Scott Simms

[Copyright Modernization Act, February 8th, 2012]

Mr. Speaker, there are a couple of things to clear up. For the sake of time, I will not get into the time allocation itself, but I would like to talk about the bill.

The impression was that when a bill is brought forward the government wishes to continue the process all the way through. It originally was one bill and after the election it was brought back to the House as something else without changes being made. Quite simply, the Conservatives have done this before. In a fisheries bill, the actual bill tabled in the House was debated, and after the election, the bill was brought back but they managed to make changes to it that had been suggested during the process. They could have done that.

In this particular case, the Conservatives are so concerned about having the bill quickly go through committee, they could have done that anyway. Legislation can go to committee before second reading. It has been done before. It was done with the Clean Air Act back in 2006. Perhaps that is the way they should have gone if they wanted the bill to go to committee so quickly.

[Petitions, February 8th, 2012]

Mr. Speaker, I have a petition that has come to me from the beautiful city of Calgary. It urges the government to look after our national public broadcaster, which plays an integral role in the culture of this country. The petition describes our national public broadcaster as a sounding board for all regions of this country. Our national public broadcaster allows us to stay in touch with one another in a very efficient way and is supported by the vast majority of people in this country. The petitioners are calling on the government to maintain stable, predictable, long-term core funding to the public broadcaster, CBC and Radio-Canada.

[Ending the Long-Gun Registry Act, February 7th, 2012]

So it works.

[Ending the Long-Gun Registry Act, February 7th, 2012]

Madam Speaker, I have a quick question without using any of the rhetoric that has been brought up so far.

I am trying to follow the logic. The member makes the point that the registry is ineffective. He makes the point that the registry is a waste of money and does not work. Why does the government insist on maintaining the handgun registry? Would that not be a waste of money as well?

[Petitions, February 3rd, 2012]

Madam Speaker, the vast majority of signatures on this petition are from citizens in Calgary, Alberta regarding the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, CBC/ Radio-Canada.

The petitioners draw the attention of the House to the fact that CBC is a national public broadcaster and that Radio-Canada plays an important role in reflecting Canada and its regions. There are several points in the petition, but one of the points is about the role it plays in the regions across the country from coast to coast to coast.

The petitioners call upon the Government of Canada to maintain stable, predictable, long-term core funding to the public broadcaster, CBC/Radio-Canada, in support of its unique and crucial role.

[Sealing Industry, February 3rd, 2012]

Madam Speaker, yesterday there was this event about seals as part of Seal Day. The member for Labrador said yesterday that he was disappointed that no opposition MPs were there at the event. However, yesterday morning my office called to find out where this event was going to be and we received an email from the Minister of Fisheries and Oceans' office saying:

There is not events scheduled for today, as a sign of support we are encouraging all Members of Parliament to show their support by wearing a seal fur lapen pin....

Countries around the world are acting to ban seal products. When is the government going to get its act together?

[Pooled Registered Pension Plans Act, February 1st, 2012]

Mr. Speaker, I now know why Newt Gingrich likes to give a shout out to Canada. After hearing something like that, he must really like us now.

The member talked about the beauty of having the private sector involved in all of our pensions, most notably, the one which I am particularly fond of, the CPP. The Canada pension plan and its activities with the investment board does this country a good service. The private sector, no doubt, plays a major role, far more major than we even know. The member says that we should celebrate pensions involved in the private sector.

Since the member has been here six years, how come his pension is not involved in the private sector?

[Access to Information, February 1st, 2012]

Mr. Speaker, it seems the Conservative hypocrisy knows no end.

While the government is willing to provide general salary information about employees at the CBC, it has refused to release any information about salaries at the Prime Minister's office.

Now, it is pathetic that the President of the Treasury Board, who claims to be “an open government advocate”, is now blocking the release of even the most basic information about the PMO salaries. However, given his record in Muskoka, this comes as no big surprise.

When will the minister stop obstructing and release this information?

[Pooled Registered Pension Plans Act, January 30th, 2012]

Mr. Speaker, the member talked about confusion, rhetoric and fluff. The member talked about the plan specifically to the official opposition, which was about raising EI premiums, and went on at length about being the job killer that it is, yet earlier this month premiums did just that, they went up.

I was wondering why the member let that happen under his watch if he truly feels that they are job killers?

[Questions Passed as Orders for Returns, January 30th, 2012]

With regard to funding for the commemoration of the War of 1812: (a) which budget did the funding come; (b) how much money was diverted from each program or budget under Canadian Heritage, Environment Canada and Parks Canada towards activities and programs pertaining to the War of 1812 commemoration; and (c) was there any “one time only” funding for the War of 1812 commemoration?