Cost of Living Relief Act, No. 2.  Mr. Speaker, I do not disagree with my colleague. I said in my intervention that Canadians need a leg up, that single parents and families that are living dollar to dollar and are having a hard time making ends meet need a leg up. They need a plan. They get this top-up, but then what?

Cost of Living Relief Act, No. 2.  Mr. Speaker, I have taken part in a lot of committees. As our colleague can attest to, I absolutely lost my mind the night that this was taking place and that what we were witnessing was taking place. It was so unparliamentary. Clearly, as I stated in my speech, the deal was done, and anybody who brought forward any type of amendment, who was not part of the NDP-Liberal coalition, was going to get shut out.

Cost of Living Relief Act, No. 2.  Mr. Speaker, I really appreciate that, because while the Liberals will go on and on saying that people are heckling them, you will notice that I did not even acknowledge them. They can say anything they want to say. It does not bother me at all, because what they are saying is total hogwash.

Cost of Living Relief Act, No. 2.  Mr. Speaker, folks who are watching this debate are seeing political theatrics at its best. We just heard from the member for Vancouver East and the member for Vancouver Kingsway. The member for Vancouver East has been in office for 29 years, and the member for Vancouver Kingsway since 2008, and prior to that he worked for a union, so they both have had dental care.

Cost of Living Relief Act, No. 2.  Mr. Speaker, “triggers” is a good word.

Cost of Living Relief Act, No. 2.  Mr. Speaker, they trigger it, but that is what they want. That is exactly what they want—

Cost of Living Relief Act, No. 2.  Madam Speaker, I have a couple of concerns with this. One is that with the exception of a few of our Liberal colleagues who are here, this member of Parliament, our hon. colleague, has gotten up three times on this topic: triple, triple, triple. I sit on the health committee and the concern I have is that we literally were given two hours to study a bill worth $10 billion.

Diwali  Mr. Speaker, after a hiatus of two years, the national Diwali celebration is returning to Parliament Hill today. With the support of our Indo-Canadian friends, community organizations and mandirs from across the country, tonight at 6:30 p.m. I will be delighted to host the 22nd national Diwali celebration at the Sir John A.

Strengthening Environmental Protection for a Healthier Canada Act  Madam Speaker, this bill also puts in place the precautionary principle. It is one I have seen, and I am very well aware of it in other pieces of legislation we have studied. It gives the power to the minister of that file to take extraordinary measures when he or she deems it necessary.

Strengthening Environmental Protection for a Healthier Canada Act  Madam Speaker, the hon. colleague across the way knows where I stand on that question. As a matter of fact, I said it in my speech. We are dealing with extraordinary events due to climate change, such as the wildfires we saw in our neck of the woods and the floods we have seen. We had incredible weather storms, the tsunamis, the flooding we saw in the lower mainland and the hurricane we saw on the east coast.

Strengthening Environmental Protection for a Healthier Canada Act  Madam Speaker, I am going to apologize to my hon. colleague across the way. I do not know whether it was the translation, but I did not hear all of his question. I am not the expert on Bill S-5. I do know that we have some serious concerns with it. As we move forward, it is incumbent on all of us to make sure we are working collaboratively with our friends across the way to whatever extent they are willing to do so.

Strengthening Environmental Protection for a Healthier Canada Act  Madam Speaker, my understanding of this bill is that it would put into place a provision that anybody could bring forth a concern about a toxic substance and an assessment on that substance would be developed within 24 months to determine whether that substance is toxic. While I am not familiar with the statistics the member rambled off, that is the challenge of using facts and figures with that.

Strengthening Environmental Protection for a Healthier Canada Act  Madam Speaker, the concern we have is that it says every Canadian has a right to a healthy environment, but the Canadian government needs another two years to study that. What does that mean? Our riding has gone through some horrific wildfire seasons, as well as drought and flooding.

Strengthening Environmental Protection for a Healthier Canada Act  Madam Speaker, I should apologize to the folks in the gallery, because this is probably not the day to come and listen to a debate. Bill S-5, as riveting as we try to make it, probably does not have the most riveting debate. I just will recap, as I was cut short prior to question period, some of the concerns we have with Bill S-5.

Strengthening Environmental Protection for a Healthier Canada Act  Mr. Speaker, I first want to say happy Bandi Chhor Divas and happy Diwali as well. I have sat through the Bill S-5 debate, which has been riveting. I think the pages are wide awake, maybe not so much after my time. Bill S-5 deals with the Canadian Environmental Protection Act, which has not been significantly updated since it was passed in 1999.