Marketing Freedom for Grain Farmers Act  Mr. Speaker, this despicable ideological agenda is exactly the point we have been making over the course of the few hours that the government has permitted debate. Somehow it is impossible for anybody to actually talk to a western farmer that supports the Wheat Board. The ideological mindset on the other side of the House is that somehow there has to be some kind of plot, because otherwise no one would support the Wheat Board because the Conservatives do not support it.

Marketing Freedom for Grain Farmers Act  Mr. Speaker, I had understood that a Conservative was going to rise and speak at this point but after hearing the force of the arguments from this side of the House, I guess the Conservatives have decided not to participate in the debate. I think that is very welcome. I heard some of the comments the Conservatives were making earlier.

Copyright Modernization Act  Mr. Speaker, once again, I thank the member for Rimouski-Neigette—Témiscouata—Les Basques, the riding with the longest name in the country, which has elected an excellent member, for his speech. He talked about all the problems this bill raises. We are well aware that even though the Conservatives had several years to do their job, they did not do it well.

Copyright Modernization Act  Mr. Speaker, the member for Esquimalt—Juan de Fuca has been involved in the educational sector for some time. What we have is a badly botched bill from the government, and one of the botched aspects of the bill is the 30 day retroactive book burning of textbooks. How does the member feel his students would react when their textbooks, which they received electronically, are burned retroactively after 30 days?

Research and Development  Mr. Speaker, the Jenkins report released yesterday confirmed that this government's innovation strategy in its research and development support policy is a failure. This government is the worst performer among major industrialized countries as far as direct public investment in research and development is concerned.

Research and Development  Mr. Speaker, on this side of the House, we believe in research and development and sound industrial policy. On that side of the House, the facts speak for themselves. The government has failed on patent development. It has failed on supporting PhDs. It t is pouring billions into blind corporate tax cuts and costly tax credits that have failed to stimulate research and development.

Federal Courts Act  moved for leave to introduce Bill C-323, An Act to amend the Federal Courts Act (international promotion and protection of human rights). Mr. Speaker, I am happy to re-table my bill on corporate responsibility. This was formerly Bill C-354 in the 40th Parliament. The bill is called the international promotion and protection of human rights act.

Canadian Environmental Protection Act  moved for leave to introduce Bill C-289, An Act to amend the Canadian Environmental Protection Act, 1999 (nanotechnology). Mr. Speaker, as we all know, nanotechnology presents real opportunities for innovations across all economic sectors that could bring benefits to Canadians, including better health care, a cleaner environment and safer products.

Research and Development  Mr. Speaker, it would be great if it were true but it simply is not. On this side of the House, we believe in innovation, but let us see the record on the other side. We see that direct public investment in R & D is in last place in the industrialized world. Patent development is second to last.

Research and Development  Mr. Speaker, this government's research and development policy is pathetic, and a recent report has confirmed that. Canada ranks last among industrialized countries in terms of direct funding for research. It ranks second-last in terms of patent development and second-last in terms of the number of PhD graduates.

Steel Industry  Mr. Speaker, there is perhaps no greater evidence of the government's failure on the economy in communities across the country than the silent steel mill of the former Stelco in Hamilton. When the government approved this takeover by U.S. Steel, a promise was made to protect jobs.

Preventing Human Smugglers from Abusing Canada's Immigration System Act  Madam Speaker, I thank the member for Pierrefonds—Dollard for another fine speech in the House. I know that her riding, like mine, is quite diverse. I would like to know what she thinks of the immigration system as it is presently managed by the Conservative government. In my riding, we receive many complaints about the fact that it is a poorly managed system and that it penalizes new Canadians.

Preventing Human Smugglers from Abusing Canada's Immigration System Act  Madam Speaker, I appreciated the speech from my colleague. He did point out the danger inherent in other aspects of how the government approaches the human rights violations that continue to go on in Sri Lanka. What does he think the Canadian government should be doing to stop what are significant systemic and ongoing human rights violations taking place in northern Sri Lanka?

Preventing Human Smugglers from Abusing Canada's Immigration System Act  Madam Speaker, the member knows that the bill does not crack down on human smuggling. The member knows that the Conservative government already has a whole range of measures to crack down on human smuggling. That is not the point or the intent of the bill. Perhaps the member could speak to this when, hopefully, he will rise in the House and defend the bill around the issue of what the Conservative government has not done when it comes to the systematic human rights violations taking place at this very moment in Sri Lanka.

Preventing Human Smugglers from Abusing Canada's Immigration System Act  Madam Speaker, this is where we have hopefully set debate in the House that will allow the government to understand to what extent Canadians are concerned about this. We have seen the Conservative government, systematically over five years, close the door to refugees. This bill seems to close the door even further, and that is a fundamental repudiation of Canadian values.