Foreign Affairs  Mr. Speaker, we were all moved enormously and inspired by the words of Malala Yousafzai in this place just hours ago. In her words, will the Prime Minister make girls' education the central theme of his upcoming G7 presidency? Will he use the influence of Canada to help fill the global education funding gap?

Committees of the House  Mr. Speaker, this debate actually gives us an opportunity to discuss in a reasonable way, and in low decibels, what we want for our children. I really think this is a good opportunity, so I am going to be very personal in sharing that it is important that we, as members of Parliament, recognize that one size does not fit all.

Yukon Environmental and Socio-economic Assessment Act  Mr. Speaker, I want to start by accepting the gracious apology from my friend from Dauphin—Swan River—Neepawa and move to some of the topics that were a focus of his speech. The member suggested that Bill C-38, the omnibus budget bill of spring 2012, merely amended the Canadian Environmental Assessment Act.

Yukon Environmental and Socio-economic Assessment Act  Mr. Speaker, with all due respect, I asked the hon. member, on a point of order that was reasonable, what was the relevance. His response, which is an attack on something that is most outrageous, was the assumption that I did not understand numbers and that I was harried. I am sorry, I want to hear speeches that are relevant to the subject we are debating today, and to attack me personally is completely unacceptable.

Yukon Environmental and Socio-economic Assessment Act  Mr. Speaker. I rise on a point of order. I have been wrestling with myself on this point of order, but now that there are just five minutes remaining I wonder if the member plans to address the bill we are debating today, Bill C-17, the Yukon environmental and socio-economic assessment act.

Yukon Environmental and Socio-economic Assessment Act  Mr. Speaker, my friend from Yukon arrived in Ottawa on the same flight with me, but I did not have to start in Yukon, getting in at 2:45 in the morning. Yes, we touched down. I just want to say that I do not know why he feels that this is less important for all Canadians. I appreciate that it is only within the riding he represents, the riding of Yukon, but this was an egregious thing that happened, Bill S-6, for the Champagne and Aishihik First Nations, for the Teslin Tlingit First Nation, and for the Little Salmon Carmacks First Nation.

Petitions  Mr. Speaker, I rise in the House today to present three petitions. The first petition is from residents primarily of the Niagara Falls area. The petitioners are calling on the House to take action to ban all flavours from being added to cigarette products. We have discussed this for many years in this place.

Petitions  The second petition is from residents of my constituency, including Pender Island, Mayne Island, Salt Spring Island, throughout the Gulf Islands. The petitioners are calling on the government to ban the transport of shark fin products. Shark finning is banned within Canadian waters, but the importation of these products continues to contribute to the extinction of sharks globally.

Petitions  Mr. Speaker, the last petition I wish to present is signed by many residents throughout the Victoria area and Saanich—Gulf Islands, as well as a number of residents from Quebec. The petitioners are calling on the government to label products if they contain genetically modified organisms.

Yukon Environmental and Socio-economic Assessment Act  Mr. Speaker, this is not so much a question as a thanks. It was very distressing to see Bill S-6 pushed through the House. I am glad that the original process is back in place, respecting the long-standing treaty negotiations with indigenous peoples in the territories.

The Environment  Mr. Speaker, since Bill C-38 in 2012, we have been labouring under a broken environmental assessment process. Today we have a landmark report from the expert panel on EA, headed by our former commissioner for the environment. It makes a bold recommendation: get rid of the NEB's Environmental Assessment Agency, have a single authority, give it quasi-judicial powers.

Points of Order  Mr. Speaker, I rise on a point of order. As we know, we are debating in this place changing the Standing Orders, but I would like to refer, for my point of order, to our existing rules, Standing Orders 16(2) and 18. The combined effect of these two Standing Orders is that interrupting members or speaking disrespectfully of them violates the rules of this place.

The Budget  Mr. Speaker, I am going to pick up on a point made by my friend from Courtenay—Alberni. I am not out of sympathy with the efforts of the government to emphasize affordable housing. It is really nice, after 10 years of the previous government, to have a government that understands affordable housing.

The Budget  Madam Speaker, in going through the budget, it is exciting to read big numbers, like $11 billion for housing over the next 11 years, but when I break down page 151 of the budget, in all categories of housing cumulatively, we do not get to more than $300 million before the next election.

Petitions  Mr. Speaker, the second petition is from residents more broadly of Vancouver Island who are proposing a very, I think, significant and innovative approach to protecting our green infrastructure, that is the naturally occurring watersheds that protect drinking water. They acknowledge that the E&N; land grants put under federal control land throughout Vancouver Island that could be converted to community ownership of these watersheds.