Business of supply  Mr. Speaker, I did not hear a question as such in what the member said, but he is right about what I was referring to with respect to smaller communities. There is more than softwood lumber per se involved. All the supporting industries, including private woodlots, need this support.

Business of supply  Mr. Speaker, it gives me great pleasure to rise in the House today to speak to this motion. This motion addresses a long overdue concern and it is certainly required in light of the government's lack of action. To begin, I wish to get right to the point and confirm that the Liberal Party will be supporting this motion.

China  Mr. Speaker, at an event in Montreal celebrating the 60th anniversary of the People's Republic of China on September 28, I was informed by some of my constituents that the embassy had requested permission from the Department of Foreign Affairs to open a general consulate in Montreal over one year ago.

An Act respecting the Insurance Business (Banks and Bank Holding Companies) Regulations  moved for leave to introduce Bill C-457, An Act respecting the Insurance Business (Banks and Bank Holding Companies) Regulations. Mr. Speaker, I am honoured to table this bill, seconded by my hon. colleague from Scarborough Southwest, that takes aim at making significant changes to the insurance business regulations for banks and bank holding companies in order to ensure that small and medium insurance brokers have a level playing field.

Employment Insurance  Mr. Speaker, Canadians are going to have to tighten their belts, because the Conservatives are getting ready to pick their pockets again and lighten their wallets with a new tax. Workers will have to pay $632 more with the increases in EI premiums. I do not know whether the minister knows how much this additional tax represents in groceries.

Aerospace Industry  Mr. Speaker, in the riding of Longueuil—Pierre-Boucher, job losses continue with no apparent end in sight. Many of my fellow citizens are losing their livelihoods. Pratt & Whitney Canada will be closing a plant in a few months. The 160 jobs eliminated on the south shore are in addition to 200 others announced yesterday.

Forestry Industry  Mr. Speaker, last Saturday I was in Trois-Rivières. I met with forestry workers who have lost their jobs or fear they may lose them in the near future. They are very angry that this government refuses to do anything to help their industry and to save their jobs. Is it because the Conservatives gave $1 billion to our American competitors as part of the softwood lumber sellout that they no longer have any money to support the Canadian industry?

Softwood Lumber  Mr. Speaker, by agreeing that Canada exports too much wood, the Conservatives and the Bloc condemned thousands of loggers and dozens of sawmills, saying that they too were “excess“. The Bloc is crying crocodile tears, claiming that the Conservatives are not helping the forestry industry.

Softwood Lumber  Mr. Speaker, the Canadian softwood lumber industry is still losing out because of the Conservatives and the Bloc. The decision of the London Court of International Arbitration to impose a $68 million penalty on the industry for exporting too much lumber to the United States was upheld.

Health  Mr. Speaker, there are many lessons to be learned from the government's lack of reaction to the first wave of H1N1, particularly how it affects our aboriginal communities. Will the minister take federal responsibility and will she go to the communities affected and personally apologize to those who suffered the most?

Health  Mr. Speaker, serious concerns remain about the lack of federal leadership on H1N1. Provinces are taking different approaches on when to administer seasonal flu shots and whether protective masks are necessary or not. These and consistent messages from the provinces and territories send the wrong signal to Canadians.

Forestry Industry  Mr. Speaker, there is more bad news at AbitibiBowater and the Conservatives continue to do nothing. Almost 500 jobs in Beaupré and Clermont were eliminated yesterday. That is in addition to the thousands of other jobs that have disappeared in the sector since the beginning of the crisis.

Forestry Industry  Mr. Speaker, we can only surmise that the Conservatives seem bent on destroying the forestry industry. Backed by the Bloc, they signed the softwood sellout agreement with the United States. The Conservatives and the Bloc handed over a $1 billion gift to the American lobby. What is worse, this sellout agreement has forced our industry to defend itself with one hand behind its back.

Taxation  Mr. Speaker, unfortunately, there was never really an opportunity for discussion because the government ran away. We never got any answers to our questions. The government became adept at avoiding them. The problem is that household expenditures, which is how workers spend their paycheques, are what keep our economy going.

Taxation  Mr. Speaker, even though economic recovery is far from a sure thing, the Conservatives are planning to increase the tax burden on workers. The Conservatives are going to increase employment insurance contribution rates. That means more tax deducted from every paycheque. Conservative cronyism is worse than ever, and still they attack workers.