Foreign Affairs  Mr. Speaker, the Liberal government has taken Canada out of the fight against ISIS. It has eliminated the office of religious freedom. Now we learn that Canada's peacekeeping efforts are at an all-time low. We know that in Iraq today, Christians are still being killed simply for their belief.

Transportation Modernization Act  Madam Speaker, I would encourage my colleague to remember that while he does not call this omnibus legislation, it is a bit of verbal engineering to try to stay away from that. Another thing that the member mentioned in his comments was YKF, the airport in the greatest riding in all of Canada, Kitchener—Conestoga.

Transportation Modernization Act  Mr. Speaker, while you may not want my colleague to sit down, many on this side are very happy to have him sit down. One of the campaign promises that the Liberals made was to champion the so-called passenger bill of rights for air travel. There is some movement in that direction with this bill, but it is clear that they are short on details in the legislation as it relates to preserving the rights of air passengers.

Canadian Heritage  Madam Speaker, yesterday, the heritage minister tried to blame our previous Conservative government for lack of winter maintenance at the National Holocaust Monument. That is complete nonsense. If the Liberals want it open year-round, they could do it. This is the same Liberal government that neglected to mention the Jewish people on the dedication plaque.

Business of Supply  Mr. Speaker, I too have a lot of respect for my colleague and thank him for his intervention, even though it was way off topic. My colleague accused Conservatives of focusing on tiny things. Let me remind my colleague, and indeed all Canadians, that the finance minister is responsible for our pension laws, he controls $300 billion of taxes and spending for our country, his department is in charge of billions of dollars in government bonds, he holds all of the government's shares in the Bank of Canada, and he is responsible for CMHC's hundreds of billions of dollars of mortgage insurance.

Business of Supply  Mr. Speaker, I am not sure if my colleague has failed to read the motion that we are discussing today, but he is not talking about this motion at all. The motion clearly outlines the concerns that we have relating to the ethical standards that the finance minister is or is not operating by.

Business of Supply  Mr. Speaker, my Liberal colleague from Winnipeg Centre recently commented that we should give the Ethics Commissioner time to sort this all out. The facts are that the government has been in power for two years. The act and the code are very clear as to what is expected of members of Parliament and cabinet ministers.

Business of Supply  Madam Speaker, I wish I could share my colleague's optimism about his government's support for the softwood lumber industry. Does he really believe that his government is making the softwood lumber industry a priority when it was not even mentioned in the ministers' mandate letters?

Humanitarian Assistance  Mr. Speaker, two days ago, I returned from Serbia and Hungary after productive meetings with a number of their members of parliament. Travelling on Thanksgiving weekend, the autumn colours there reminded me of home. Later in the week, as part of an international consultation on Christian persecution, I visited “Cross-in-Fire”, an exhibit at the Hungarian National Museum.

Taxation  Madam Speaker, last week I heard from Mike, chairman of Tri-Mach manufacturing in Elmira. Mike employs 150 Canadians and had purchased more land with plans to expand his company and add another 100 employees, but these proposed Liberal tax changes have halted all of his plans. In fact, Mike is now planning on selling the land and downsizing his operation.

Armenia  Mr. Speaker, my Armenian friends here in Canada joined with the Armenian diaspora around the world yesterday, September 21, to celebrate Armenian Independence Day. Over the past 11 years, I have had the honour of serving as vice-chair and chair of the Canada-Armenia Parliamentary Friendship Group.

Mental Health  Mr. Speaker, over the past 11 years I have spent much of my time focusing on the issues of mental health and suicide prevention. Motion No. 388, targeting online predators, passed unanimously in November of 2009, and Bill C-300, calling for a federal framework for suicide prevention, received royal assent on December 14, 2012.

Customs Act  Mr. Speaker, before I ask my question to my hon. colleague, I would like to say on behalf of my colleagues and the constituents of Kitchener—Conestoga that we extend our sympathies and condolences to the Chang family, and also to my colleagues on the other side of the House. We certainly share in their grief as we journey through this difficult valley.

Amendments to Standing Orders  Mr. Speaker, I just want to pick up on this point of parliamentary secretaries sitting on committees as ex officio members. Certainly during our time in government, the parliamentary secretary was there, part of the committee, quarterbacking the work that needed to be done. We know this idea of not having them there officially was tried in 1986 but scrapped in 1991.

Criminal Code  Mr. Speaker, I know that my colleague ran out of time to talk about some of the issues relating to the removal of the protection for clergy and faith groups who join for worship, funerals, or those sorts of ceremonial activities. Could my colleague comment on the wisdom of removing that section from the Criminal Code?