The Economy  Mr. Speaker, the latest OECD report is damning. The gap between the rich and the poor is growing bigger more quickly here than in other developed countries. The poor are getting poorer and the rich are getting richer. Average families are having more and more difficulty making en

The Economy  Mr. Speaker, sadly the results are in on the Conservatives' so-called plan. They lost 19,000 jobs in the month of November. They lost 72,000 full-time jobs in the month of October. Because of their policies, the gap between rich and other Canadians is growing. The OECD says that

Volunteerism  Mr. Speaker, Cuso International and Volunteer Canada have partnered to launch the first State of the World's Volunteerism Report, launched today at the UN General Assembly and in 70 other countries, coinciding with International Volunteer Day. The report calls for making voluntee

Harmonized Sales Tax  Mr. Speaker, yesterday the Prime Minister sent the premier of B.C. home empty-handed with no agreement to reduce the $1.6 billion payback on the hated HST. That is money that will have to come from health and education B.C. families rely on. There was no recognition of two years

Harmonized Sales Tax  Mr. Speaker, I was in the House on December 9, 2009, when the Prime Minister and the Ottawa Conservatives voted to impose the HST on British Columbians. They are the ones who are responsible. When we talk about B.C. government ministers, they are saying that they could move fas

Questions Passed as Orders for Returns  With regard to public subsidies to federal political parties and political contributions: (a) what was the total value given for calendar year 2010 as a part of the so-called “per vote subsidy” (also sometimes referred to as the "government allowance") to the (i) Conservative Par

Harmonized Sales Tax  Mr. Speaker, B.C. families did not want the Conservative-Liberal harmonized sales tax three years ago, but the Conservative government refused to listen. We rejected the unfair tax again in referendum last summer. The government wants to make B.C. families pay billions in penalti

Harmonized Sales Tax  Mr. Speaker, the sound we are hearing is the Conservatives desperately trying to blame somebody. They have nobody to blame but themselves. The government has already collected two years of HST revenue from B.C. families. The unfair Conservative tax has already cost B.C. families

The Economy  Mr. Speaker, the NDP voted against the government's failures, and there have been many. Unfortunately, under the Conservatives, Canada's trade deficit has increased from $16 billion to $81 billion: fail. Household debt has reached a record high: fail. Last month, 72,000 jobs wer

The Economy  Mr. Speaker, the OECD warns of troubled global financial markets and family debt levels of Canadians are bad news for our economy. It says that the outlook for the Canadian economy has worsened significantly. The OECD predicts growth for next year almost one full percentage point

The Economy  Mr. Speaker, bogus figures do not help. Slumping growth is not the only wake-up call today. Canada has a whopping record deficit in its balance of payment. It is among the worst of all industrialized countries. This is evidence of a failed export strategy. Canadians have alread

The Environment  Mr. Speaker, there is no balance. That is completely irresponsible. The Conservatives want to withdraw Canada from the Kyoto protocol and they will do so only after the summit in Durban. The Minister of the Environment's presence in Durban is a complete charade. He is going there

The Environment  Mr. Speaker, Canadians are flabbergasted to find out the Conservatives want to break our solemn commitment on the Kyoto protocol. Of the 191 countries that signed and ratified the Kyoto protocol agreement, Canada is the only country repudiating it. Canada's obligations under thi

The Environment  Mr. Speaker, the Conservatives set weak insipid targets and they did not even meet their own targets. They did not get the job done. Canada signed a legally binding international agreement. Instead of even trying to honour our word, Conservatives choose to abandon the Kyoto prot

Grey Cup  Mr. Speaker, it was a sea of orange in BC Place stadium yesterday as a sellout crowd saw the BC Lions win their sixth Grey Cup 34-23 at the 99th Grey Cup in Vancouver. The Winnipeg Blue Bombers played well, but the BC Lions were simply a better team yesterday. They were led by q