Stephen Harper

[Aboriginal Affairs, June 21st, 2012]

Mr. Speaker, the Government of Canada has been in negotiations with its partners on this for some years now, and we will continue to work productively with our partners to try to resolve this dispute.

At the same time, this government is the government that brought in the new specific claims legislation advocated by the Assembly of First Nations. It has seen a record number of specific claims settled across the country.

On this anniversary of the War of 1812, in all our events we of course recognize the very important role played by aboriginal peoples and first nations in that very successful war that helped establish this Canadian nation.

[Housing, June 21st, 2012]

Mr. Speaker, the leader of the Liberal Party talked about the debt situation.

It should be noted that the federal government's debt, and that of the country in general, is one of the lowest of developed economies. It is one of the reasons for the Canadian economy's superior performance.

[Housing, June 21st, 2012]

Mr. Speaker, the Minister of Finance announced four different changes to rules for government-backed mortgage insurance. I note that objective observers in the marketplace have responded extremely positively to the minister's announcements. We do have record low interest rates in the country. The government has altered rules a number of times and will continue to do so in a prudent and flexible manner, depending on the circumstances.

[Ethics, June 21st, 2012]

Mr. Speaker, we just had one of the most legislatively productive periods, and the NDP members, by deciding they will oppose everything and filibuster everything, have proven themselves to be the least influential opposition in terms of legislative agenda in the history of this Parliament.

Canadians elected us to focus on jobs, growth and long-term prosperity. That is what we are doing. That is why the Canadian economy continues to have superior performance.

[Official Languages, June 21st, 2012]

Mr. Speaker, this government's level of support for such activities is unprecedented. Our commitment to the Roadmap for Canada's Linguistic Duality is unprecedented. Also unprecedented is the fact that the NDP fields unilingual candidates in francophone ridings. The Conservative Party has never done that.

[National Defence, June 21st, 2012]

Mr. Speaker, the government has not yet purchased the F-35. On the contrary, we have said many times that we will replace the jets when necessary, at the end of this decade. Now, we are in the process of rebuilding the Canadian armed forces. It is very important to give our men and women in uniform the equipment they need. I am very proud of our government's track record on this.

[Federal Election Date, June 20th, 2012]

Mr. Speaker, I did not know the timing of the next election was still a subject in which the leader of the Liberal Party was keenly interested.

We have noted, as he has just noted, that the date in law for the next election currently conflicts with several provincial elections that will occur at the same time. We are talking to our friends in the provinces about how to resolve this. I can assure parliamentarians we will bring forward a proposal on this well before the next election.

[Government Accountability, June 20th, 2012]

Mr. Speaker, once again, as the leader of the Liberal Party noted, it was in fact this party, this government, that established the parliamentary budget office, so this government is more than familiar with its intention in terms of the mandate it set up.

In terms of specific information, we give information to all parliamentarians on a complete and timely basis. There are a number of means through which we do that and we will continue to do so.

[Government Accountability, June 20th, 2012]

Mr. Speaker, as the Leader of the Liberal Party noted, it was the Conservative government that established this office. We are more than familiar with this office's mandate. As usual, we will give all the information to parliamentarians through the regular means.

[International Trade, June 20th, 2012]

Mr. Speaker, once again, Canada is at the negotiating table to promote and defend all our interests. It is necessary in a global economy.

I know the NDP thinks we can ignore the world of trade, but that is not the economic reality.

Our party is the one that concluded the free trade agreement with the United States—a great success for our country—and we intend to maintain our systems and promote our exports throughout the world.