Judges Act  Mr. Speaker, I know that the member for Moncton—Riverview—Dieppe understands this issue and is interested in it. I welcome his question especially since we share a town in New Brunswick. The town of Riverview is privileged to have two members of Parliament; he is one and I am the other.

Judges Act  Mr. Speaker, the member is right. At one time the salaries of judges and members of Parliament were linked. For various reasons, in a Parliament before my time as an elected member of Parliament, the decision was made to delink them. We have seen the commission's recommendations for a 10.8% raise, which would amount to a $52,600 raise retroactive to 2004.

Judges Act  Mr. Speaker, I rise today to introduce debate on referral of Bill C-17, an act to amend the Judges Act and certain other acts in relation to courts, to the Standing Committee on Justice and Human Rights before second reading. The bill was tabled by our government on May 31. It would fully implement all but two of the recommendations contained in the May 2004 report of the Judicial Compensation and Benefits Commission.

Federal Accountability Act  Mr. Speaker, there have been some conversations with all parties. I believe if you seek it, you would find unanimous consent for the following motion. I move: That Bill C-2, in Clause 181(2) be amended by replacing line 26 on page 132 with the following: “(b) any parent Crown corporation, and any wholly-owned” This is to bring in line changes that were made under Motion No. 13 to the Access to Information Act, bringing the Privacy Act in line.

Federal Accountability Act  Mr. Speaker, I thank the hon. member for his consideration of the arguments that have been put forward. I think they are serious arguments. I heard the quote by the member, which reads that “the judge shall consider the opinion in determining whether an offence was committed”.

Federal Accountability Act  Mr. Speaker, it was a privilege to serve with other members of Parliament on the committee studying Bill C-2, the accountability act. I think we did tremendous work on behalf of Canadians. From the testimony we heard and from the work that was done, we had a thorough vetting of the issues related to accountability.

Petitions  Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to table a petition today, spearheaded by a mother from the town of Hampton in my riding, containing 17,471 signatures, in addition to 3,175 signatures from Canadians across Canada on the website. The petitioners believe that a funeral is a necessity and should be a non-taxable service.

Justice  Mr. Speaker, I will quote from the Liberal platform of last year: “A Liberal government will reintroduce legislation to crack down on violent crimes and gang violence, and to double the mandatory minimum sentences for serious gun-related crimes”. All talk. This government took action to protect Canadians.

Justice  Mr. Speaker, I cannot explain to the hon. member why Liberals say one thing during an election and then do another after an election. I will tell him what Canadians told us. They said they were fed up with violent gun crime and they were fed up with a Liberal revolving door answer to crime.

Graduating Classes of 2006  Mr. Speaker, in my riding of Fundy Royal there are over 1,000 students graduating from high school this spring. I rise today to recognize the product of their commitment to stay in school, study hard and to graduate. Because we live in a prosperous land, we can expect that great things await these young people.

Criminal Code  Mr. Speaker, I rise today to speak to Bill C-291, a bill that proposes to amend the Criminal Code to create a new offence of injuring or killing a child before or during its birth while committing an offence against the pregnant mother. I believe, at its core, the bill is about ensuring that our criminal law strongly condemns and holds fully accountable those who commit violent acts against others, particularly against persons who are more vulnerable to violence.

Criminal Code  Mr. Speaker, I am very pleased to speak to Bill C-299. I would like to say at the outset that the government applauds the member for this very timely bill as well as his hard work in putting the bill together. This bill would do several things. It would amend the Criminal Code, the Canada Evidence Act and the Competition Act, all with a view to dealing with the obtaining of personal information by deception.

Criminal Code  Mr. Speaker, as a matter of fact, as I mentioned in my speech, this bill is one component of our overall strategy to tackle crime. As I also mentioned, our budget provides funding for more police officers. Increased numbers of front line police officers are going to be necessary to crack down on crime.

Criminal Code  Mr. Speaker, in response to the hon. member's question, the concern as to the application of this piece of legislation, to suggest that some people are concerned that one type of firearm or another is not included, someone could certainly bring forward any amendments to this piece of legislation.

Criminal Code  Absolutely, Mr. Speaker, what we are doing is putting in place clear directions to crown prosecutors and the courts that we as a Parliament and as a society take gun crime seriously. This is why we are putting these mandatory minimums in place. We believe that prosecutors and crown attorneys are going to hear this message and use these mandatory minimums effectively.