Civil Marriage Act  Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to rise to speak against Bill C-38 on behalf of the constituents of Selkirk—Interlake. Today I want to talk about how the Liberals have been misleading the House and Canadians on their commitment to the charter. They say that they want to defend the Charter of Rights and Freedoms, but then they sit on their hands when it is being threatened by provinces forcing marriage commissioners to resign or surrender their religious freedoms and freedom of conscience.

Committees of the House  Mr. Speaker, I am very opposed to the amendment. I believe that the concurrence motion as it stands today reflects the will of the committee. Our committee is an all party committee. Committee members have already looked at this and made a decision that this is the way we want to proceed.

Committees of the House  Madam Speaker, what is disturbing is that CFIA is supposed to be professional. To walk in and destroy animals in that manner is completely unacceptable. As a producer and farmer, I just shake my head thinking that it was done in that manner. As a party, we strongly believe in private property rights and respecting those rights, and properly compensating people when measures like this have to be taken.

Committees of the House  Madam Speaker, the parliamentary secretary is well aware of the discussions that happened at the hearings in Abbotsford. The one thing that came out loud and clear is that producers there felt that they had not been heard. They felt that the people in government had not been listening.

Committees of the House  Madam Speaker, I thank my colleague from Battlefords—Lloydminster for bringing this forward and giving us a chance as the House of Commons to discuss the shortfall that we experienced with the avian flu. Since I became a member of Parliament and a member of the Standing Committee on Agriculture and Agri-Food, the one thing that has shocked me is that the CFIA seems to be completely unaccountable to us as politicians.

Gasoline Prices  Mr. Speaker, while I appreciate the comments by the Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Natural Resources, I want to make sure that we do everything we can to protect the Red River and Lake Winnipeg, to protect our tourism, and to protect our fishery. I would encourage the government to conduct its own study on the water quality issue to make sure that we have that knowledge base when we take this forward to the International Joint Commission, if we get a referral from the North Dakota supreme court.

Gasoline Prices  Mr. Speaker, I want to return to a question that I raised in the House on February 4 regarding the Devils Lake diversion in North Dakota which is going to be drained into Manitoba. This is a big international issue which requires involvement and leadership from the Government of Canada.

Agriculture  Mr. Speaker, the Minister of Agriculture has continued to announce band-aid solutions for farm families. The agriculture industry has its jugular severed and is bleeding red ink, and the band-aid being offered will not stop the hemorrhage. The latest flawed program is just another in a long Liberal lineup of flawed agricultural programs.

Budget Implementation Act, 2005  Mr. Speaker, I want to return to some of the comments that the parliamentary secretary made when answering questions from the member for Blackstrap. He was talking about eligible expenses and gave the example of hobby farming. I know the parliamentary secretary is aware of the difficulties facing the farm community.

Agriculture  Mr. Speaker, the agriculture minister is up to his usual bloated announcement tricks and provincial ministers know it. Our party has been demanding that the government address the problem of older animals for livestock producers who have been devastated by the BSE crisis. As well, we have been calling on the government to properly support grain, oilseed and cash crop growers across this country who have had to endure three consecutive crop disasters and depressed commodity prices.

Petitions  Mr. Speaker, I am presenting a petition pursuant to Standing Order 36 from the people of Selkirk--Interlake and some people from Provencher and Brandon--Souris. The petitioners draw to the attention of the House that marriage as defined as the lifelong union between one man and woman is the best foundation for families and the raising of children.

Committees of the House  Mr. Speaker, I want to point out the facts for the parliamentary secretary. The reality is that Mr. Murray had ample time to develop a plan. Proposals for cleaning up the raw sewage problem in the city of Winnipeg were brought forward to him. I understand that the President of the Treasury Board actually spoke to him about the problem and said that he had to fix it but he decided not to.

Committees of the House  Mr. Speaker, I want to follow up on the previous comments I made on the appointment of Mr. Murray to the national round table on the environment and the economy by discussing his history and track record in the city of Winnipeg. As I have already stated, Selkirk—Interlake borders Winnipeg on the north side.

Committees of the House  Mr. Speaker, I want to thank my colleague from Essex for his intervention on this motion brought forward by my colleague from Red Deer. The analogy that he used, saying that the Liberal leopards cannot change their spots on patronage, could also be extended to say that the Liberal Party is suffering from leprosy and they rot from that leprosy in cronyism.

Question No. 84  With regard to the Devil’s Lake diversion in North Dakota, will the government commission a scientific analysis and environmental impact review of the water from Devil’s Lake and the impact it will have on the Hudson’s Bay water basin, including Lake Winnipeg, and the Red River watershed before any water from Devil’s Lake is drained into the Red River, and will the government use this study to determine: ( a ) the water quality and chemical composition in contrast to Lake Winnipeg and the Red River; ( b ) the bacteria levels of Devil’s Lake in contrast to Lake Winnipeg and the Red River; ( c ) the difference in marine species and the ecological impact they will have on Lake Winnipeg and the Red River; ( d ) pH levels of Devil's Lake in contrast to Lake Winnipeg and the Red River; and (e) what risk this drainage project poses to Canadian waters?