National Defence Act  Mr. Speaker, during his remarks, the member made a comment, which many members on the other side of the House have been making, about why it had taken so long to get this legislation to the House. I would argue that it is exactly because of the reason why we seem to be stalled on it right now.

National Defence Act  Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague for speaking so eloquently on this legislation, as so many of his other colleagues have done for 20 minutes each in the last several hours. I would note, although I find it very interesting, that this legislation was brought before the House by the former Conservative government five days before the House rose in 2015, and essentially would lead to the dissolving of Parliament.

National Defence Act  Mr. Speaker, the member started off answering the last question talking about veering off, and all he did was veer off from answering the question that he was asked. We have been talking about this a lot. This came up a few years ago, and it was talked about a lot then. Now is the time to move this on to committee so that it can be properly studied there.

National Defence Act  Mr. Speaker, I look forward to voting in favour of this bill with the member for Barrie—Innisfil. My question is more specifically about when we might have the opportunity to do that. The Liberal Party has stopped putting up members to speak to this, because we feel that it is ready to go to committee for the fulsome discussion it deserves at committee before coming back to the House.

National Defence Act  Mr. Speaker, my colleague is absolutely right that this has been a long time in the making and has taken quite a while to get us to where we are today. If credit is due, then I would congratulate the former Conservative government for getting this to the point where at least it can be picked up and continued.

Business of Supply  Mr. Speaker, in some of my interventions today, I shared my dismay that we are not debating policy here, that we are not actually debating what we could be doing differently and setting the policy that directs this in a way that would prevent something like this from happening in the future.

Business of Supply  Mr. Speaker, I have a lot of respect for my colleague. We sit on the defence committee together. From time to time, we actually see eye to eye. However, I regret that this is not one of those issues. The reality of the situation is that the member has been trying to characterize the former Conservative government as a friend of veterans, when in reality, that was not the case.

Business of Supply  Mr. Speaker, I want to focus on the last sentence of the member's presentation, where he said, “Stand up for veterans.” I am curious how he can say something like that, when over 10 years all the Conservative government did was strip away benefits and services from veterans. The Conservatives killed the lifetime pensions for veterans, closed nine offices, fired 900 employees from Veterans Affairs and had to have the courts order them to pay veterans the money they were owed.

Business of Supply  Mr. Speaker, no, I will not admit to that. The member can cherry-pick his numbers and cherry-pick two or three different cities, but the reality is that if we look at the averages, the average under the Conservatives was 40:1. Our goal is 25:1, and we are currently at 33:1. I know if we cherry-pick certain areas, we can have numbers that make the debate sound great in this place, but if we look at the averages, they are exactly what I presented.

Business of Supply  Mr. Speaker, as I indicated earlier, I would suggest that this place is for policy. What we debate in here is policy and how we shape policy so it can properly impact those who are receiving benefits in this case. If one wants to have a discussion about what in the policy triggers someone not getting benefits, let us have that discussion.

Business of Supply  Mr. Speaker, the reality of the situation is that it was the veterans charter in 2006, which the Conservative government brought in, that extended benefits to the families of veterans. It had not been changed since 2011. However, it was the extension of those benefits that actually enabled what happened and what the Conservatives are talking about in this motion.

Business of Supply  Mr. Speaker, it is an honour to rise today in the House to talk about this very important topic. I want to start my remarks by expressing my sympathy for Constable Catherine Campbell. This was a heinous tragedy and a crime that was committed on her. It is fair to say that the nation feels for her family and what they have had to endure since her tragic death.

International Day of Sign Languages  Mr. Speaker, I am thankful for the opportunity to rise in the House today to recognize language diversity. It is time to re-evaluate how we define and practise communication in our communities. Yesterday was our country's very first International Day of Sign Languages. I am honoured to welcome to the Hill today my constituent, Jessica Sergeant, who is a great advocate for the deaf community.

Firearms Act  Mr. Speaker, during this debate and the last time it was before the House, we repeatedly heard the arguments why decisions on the regulation and classification of firearms should be taken out of the hands of politicians and put into the hands of the experts and those who understand firearms and what they are capable of.

Accessible Canada Act  Madam Speaker, I want to thank the minister for telling her personal story about this at the beginning of her speech. It is incredibly important to connect with these stories to understand why this piece of legislation is so important. When I was on municipal council in Kingston, by accident I was appointed to sit as the chair of the municipal accessibility advisory committee.