Employment Insurance  Mr. Speaker, my question is for the government House leader. Bill C-278, an act to amend employment insurance, deals with Canadians battling illness with no financial support. On two separate occasions in the House, the bill was voted for, not to mention receiving approval of the Standing Committee on Human Resources and Social Development.

Afghanistan  Mr. Speaker, effective diplomacy, defence and development are essential to win the hearts and minds of the Afghan people to achieve success in this mission. The Conservative government is spending on development only one-tenth of the money it spends on defence. Why has the government failed our troops and the Afghan people so miserably by not providing the effective aid our troops need to achieve success in the south?

Afghanistan  Mr. Speaker, our troops are doing an outstanding job in southern Afghanistan, but the government is not supporting them with enough effective reconstruction aid on the ground in the areas of operation. We know this mission will not be successful unless there is enough aid deployed on the ground where the troops are.

Employment Insurance Act  moved that the bill be concurred in.

Business of Supply  Mr. Speaker, we believe in this mission but we believe there needs to be a bit of a timeframe here for the sake of the troops, for the sake of supplies and for the sake of doing operations in other countries. We need to know, the troops need to know and the people in Afghanistan need to know that we are committed and that we are committed at least up to a certain timeframe.

Business of Supply  Mr. Speaker, a large contingency of the Cape Breton Highlanders are in Afghanistan right now and we are fully behind them. We fully supporting our troops. We are not cutting and running because we in the Liberal Party do not believe in doing that. We believe we have a job to do over there.

Business of Supply  Mr. Speaker, the situation in Afghanistan remains a cause of grave concern for members of the House and the Canadian people. The men and women of the Canadian Forces and our civilian personnel are continuing to earn our respect and pride. However, we are failing in our responsibilities to them.

Sudan  Mr. Speaker, the hostilities in Darfur have already led to a regional humanitarian crisis. This week the UN has warned that the humanitarian effort in Darfur is in serious danger of collapse. Could the minister tell us what concrete actions Canada is taking to address this serious crisis?

Federal-Provincial Relations  Mr. Speaker, the province of Nova Scotia is prepared to sue over the Conservatives' promise-breaking budget and it appears the government does not care. Yesterday in the House the foreign affairs minister in a stunning us versus them betrayal of the people who voted for him said that he would see them in court.

Federal-Provincial Relations  Mr. Speaker, may I remind the minister that Ottawa is not the capital of Nova Scotia? He stands in the House and refers to his own people, the people of Nova Scotia, as “they”, essentially telling Nova Scotians that they can take it or leave it. The government may well face a lawsuit for not meeting its obligations.

Business of Supply  Mr. Speaker, the hon. member is going to have some explaining to do to his wife when he goes home this weekend. The big challenge here is how the Minister of Finance is going to deal with his budget in Nova Scotia tonight. I would recommend that the members opposite from the Conservative Party not to go home this weekend and let everybody try to cool off, and give them some breathing space because they are in big trouble.

Business of Supply  Mr. Speaker, the hon. member is definitely a hard-working member from Cape Breton, Nova Scotia. He will see what is going to happen in his riding and other ridings in Nova Scotia when the province does not have the money to help us out in those regions. There is a moral shame here.

Business of Supply  Mr. Speaker, if the hon. member would have looked at the budget, this so-called aspiring budget, she would have seen from the numbers that transfer payments for Quebec and other provinces have increased and our province's have not increased any substantial amount. She knows the Conservatives are buying votes.

Business of Supply  Mr. Speaker, I will be sharing my time with the member for Labrador. We are here today talking about the great injustice that has been done this week by the Prime Minister and the Atlantic Conservative MPs. There were a lot of good comments made on this side of the House by my colleagues about how Atlantic Canada got shafted here this week.

Afghanistan  Mr. Speaker, the one day photo op allowed by the international cooperation minister in Afghanistan cost Canadian taxpayers $35,000. When there are serious concerns about this mission, one would think that the government would find a better use for the money. Why does the government spend money on photo ops and marketing ploys when money in Afghanistan is so desperately needed on the ground?