House of Commons photoWon his last election, in 2015, with 64% of the vote.
Afghanistan November 30th, 2010
Mr. Speaker, there are special procedures for when a Taliban insurgent under 18 years of age kills or wounds a Canadian soldier. Under our agreement with the Afghan government, special procedures are in place for such individuals and there are separate detention facilities.
Afghanistan November 30th, 2010
Mr. Speaker, when there are Taliban individuals who may be under 18 years of age, there are special procedures for the handling of those individuals. If those individuals have been responsible for the killing or wounding of Canadian soldiers, this is taken very seriously. When they are transferred, they are subject to the supervision provisions in the transfer agreement and they are detained at separate facilities for juveniles.
This, by the way, is on the website if the member wants to look.
Copyright November 30th, 2010
Mr. Speaker, there is obviously a big difference between our government's philosophy and that of the Bloc Québécois. The Bloc supports higher taxes, including a new tax on iPods. This government does not want to impose such a tax on Canadian consumers.
Copyright November 30th, 2010
Mr. Speaker, with respect to copyright, there are always demands from all sides. The minister introduced a balanced bill that will make piracy illegal.
Seniors November 30th, 2010
Mr. Speaker, as the House knows very well, the situation he refers to was something done under something established under a court order, under legislation in effect at the time of the bankruptcy.
I think it is a terrible shame for the opposition to hold out false hope by suggesting that a bill in the Senate that would do absolutely nothing for this situation would somehow help it. The truth is that we want to make sure we take care of these seniors. We will make sure they have access to all the same protections that other Canadians have.
Seniors November 30th, 2010
Mr. Speaker, this is completely false. Of course, when we had a deficit before, the previous government did cut pensions. This government has not done that. This government has increased the pension credits, increased the age credit. It has made eligibility to earn income greater when collecting the GIS. Of course, it has brought in income splitting for our senior citizens.
The big difference is that every one of those measures was opposed by that side the House and supported by Conservative members.
Seniors November 30th, 2010
Mr. Speaker, it is the complete reverse. This government has increased benefits for seniors because they are a very important part of our society. When we introduced income splitting for seniors, the Liberals were opposed to the idea.
Afghanistan November 25th, 2010
Mr. Speaker, the intellectual hoops through which the NDP will jump to justify its opposition to the mission in Afghanistan are really quite extraordinary. The fact is the current mission does not end until next year. As I have said, when that mission ends, we will replace it with a much smaller mission focused entirely on training.
In the meantime, as the leader of the NDP observes, we are doing important things such as building schools and educating children, but that only happens because security is provided and this is vital to make sure we accomplish these other goals.
Afghanistan November 25th, 2010
Mr. Speaker, the combat mission will end next year as planned. With regard to the training of Afghan forces, although we have made progress, we have clearly not finished the work. NATO will continue with this task, which is very important for our security and that of the world.
Afghanistan November 25th, 2010
Mr. Speaker, let me be clear on what I said. What I said was that we would not give a dime to the Afghan government unless we were assured that money would be used properly.
In the case of the training of the Afghan army, it just astounds me that the NDP does not understand that a secure Afghanistan taking care of its own security is vital to the global security interest, not just of the world but of this country as well.