Air Canada Public Participation Act  Madam Speaker, I appreciate the opportunity to now give a speech on this debate, having participated throughout the day in questions and comments. I want to share that the reason I have been involved in the debate, the reason I am giving this speech, is that this was actually an issue that a constituent brought to me in my office a number of months ago.

Air Canada Public Participation Act  Madam Speaker, my colleague, the member for Elmwood—Transcona earlier referred to Liberal tautologies, such as “a deal is a deal” and “the law is the law”. I thought maybe he should have added “a proof is a proof is a proof”, because we clearly have proof here that there were clear rules in place and that those rules were not followed, and now the government is trying to change the law to allow for not following the law and not respecting taxpayers in this context.

Air Canada Public Participation Act  Mr. Speaker, I want to note that there are many other things the government could be doing that would improve the competitiveness of Air Canada that do not negatively impact workers. For instance, they could raise the foreign ownership threshold. They could work to streamline processes in terms of customs.

Air Canada Public Participation Act  Mr. Speaker, I congratulate my colleague on his speech. I worry that I am agreeing with New Democrats a little too much today. He is absolutely right to highlight the strangeness of the government's arguments. We have these repeated kind of wink-wink, nudge-nudge references to Bombardier, yet there is no reference to Bombardier in the legislation.

Air Canada Public Participation Act  Mr. Speaker, I am a bit incredulous about the arguments the government is making, especially as it respects the C Series. Many of the speeches and comments made by the government allude to those jobs associated with the C Series, but Bombardier is a separate company. The government will not be clear about the connection between the Air Canada Public Participation Act and the investments being made by Bombardier.

Instruction to Committee on Bill C-2  Mr. Speaker, I thank the member, particularly for his comments about tax-free savings accounts, which is something very important to many families and individuals in my constituency. I want to underline a fact that seems to have been missed by the other parties in the House, which is that more than half of those who max out their tax-free savings account make less than $60,000.

Foreign Affairs  Mr. Speaker, here is what Katrina Lantos Swett with the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom had to say about the Liberal decision to kill the office of religious freedom, “The world is kind of on fire, as it relates to religious freedom. So the timing...couldn't be much worse.”

Air Canada Public Participation Act  Madam Speaker, I thank the member for her speech. She said a number of things that might seem curious insofar as the bill does not mention Bombardier at all. I wonder if the member could just clarify. Was the decision to introduce this bill influenced by Air Canada's decision to purchase the C Series?

Air Canada Public Participation Act  Madam Speaker, this issue was first brought to my attention because of a constituent who specifically lost his job as a result, in his view, of Air Canada's failure to live up to its obligations under the Air Canada Participation Act. We have not heard anything from the government in terms of what the economic benefits are to this measure.

Air Canada Public Participation Act  Madam Speaker, we know the bill would cost Canadian jobs. The member talked about 150 new jobs in Manitoba, but she did not mention the 400 jobs that were lost as a result of Air Canada failing to comply with its obligations under the act. The member talked about a condition that is holding Air Canada back, allegedly, a condition that does not apply to other companies.

Situation in Indigenous Communities  Mr. Speaker, I thank the member for her work on this, and certainly for her passion as well. Yes, the circumstances in residential schools, most would suggest, were a significant contributing factor to high levels of suicide in aboriginal communities. The report that I referred to earlier identified community challenges as well as individual factors that can lead to higher rates of suicide.

Situation in Indigenous Communities  Mr. Speaker, I think the point the member makes is right to suggest that really there is a lot of resilience and a lot of hope within aboriginal communities. In my speech I talked about identifying aboriginal communities where things are going relatively better and looking at ways that we can help build those connections.

Situation in Indigenous Communities  Mr. Speaker, I am thankful for the opportunity to speak to this critical issue. All of us know in the House that there is an urgent need for action. There are many challenging parts to this issue. There are no easy answers. I think it is important that we do not wrap this particular issue exclusively in just the broader question of the challenges facing aboriginal communities.

The Budget  Mr. Speaker, during the election campaign, the Liberal Party told Canadians that a Liberal government would run a deficit of $10 billion, but that was not true, since the deficit projected in this budget is nearly $30 billion. How does the government explain this large difference to the Canadian people?

Human Rights  Mr. Speaker, Burma's Rohingya Muslims are heavily persecuted, but the minister was just in Burma and did not even mention the Rohingyas. When the government killed the office of religious freedom, it said it was just about doing the same work a different way. Well, so much for that, because the office is gone.