Young People Affected by Huntington's Disease  Mr. Speaker, I rise today to congratulate Catherine Price from Fortune in my riding of Random—Burin—St. George's. When Catherine was 10 years old, her grandmother passed away after a long battle with Huntington's disease, a neurodegenerative genetic disorder. Ten years later, a student at Memorial University, she actively fundraises and promotes awareness of the disease as a member of the organization, Young People Affected by Huntington's Disease.

Finance  Mr. Speaker, the Minister of Finance misled the House when he said that budget cuts will only affect “back-office operations” of the federal government. The Parliamentary Budget Officer exposed this Conservative conceit. The Conservatives have cut search and rescue, food safety and pensions.

Infrastructure  Mr. Speaker, while the Minister of Finance is warning Canadians his next budget will be yet another disappointment, the Federation of Canadian Municipalities, the Canadian Chamber of Commerce and the Canada West Foundation are calling for a new long-term infrastructure funding deal.

Business of Supply  Mr. Speaker, when a government brings down a budget, we know that it involves a great deal of expenditures on behalf of the Canadian taxpayer. If we do not have the Parliamentary Budget Officer in place, who is going to provide the oversight? Who is going to be there to answer the questions that parliamentarians and Canadians may have about the budget?

Business of Supply  Mr. Speaker, I applaud the motion from the NDP. However, I find it ironic when questions come up about why we did not introduce a similar position. The fact is that there were other ways and other motions put forward that dealt with accountability in the House of Commons, in the Parliament of Canada.

Business of Supply  Mr. Speaker, the reality is that we always support accountability and we supported accountability in the aspect of the financial act. When we have a parliamentary budget officer who is being denigrated and publicly abused, who has been said to be doing things other than which his mandate includes, then how can one possibly say that the office is working as it is meant to work?

Business of Supply  Mr. Speaker, it is a pleasure to speak today in support of the opposition day motion, which states: That this House: (a) reaffirm the essential role of the Parliamentary Budget Officer in providing independent analysis to Parliamentarians on the state of the nation's finances, trends in the Canadian economy, and the estimates process; and (b) call on the government to: (i) extend the mandate of current Parliamentary Budget Officer Kevin Page until his replacement is named; and (ii) support legislation to make the Parliamentary Budget Officer a full, independent officer of Parliament.

Veterans Affairs  Mr. Speaker, a funeral can cost as much as $13,000, yet Veterans Affairs provides only $3,600 through the Last Post Fund to bury low-income soldiers if they meet the outdated eligibility requirements. In the last six years, over 66% of applications to the fund were rejected, which meant over 20,000 veterans did not even qualify.

Faster Removal of Foreign Criminals Act  Mr. Speaker, the Liberals agree to apply and will vote yes.

Faster Removal of Foreign Criminals Act  Mr. Speaker, the Liberals agree to apply and will vote yes.

Faster Removal of Foreign Criminals Act  Mr. Speaker, the Liberals agree and will vote yes.

Faster Removal of Foreign Criminals Act  Mr. Speaker, the Liberals agree and will be voting yes.

Faster Removal of Foreign Criminals Act  Mr. Speaker, the Liberals agree to apply and will vote yes.

Search and Rescue  Mr. Speaker, experts warned that closure of the maritime rescue sub-centre in St. John's would result in a critical loss of local knowledge and put lives at risk. A call to the search and rescue centre in Halifax today about a hunter missing on the Port au Port Peninsula was recorded as a hunter missing off the Port-au-Prince peninsula.

Questions Passed as Orders for Returns  With regards to the fishery: (a) have any species of fish been placed on moratorium since 1992 and, if so, (i) what species, (ii) when was the moratorium placed for each of these species, (iii) what was the rationale behind each of these moratoriums; (b) are there any plans to change the regulations regarding by catch and discards, (i) have any reviews or studies been conducted concerning this issue and, if so, (ii) what are the names of these reviews or studies, (iii) when did these reviews or studies take place, (iv) what are the file numbers of these reviews or studies; (c) are there any plans to ensure that healthy biomass levels of the various species being harvested by fishers are maintained, (i) how many total Department of Fisheries and Oceans (DFO) employees monitored the health of commercial species in each calendar year from 2000 until 2012, (ii) what process does DFO use to consult fishers when determining quotas for each species, (iii) are there any plans to ensure that adequate scientific work will be carried out annually to ensure that all factors are responsibly addressed when quotas are being set; (d) are there any plans to change the regulations regarding the distribution of the uncaught cod quota and, if so, (i) are there any plans to allow fish processing companies to acquire any uncaught cod quota, (ii) what is the rationale behind these plans, (iii) are there any safeguards in place to ensure that the processors offer competitive prices to independent fishers, (iv) are there any plans to put in place safeguards to ensure that the processors offer competitive prices to independent fishers; (e) what are the quotas or regulations concerning the by catch of scallops that are allowed to fishers in Newfoundland and Labrador, broken down by region, (i) what is the rationale behind these quotas or regulations; (f) what are the regulations regarding the areas which fishers are allowed to fish scallops and what is the rationale behind these regulations; (g) have any private companies been granted exclusive rights to scallops in certain areas and, if so, what is the rationale behind the granting of these exclusive rights; (h) what are the quotas or regulations concerning the by catch of halibut that is allowed to fishers in Newfoundland and Labrador and what is the rationale behind these quotas or regulations; (i) what are the quotas or regulations concerning the by catch of halibut that is allowed to fishers in Saint-Pierre and Miquelon and what is the rationale behind these quotas or regulations; (j) what are the regulations regarding the amount of species that are allowed to be fished by a fisher at a time, (i) what species are not allowed to be fished, (ii) what species are subject to regulations which limit the amount of by catch that a fisher can acquire; (k) have any reviews or studies been conducted concerning the overfishing of certain species and, if so, (i) what are the names of these reviews or studies, (ii) when did these reviews or studies take place, (iii) what are the file numbers of these reviews or studies; (l) are there any plans to change the regulations concerning the fishing of a directed species and has DFO considered multi-species fishing?