Fighting Foreign Corruption Act  Mr. Speaker, to get up after my colleague from Niagara West—Glanbrook is filling big shoes, but it is a pleasure today to speak to Bill S-14. On February 5, the Minister of Foreign Affairs announced our government's efforts in taking further steps to combat corruption and bribery.

Petitions  Mr. Speaker, I have in front of me a petition from a number of my constituents who are asking the government to put a moratorium on GM alfalfa.

Fair Rail Freight Service Act  Mr. Speaker, my colleague from Yellowhead represents a very agricultural riding. I have passed through it, although not often enough. It is a beautiful agricultural part of the country where people use rail to get a lot of their product out. As to his question, at the start of these negotiations it is fair to say that neither side was happy with the proposal.

Fair Rail Freight Service Act  Mr. Speaker, I cannot give him all the answers that he is looking for because I took over my role as chair of the transport, infrastructure and communities committee last September. Since that time, this bill came forth before us earlier this spring. We have been working on it, and I believe it would be the end of April or first part of May when the vote came through the first time at second reading.

Fair Rail Freight Service Act  Mr. Speaker, that is a great question. As for his surmise that New Democrats are more worried about process, he would have to ask them about that. It seems it does not matter what the issue is, New Democrats want us to do something about it, bring in some new rules, et cetera, and when we do, they stand and vote against them.

Fair Rail Freight Service Act  Mr. Speaker, the member mentioned the farmers in his area who, like many across this country, have been waiting a couple of decades. I do not know if that number is accurate, but this government was not here two decades ago. However, I would point out that we are here today. We got the job done on it, and we are here to debate it.

Fair Rail Freight Service Act  Mr. Speaker, I thank the member for his question, for his comments, for his indicated support for this bill and for the fact that he obviously understands this bill. He talked about the service agreements, et cetera. Yes, there were some amendments that were put forth, but his party and all parties in this House were represented on the committee.

Fair Rail Freight Service Act  Mr. Speaker, today I rise to speak in support of Bill C-52, the Fair Rail Freight Service Act. I will focus my remarks on how this bill will contribute to strengthening the shipper-railway relationship as it facilitates the commercial negotiation of service agreements. Canada's freight rail network is a vital link to global markets and supply chains, because it facilitates the import and export of millions of dollars worth of commodities and manufactured goods each and every day.

Technical Tax Amendments Act, 2012  Mr. Speaker, the member for Oshawa is the best member that Oshawa has ever had, and I thank him for the great question. I do not have enough time here today to talk about the amount of taxes or the will to add taxes that the opposition members would like to see. As we all know, the New Democrats have never seen or heard of a tax they would not like to put in, and the Liberals, when they are in, have never seen a tax that they have not put in.

Technical Tax Amendments Act, 2012  Mr. Speaker, the amount of feedback that I talked about in my opening remarks, from representatives of different organizations who certainly support the cuts to business taxes, and the number of net jobs that we have created over recent years, say it all. My hon. colleague can ignore those comments and numbers all he wants, but the reality is that they are out there.

Technical Tax Amendments Act, 2012  Mr. Speaker, I am glad that the member brings up the GST, because it was her former leader who declared back in 1993 that he was going to get rid of the GST, in order to get on the good side of the public, I guess we would say. Of course, we all waited for 10 long years, and that never happened.

Technical Tax Amendments Act, 2012  Mr. Speaker, we all know that many members from across the way, and I am not sure if my colleague who just asked the question was one of them, did ask for favours under this program because it benefited jobs and businesses in their ridings. At the same time, we know that with every program, from time to time there are people who literally lie awake at night trying to figure out ways to abuse a program that is there for good reasons.

Technical Tax Amendments Act, 2012  Mr. Speaker, I am very pleased to participate in this very important discussion today. I want to speak to the matter of taxes generally and why both tax legislation and a well-functioning tax system are so important to Canadians. Well-functioning is key, and I am very happy to hear my colleague across the way say a mere few minutes ago that it is not working the way it is, so I will appreciate her support of the bill when it comes to a vote.

Birthday and Anniversary Congratulations  Mr. Speaker, the old saying goes, “Just like a fine wine, everything gets better with age”. I rise in the House today to recognize a number of very tremendous milestones for some constituents in my riding. I am honoured to extend my best wishes to Thelma Baily and Edna Levett, who will be celebrating their 105th birthdays in the coming month.

Petitions  Mr. Speaker, I have two petitions to present today. The first petition is from a number of residents from across the province of Ontario who call upon the House of Commons to repeal section 58.1 of the Firearms Act, amend section 61.3 of the Firearms Act, and amend the Firearms Act to eliminate the provincial and territorial Chief Firearms Office.