area while in Parliament and for her continuing efforts through the Joy Smith Foundation.

In addition, in the House today I would like to congratulate one of my constituents, Mr. Peter Warrack, on his appointment to the board of the Canadian Centre to End Human Trafficking and for his outstanding commitment to ending human slavery in Canada. I commend Peter Warrack and the centre for their efforts to end human trafficking and to terminate this abhorrent form of modern-day slavery and sexual exploitation.

I urge all members of the House to join me in thanking them for their invaluable work and to commit to doing our utmost to protect our sons and daughters from this horrific fate. We owe it to our children to put an end to human trafficking in Canada.

[Justice, November 1st, 2016]

Mr. Speaker, last week, it was the victims' surcharge—the law where, if people attempted to murder someone, they had to pay $200 to victims.

Now, this week, the Liberals have a problem with mandatory sentences. Where are they going to start? Are they going to start with the most serious crime? For decades, people who committed premeditated murder got a life sentence, with no chance of parole for 25 years.

Is this one of the areas that the Liberals have a problem with? We want to know.

[Justice, November 1st, 2016]

Mr. Speaker, the Liberals are now saying they have a problem with mandatory sentences for convicted criminals.

It is true that, under our Conservative government, people who have brought drugs into this country to sell to our children, people who produce child pornography, and people who molest children would all go to jail. I am proud of that.

I would like to know what problem the Liberals have with that now?

[Justice, October 24th, 2016]

Mr. Speaker, Canadian police officers work hard and put their lives on the line every day to serve and protect Canadians. That is why they have earned a position at the table on the federal Judicial Advisory Council. Now, the Prime Minister has decided to revoke that membership.

Why is the Prime Minister showing such disrespect for the men and women who serve and protect Canadians, and will he reconsider this bad decision?

[Justice, October 21st, 2016]

Madam Speaker, for years Canadian police officers have worked hard and served with distinction on the Federal Judicial Advisory Committee. What an insult it is now that for no reason, the Liberal government has terminated their membership on this committee.

I want to know why the Prime Minister would show such disrespect for those who risk their lives every day to serve and protect Canadians. I would like to know that.

[Salaries Act, October 7th, 2016]

Mr. Speaker, in terms of equality, I may have misunderstood the comments the member made earlier. Could I presume that these new ministers of state, or whatever they are called, would have the same office budgets and employ the same number of people? I know, for instance, that the Minister of Finance may have as many as 20 people, so would each of them have the same budget in terms of promoting equality?

[Justice, October 4th, 2016]

Mr. Speaker, I am proud to be born in Niagara Falls, but I am proud to have 150 years of my family from Cape Breton Island. I will take no lessons from the member.

If the Liberals do not want to do the right thing because the Conservatives are telling them what to do, why do they not listen to four Liberal senators from Nova Scotia? They want the Liberals to do the right thing. Or is that the reason, probably, they got kicked out of the Liberal caucus?

[Justice, October 4th, 2016]

Mr. Speaker, the Liberals are always in the business of telling us there are problems with Canadian institutions, so maybe they could tell us what the problem is with having representation from Atlantic Canada on the Supreme Court.

If this has been an issue for the Liberals for the last 141 years, maybe they could tell us where in their election platform they said they were not going to guarantee representation for Atlantic Canada on the Supreme Court.

[Justice, September 28th, 2016]

Mr. Speaker, I was pleased yesterday afternoon that all members of the House of Commons agreed with the Conservative Party that Atlantic Canada should be represented on the Supreme Court, but then a spokesperson for the justice minister stated that it would not be guaranteed. Why would the Liberals flip-flop on this important issue?

I checked last night and there was no election. So why are the Liberals changing their mind on this?