Scott Simms

[Charles King, May 1st, 2013]

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to pay tribute to our dear friend Charles King.

He was vice-president at Shaw Communications and a partner at Earnscliffe Strategy Group. A lifelong Liberal, he worked for MPs and ministers here in Parliament. In Ottawa, Charles helped to raise almost $1 million for youth and young adults.

Just yesterday, the Toronto Star's Susan Delacourt said that Charles “worked diligently to get attention for others and other causes, but not for himself.” He hated the spotlight and all the attention, which is exactly what I am doing here. Sorry, Charles.

This past Monday, as the sun rose, Charles passed away. He was surrounded by his close friends. With him was his best friend and wife, Kelly. They were there not to say goodbye but to say thank you. On behalf of the many members who knew and loved Charles, his candour, his wit and warm smile, we say, “Thank you, in our hearts, Charles King. You will be there forever.”

[Business of Supply, April 18th, 2013]

Mr. Speaker, as the critic for heritage, I would like to point out that the CBC is our public broadcaster. It is not our state broadcaster, as some people like to describe it.

I would like to ask my colleague about the situation of this agreement and particularly the others. When it comes to CETA and agreements such as this, they are always looked upon in a population of 35 million. We are looking at, in many cases, bilateral agreements. In many of these markets or countries we have bilateral agreements with, such as the European Union, and in negotiations with China and certainly Mexico and the United States, they are always seen as stepping stones to bigger fish to fry, as it were, whether it be with the European Union or, eventually, the United States of America.

My hon. colleague pointed out, quite rightly, that we are now playing second fiddle. In many cases, we are. However, we have to maintain that strong trade relationship so that we are not playing second fiddle.

I wonder if the member could comment on that.

[Frank Borland, April 17th, 2013]

Mr. Speaker, on January 18, the community of Bishop's Falls, our province and our country, lost a community leader, devout family man and a war hero.

Frank “Jiggs” Borland was born in Pennsylvania in 1925 and moved early to Toronto. He lied about his age to join the Canadian Army, and at age 16 he went overseas to fight in the war, mainly in France. Jiggs was involved with the liberation of many concentration camps, as well as the liberation of Dieppe.

In 2005, Jiggs received a letter from French President Jacques Chirac stating he had been chosen to receive the Legion of Honour medal, which is one of France's highest awards.

In his early fifties, Jiggs moved to Bishop's Falls, where he settled and operated a farm just outside the town. He was a member of the rural development association, the agriculture board, a long-time member of the Lions Club and deputy governor. He was instrumental in the construction of the Lion Max Simms Memorial Camp.

Recently, I had the honour of presenting Jiggs with the Queen's Diamond Jubilee medal. He passed away shortly after that.

Jiggs Borland: a great hero and a true friend to us all.

[Questions Passed as Orders for Returns, April 15th, 2013]

With respect to the Marine Atlantic, Inc. ferry operation between North Sydney, Nova Scotia, and Port aux Basques, Newfoundland and Labrador, how many sailings have taken place since 2008, broken down by (i) full date and departure time of the sailing, (ii) ship used, (iii) manifest totals, (iv) seasonal totals for each season?

[Library and Archives Canada, March 28th, 2013]

Mr. Speaker, my question concerns Library and Archives Canada.

After essentially cutting it to the bone last year, a lot of the soul of Library and Archives Canada is now absent. In the wake of that, there were protests. In the wake of that, we had a code of conduct put on members of Library and Archives Canada.

The Canadian Library Association calls it infringing “unnecessarily on the personal activities and opinions of public servants beyond the workplace”. It also refers to “duty of loyalty” to the duly elected government.

Will the minister please go to LAC and say “Look, you cannot do this. It is a ridiculous thing to do. You cannot silence the—

[Ethics, March 26th, 2013]

Mr. Speaker, the whole Peter Penashue affair is quite funny. Indeed, he spends millions on self-promoting advertising. This is a gentleman who is a fraudster, self-admitted. He admitted to electoral fraud but at the same time, he blamed someone else. He might as well have just said, “Look. I smoked, but I didn't inhale”.

Here we have a situation where while he was here, he not only ignored search and rescue but ignored other major files pertaining to Labrador. In this particular situation, when will Peter Penashue be held to account before—

[Questions Passed as Orders for Returns, March 22nd, 2013]

With regard to priority employment appointments in the federal public service: (a) for the period of June 1, 2011, to January 30, 2013, how many people were hired and of these how many were (i) casual employees, (ii) term employees, (iii) indeterminate employees; (b) how many members of the Canadian Forces have been medically released and (i) how many of these qualified medically released members have applied for a priority employment appointment, (ii) how many have received a priority appointment, (iii) how many were still on the priority employment appointment list when their eligibility period expired, (iv) how many were hired by each government department; and (c) what measures are being taken to extend this program to account for the large number of temporary and contract workers employed by the government?

[Questions on the Order Paper, March 22nd, 2013]

With regard to the Government of Canada, what is its net worth: (a) as a whole for each fiscal year since 2005, broken down by (i) assets, (ii) liabilities; and (b) broken down for each fiscal year since 2005 by department, agency and crown corporation by (i) assets, (ii) liabilities?

[Ethics, March 21st, 2013]

I apologize, Mr. Speaker.

On Peter Penashue the record is clear. He ran away from the TV cameras. He ran away from the public. He ran away from all of his commitments. The only time Peter Penashue felt it necessary to stand in the House was to use the washroom. It is absolutely ridiculous.

Will the Prime Minister take—

[Ethics, March 21st, 2013]

Mr. Speaker, the European Union put a ban on seal products. Where did it happen? On your watch, my friend, your watch.