Shelly Glover

[Criminal Code, February 27th, 2009]

Madam Speaker, I rise today as a recently elected member of Parliament and as a veteran police officer with almost 19 years of experience in Winnipeg, Manitoba. I join in the second reading debate on private member's Bill C-268, An Act to amend the Criminal Code (minimum sentence for offences involving trafficking of persons under the age of eighteen years). I am very pleased to speak to the bill and I thank the member for Kildonan—St. Paul for her dedicated efforts to combat human trafficking in Canada.

Bill C-268 proposes to build upon our existing Criminal Code protections by specifically recognizing that the trafficking of children is a crime which must be treated seriously by the justice system. Human traffickers of course prey upon the vulnerable and trafficking victims suffer physical, sexual and emotional abuse, including threats of violence or actual harm to their loved ones. This abuse is compounded by their living and working conditions.

I spent four years investigating sexual and physical abuse of children as a detective in the Winnipeg Police Service Child Abuse Unit. With this in mind, I know firsthand that strong responses are required to address this horrific crime of exploitation and abuse.

I am sure that we can all agree that human trafficking is a horrible crime which inflicts serious damage on its victims. Hon. members may recall that in 2006 the House unanimously supported Motion No. 153, which was also introduced by the member for Kildonan—St. Paul. It condemned the crime of trafficking in persons and called for a national strategy to combat the trafficking of persons worldwide. The unanimous support that motion received reflects the shared support of all members to ensure we continue to strongly condemn the act of trafficking in persons.

I implore all members of the House--

[Bloc Québécois, February 27th, 2009]

Mr. Speaker, the intolerance and violence advocated by the Réseau de résistance du Québec, Patrick Bourgeois and Pierre Falardeau and the massive financial backing provided—with public money—by the Bloc Québécois and Parti Québécois for their threats have left many Quebeckers confused and poorer. The losses associated with the re-enactment are estimated at $3 million for the Quebec City area.

I suppose we should not be surprised, as this comes from a leader who lets his members march in a pro-Hezbollah demonstration and allows a member to send out pro-Hamas emails. What a great coalition. What a wonderful ideology of intolerance.

Our government has put forward a motion condemning these extremists. I hope all my hon. colleagues in this House will support this motion so that it is adopted unanimously.

[Points of Order, February 26th, 2009]

Mr. Speaker, yesterday you cautioned all members about the use of abusive language and personal attacks. As a new member, I want to thank you for that.

I was astonished yesterday, however, by the conduct of the Bloc Québécois member for Drummond during the meetings of the heritage committee, who interrupted the proceedings with language that I am unable to repeat in the House or in my home, in fact. There were repeated references to bovine excrement and I will say no more.

May I ask you, Mr. Speaker, to use your good offices with committee members to urge them to apply the same restraint that you placed on the House yesterday?

[Business of Supply, February 24th, 2009]

Mr. Speaker, I thank the member opposite for her eloquent speech but I believe she is a little confused about a few things that were mentioned.

I come from the same province of Manitoba and I am very well aware of what has been done with regard to equalization, transfer payments, et cetera. I just want to address the comments made about the health care transfers.

I would, with respect, direct the member to look at our budget and perhaps consult with the Manitoba government. In Part 9 of the bill, she will realize that there is no issue that exists anymore. The bill states that Manitoba is set to receive $468 million in transfer payments. I would suggest, and I believe the member opposite would be in agreement, that this is the highest level of transfer payments ever seen in my home province prior to this government being in power. We are doing more for the province of Manitoba than any other previous government.

This is what our Manitoba premier had to say about this:

Everybody understands that what happened in '95 is the deficit was moved from the federal government to the provinces.... We still have potholes in our country from what happened....

The Premier of Manitoba does indicate this because he knows that the Conservative government is protecting transfer support to provinces. I would suggest that the health transfers, as we have stated earlier, will continue to grow by 6% and social transfers will continue to grow by 3%.

I want the member opposite to acknowledge, which she has indicated that she believes, that national securities regulation is a worthwhile goal. I would like to ensure that she does not confuse us further by taking a position one day and another--

[Points of Order, February 23rd, 2009]

Mr. Speaker, I believe that it is imperative for all of us to guard against any kind of unparliamentary commentary, in both official languages, here in the House. I would like to bring to your attention that a member from the Bloc Québécois today, the member for Bas-Richelieu—Nicolet—Bécancour, used unparliamentary language in addressing the Minister of Intergovernmental Affairs.

I would ask that he apologize for that.

[Michèle Demers, February 11th, 2009]

Mr. Speaker, I want to echo the member opposite. I, too, was saddened to learn of the untimely passing of Mrs. Michèle Demers.

Her work on behalf of the 50,000 members of the Professional Institute of the Public Service of Canada was a testament to her commitment and dedication. She was an energetic, passionate and forthright advocate for her members.

Mrs. Demers was a devoted professional who did the utmost for her country.

We are fortunate in Canada to have a professional and dedicated public service, a public service that operates in an increasingly complex environment marked by demands for faster, smarter responses and greater accountability.

Our thoughts and prayers are with her family and friends during this difficult time. We offer them our deepest sympathy.

[Budget Implementation Act, 2009, February 10th, 2009]

Mr. Speaker, the member opposite made an eloquent speech. However, I want to point out a couple of errors, and I am only going to take a moment to that.

Being that I am a woman of Métis descent, I want to point page 96 of the budget that speaks to the child care issue as raised by the member. Perhaps she has not read the budget. It clearly states:

Raising the level at which the National Child Benefit supplement for low-income families and the Canada Child Tax Benefit are phased out, providing a benefit of up to $436 for a family with two children.

Therefore, we do mention the child care component, yet she had indicated we did not.

Did the member also read page 100? It speaks to maternity and parental benefits for the self-employed, again mentioning women who the member indicated were not included in the budget.

Then page 105 speaks to aboriginal Canadians. We all know aboriginal women are some of our poorest and most vulnerable. I would encourage her to read that page, where we take care of their needs as well.

[Official Languages, February 9th, 2009]

Mr. Speaker, on behalf of the Minister of Canadian Heritage and Official Languages, it is my pleasure to table today the 2006-07 annual report of the Department of Canadian Heritage on issues within its mandate with respect to official languages.

This report outlines initiatives supported through the Department of Canadian Heritage and 32 other federal institutions in applying the intent of the Official Languages Act. It shows our government's ongoing commitment to promote linguistic duality and the development of minority official language communities.

[Juno Awards, February 6th, 2009]

Mr. Speaker, it gives me great pleasure to rise in the House today to congratulate two musical groups from my riding of Saint Boniface that have been announced as 2009 Juno Award nominees.

The two groups, Chic Gamine and The Duhks, have both been nominated in the category of roots and traditional album of the year group.

I am very proud to recognize the artistic talent coming out of the francophone community in Saint Boniface.

These young talented artists are proof that Saint Boniface music is reaching beyond the boundaries of other communities and into the hearts of all Canadians.

Chic Gamine has been nominated for their self-titled debut album and includes members Andrina Turenne, Annick Brémeault, Alexa Dirks, Ariane Jean and Alexandre Sacha Daoud.

The Duhks have been nominated for their album Fast Paced World. The members of the group include Sarah Dugas, Christian Dugas, Tania Elizabeth, Jordan McConnell and Leonard Podolak.

On behalf of everyone in Saint Boniface, I want to congratulate these young artists on their hard word and dedication and on being nominated for the Juno Awards, which will be presented in Vancouver on March 29.

[The Budget, February 3rd, 2009]

Mr. Speaker, having been a homeowner who rented to renters previously, I can assure the hon. member that most homeowners are responsible for doing the repairs at rental properties. I offer that as some vision into the answer to his question.

I would also like to remind the member opposite that Canada's economic action plan supports the home construction and home renovation industry, which will bring jobs to Canadians who have suffered under this global recession. I want to encourage him to vote for our budget later on today so we can bring that forward to Canadians.