Gender Equity in Indian Registration Act  Mr. Speaker, Chief Atleo of the Assembly of First Nations has highlighted the fact that the government has provided little information thus far to either this House or to first nations leaders. He is concerned about the possibility of a huge influx, perhaps tens of thousands, of people obtaining new status registrations.

Gender Equity in Indian Registration Act  Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank the member for what all members have come to expect from her, which is a thoughtful, comprehensive, and well thought out speech to the House, as well as one that is very fair. It seems to me that Bill C-3 deals with a very critical and important issue not only to the first nations of this country but to many Canadians who want to have a just and progressive relationship develop between the first nations and all Canadians, and progress for all bands across this country.

Petitions  Mr. Speaker, I rise to present a petition signed by hundreds of citizens from across the country calling on the government to restrict residential wood burning. The petitioners note that the health hazards from wood smoke are well documented and that black carbon emitted by wood burning is a major contributor to climate change.

Canada-Jordan Free Trade Act  Mr. Speaker, two weeks ago I had the pleasure of meeting with Tom Dufresne, president of the ILWU, the longshoremen's union in Vancouver. I met with a number of executive members who talked to me about trade and how their members worked on the ports of Vancouver and the Lower Mainland, in fact all of British Columbia and across the country.

Broadcasting Act and the Telecommunications Act  Mr. Speaker, I am very pleased to rise to speak on Bill C-444, An Act to amend the Broadcasting Act and the Telecommunications Act (broadcasting and telecommunications policies), so the Québécois identity is reflected in the Canadian broadcasting telecommunications policies of our country.

Correctional Service Canada  Mr. Speaker, the Minister of Public Safety has stated that double-bunking prisoners in cells designed for one person is appropriate. However, his own Commissioner of Correctional Service Canada says that double-bunking is not correctionally sound. This practice also contravenes international standards that Canada has pledged to observe.

Canada-Colombia Free Trade Agreement Implementation Act  Madam Speaker, I would like to ask this of the hon. member who has so much experience with South America. There are countries in South America that are committed to progressive values. They are democratizing their countries. They are trying to raise the standard of living of their citizens, and they are making human rights progress.

Canada-Colombia Free Trade Agreement Implementation Act  Madam Speaker, I just want to express the gratitude of millions of Canadians for the fine work the hon. member for Burnaby—New Westminster has done on this file. There is a fundamental lack of logic in the position that we should trade with known human rights abusers because we can make things better that way.

Canada-Colombia Free Trade Agreement Implementation Act  Madam Speaker, the question by the hon. member is one that continues to perpetuate an absurd lack of logic. This deal will open up Colombian territory to foreign resource extraction. It will worsen Colombia's refugee crisis. There will be no Canadian jobs created by this agreement.

Canada-Colombia Free Trade Agreement Implementation Act  Madam Speaker, one thing that can be said about Liberal trade policy is that it changes from year to year. I was in this country in 1988, when his party opposed free trade. I was in this country in 1993, when his party, the Liberals, said it would abrogate NAFTA. Of course, when the Liberals came to power, they did not have any problem completely abrogating whatever they had said on child care and housing to get elected.

Canada-Colombia Free Trade Agreement Implementation Act  Madam Speaker, I think what Canadians see is what we all see in this House, that the current iteration of the Liberal Party is virtually indistinguishable from the Conservative Party, in terms of major policies. That is, of course, when we can discern what the policy of the Liberal Party is, because it often takes contrary positions.

Canada-Colombia Free Trade Agreement Implementation Act  Madam Speaker, we rise at second reading to debate among all parliamentarians a bill that deals with free trade. At second reading, parliamentarians are charged with the responsibility of debating the principle of the bill that has been put before them. I believe all members in the House could support describing the principle of the bill before the House as one that engages fundamental principles of sound trade policy.

Canada-Colombia Free Trade Agreement Implementation Act  Madam Speaker, as we all know, Colombia is among some of the world's worst offenders when it comes to respecting the human rights of social activists and trade unionists. In fact, I note that the vice-chair of an expert committee of the Belgian Christian trade union federation said that in the nine years he has been vice-chair of that committee on the application of ILO rules and recommendations, the only countries he has seen that are comparable to Colombia in terms of ILO violations are Myanmar and Byelorussia.

Canada-Colombia Free Trade Agreement Implementation Act  Mr. Speaker, according to the Canadian Labour Congress, more labour activists and trade unionists have been murdered in Colombia than all other countries on the planet put together. Think about that. In this country we have trade unionists and working people who gather to sit down and discuss with their employer the working terms and conditions of their employment to try get a fair piece of the economic activity they produce.

Petitions  Mr. Speaker, I rise with two petitions today. The first is a petition signed by citizens from across the country calling on the government to extend funding to the Aboriginal Healing Foundation, which will expire on March 31 this year. As the petition states, residential schools have caused incalculable physical and mental trauma to aboriginal people in this country, not only to residential school survivors themselves but to generations of first nations.