Interparliamentary Delegations  Mr. Speaker, pursuant to Standing Order 34(1) I have the honour to present to the House, in both official languages, three reports from the delegation of the Canadian Branch of the Assemblée parlementaire de la Francophonie. The first is respecting its participation in the Young Parliamentarians Program of the APF's mission in Africa, held in Dakar, Senegal, and Antananarivo, Madagascar, from March 5 to 10, 2018.

Veterans' Week  Mr. Speaker, during Veterans' Week, all Canadians come together to honour the Canadian Armed Forces members, veterans and police officers who have served Canada and to remember those who have died in service. As the member of Parliament for Sackville—Preston—Chezzetcook, I am particularly aware of the work and sacrifices of our armed forces, as its members and veterans make up 23% of the population of my riding, and Nova Scotia has the highest per capita of veterans in the country.

Business of Supply  Mr. Speaker, I want to thank my colleague for his dynamic presentation. He does an excellent job. He is on the veterans affairs committee with me. I want to thank him for his continued advocacy. I would also like to thank Peter Stoffer for his excellent work on veterans affairs, as I continue to work closely with him and with veterans in my riding of Sackville—Preston—Chezzetcook.

Budget Implementation Act, 2018, No. 2  Mr. Speaker, that is an extremely important question, and I am glad my colleague asked. Our government has taken a number of steps to reduce poverty. We have not eliminated poverty yet, so we are open to suggestions. However, the Canada child benefit is one important way we are investing in young families.

Budget Implementation Act, 2018, No. 2  Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague for his question and for his work on the budget, which includes some extremely important programs that will make a very direct contribution to the economy. The program he just mentioned would give families greater flexibility over parental leave.

Budget Implementation Act, 2018, No. 2  Mr. Speaker, I am not sure if my colleague really knows what a clam looks like, but it gives him something to talk about. It is too bad that his constituents do not have the opportunity to hear about other important issues for middle-class Canadians. He could be talking about the Canada child benefit and how much money families in his riding are receiving.

Budget Implementation Act, 2018, No. 2  Mr. Speaker, it is a pleasure to stand in the House today to speak to Bill C-86, the budget implementation act, 2018, no. 2. As members know, the riding of Sackville—Preston—Chezzetcook is on the outskirts of Halifax-Dartmouth. It is a community where we have young families, fishermen, the largest black cultural centre and many Acadians.

Elections Modernization Act  Mr. Speaker, I want to thank my colleague for his speech. I have to give him credit for being able to see the upside in everything. He has a talent for always finding the silver lining. I also want to compliment him on his French, which keeps improving. It is funny that he started his speech by talking about democracy and voting rights, since we know that 1 million Canadians were unable to vote because of something called the Fair Elections Act.

Elections Modernization Act  Madam Speaker, my colleague was able to share with us, quite clearly, the areas of strength in the bill and the areas about which he was concerned. I really appreciate that. That is how parliamentarians work together to improve the system. I too am an educator by trade. When I go into schools and have an opportunity to talk to young people about our political system, they tell me they want to learn more.

Elections Modernization Act  Madam Speaker, I have to tell the truth, and a lot of it is that the Conservatives are filibustering. The Conservative filibustering started on May 29. We were only able to get to the clause-by-clause on October 15. Again, the Conservatives feel that the bill they presented was the best bill, so they are just going to filibuster, slowing down the process, because they realize that the wrongdoings in their so-called fair elections bill did not answer the needs of Canadians.

Elections Modernization Act  Madam Speaker, again, it is an important question. What we have put in place is a structure that will ensure we will be able to determine who is investing what money, where that money is going, how it is going to be spent, and it will have to be reported every two weeks to ensure that we are able to track it closely.

Elections Modernization Act  Madam Speaker, that is a very important question. We did the committee work. There was a lot of reflection on that. We have severely limited the possibility of foreign funding, but what we have done that is really positive is that we will now be able to track who is spending and what they are doing and how they are advertising.

Elections Modernization Act  Madam Speaker, it gives me great pleasure to stand in the House once again to speak to Bill C-76, the elections modernization act. Throughout my speech, I will share how this bill will affect many citizens in my riding. As members know, the riding of Sackville—Preston—Chezzetcook is a half circle of the city of Halifax and Dartmouth.

Multilateral Instrument in Respect of Tax Conventions Act  Mr. Speaker, first of all, I would like to set the record straight. I think it is extremely important. On this side of the benches, we do not need permission to speak for the party. We are not chosen because it is time for us to speak. We request the right to speak on any bill, and we do so, and that is how we do business.

Multilateral Instrument in Respect of Tax Conventions Act  Mr. Speaker, there is always lots of energy behind my colleague's questions, and I appreciate that very much. He must keep in mind that since the Liberals took power, we have invested $1 billion in the CRA to put systems in place to better track and identify the loopholes and the wealthy individuals or companies that are not paying their fair share of taxes and to make sure that they pay those taxes.