Ethics  We are creating the strongest economic growth in the G7. We are helping Canadian families succeed after 10 years of a Conservative government that did not give families the help they need.

Public Services and Procurement  We take very seriously the responsibility we have to ensure that the men and women of our armed forces actually have the opportunity to do their jobs safely and with the right equipment. We take that extremely seriously after the Conservatives botched the process for 10 years.

Public Services and Procurement  The problem was that they fired 700 people in order to book the savings they were counting on so they could magically balance the budget just in time for the election, to try to save their skins from their terrible economic performance over the past 10 years. We did not create the Phoenix problem, but we are going to fix it.

Public Services and Procurement  Speaker, the men and women of our military deserve the equipment they need to fulfill their responsibilities and deliver on their commitments. For 10 years, the previous Conservative government was unable to give the men and women of our forces the equipment they needed. It completely botched the process. That is why we were proud to launch a full, open competition yesterday to replace our fleet of aging fighter jets, not with 65 jets like the Conservatives spoke about but 88 jets, to ensure our military can fulfill the roles we expect it to.

Government Appointments  Speaker, we established a merit-based appointment process for choosing officers of Parliament and making government appointments that better reflect the diversity and quality of what Canadians have to offer. After 10 years of partisanship, we are proud of the process we have created, and we have great confidence in all our appointments.

Veterans Affairs  We have been working over the past two years to deliver to veterans and their families the kinds of support they need and deserve and, quite frankly, they did not get for 10 years under the Conservative government. On this issue, the minister takes these allegations seriously and has responded to them and apologized.

Public Services and Procurement  Speaker, Canadians know that the previous Conservative government failed over the course of 10 years to give the men and women of our armed forces the equipment necessary to do their jobs. It so completely botched the fighter jet procurement—

Veterans  We still have work to do, but we note that many veterans are submitting their applications under a system that failed them for 10 years under the Conservative government. That is why we are working very hard to meet the requirements. We have reopened nine service centres for veterans, and we will keep working hard to ensure that this government recognizes our veterans' extraordinary service and sacrifices.

Veterans  Speaker, the fact is that we have worked very, very hard over the past two years to restore the kinds of benefits that our veterans deserve and that they did not get under 10 years of a Conservative government. There is much to do, and there continues to be more to do. We look forward to continuing to work with veterans groups to ensure that the new lifelong pension is restored to the level that everyone can expect.

Ethics  Mr. Speaker, after 10 years of the kind of patronage that the previous government put forward, we put forward an independent, merit-based process for government appointments. This ensures that government appointments are not only of the highest quality, but reflect the range and scope of experiences and diversity that make Canada strong.

Veterans  Mr. Speaker, here is what happened. For 10 years, the Conservative government closed veterans' service centres. It exploited the image of veterans, yet neglected to provide them with the services and benefits they were entitled to.

Ethics  Mr. Speaker, the members opposite have had a difficult time with this concept. For 10 years, the member opposite was part of the most secretive, opaque, untrusting, and untrustworthy government Canada has ever seen. The level of openness and transparency we have shown, the level of respect we have offered the commissioners of parliament, the Elections Canada commissioner, and justices of the Supreme Court that the previous government never showed is partly why Canadians have trusted us to deliver the kind of growth that 10 years of Conservatives never could.

Ethics  They cannot criticize us, because in two years we have already achieved a much better economic record and helped far more Canadians than they managed to do in 10 years, despite their vaunted economic expertise. The Conservatives are showing that they overstated their expertise. We are the ones who are good at creating economic growth.

Ethics  Mr. Speaker, the Conservatives are jealous of our economic record. For 10 years, they showed the lowest growth numbers since R. B. Bennett in the Great Depression. We, in two years, by doing exactly what we committed to do in the election campaign, putting more money in the pockets of the middle class and those working hard to join it, have turned around the Canadian economy and shown that the Conservative policy of helping the rich and giving benefits to the most wealthy does not work.

Ethics  That is what we did for years while we were the third party in the House. That is what we continue to do to stay connected with Canadians. Unfortunately, for 10 years, Stephen Harper did not do a very good job of listening to Canadians and over the past two years, we see that the Conservatives are doing exactly the same thing. They did not listen to Canadians tell them that baseless attacks and personal mudslinging jobs have no attraction with Canadians who want real—