House of Commons photoWon his last election, in 2008, with 58% of the vote.
Supply Management October 28th, 2009
Mr. Speaker, negotiations are going well. We have wrapped up our initial meetings with European Union officials, and we have set dates for future meetings. Both sides expect negotiations to progress swiftly. We hope to finalize negotiations within two years.
Ending Conditional Sentences for Property and Other Serious Crimes Act October 26th, 2009
What? Resurgent Liberals? You are down 25%.
Truth in Sentencing Act October 23rd, 2009
Mr. Speaker, I thank the member for Wild Rose for his question and for his work in this particular area.
For many years, police groups, victims associations and others have asked for truth in sentencing. This bill accomplishes that. There is no more discount for serious criminals of two to one time or three to one time because of pre-sentence custody. We have been waiting for this a long time.
Despite the fact the Liberals tried to stop and delay this, despite the fact they tried to hold it up in the Senate and despite the fact that 30 Liberal senators voted against it, we got it through. Truth in sentencing is a reality.
Afghanistan October 23rd, 2009
Mr. Speaker, my hon. friend should reflect on the fact that it was a judicial ruling that narrowed a particular inquiry. We have said we will still follow whatever needs to be followed.
I will repeat again. The member opposite said there was a contradiction between what ministers are saying and what General Hillier is saying. General Hillier has said he did not inform any minister, let alone the Minister of National Defence, related to this particular report. The ministers themselves, including myself, have said that we have never received information on that report.
Afghanistan October 23rd, 2009
Mr. Speaker, I find it somewhat fascinating that a member with the number of years of experience would take, at face value, a quote from a newspaper over the quotes of General Hillier himself.
General Hillier himself said he never did inform or report about this report to not just the Minister of National Defence but to any minister.
I would suggest that the member show respect for General Hillier and go with what he said, not with what some newspaper said.
Tax Harmonization October 23rd, 2009
Mr. Speaker, we are very clear on this. When a province makes a decision to move to a harmonized sales tax, the federal government will respect that. There is a process, which has been in place for years, a process, as a matter of fact, that was put in place by the previous government, that will assist the provinces in doing that.
What the NDP failed to point out is that the GST, the federal portion of that HST, we have made a commitment to reduce that. The Liberals said that they would reduce it but they never did. We have reduced it from 7% to 5%. We are taking taxes down. The NDP only wants to see them go up.
The Environment October 23rd, 2009
Mr. Speaker, as I said, we continue to be a leader in environmental areas but we will point out the fact that there will be difficulties. If we have large countries, especially those with developing economies, that are taking a stand not to do anything in terms of emission reductions, that is a challenge, but it is a challenge that we are willing to take on. It is also a challenge that the Minister of the Environment is taking on and he is demonstrating that things can be put in place.
This may be difficult for industry, and some of it will be difficult for industry, but we are insisting that guidelines be made and we will work with other countries to show how they can implement them.
The Environment October 23rd, 2009
Mr. Speaker, we have taken the lead in so many different areas related to the environment.
The NDP members continue to fall into the trap of their previous coalition partners by repeating this absolute falsehood that we had something to do with the Kyoto agreement. It was the Liberals who signed the agreement and then did nothing in 13 years. As a matter of fact, emissions continued to go up and we are the government that has put in place, at a minimum, a 20% reduction by the year 2020.
The minister is also reflecting on the fact that a number of countries, before going to Copenhagen, have already said that they will not accept guidelines. We want to see guidelines in place.
The Environment October 23rd, 2009
Mr. Speaker, that is absolutely false. A number of countries were sorry about the situation at the conference that he is referring to.
He said something else that bothers me. It was the Liberals that signed the Kyoto protocol and did nothing about it. We have done many things. We have set levels and introduced emission reduction programs.
The Environment October 23rd, 2009
Mr. Speaker, we are very clear. We are concerned about our climate and the environment. That is why it was Canada that set levels and implemented a plan to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 20% by 2020. That is our goal and we will reach it.