Mr. Speaker, while funding was provided in budget 2009 for the development of the air passenger assessment program, no decision has been made on moving forward with a new program at this time.
House of Commons photoWon his last election, in 2011, with 71% of the vote.
Questions on the Order Paper May 26th, 2010
Mr. Speaker, while funding was provided in budget 2009 for the development of the air passenger assessment program, no decision has been made on moving forward with a new program at this time.
Questions on the Order Paper May 26th, 2010
Mr. Speaker, the Government of Canada is committed to ensuring that the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, RCMP, is a strong, accountable organization which can continue to serve and protect Canadians for generations to come.
Although the funding of $8 million over two years for a new civilian review and complaints commission for the RCMP was announced in Budget 2010, the Government of Canada continues its work on the proposal for establishing the new body, including consulting with provinces/territories and key stakeholders. Once the government finalizes the proposal, information on its mandate, organizational structure and responsibilities will be available.
Firearms Registry May 26th, 2010
Mr. Speaker, I thank the member for his work. The Liberal leader continues to ignore the facts and, more important, ignore the voices of rural Canadians. Why will he not let his members consider what the ministers from Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba and the Yukon have to say? All have come out in favour of scrapping the ineffective, wasteful long gun registry.
I remind all members who in fact voted for Bill C-391 at second reading, especially the member for Yukon, that the choice is simple. Either they vote to keep the registry or they vote to scrap it. What will it be?
Firearms Registry May 26th, 2010
Mr. Speaker, if that member were so sure of his party's position, his leader would allow a free vote on Bill C-391.
We know their members do not support the gun registry. Members of the New Democratic Party do not support the long gun registry. Certainly this party does not support the long gun registry.
Front-line officers, like Dave Shipman, said:
The long-gun registry is not working to prevent gun crime...Criminals...do not register their stolen or smuggled guns that are being used to wage war in our cities.
Public Safety May 26th, 2010
Mr. Speaker, I do not think we have to take lessons from the Socialists on how to budget. The member for Toronto Centre knows that full well. He has indicated, on more than one occasion, that those are not people to take lessons from.
All costs have been budgeted and are on target. We have always stated that overall costs will be finalized at the end of both of these summits. Putting two of these summits together, back to back, has been unprecedented. We have relied on the experts to give us the costs. We are prepared to meet those costs in order to meet the security interests and the safety of heads of nations.
Public Safety May 26th, 2010
Mr. Speaker, the member well knows that $179 million was never the original estimate. The original estimate has been $930 million.
This is a plan that has been put together by the security experts. These are necessary costs in order to secure the safety of visiting heads of nations. We have that responsibility and we will carry it out.
Public Safety May 26th, 2010
Mr. Speaker, Canada is honoured to host the world's most influential leaders at the G8 and G20 summits this June. They are major events. Hosting these summits requires complex security planning to ensure that we are prepared. The priority for all these events is the importance of the security and safety of Canadians, participants, and visitors. I understand that the member does not understand the issue of security, but we are committed to ensuring that these two summits are secure.
Public Safety May 26th, 2010
Mr. Speaker, all the costs, in fact, have been budgeted and are on target.
As we have stated, the overall cost will be finalized during the completion of the summit. Based on a medium-level threat assessment, we have budgeted up to $930 million.
This is an unprecedented event. We have two summits back to back, and we believe the experts when they say that this is the necessary level of security. I understand that the Liberals do not believe in securing Canadians or the visitors here. We are different.
Public Safety May 13th, 2010
Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank the member for his question and for all of his hard work.
It is clear that if one is a Liberal, one is more interested in a prisoner's right to plant tomatoes than in keeping Canadians safe on our streets. If one is a Liberal, law-abiding farmers should be criminalized by a wasteful long gun registry. If one is a Liberal, one encourages reducing prisoners' sentences while refusing speedy passage of a bill that would limit pardons for notorious criminals.
Well, our Conservative government believes that Canadians deserve much better, even if the member for Ajax—Pickering does not.
Public Safety May 12th, 2010
Mr. Speaker, I thank the member for her very hard work on this important file. The current pardon system implies that what the offender did is somehow okay, or that the harm done to victims has somehow disappeared. Our government disagrees and so do Canadians. That is why our Conservative government is taking action.
I call upon the opposition parties to support speedy passage, to this urgently required legislation, at all stages. It is time for the opposition to finally side with victims and not criminals.