Business of Supply  Mr. Speaker, I would disagree with what the member said. Liberals, and this government in particular, recognize the fact that there is a balance. Nothing was more telling than the debate we had yesterday on the bill that came back from the Senate, when the Conservatives talked only about the economy as if that were the only thing that mattered.

Business of Supply  Mr. Speaker, it is an honour to rise today to speak to this opposition motion presented by the hon. member for Carleton and to provide some insight and my perspective on it. I will start by saying that, as usual, I am perplexed by the fact that the Conservatives somehow have this moral high ground to stand on to judge this side of the House when it comes to fiscal responsibility.

Business of Supply  Mr. Speaker, I find it very perplexing to hear the Conservatives lecture this side of the House on fiscal responsibility and, in particular, balancing budgets when, in reality, 16 of the last 19 budgets introduced into this House by Conservative governments ran deficits. Of the three that ran surpluses, two of them came on the heels of Paul Martin's $13-billion surplus.

Business of Supply  Madam Speaker, it is very fascinating to be in this room today, listening to the Conservatives lecture us about fiscal responsibility. In reality, out of the last 19 budgets the Conservatives introduced into the House, 16 of them ran deficits. Now we are also hearing from the NDP about balancing budgets and ensuring we are fiscally responsible.

Business of Supply  Dark days.

Federal Sustainable Development Act  Madam Speaker, I think we are starting to see where the Conservatives are going to be posturing themselves with rhetoric as we head into the next election. That is fair enough. They have a good reputation for talking about things that are full of fecal matter. Therefore, this is right up their alley.

Federal Sustainable Development Act  Madam Speaker, we have had the opportunity this morning and this afternoon to listen to interventions from both the Conservative Party and the New Democrats on this particular piece of legislation as it relates to sustainability. We witnessed that the Conservatives talk only about the economy.

Federal Sustainable Development Act  Madam Speaker, on my 400th intervention in this Parliament, I just want to say how much of an honour it is to rise in this new place that we will call home for the next 10 years. I had the opportunity to listen to this member from the beginning of his speech. He started it off quite a while ago by talking about failures and the failures of this government, but by his measure, when we look at this, we see that Canada now leads the G7 in terms of economic growth.

Customs Act  Mr. Speaker, my colleague talked about the inability to get into a full debate on this particular topic. At the same time, he talked about how this particular legislation was introduced by the previous government, so he obviously knows a lot about it. This bill has been debated in this chamber already.

Customs Act  Mr. Speaker, I am sure it will come as no surprise that I agree with the member for Winnipeg North. Yes, that is exactly what is happening here. This is why the debate is derailing into a debate about time allocation. It seems the only thing the Conservatives can really say is, “Give us more time to talk.

Customs Act  Mr. Speaker, I thank the member very much for his congratulatory remarks. I will be sure to use them in my upcoming householder. It is great to see Conservatives offering congratulatory remarks to this side of the House. My point is not that the opposition should never talk. Obviously, one of the best tools the opposition has is the ability to delay process.

Customs Act  Mr. Speaker, I will answer the last part of that first. What we get in return is our ability to make sure we are proactively taking care of our borders and can monitor people as they are leaving 72 hours in advance so we can properly respond to any particular threats. This is something I would assume the member of the Conservative Party would understand wholeheartedly and agree with, given the member's position on law and order.

Customs Act  Madam Speaker, it is an honour to rise today to speak to this important bill. Before I do that, given this is probably the last time I will get to rise in this chamber before we recess and move to West Block, I would like to take the opportunity to say what an honour and a privilege it has been for me to come here and represent the people of Kingston and the Islands and to be their voice in this place.

Customs Act  Madam Speaker, if I understand correctly, and perhaps the member could clarify this, the Conservatives are supportive of this piece of proposed legislation, they think it is a long time coming, and they plan to vote in favour of it, yet they are overly concerned about not having enough time to speak to it.

Chief of Police  Mr. Speaker, I stand today to recognize Antje McNeely, an outstanding individual in my riding of Kingston and the Islands. History was made on Friday when she was sworn in as Kingston's 17th and first female chief of police. When Chief McNeely started her career in 1985, she was just one of four women on the Kingston Police force.