Veterans Affairs  Mr. Speaker, for more than a decade, the Harper government cut front-line staff, closed offices and balanced the budget on the backs of veterans. In 2015, it even closed an entire floor at the Camp Hill Veterans Memorial Building in Halifax. Could the right hon. Prime Minister please describe the steps our government has taken at Camp Hill to respond to the growing needs of veterans of the more recent conflicts and of those who served with our allies?

Canada-Israel Free Trade Agreement Implementation Act  Mr. Speaker, with all due respect, when I think of Trump, I am almost forced to start thinking about the Conservative Party of Canada. Those members would have signed anything. Now that we have great deal, they are trying to pick here and there to see if there are any issues. Is the member going to vote in favour of this deal?

Canada-Israel Free Trade Agreement Implementation Act  Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague for his question. He complimented me on my energetic speeches, and I would like to return the compliment. We should not seek to undo what is working. That is something we need to keep in mind every time we negotiate an agreement. Certain values are very dear to Canadians, and we will ensure those values are honoured.

Canada-Israel Free Trade Agreement Implementation Act  Mr. Speaker, I will be sharing my time with the member for St. John's East. I am very proud to stand for the first time officially to give a speech in this new chamber. It is remarkable to see what the engineers and all the other people who have contributed to this success have been able to achieve.

Canada-Israel Free Trade Agreement Implementation Act  Mr. Speaker, my colleague shared some key information about the history and relationship between Canada and Israel. I thought he did a really good job, but I am concerned that he did not talk about issues that are very, very important to Canadians in this deal. There are new chapters, and I wish he had touched on those.

Canada-Israel Free Trade Agreement Implementation Act  Mr. Speaker, I want to thank my colleague for her exceptional speech. She shared so many great points with the House this morning. Canadians can see how the economy is prospering because of our government's hard work in establishing strong trade deals. These are great opportunities for businesses in our communities.

Poverty Reduction Act  Mr. Speaker, my colleague is exactly right. We have invested $5.6 billion. There is no question that I am seeing it in my riding with seniors and housing, but as I indicated, we are also answering to many vulnerable people. We are also speaking about veterans, seniors and people with disabilities.

Poverty Reduction Act  Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague for his question. It is important to recognize that we have built over 14,000 buildings for housing. That is extremely important. It is also important to note our many other investments. We cannot address poverty with just one strategy. All the other strategies I mentioned in my speech are extremely important.

Poverty Reduction Act  Mr. Speaker, I agree that there is no question we are challenged with a changing demographic in the sense that there are more seniors today, and as we move forward there will be even more. My riding had the biggest increase in the number of seniors in the last five years in Nova Scotia.

Poverty Reduction Act  Mr. Speaker, I want to thank the people in my constituency of Sackville—Preston—Chezzetcook for giving me the honour of speaking on Bill C-87, the poverty reduction act. This is an exciting time. Canada is a great nation and many people want to immigrate to this great country. We continue to focus on and work hard toward a just society, but we want the wealthiest Canadians to pay their fair share and to do a little more to help the middle class, by helping to create opportunities for those in the middle class and those striving to be part of it.

La Francophonie  Mr. Speaker, tomorrow, on Saturday, December 1, the Franco-Ontarian resistance movement will be holding rallies across Ontario to protest the cuts that Doug Ford's Conservatives made to services in French. These cuts represent an unacceptable infringement on the rights and services that the community has worked to secure.

Budget Implementation Act, 2018, No. 2  Mr. Speaker, as I said in my speech, we are focused on pay equity. In the legislation we are proposing a department for women and gender equity, which includes pay equity. This would allow us to move forward on that agenda. Right now we are working on that piece, but we need to consult to ensure we are doing it the right way, because it is extremely important.

Budget Implementation Act, 2018, No. 2  Mr. Speaker, I hate to say it, but the facts are in front of us. The Conservative government, after 10 years in power, did not build one kilometre of pipeline. It focused 99% of the investment on the United States. It did not take advantage of the opportunities in the world to move our product, which is extremely important for our economy.

Budget Implementation Act, 2018, No. 2  Mr. Speaker, the thing that seems to be missing on the Conservative side is its members do not really understand what spending and investing money is. For example, a company does not wait for a crisis to invest. It has a vision, it sets out a plan to achieve that vision and it invests.

Budget Implementation Act, 2018, No. 2  Mr. Speaker, I am extremely pleased to speak to Bill C-86, a second act to implement certain provisions of the budget tabled in Parliament on February 27, 2018 and other measures. I will be talking about the middle class, which is extremely important, and those working hard to join it.