Petitions  Mr. Speaker, it is with great pleasure that I present several petitions today with respect to the Employment Insurance Act. The first petition deals with the 28, unanimously agreed upon, recommendations that came from the all party committee to restore financial governance and acceptability to the Employment Insurance Act.

Petitions  Mr. Speaker, I also have a more specific set of petitions dealing with the actual zoning that HRDC designates across this country. Our region, which represents, by HRDC's standards, half of the province, has a huge diversity and spectrum of employment needs. The petitioners demand that the government finally take a common sense approach to splitting the region in a more justifiable way.

The Environment  Mr. Speaker, the holidays are upon us and Canadians are hanging their stockings hoping for a gift from Santa, maybe even something for the environment. Unfortunately they fear the grinch, in this case played by the Minister of the Environment who is offering them no more than a lump of coal perhaps to burn in a coal fired plant somewhere in the country.

The Environment  Mr. Speaker, I fear the road to redemption might be just a little too long for that particular grinch. In the few short months she has been the Minister of the Environment, she has slashed funding for climate change. She has cut and run on Kyoto without putting another plan in place.

Aboriginal Affairs  Mr. Speaker, today I am honoured to welcome a number of chiefs from my riding to Ottawa for the special assembly of chiefs. The first nations of my region have a long and proud tradition and culture that goes back thousands of years. Yet far too many of them suffer under third world conditions that we would not accept in any other region of our country.

Canada's Clean Air Act  Mr. Speaker, the luxury of time is one thing that we simply do not have anymore after so many years of failed plans, misspent money, and pollution continuing to rise year after year. The competitiveness of the Canadian economy was also suffering as a result because energy was not being used in the most efficient means, certainly not in respect to our competitors.

Canada's Clean Air Act  Mr. Speaker, right at the very end of that wandering question was the point that I remember the new leader of the Liberal Party making when he was standing in front of the environment committee. It was the very same claim that my hon. colleague just made, which is that since the economy improved of course our emissions had to go up.

Canada's Clean Air Act  Mr. Speaker, it is with great pleasure that I rise to speak in this debate as we move this bill forward. It is a bill that is deeply flawed and has been discredited across the environmental sector and in other parts of our communities, because as members in the House join the daily gathering of question period, it speaks to the partisan nature that for far too long has overridden all good and sensible conduct when it comes to our environment.

SOFTWOOD LUMBER PRODUCTS EXPORT CHARGE ACT, 2006  Mr. Speaker, I think we have an open invitation to have a debate. The member's office was notified about a potential debate. Since he has now said he is open and amenable to it, will he commit right now in the House of Commons to engage in that debate in his own community prior to the House rising for the Christmas break?

SOFTWOOD LUMBER PRODUCTS EXPORT CHARGE ACT, 2006  Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague for the yeoman's work he has done on this file, pressing against all odds. There were motions and courses taken, which have not been taken before in parliamentary history, in an effort to shut down his voice in committee and to remove his ability to be an effective opposition member.

SOFTWOOD LUMBER PRODUCTS EXPORT CHARGE ACT, 2006  Mr. Speaker, here is an incredible scenario before us. When the NAFTA was being negotiated and when the FTA in particular was being negotiated, the Americans very much wanted access to our energy. They very much wanted energy to be placed within the FTA and then eventually into the NAFTA.

SOFTWOOD LUMBER PRODUCTS EXPORT CHARGE ACT, 2006  Mr. Speaker, while it is a pleasure to join in this debate, it is a sincere displeasure to have to again rail against a government's misguided, arbitrary and bullheaded position on the softwood lumber file. For many years the region and communities that I represent have sought certainty, resolution, and some level of justice when dealing with the unfair illegal tariffs that our American neighbours were slapping on our value added products.

SOFTWOOD LUMBER PRODUCTS EXPORT CHARGE ACT, 2006  Mr. Speaker, I was very intrigued by the comments of my colleague, the hon. member for Vancouver Island North. Similar to my riding, the ability to attract investment, create an entrepreneurial spirit and add value to wood products is a struggle each and every day. She talked about examples of value added companies, the manufacturers that were able to get on their feet and put people to work.

SOFTWOOD LUMBER PRODUCTS EXPORT CHARGE ACT, 2006  Mr. Speaker, I hope the member for Winnipeg Centre can draw some sort of connection or parallel, as he was doing in his speech, between Canada's new position on the Wheat Board and its dovetailing with what the Americans are hoping to achieve across all our economic sectors. Is there some sort of game afoot, does he suspect, between Ottawa and Washington right now to break down the very tools and mechanisms that Canadians have relied upon for our own economic success?

SOFTWOOD LUMBER PRODUCTS EXPORT CHARGE ACT, 2006  Mr. Speaker, it is unfortunate that the time ran out so quickly because I know my hon. colleague takes these issues of intergovernmental relations very seriously. The defence of our national interests is of pre-eminent importance to the member. I wonder if the member would comment on what type of precedent this sets, if in fact it is a precedent, because I believe the Conservative Party has a long and sordid history of selling out Canadians to our American neighbours.