Tourism Industry  Mr. Speaker, Canada was recognized as the number one country brand in the world by the Country Brand Index. “Canada: Keep Exploring” is now the most recognized tourism brand. Could the Minister of State for Small Business and Tourism please tell the House how our government's investments in the tourism industry have helped put Canada in the number one spot?

Foreign Affairs  Mr. Speaker, today we heard more praise for Canada's principled foreign policy. Today's Wall Street Journal praises the foreign policy positions taken by our government under the Prime Minister. The Wall Street Journal states that under the leadership of our Prime Minister: Canada has avoided the worst of the global recession and emerged with a vibrant banking system and strong currency (now trading near parity to the U.S. dollar).

Seniors  Madam Speaker, today Canada joins the international community to celebrate the United Nations International Day of Older Persons. October 1 is also the day designated in Bill C-40 to be Canada's National Seniors Day. In my riding of Chatham-Kent--Essex, I have conducted a series of visits to seniors homes, where I converse with seniors in an exercise called “listening to seniors”.

Committees of the House  Mr. Speaker, indeed it is true. The Americans were involved in this type of procedure. I would like to suggest that the culture in America compared to the culture here in Canada is different. I would like to believe that when we engage the Canadian population in this particular endeavour, we will have good results.

Committees of the House  Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank the hon. member for his questions, and yes, we did sit across from each other during the proceedings this summer. I would like to remind the member that the number is increasing. It will increase from two million to 4.5 million. That increase will have a direct effect on the answers we receive.

Committees of the House  Mr. Speaker, I will be sharing my time with the member for Burlington. It is my pleasure to rise today to talk about the recently announced change from a mandatory long-form census questionnaire to the volunteer national household survey. Every five years, Statistics Canada conducts a national census on behalf of the federal government.

The Economy  Mr. Speaker, international leaders are praising Canada's financial system as a model for others to emulate. While we are slowly emerging from the economic recession, the economy remains the number one priority of Canadians and our Conservative government. On the international stage, Canada's economy is envied for its strength during the global economic downturn.

Natural Disasters  Mr. Speaker, in the early morning of Sunday, June 6, a category F2 tornado ripped through the community of Leamington, Ontario, leaving behind structural damage and a cleanup estimated in the millions of dollars. Thankfully, not a single loss of life nor injury was reported. What has transpired in the days following is a community pulling together, neighbours helping neighbours, municipal employees and volunteers working around the clock, churches and organizations preparing meals and places to sleep.

Firearms Registry  Mr. Speaker, this week, the public safety committee will start clause-by-clause consideration of Bill C-391 to scrap the wasteful long gun registry. Front line police officers from across the country, as well as four key provincial attorneys general and justice ministers have all been clear.

The Economy  Mr. Speaker, Canada's economic action plan is at work in communities across Canada with historic infrastructure and lower taxes for Canadian families. With the OECD and the IMF predicting Canada's economic growth will grow and lead G7 nations, and with 285,000 new jobs created since last July, it is clear that our plan is working.

Fairness at the Pumps Act  Mr. Speaker, it is going to sound like we have a lovefest at the industry committee, but I think it is fair to say that we have a great rapport. I have a high regard for the member opposite as well. Again, he makes a great contribution to the industry committee. My answer to the hon. member would be that this specific bill deals with a specific problem.

Fairness at the Pumps Act  Mr. Speaker, I share the member's fondness for the industry committee. We have both done remarkable work and have seen remarkable work done in that committee. I am very glad that he is on that committee. I also give the member credit for his knowledge with respect to gas prices and the industry as a whole.

Fairness at the Pumps Act  Mr. Speaker, I wish to thank the House for giving me this opportunity to voice my support for the fairness at the pumps act, an act that upholds the integrity of many Canadian industries, an act that boosts consumer confidence and promotes competition in the marketplace, and an act that honours the promise my hon. colleagues and I made to Canadians when we formed this government.

Jobs and Economic Growth Act  Mr. Speaker, we certainly had a very interesting speech from the hon. member across the way. He loves to talk about taxes. I have to say that our Conservative government has the record to prove that it does reduce taxes. Since coming to office in 2006, we have cut over 100 taxes.

Jobs and Economic Growth Act  Mr. Speaker, I listened with interest to the hon. member's speech. I think he forgets the circumstances in which we found ourselves in 2008 and the meltdown. The result of that was that the organizations of states got together, recognizing the drastic condition we were in, to implement some measures.