Criminal Code  Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank the member for the question. I do not think it matters who raised this important issue. He suggests it was raised by the opposition, but I think it has considerable support by all members in the House from what I have heard so far in the debate.

Criminal Code  Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank the hon. member for her question and address a number of points. First, there should be great credit to the families and steelworkers which I stated in my opening remarks. I also pointed out that we should seriously consider the improvements to the bill that have been suggested in the early parts of this debate.

Criminal Code  Mr. Speaker, welcome back. I am delighted to be standing here to give a speech on a second piece of legislation today. It shows that we have a lot of legislation to cover this fall and a lot of work to do and that a lot of important things are being done to help Canadians. I would also like to add a special welcome to the member for Dauphin—Swan River, who is a tremendous contributor to the House and who has been away for some time.

Parliament of Canada Act  Mr. Speaker, it is great to be back to make a couple of speeches on the first day of the autumn session of Parliament. I would like to welcome everyone, especially the new pages. I would like to assure my constituents in Yukon that the new pages have already completed the most important part of their training and fully understand that Yukon is the best constituency in the country.

Main Estimates 2003-04  Mr. Speaker, I am delighted to talk about railways this evening. I voted for the extra $9 million for VIA in committee, as it was in the original estimates, and I will be voting for it again. My reasons are simple. First, it is for capital upgrades, new cars, and for fixing up the stations.

Supply  Madam Speaker, I would just like the member, with whom I debate all the time in the industry committee, to tell me that he believes it is better to transfer the money to the province of Quebec for the municipalities than for us to give it directly in the agreements we have now.

Supply  Madam Speaker, I would like to thank the member for his comments and for mentioning the member for LaSalle—Émard. In many budget speeches he talked about how allocating taxes does not work. Millions and millions of dollars have been put into infrastructure by the federal government since 1993, which I outlined in my speech.

Supply  Madam Speaker, I always appreciate debating with my colleague, which happens quite often on the industry committee. We have a great time. We often agree actually, but in this case there definitely is no agreement. I mentioned specifically that I am in favour of much more money for roads, perhaps more than the Alliance is proposing.

Supply  Madam Speaker, it is a pleasure to talk about infrastructure. I believe that I am splitting my time. We have very great and special needs for infrastructure in the north. The Association of Yukon Communities has made this case eloquently over the years. We have many more roads per capita and tough economic and environmental situations which make infrastructure costly and the needs very great.

Canada Elections Act  Madam Speaker, I am pleased to speak to report stage of Bill C-24. I have not had a lot of constituent input. Only a couple of people raised concerns about any onus this might put on local associations and the difficulty in getting volunteers for such work, and the concern related to the financing of the political system by taxpayers.

Burma  Mr. Speaker, in respect of Dr. Cynthia Maung, who joins us in Ottawa today, I stand before the House to bring to the attention of my fellow colleagues the shameful situation in Myanmar or as most people prefer to call it, Burma. In 1948 Burma was one of Asia's most promising young democracies, buttressed by a growing free market and well educated population.

Fisheries and Oceans  Mr. Speaker, last December the Minister of Fisheries and Oceans announced a new approach to the environmental regulation of placer gold mining in the Yukon. The announcement will seriously affect a very important industry in my riding. While all Yukoners want to continue protecting the environment, many have voiced their fears that DFO is destroying this historically important industry.

Public Service Modernization Act  Mr. Speaker, is the member saying that because we live under a constitutional monarchy, whether people like it or not, that there is some incongruity between the fact that we as members of Parliament take an oath to the Queen while employees working in the government do not take an oath?

Achievements in Aviation  Mr. Speaker, I would like to offer my congratulations to a fellow Yukoner, Doug Makkonen. A long time helicopter pilot, Doug was recently named “Best in the World” for mountain flying by the Helicopter Association International and has been awarded the Robert E. Trimble Memorial Award.

Public Service Modernization Act  Mr. Speaker, the member has outlined in greater detail the concern I outlined in my first point. I have the same concern but not as much for partisan politics. I have not heard that complaint but maybe he has. When there is favouritism or nepotism the system may be open for abuse.