Stephen Harper

[Aboriginal Affairs, February 13th, 2013]

Mr. Speaker, obviously, if the hon. member has information relating to a crime, that information should be reported to the appropriate police authorities. If the allegation on top of that is that the appropriate police authorities are aware and are not investigating, we forward that information to the RCMP complaints commission, as we have done.

However, the responsibility of every member of the House is not simply to throw around allegations. If such allegations and evidence for them exist, I encourage the hon. member to give them to the appropriate authorities so they can be investigated.

[Aboriginal Affairs, February 13th, 2013]

Mr. Speaker, I am very aware of the fact that a report was released today. The Minister of Public Safety has asked the Commission for Public Complaints Against the RCMP to look into the serious allegations made in the report. We do not have any information about these allegations, but anyone who does should give the information to the appropriate authorities.

[Ethics, February 13th, 2013]

Mr. Speaker, the leader of the opposition is mixing different cases.

In the case of Senator Brazeau, I would point out that not long before I named Senator Brazeau, at the request of the NDP, he spoke on the floor of the House of Commons. He was a respected leader of a national aboriginal organization. Some things have happened more recently that are before the courts, and the Senate has taken the appropriate action under the circumstances.

[Ethics, February 13th, 2013]

Mr. Speaker, I reject that characterization.

In terms of Senator Wallin, I have looked at the numbers. Her travel costs are comparable to any parliamentarian travelling from that particular area of the country over that period of time. For instance, last year Senator Wallin spent almost half of her time in the province she represents in the Senate. The costs are to travel to and from that province, as any similar parliamentarian would do.

[Status of Women, February 12th, 2013]

Mr. Speaker, there is no party, no government in history that has taken more seriously the problem of violence against women than this government.

In terms of the specific issue that the member raises, this is a very strong concern for this government. That is why we have invested additional resources in police enforcement, in investigation and prevention, and we continue to look to ways that we can act.

The murder and abduction of women in this country is completely unacceptable. We will continue to move forward with a vigorous criminal justice agenda to address these problems. I encourage the Liberal Party to support it.

[Health, February 12th, 2013]

Mr. Speaker, it was this government that set up the Mental Health Commission of Canada in order to increase public awareness regarding these important issues. I am pleased to see the public is responding appropriately.

Of course, some targets still need to be reached in relation to these problems. We are not looking to simply spend money to solve these problems; we want to achieve real results. The government will continue to examine solutions in that regard.

[Health, February 12th, 2013]

Mr. Speaker, of course it was this government that set up the Mental Health Commission of Canada precisely to look at these kinds of issues and to explore solutions across a range of policy areas, not just health care but other areas as well.

We welcome the recommendations of the Mental Health Commission of Canada and look forward to taking more steps forward on these issues of very serious concern to Canadians.

[Employment, February 12th, 2013]

Mr. Speaker, job creation is our government's priority. That is why Canada has one of the best job creation records in the western world.

However, I am getting even more confused about what the NDP's position is. He just said that the electoral boundaries matter is the concern of every Canadian. Of course it is. That is precisely why members of Parliament on this side and the public in Saskatchewan have been making their views known on this issue.

[Electoral Boundaries, February 12th, 2013]

Mr. Speaker, of course, in terms of the preamble, Canadians do not want to return to constitutional debate and an opening up of the Constitution, just like, by the way, somebody should tell the NDP that they actually do not want to argue about the terms of a Quebec referendum either.

What Canadians want to do is to focus on the economy. In terms of electoral boundaries, our position is clear. Obviously we are trying to influence the positions of the commission, as is the right of every member of the House.

[Ethics, February 12th, 2013]

Mr. Speaker, I totally reject that categorization. In fact, I would note that in this case the Senate has reacted proactively and quickly to deal with the matters at hand.

However, I am trying to figure out exactly what the NDP's position on all of this is. For years, NDP members claimed to be for abolition but have never tabled an abolition proposal of any kind. Now their spokesperson on the issue has said, “We are open to any kind of reasonable reform”.

With limiting mandates and having elected senators, these are exactly the kinds of reforms we are proposing. I would encourage the NDP—