Financial System Review Act  Mr. Speaker, that is the question we have been raising with the government. It raised it from $5 billion to $12 billion in the space of a few years without due regard for the consequences, without any examination of what exactly all of this entails and what it means for our financial institutions.

Financial System Review Act  Mr. Speaker, I would like to begin by talking about the farcical process that the Conservatives have set up. After a long wait, they finally introduced this bill a few days ago. After a day and a half of debate, the government says that it does not want to hear anything more from members, it does not want any more discussion, and it is invoking closure.

Financial System Review Act  Mr. Speaker, I need to follow up on the parliamentary secretary's comments. It is absolutely absurd. In this House in the last few weeks we have seen closure moved, in some cases, after 14 minutes of debate. Fourteen minutes of debate and the Conservatives say that it is not in their talking notes, that they got it from the Prime Minister's Office.

Financial System Review Act  Madam Speaker, I thank my hon. colleague for his speech on these issues. He mentioned that the Conservatives are invoking closure on this bill. Yes, they are shutting down debate. It is true that the Conservatives have absolutely nothing to offer and always say the same thing.

National Defence  Mr. Speaker, let us look at the facts. The Pentagon has delayed its purchase of many F-35s. The British plan to cut their order and have cancelled their participation in one version. Turkey has cut its order in half. Australia is reassessing the purchase deadline. Italy is talking about major cutbacks.

Pensions  Mr. Speaker, we are angry that the Conservatives are wasting taxpayers' money. That is why we are angry. Everything is a matter of choices and priorities, and the F-35 is a bad choice. Of course, the other bad choice is the one to reduce Canadians' old age security benefits.

National Defence  Mr. Speaker, the Conservatives have finally hit the panic button on the F-35. Even they can no longer pretend that this $30 billion boondoggle is on track or ignore what the NDP has said in the House for months. The U.S. is confirming it will delay its F-35 order. It is cutting orders and this will increase costs for Canadians yet again.

Pensions  Mr. Speaker, according to the Royal Bank of Canada, Canadians have less and less confidence in the current economy and thus they have less and less confidence in this government's policies. The Conservatives want to hit Canadians where it hurts: old age security. Meanwhile, they are giving away $3 billion in tax gifts—money that could be used to pay old age security benefits to 462,000 seniors.

Pensions  Mr. Speaker, the Parliamentary Budget Officer and the government's own actuarial tables tell him the Conservatives are wrong, that what they need to do is continue to reinforce the pension system, not take it away from Canadians. The Prime Minister made a promise to preserve OAS in 2005.

Business of Supply  Madam Speaker, I asked the same question that I am going to ask the member for Halifax West, of the member for Toronto Centre a few minutes ago who responded with a barrage of personal insults rather than actually dealing with the question, which is really unfortunate. This is a serious subject and I was surprised that the leader of the Liberal Party responded that way.

Business of Supply  Madam Speaker, the reason the member for Toronto Centre could not answer the question that was asked by the member for Vaudreuil-Soulanges is that the answer is “not a single time“. Over 13 years there were thousands of foreign takeovers and not a single time did the Liberal government say it was going to make sure that Canadians' public interest was protected, not a single time.

Business of Supply  Madam Speaker, I very much liked the speech by the hon. member for Beauport—Limoilou. We are talking about massive job losses in the country. Tens of thousands of jobs have been lost, as the hon. member for London—Fanshawe said earlier. Even before these job losses began, this government had already nearly lost 250,000 jobs.

Petitions  Mr. Speaker, I have two petitions to present today. The first petition is from dozens of residents of the Lower Mainland of British Columbia who appreciate all the sacrifices made by the tens of thousands of Canadians and millions of Korean soldiers who served in the Korean conflict under the banner of the United Nations.

Petitions  Madam Speaker, the second petition is calling for the early release of Dr. Wang Bingzhang. As we know, he is a father of the Chinese democracy movement. He was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize. He was arrested and has been serving time in prison. There are reports that he has been tortured.

Railway Noise and Vibration Control Act  moved for leave to introduce Bill C-393, An Act to amend the Canada Transportation Act (railway noise and vibration control). Mr. Speaker, I thank my seconder from Laval—Les Îles who is one of the new bright young lights in the NDP caucus. In many parts of the country, we have rail yards in urban areas where there are excessive, noisy activities in the evening.