Health  Mr. Speaker, thalidomide survivors just do not have the luxury of time. They have been suffering from their disabilities their whole lives. The Canadian government told their mothers that thalidomide was safe. That means we have a moral responsibility to provide them with support now.

Health  Mr. Speaker, I have sad breaking news. We have just heard that the first case of H7N9 bird flu in North America has been found in a traveller in British Columbia. This is obviously a very serious public health concern for all Canadians. Can the minister update the House about what measures the government will be taking to screen travellers and identify anyone who may have been in contact with that virus?

The Environment  Mr. Speaker, the Conservatives have established that they will not show leadership. They have established that the NDP voted against bad Conservative budgets that failed to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. What they have not established is that they are even trying to meet emission targets.

Committees of the House  Mr. Speaker, I agree with chair, the member for Edmonton—Leduc, that this report contains much useful information. We heard from dozens of witnesses who were able to appear before the committee. It contains, as well, a supplementary report by the official opposition, the NDP. Unfortunately, many of the committee's Conservative majority recommendations are so self-congratulatory in tone that they must embarrass the chair as much as they do us.

Taxation  Mr. Speaker, the Canada Revenue Agency is going after an 82-year-old B.C. man who has dementia. It is fining him $12,000 for failing to declare a small foreign pension income in his 2011 tax return. It is ridiculous. It was an honest mistake, but the CRA is telling him and his family it will take 15 months to address.

Pensions  Mr. Speaker, far too many Canadian seniors reach retirement and find they do not have enough savings to live comfortably. Public pensions just have not kept pace with rising costs and changing workplaces, leaving seniors struggling to meet their most basic needs, and the situation is just getting worse.

Drug-Free Prisons Act  Mr. Speaker, the compassion of my colleague from the Northwest Territories for people like Mr. Snowshoe is well known. The answer to the question is that it does very little. When The Globe and Mail reached out to the Minister of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness on this issue, he was not available.

Drug-Free Prisons Act  Mr. Speaker, I agree with my colleague from Trinity—Spadina on this issue of solitary confinement. If the government really wanted to do something about what is happening in our prison population, it could join with Mr. Howard Sapers, the ombudsman for federal prisoners, and do something.

Drug-Free Prisons Act  Mr. Speaker, I thank my hon. colleague for his insight. I honestly think that solitary confinement contributes nothing. It is unethical to use it simply as a management tool for overcrowded prisons. A causal link needs to be shown that putting people into solitary confinement to address problems of mental health or substance abuse would make a difference, but there is no such evidence.

Drug-Free Prisons Act  Mr. Speaker, I note the enthusiasm of all members for my presentation on Bill C-12, but I am not sure that will be warranted when I finish. I will say in advance on behalf of the official opposition that I will be supporting Bill C-12 at second reading. The bill has a somewhat grandiose title, “The drug-free prisons act”, which, as I hope to explain in my remarks, is a long way from what the bill would accomplish.

Access to Information  Mr. Speaker, the Conservative MPs on the House access to information committee think that the best solution to fix our ever-shrinking right to know in Canada would be to charge journalists and other Canadians hundreds of dollars just to file a request for information that should be public.

Petitions  Mr. Speaker, my petition calls for the improvements to retirement security of the 62% of Canadian workers without any workplace pension. The petitioners call for expansion of the Canada pension plan and specifically for the government to reject any changes that would allow employers to renege on existing defined benefit pension promises, and to refrain from allowing the conversion of defined benefit plans to so-called shared risk plans that would permit the subsequent reduction of pension benefits paid by retirees.

Canada Shipping Act  Mr. Speaker, it is a great pleasure to rise to speak in support of this historic bill introduced by my hon. colleague from Skeena—Bulkley Valley. It is called an act to defend the Pacific northwest, and a better name could not have been given to this initiative. When I ran exactly two years ago, I knocked on many doors in Victoria and Oak Bay, in my part of Vancouver Island.

Economic Action Plan 2014 Act, No. 2  Mr. Speaker, going after tax havens would appear to be the most fruitful way in which Canadians could recover income to do some of the things on infrastructure spending, homelessness, and issues that were alluded to by my friend, which, of course, we think are priorities of the government.

Economic Action Plan 2014 Act, No. 2  Mr. Speaker, I appreciate my colleague's excellent, thoughtful question. There are a number of things. We would invest in return on investment. That is to say, ROI from expenditures on real people doing the job in the CRA would produce the kinds of enormous returns we have seen in other countries.