Government Priorities  Mr. Speaker, the Conservatives are shifting their responsibility for health care, prisons and old age security onto the provinces. That means higher costs and fewer services for Canadian families. A budget is about making choices. The NDP wants seniors to live in dignity. The Conservatives want to cut old age security benefits.

Government Priorities  Mr. Speaker, what he is not saying is that those are under old agreements and that since May 2 the Conservatives have been working to push those transfers down. The reality is, Conservatives promised they would not attack retirement security and they are breaking their promise.

Broadcasting Industry  Mr. Speaker, today we learned that BCE intends to purchase the independent Quebec firm Astral Media. This is Canada's largest specialty TV broadcaster and has a large radio portfolio. This purchase is a perfect example of the increasing concentration we are seeing in the Canadian media.

Broadcasting Industry  Mr. Speaker, there will be less competition and higher prices with Bell taking over Astral. There is also the issue of local content. People in the regions no longer have news about their area. All decisions are made in Montreal and Toronto. This concentration of the media deals another blow to local content.

Toxic Substances Labelling Act  moved for leave to introduce Bill C-408, An Act to ensure that warning labels are affixed to products containing toxic substances. Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank the member for Jeanne-Le Ber for seconding this bill. The act, in ensuring that warning labels are affixed to products containing toxic substances, ensures that when Canadian families are buying products containing toxic substances they know what kinds of toxic substances are in those products.

Employment  Mr. Speaker, on foreign investment and in so many other ways we just cannot trust the government. For instance, 3,000 families lost a breadwinner last month, 15% of young Canadians are now unemployed, nearly 40,000 Canadians gave up looking for work last month, and it has been 10 days since the Minister of Finance stood up to answer a question in the House of Commons.

Safe Streets and Communities Act  From Panama.

Committees of the House  Mr. Speaker, I enjoyed the presentation by the member for Dartmouth—Cole Harbour on the economic failures of the government, which are many. I know that he could not in 10 minutes fully spell out all of the failures we have seen: the job losses, including the manufacturing job losses.

Committees of the House  Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank the member for LaSalle—Émard. She has a strong presence in the House of Commons when she talks about resources and development and how important it is for Canada to invest in tomorrow's economy. As we all know, the truth is that we are at the bottom of the list of industrialized countries when it comes to public investment in research and development.

Committees of the House  Mr. Speaker, the member for Western Arctic is from a resource region but he is always very conscious of the importance of ensuring that we are creating good quality jobs in Canada. The reality is that we are seeing an erosion of those fundamental Canadian values of putting in place an economy that works for everyone, that builds on those strong communities and where we are not exporting raw bitumen and raw logs.

Committees of the House  Mr. Speaker, I move that the fifth report of the Standing Committee on Finance, presented to the House on Wednesday, December 14, 2011, be concurred in. I will be splitting my time with the fine, eloquent hon. member of Parliament for Dartmouth—Cole Harbour. We have heard over the last few months how the Conservatives have characterized their government.

Finance  Mr. Speaker, a budget is all about choices. For the NDP, the choice is clear: we must choose to help families. The Conservatives would rather deceive families by hiding their intentions. As the Premier of Ontario said, they are playing a shell game with taxpayers' money and making the provinces shoulder the burden of the federal deficit.

Finance  That was a nice try by the minister, Mr. Speaker. The government was forced to do that with agreements with the previous government. Since May 2, the government has been making reckless cuts. The plans include cutting $33 million from food inspectors, $29 million from transportation safety, a 43% cut to the Environmental Assessment Agency.

Finance  Mr. Speaker, there is nothing responsible whatsoever about balancing the books on the backs of the provinces. The Conservatives' costly prison bill will cost the people of Ontario an extra $1 billion. That is more money for prisons, less resources for health care and services that families need.

Finance  Mr. Speaker, this government is making very bad decisions. Yesterday, the Quebec premier said that this government is making unilateral decisions on an unprecedented scale and without consultation. The prison bill will cost Quebec taxpayers $600 million. The Conservatives want to download irresponsible expenditures onto the provinces.