Petitions  Mr. Speaker, I rise to present two petitions. The first petition is from residents within Saanich—Gulf Islands. They call for a national moratorium on fracking. Fracked natural gas presents a much larger greenhouse gas footprint and threatens underground water supplies.

Petitions  Mr. Speaker, the second petition is from many hundreds of Canadians, whose signatures came in the last Parliament. The petitioners call for the government to act to recognize the importance of the Experimental Lakes Area and to ensure funding for it. I hope that will be taken into account by the new government.

The Environment  Mr. Speaker, my question is for the Prime Minister. All of us in the House are proud of the progressive role Canada played in concluding the agreement in Paris last year. The Paris agreement will be open for signing at the United Nations headquarters this spring on Earth Day.

Canada Labour Code  Madam Speaker, it is my first opportunity to get the floor in this debate, but not for lack of trying. I recognize that the hon. member for Edmonton Griesbach is new to this place, but the debates around Bill C-377 were very clear. It was not just union leadership; it was union membership.

Petitions  Mr. Speaker, today I am honoured to present two petitions. The first concerns genetically modified organisms. The petitioners are primarily from Saskatoon. They call upon this House and government to label genetically modified products and those products that contain genetically modified ingredients.

Petitions  Mr. Speaker, the second petition comes primarily from petitioners in my own riding of Saanich—Gulf Islands. The petitioners call upon this House to take action to ban the possession, trade, and sale in shark fins. As members of this House will know, the trade in shark fins poses a monstrous threat to the survival of many shark species in our oceans.

Business of Supply  Mr. Speaker, with respect to the member's point that the Conservative government is above reproach in its position on gender equity, I wonder if she could explain why in the early years of the previous prime minister's mandate the goal of achieving equality for women was removed from the mandate of Status of Women Canada.

Business of Supply  Mr. Speaker, I am delighted to rise for the first time today on the opposition motion, which I support. I thank the member for Nanaimo—Ladysmith for bringing the motion forward. My question for the member for Vancouver Quadra relates to a point made earlier by one of her colleagues, a parliamentary secretary, that the number of women represented in the House of Commons did not reflect the full participation of women in Canadian society.

Petitions  Mr. Speaker, I am honoured to rise today to present two petitions. The first is about protecting the water in the environment in my riding. In particular, this petition from members in my riding speaks to the importance of designating the Saanich Inlet as a designated zone where the discharge of raw sewage is not allowed.

Petitions  Mr. Speaker, the second petition is an issue that came before this House in the last session when the member for New Westminster—Coquitlam made efforts to ban the possession of shark fins or the offer of shark fins for sale. Sharks around the world are extremely endangered. The petitioners would like this House to take action.

Points of Order  Mr. Speaker, this is the first convenient moment to raise a point of order about a disturbing trend. Last night in the votes, I have to say it became intolerable. I refer to our rules, and you will find at page 580 of O'Brien and Bosc the following reminder: From the time the Speaker begins to put the question until the results of the vote are announced, Members are not to enter, leave or cross the House, nor may they make any noise or disturbance.

Petitions  Mr. Speaker, I rise to present two petitions today. The first is from residents throughout the Gulf Islands, from Saltspring, Saturna, Galiano, and Mayne Island, all calling on the House to take action to put forward legislation that would respect the will of Canadians to choose physician-assisted death.

Petitions  Mr. Speaker, the second petition calls for a national AIDS strategy, again from members of my constituency. The petitioners particularly want to recommend to this place the use of a system called treatment as prevention as a very important progressive system to deal with the AIDS crisis.

Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship  Mr. Speaker, I want to begin by commending the hon. Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship for what I think are quite heroic efforts to put in place a system to welcome Syrian refugees. However, that system remains imperfect. At this point, the system is not responsive to specific situations, such as political dissidents within Syria who are personally at risk and who may need fast-tracking to get to safety.

Income Tax Act  Madam Speaker, I wish we could reframe this debate. Starting during the election campaign, both the New Democrats and the Liberals were in a stampede to embrace the middle class. I am hoping this is really coded language for addressing inequity. I hope it is really about the inequality by which the wealthiest 0.002% of Canadians have more wealth than the bottom 34% of Canadians.