Mining Industry  Mr. Speaker, this past spring I wrote the finance minister asking if he would extend the super flow-through program for mining shares. Northern Canada is still waiting for an answer. Mining exploration is a long shot game with high risks and we need firm commitments. The minister had the opportunity to express his commitment to the mining industry with his $39 billion election budget that he just offered.

Supply  Mr. Speaker, it is often difficult to watch the final dying days of a heavyweight champ. The last fight is usually the saddest. We have seen pretty much every antic this morning, except that nobody has tried to bite my ear yet. I listened to the hon. member's speech and was flabbergasted.

Supply  Mr. Speaker, I have a question relating to this culture of entitlement. In my riding, the widow of a man who fought in the second world war was just given a pension for $3.26 a month and was told by the federal government that she would not receive any support for shovelling snow.

Supply  Mr. Speaker, I found the speech of the hon. member very enlightening. We seem to be seeing some strange spectacles with the Liberal Party in its dying days of government. Last month we saw the first results of the Gomery report, which was one of the low days in parliamentary history.

Supply  Madam Speaker, considering the climate we are in here, I found the member's comments surprising when he talked about the need to work together and get majority support if we are going to work in a minority Parliament. We came to this minority Parliament fully believing that election talk would be put to the side so that we could get down to pragmatic compromise positions and move forward with legislation for Canadians.

Natural Resources  Mr. Speaker, there is nothing for northern Ontario in the Liberal's election budget, nothing for forestry, nothing for agriculture and nothing for the mining exploration community. The government had the chance to extend the super flow through program for mining exploration, but instead, it once again walked away on northern industries.

Energy Costs Assistance Measures Act  Mr. Speaker, it is pretty clear that we need a long term plan to deal with the energy crisis, but also the need to reposition Canada. Given our natural wealth here and the fact that we are in a northern climate, we are very far behind and not going in any kind of reasonable direction.

Energy Costs Assistance Measures Act  Mr. Speaker, in our region there has been a great deal of concern about where we are going in terms of energy policy. People who leave Toronto, fill up their gas tanks, drive six hours up the road to Englehart and pay 20¢ to 30¢ more and then when they go into towns like Kirkland Lake and Iroquois Falls they pay even more.

Aboriginal Affairs  Mr. Speaker, I have just been in touch with the evacuees trying to get out of Kashechewan. The situation is chaotic. People are frightened, tired and have no idea where they are going or what they will be going back to. As well, the water is still not safe to drink. We have heard a lot of huffing and puffing about Kashechewan today but I have not heard the one phrase I need to hear.

Aboriginal Affairs  Mr. Speaker, after 13 days of silence from the federal government, the province has had to step in and take command of the Kashechewan crisis. I have been in Kashechewan and I will say in this House on the record that Health Canada officials and Indian Affairs officials gambled recklessly with the lives of the people of the James Bay coast.

Health  Mr. Speaker, I have just returned from Kashechewan where a humanitarian tragedy is unfolding. Health Canada did nothing to protect this community from eight years of contaminated water. Health Canada did nothing to help federal nurses who had to haul river water in buckets to their clinic.

Health  Mr. Speaker, the people of Kashechewan First Nation have been under a boil water advisory for eight years. This past weekend an E. coli outbreak hit the community. The school is closed, the health centre is closed and a Health Canada official told the people that it was perfectly safe to bathe their children in E. coli contaminated bathwater.

Request For Emergency Debate  Mr. Speaker, I rise on a point of order. I fully respect your judgment considering the interpretation of Standing Order 52. However, I would seek now, and I feel it is important, if we had unanimous consent to have this debate tonight. I would ask the other parties if they would give unanimous for the debate to take place tonight where we could discuss this issue.

Request For Emergency Debate  Mr. Speaker, I rise to give notice under Standing Order 52(2) that I would request and seek leave for an emergency debate stated for Wednesday, September 28 to address the current situation with the CBC. This is a debate that is not focused at all on the issues of the management and negotiations that are ongoing.

Canadian Broadcasting Corporation  Mr. Speaker, seven weeks ago, CBC management unilaterally pulled the plug on the Canadian conversation. In doing so, they have undermined the credibility of the CBC, they have gambled recklessly with their audience base and they have reopened the debate about whether we need a national broadcaster at all.