Business of Supply  Mr. Chair, from the responses I have received so far, it appears the minister is totally inept. I will ask her a very simple question. Women from rural and urban communities and all walks of life appearing before the Standing Committee on the Status of Women have stated that programs have to be looked at through a gender lens.

Business of Supply  Mr. Chair, I will be splitting my time with the members for Desnethé—Missinippi—Churchill River and Madawaska—Restigouche, and we will be asking questions for five minutes.

Committees of the House  Mr. Speaker, I have the honour to present, in both official languages, the 19th report of the Standing Committee on the Status of Women entitled “Proactive Pay Equity Legislation”. Pursuant to Standing Order 108(2) that the Standing Committee on the Status of Women recommend to the government to immediately introduce proactive pay equity legislation as recommended by the 2004 federal pay equity task force.

Immigration and Refugee Board  Mr. Speaker, under the Liberal government there were only five vacancies on the board. Under the Conservatives the number has grown to 60. When he resigned last month, the former IRB chairman said that he had left the minister with 80 qualified candidates to choose from. He also said that the backlog was “growing at a rate of 1,000 a month on the refugee side”.

Immigration and Refugee Board  Mr. Speaker, the minority Conservative government is dragging its feet on filling vacancies on the Immigration and Refugee Board as more refugee cases become statistics in the swelling backlog. The minister has personally claimed that she is filling positions but the fact is that there simply are not enough judges to handle the overload of casework.

Canadian Executive Service Organization  Mr. Speaker, this year marks the 40th anniversary of a unique Canadian organization. Since 1967, the Canadian Executive Service Organization, CESO, has successfully completed over 40,000 projects in 50 different countries, including Canada's aboriginal communities. CESO volunteer advisers are Canadians who share their professional experiences with those in need to strengthen the economies and build more self-sufficient communities.

Business of Supply  Mr. Speaker, it just amazes me how very uninformed the Conservatives seem to be on economic matters. When they make a promise to constituents, to Canadians, that they will not tax income trusts, and then they break that promise, there is no trust left of the Conservatives by Canadians.

Business of Supply  Mr. Speaker, I have a lot of seniors in my riding who have written to me and who have stated that they trusted the Conservative government when it made a promise that it would never tax income trusts. They invested their money in income trusts, and suddenly, lo and behold, on October 31, we got this 31% tax and seniors lost their savings.

Business of Supply  Mr. Speaker, I will be splitting my time with the member for Kings—Hants. I rise in the House today to speak to the Liberal motion, which reads: That...the government's mistaken policies with respect to interest non-deductibility and income trusts are making it increasingly difficult for Canadian businesses to succeed internationally, while making Canadian businesses increasingly vulnerable to foreign takeovers, thus putting Canadian jobs, head offices and investment at risk....

House debate  Mr. Speaker, the detainee debacle has exposed the Minister of Defence to unrelenting criticism, not only in Canada but with our allies around the world. This has also shaken the confidence our troops have in their own government and its ability to defend our forces as they serve bravely in the face of many hardships in Afghanistan.

House debate  Mr. Speaker, in question period on April 30, I had asked the Minister of Public Safety why he was not telling the truth about the detainees and why his own spokeswoman was contradicting him. The people of Canada are proud of the courageous service being provided by the men and women of the Canadian armed forces currently serving in the NATO-led mission in Afghanistan, but many are deeply concerned with the escalation in violence and the worsening situation in the country.

Taxation  Mr. Speaker, the ill-fated plan to kill interest deductibility was a fundamental multi-billion dollar mistake from the very beginning by an incompetent finance minister. Weeks after the budget, the minister said he needed to spend some time on the issue. Yesterday he said that this is a difficult and complex issue.

Taxation  Mr. Speaker, the minister and his parliamentary secretary are so incompetent they do not even know they are incompetent. This is about a minister whose approach to economic policy can be summed up in three words: ready, fire, aim. The minister's own estimates for the cost of this measure was off by 2,500%.

House debate  Mr. Speaker, I would like to first correct the member. Thorncliffe is not in my riding. However, 15% versus 15.5% increase is an increase, and another $350. I do not think the member knows math. A person earning $22,000 a year cannot benefit out of the working income tax benefit.

House debate  Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to rise on behalf of my constituents of Don Valley East and debate budget 2007, the second budget introduced by the Conservatives since assuming office in 2006. Budget 2007 will go down as the most visionless and meanspirited budget in Canadian history.