Questions Passed as Orders for Returns  With regard to contracts under $10 000 granted by Natural Resources Canada since February 5, 2015: what are the (a) vendors' names; (b) contracts' reference numbers; (c) dates of the contracts; (d) descriptions of the services provided; (e) delivery dates; (f) original contracts' values; and (g) final contracts' values, if different from the original contracts' values?

Questions Passed as Orders for Returns  With regard to contracts under $10 000 granted by Canadian Heritage since January 30, 2015: what are the (a) vendors' names; (b) contracts' reference numbers; (c) dates of the contracts; (d) descriptions of the services provided; (e) delivery dates; (f) original contracts' values; and (g) final contracts' values, if different from the original contracts' values?

Public Safety  Mr. Speaker, the minister is doing his level best to avoid the question. To sum up, in 2012, the office of the Minister of Public Safety, with the approval of the Prime Minister's Office and in violation of the Access to Information Act, put pressure on the RCMP to destroy the data from the gun registry as quickly as possible.

Infrastructure  Mr. Speaker, the Minister of Canadian Heritage has botched the preparations for the 150th anniversary of Confederation. We have been calling for plans for these celebrations for over a year now. Instead, the Conservatives have come up with a preposterous infrastructure program, leaving just a few weeks for submitting proposals, and excluding lots of players, including the municipalities of Quebec.

Main Estimates 2015-16  Mr. Speaker, I do not believe that accusing one's colleagues in the House of cowardice is parliamentary.

Main Estimates 2015-16  Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague for finally uttering the word “referendum”. We wondered whether our NDP colleagues got a memo asking them not to use that word. Maybe she got the memo and forgot. Indeed, if people vote for the NDP, there will be a referendum. Thank you very much for saying so.

Main Estimates 2015-16  Mr. Speaker, I appreciate my colleague’s comments. However, if I have understood correctly, she wants to reform the Constitution, but she does not want to hold a referendum. Is that her position? To abolish the Senate, the Constitution must be amended, and in order to amend the Constitution, it seems to me that a referendum must be held.

Main Estimates 2015-16  Mr. Speaker, it would help the debate if our NDP colleagues would stop interrupting the debate with points of order that are irrelevant. If it is relevant to question the Duffy scandal, it is certainly relevant to question the NDP scandal.

Main Estimates 2015-16  Mr. Speaker, as a representative of what my colleague just called the old tired Liberal Party, I want to gently say for my colleague that the Senate will not be abolished because there is no unanimity in the country to abolish it. Since my colleague knows that we need to improve what he called “this disgraceful institution”, does he agree that we need to do two things.

MAIN ESTIMATES 2015-16  Mr. Speaker, I prefer to debate the NDP proposal with the NDP. However, since my colleague has invited me to debate the Liberal proposal with him, I think he does not have the right information. In our proposal, the prime minister would still be accountable for his or her choice, but through a process that would inform the prime minister in order to have candidates who would be highly recommended.

MAIN ESTIMATES 2015-16  Mr. Speaker, I will be very pleased to discuss this with my colleague during the election campaign. Is it really a public priority to nostalgically return to the time of the Charlottetown accord, as my colleague mentioned? Members need to understand that Canadians have no interest in reopening the Constitution just to deal with the Senate.

MAIN ESTIMATES 2015-16  Mr. Speaker, that is a different and complicated topic. It is about party discipline and what kind of party discipline each caucus decides to have within its own rules. In the Liberal Party, it is very clear. We have party discipline for everything that is linked to the basic philosophy of our party, including the Charter of Rights and Freedoms, and everything that is linked to budget issues and to the commitments we have made in our party platform.

MAIN ESTIMATES 2015-16  Mr. Speaker, every time there is a vacancy in the Senate, the next senator will be chosen according to this non-partisan procedure, which will ensure that senators are more independent and better qualified. From what I understand, the Prime Minister has no desire to appoint any more senators, so the next government will have a lot of appointments to make.

MAIN ESTIMATES 2015-16  Mr. Speaker, I apologize. The Liberal plan to reform the Senate will give us an upper chamber that will be a source of pride and confidence among Canadians—truly a chamber of sober second thought. The time has come for bold actions. The time has come for an effective, non-partisan Senate.

MAIN ESTIMATES 2015-16  Mr. Speaker, my colleague asked a very valid question. I wish he would have asked the question of his Prime Minister when he wanted to elect the Senate without addressing this difficulty. An elected Senate would be more powerful than the Senate of today. The under-representation of Alberta and British Columbia would be completely unacceptable with an elected Senate.