Speakers' Speech Writing Contest Winners  Mr. Speaker, “I see Parliament as a stunning tribute to the Canadian values of peace, freedom, equality, respect for cultural differences and law and order”. Those are the words of Braden Marshall, a student in grade 8 from Fall River, Nova Scotia, in my riding. He is here today with his dad, Mark, and five other finalists in the national Speakers' Speech Writing Contest.

Budget Implementation Act, 2017, No. 1  Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to rise today to speak to Bill C-44, our budget's implementation act. The best way to draw a nice picture is that this a continuation of last year's budget 2016, where we are seeing a focus again on the middle class and those working hard to join it. It is impressive to see the new jobs as the economy continues to grow.

Budget Implementation Act, 2017, No. 1  Mr. Speaker, the hon. member gave a very interesting speech and touched on a lot of key points. The member called this an omnibus bill and then he went on to talk about all the extra things we should add to our budget. I appreciate the fact that the member underlined all the good things we were doing, for example, infrastructure investment, which is extremely important.

National Defence  Mr. Speaker, the men and women of the Canadian Armed Forces and their families make huge sacrifices to serve Canadians. As the member for Sackville—Preston—Chezzetcook, which is home to many soldiers and veterans, I can personally say that being sent abroad definitely makes things more difficult for our troops and veterans.

Seniors  Mr. Speaker, it is a great pleasure to stand in the House tonight and represent my great riding of Sackville—Preston—Chezzetcook, which you know very well. It is the outskirts of Halifax and Dartmouth and is a very important part of our HRM community. It gives me great pleasure to speak to the issue of seniors.

Volunteerism  Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to rise today to speak about volunteerism in Canada. It is extremely important to recognize the contributions of volunteers to their community, to their province, and to their country. Let us take a second to think of the activities we participated in over the last month.

The Budget  Mr. Speaker, what is important about EI and the 18 months for maternity leave is that it would be an opportunity for Canadian families that want to stay at home a bit longer to support their families. Those are decisions they take as families. There are all kinds of decisions. Our budget is a step-forward budget.

The Budget  Mr. Speaker, this year alone, for child care spaces, we are adding $500 million, and it will be $7 billion over 10 years. There are all kinds of investments that begin at different stages. That is the normal flow. If anyone made commitments for five and 10 years later, it was the Conservative government.

The Budget  Mr. Speaker, I could go on a long time and talk about carbon pricing and how it benefits Canadians in many ways. However, as I said in my speech today, the Canada child benefit is an enormous contribution to families. This is a big-picture plan. Over a four-year period, we know that the economy will be strong.

The Budget  Mr. Speaker, I will be splitting my time with the member for Winnipeg South. I must say that I am extremely pleased and excited with budget 2017. This budget focuses on the middle class. With this budget, Canadians will benefit. Nova Scotians will benefit. The people from Sackville—Preston—Chezzetcook will benefit as well.

The Budget  That being said, at that time the Liberal Party of Canada was getting ready to approve a child care plan, but the Liberals did not win the election. The Tories did, and then they went back to sleep. For 20 to 30 years, we had been talking about how important child care is, but it was forgotten.

The Environment  Mr. Speaker, I am honoured today to talk about some young leaders in my community. Some of them belong to my riding's community group. These young people are very interested in the environment and want to know how they can get more involved in protecting the environment. I would like to ask the Minister of Environment and Climate Change if she could share with the House how young people in Canada can get more involved and play a bigger role in climate change.

International Day of La Francophonie  Mr. Speaker, today we are celebrating the International Day of La Francophonie. As my colleague mentioned, more than 276 million people speak French and are celebrating their culture and their language today. In Canada, French and English are on an equal footing, and I have spent much of my career in education defending linguistic rights.

Interparliamentary Delegations  Mr. Speaker, pursuant to Standing Order 34(1), I have the honour to present to the House, in both official languages, the report of the Canadian Branch of the Assemblée parlementaire de la Francophonie, the APF, respecting its participation at the meeting of the Political Committee of the APF, held in New York, United States, from April 11 to 13, 2016.

Controlled Drugs and Substances Act  Madam Speaker, research clearly shows that these sites save lives. We plan to do this as quickly as possible.