Law Enforcement  Mr. Speaker, I would like to congratulate my friend and neighbour, the member for Yorkton—Melville, on his birthday today. He has been involved with law enforcement issues for a long time. Law enforcement was not an issue in my riding for years but lately towns like Debert and Stewiacke are experiencing enforcement challenges unheard of years ago.

Criminal Code  Mr. Speaker, as luck would have it, I would care to comment on that. I have run into that exact problem, as I am sure the member and other members have. When the RCMP officers are out on maternity leave or sick leave, they are not replaced, so even though everybody thinks there are six officers, there may only be two.

Criminal Code  It is a true story. The question is, who is being served by the Liberals' attitude? Criminals are being served by the Liberals' attitude while the innocent are the victims of the Liberal attitude.

Criminal Code  Mr. Speaker, the member for Fundy Royal and I do have similar type ridings. They are both rural ridings that are very involved with agriculture and dairy farming. In the towns in my riding, most people leave the keys in their cars. They do not even lock their doors, or they did not until recently, but this is now changing.

Criminal Code  Mr. Speaker, it is a pleasure to rise to debate this issue today. It certainly is timely in my case. The distinguished member for St. John's South—Mount Pearl a minute ago referred to the crime situation as a run away rampant situation in cities. I represent an entirely rural riding in Nova Scotia.

Public Service Commission  Mr. Speaker, today the Public Service Commission finally announced policy changes that will mean that all jobs in Ottawa and all jobs across the country will be open to all Canadians no matter what their postal code. I know that sounds good but there is a bad twist to it. The commission has added a new set of criteria that says that the commission is not required to consider more than one person in order for an appointment to be made.

Public Service Commission  Mr. Speaker, that sounds good but this is a government act. This is not the Public Service Commission itself. As an example of what can happen, the President of the Public Service Commission testified this morning that the RCMP commission for public complaints had 40 staffing changes this year and 39 did not comply with the rules.

Public Service  Mr. Speaker, when the Minister of National Defence wants a soldier to go to Afghanistan, he takes all the time in the world to take applications from every province in the country. When the minister has a good safe job in Ottawa, such as the one he is advertising today that requires an expert in seamanship equipment, that safe job is restricted to only those people with postal codes around Ottawa.

Queensway Carleton Hospital  Mr. Speaker, I am encouraged that the parliamentary secretary came to the Nappan Experimental Farm, like the minister did last week. It was very valuable to all of us for him to make that trip. I appreciate the fact that he did that. I also appreciate the parliamentary secretary's opinion a minute ago when he said that they recognized the value of research.

Queensway Carleton Hospital  Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to rise on a follow up question that I raised originally on June 20 after the Department of Agriculture announced it was closing the Nappan Experimental Farm in my riding, along with three other farms across the country. I raised the issue at the time after I made an access to information request to find out the reasoning behind it and what was going on.

Criminal Code  Mr. Speaker, I certainly enjoyed the presentation by the distinguished member. He referred to organized crime. I have a different situation in my riding which I would like him to comment on. He is familiar with the community of Stewiacke in Nova Scotia. Recently there was a meeting of town council and dozens of concerned citizens about the high level of theft, crime and vandalism in the area and the lack of police enforcement.

Question No. 166  With regard to the December 22, 2000 announcement by the Minister of Public Works and Government Services Canada that a new federal multi-tenant government building, to replace the Dominion Building, would be constructed in Charlottetown and ready for occupancy by fall 2005: ( a ) how much did Public Works and Government Services Canada (PWGSC) pay for the lands and building where this proposed building will be constructed; ( b ) what was the name of the company or individual who sold the lands and building to the government; ( c ) what was the original cost for the construction of this new government building, including those estimates which were based on plans that included a parking garage, and the subsequent plan with no parking garage; ( d ) what was the market value of said lands at the time of purchase; ( e ) when the government prepared the land for construction of this new building, what procedures were undertaken to clean and/or remediate the soils found on-site; ( f ) in regards to question (e) were any of the soils found to be contaminated in any way; ( g ) in regards to question (f) if the soils were found to be contaminated in any way, were any of the soils removed or taken off-site for burial, storage or remediation; ( h ) what are the final locations for any contaminated soils taken from this construction site; ( i ) if no removal occurred, were the soils left on-site; ( j ) what reasons or explanations have officials from PWGSC given to the municipal council of Charlottetown in regards to the revision of construction plans not to include a parking garage; ( k ) in regards to question (j), once the new building is complete and ready to accept tenants what is the plan to accommodate those employees who will be driving to work and will need parking; ( l ) what is the new timetable for construction for the new building, based on the difficulties experienced by PWGSC in the tendering and re-tendering process; ( m ) what is the estimate of PWGSC on how many construction workers are to be employed at this construction site and for how long; ( n ) in regards to the tendering and re-tendering processes, what are the names of the companies that submitted a bid for this project; ( o ) in regards to question (n), what were the bid amounts submitted, by company, for this project; ( p ) has the Minister of Public Works and Government Services Canada ever held meetings with the Members of Parliament from Prince Edward Island in regards to the construction of this new government building; and ( q ) in regards to question (p) if meetings were held, what concerns were raised by the Liberal Members of Parliament in regards to this construction project?

An Act to Authorize the Minister of Finance to Make Certain Payments  Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to rise on this question that was raised a few days ago. I raised the question of the closure of the Nappan Experimental Farm and also the farm at Kentville. Based on documents we received through access to information, even the one at Bouctouche is now a potential victim.

Petitions  Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to present a very substantial petition with 2,667 names on it. The signatures were gathered by the Cumberland County Federation of Agriculture in support of keeping the Nappan Experimental Farm open. The petition is signed by 30 MLAs, including Premier Hamm, many MPs, including the Minister of Human Resources and Skills Development, Warden Keith Hunter, and many other concerned people.

Public Service Employment Act  moved for leave to introduce Bill C-417, An Act to amend the Public Service Employment Act and the Public Service Employment Act enacted by section 12 of chapter 22 of the Statutes of Canada, 2003 (area of selection). Mr. Speaker, I want to introduce my private member's bill, which is seconded by the member for Blackstrap.