Rouge National Urban Park Act  Mr. Speaker, in government, every minister has a huge responsibility within their particular ministry. With the Minister of the Environment, it is the same. To suggest there is going to be any less stringency placed on this national park is understating it. As I said in my speech, the minister is clearly concerned about the environment and wants to ensure the Rouge is protected.

Rouge National Urban Park Act  Mr. Speaker, it is an honour and a pleasure for me to support the establishment of the Rouge national urban park. Indeed, the creation of Rouge national urban park is a proud and historic achievement for all residents of the greater Toronto area, Ontarians, and Canadians, from coast to coast to coast.

Firearms  Mr. Speaker, we all know that the NDP will bring back the wasteful and ineffective long gun registry should they ever get the chance. The member for Skeena—Bulkley Valley piled on yesterday when he confirmed to media that the NDP will bring forward measures to track all firearms, in other words, with a registry.

Petitions  Mr. Speaker, as B.C. caucus chair, I would like to present this petition from British Columbia as it calls upon all members of Parliament to condemn discrimination against girls occurring through sex-selective pregnancy termination.

Birthday Congratulations  Mr. Speaker, Albert Flett, a constituent of mine from Chetwyn, B.C., was born in northwestern Alberta in 1914. His actual birthdate was never recorded, but he was assigned the day of August 21 by a Canadian Army recruiter in 1939. He served Canada with distinction in World War II, leading his own platoon and achieving the rank of lance corporal.

Agricultural Growth Act  Mr. Speaker, the member is another colleague on the agriculture committee. Absolutely, we always get this falsity or inaccuracy stated, and it seems to be from the opposition, that innovation and research dollars have gone down. However, they have actually gone up by 10% since we formed government in 2006.

Agricultural Growth Act  Mr. Speaker, being a long-standing member of the agriculture committee, certainly we have our differences when it comes to UPOV '91. We see predominantly that the world and most Canadian producers want to see UPOV '91 introduced into Canada and really played out on the Prairies.

Agricultural Growth Act  Mr. Speaker, I happen to be sitting beside another member in the House who is a farmer. I found this a little interesting, too. In dealing with marketing freedom for farmers in past legislation, farmers from the west actually sat on the panel, making these decisions and supporting some of these motions.

Agricultural Growth Act  Mr. Speaker, being a member of agriculture, we have heard many of the arguments stemming from one particular organization when it comes to plant breeders' rights and the use of seed. It stems from one organization that really perpetuates the myth that farmers cannot use their own seed for their own use on their farms.

Agricultural Growth Act  Mr. Speaker, although we have not studied that issue in depth at agriculture committee, the issue of TFWs, as it relates to the agricultural industry, is an important one. From our perspective on this side of the House, we absolutely want to ensure that every Canadian is employed before any temporary foreign workers get jobs in our country.

Agricultural Growth Act  I would first like to say that my thoughts and prayers go out to Pat Quinn's family for their loss today. He was a great Canadian. Mr. Speaker, I stand today to express my support for Bill C-18, the agricultural growth act. This is a well-informed bill. The proposed legislation is the result of extensive consultation with Canadian farmers, producers, and the organizations that represent them.

Agricultural Growth Act  Mr. Speaker, I would like to recognize the hon. member across the way. We serve on the agriculture committee together. We like to work together on issues, and I want to ask the hon. member a question. We talk about breeders' rights. We heard a lot of witnesses speaking to what we need in terms of a modern-day plant breeders' rights system, and UPOV '91 addresses that.

Citizen Consultation Preceding Natural Resource Development  Mr. Speaker, I am thankful for this opportunity to comment on Motion No. 533 and to reinforce my colleague's comments that much of what it proposes to do is already being accomplished. Indeed, Canadians can take pride and have confidence in our world-class safety standards, which our government has worked so hard to improve in recent years.

An Act to amend the Statistics Act (appointment of Chief Statistician and long-form census)  Mr. Speaker, I rise today to speak to Bill C-626 and its proposed amendments to the Statistics Act. Our government is committed to balancing the need to collect reliable statistical data, while protecting the privacy of Canadians and reducing costs to taxpayers. Canadians expect their government to put in place meaningful statistical programs that provide the information needed for governments, businesses, municipalities, associations and university researchers, while reducing the response burden and cost to taxpayers.

Energy Safety and Security Act  Mr. Speaker, I know our party is concerned about both sides of the issue, the environmental issue and also the jobs that come from natural resource development. The opposition seems to think it is an either/or discussion. We believe that we could do both and do it responsibly. Would the member explain how that responsibility is important to us, to the Conservative Party?