Petitions  Mr. Speaker, pursuant to Standing Order 36, I am honoured to table a petition in this House signed by residents of my riding of Newton—North Delta. This petition signed by almost 400 residents expresses serious concerns regarding Pacific Gateway infrastructure development along the South Fraser Perimeter Road and the negative impact this will have on neighbourhoods, air and water quality, and the protected Burns Bog.

Income Tax Amendments Act, 2006  Mr. Speaker, before I address the hon. member's question, over the last two weeks I have received letters from students in grades 5 and 6 asking for members of Parliament to restore decency in the House. I would request the hon. member for Peterborough and other Conservative members who have been heckling to listen to me.

Income Tax Amendments Act, 2006  Mr. Speaker, I do not know why the member for Peterborough is not listening. I remind him of the letters I received from grade 5 and grade 6 students about restoring decency in this House. Companies will be paying their taxes overseas and we will not be able to collect from them.

Income Tax Amendments Act, 2006  Mr. Speaker, if the member had been listening to me he would know that I am in fact standing here in support of the bill. This government blacks out things and bypasses things. I am on the access to information committee and last week we had to deal with the report on Afghanistan.

Income Tax Amendments Act, 2006  Mr. Speaker, the hon. member is talking about the Governor of Canada, Mr. Dodge. He did not advocate for this. The member was talking about fairness. I will read from a pamphlet of the Canadian Association of Income Trust Investors. It states: 91% of Canadians think the tax fairness plan is not remotely fair, here's why: Promise Made--Promise Broken.

Income Tax Amendments Act, 2006  Mr. Speaker, I agree with the hon. member from the Bloc. In fact, I would like to remind the hon. member that this is the bill that the previous federal Liberal government brought forward in 1999. We, as Liberal members, are supporting this to make sure that all those technical amendments are made to make this fair for all Canadians and that is why I am supporting it as well.

Income Tax Amendments Act, 2006  Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to speak to this bill. While I support in principle many of these amendments, out of the principle of tax fairness there is one major issue addressed here that goes against what is truly fair for all Canadians. That issue is income trusts. Last week I had an opportunity to stand in the House and speak on how the government's reversal, or betrayal, of its promise on income trusts had affected some of my constituents.

Business of Supply  Mr. Speaker, is what the hon. member or the NDP mean when they talk about protecting working class Canadians and tax fairness, the $25 billion hit to the populace of seniors and ordinary Canadians like the person I mentioned earlier who wanted to buy a small house? If that is what it means to New Democrats, they should be supporting this motion.

Business of Supply  Mr. Speaker, if we want to talk about third party quotes, I have two pages of them but I do not want to read them. I want to go back to ordinary Canadians. I fully believe in fairness, which is why I supported not taxing the income trusts the way the government has. I am not talking about the millionaires or billionaires.

Business of Supply  Mr. Speaker, I am very happy to speak to this motion because what we are addressing concerns an issue that is of crucial importance in my riding of Newton—North Delta. It is the issue of income trusts. There is no other issue on which I have received more phone calls, letters and e-mails from my constituents.

Criminal Code  Mr. Speaker, I cannot agree more with the member when it comes to giving the funds to the provincial governments. In fact, my leader of the Liberal Party has committed to providing more funds to the provinces to take care of the legal aid situation .

Criminal Code  Mr. Speaker, when it comes to being tough on crime, the member needs only to look at my record. I have always been an advocate for tougher laws. What we are proposing is that after the third offence, if the criminal who is committing the crimes is a dangerous offender, there should be an automatic hearing and that person should be put behind bars.

Criminal Code  Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to stand today and speak to Bill C-27. The constituents of Newton—North Delta are fully aware of my full support of any legislation that punishes violent or sex offenders, which is why I will be supporting the bill at second reading. However, my colleagues and I have serious concerns about the constitutionality and the strength of this bill.

Passports  Mr. Speaker, the Minister of Foreign Affairs has allowed a surge in passport applications. He had one full year to prepare. It has become yet another fiasco. There are lineups at 4 a.m. and people are waiting all day. None of the new employees promised by the minister are actually on the job.

Passports  Mr. Speaker, the facts are plan and simple. The government had one full year to prepare for this surge in applications. It knew it was coming, but it chose to sit on its hands and let down thousands of Canadians across the country. When will the government act on this national embarrassment and give Canadians the services they deserve?