Canada Labour Code  Mr. Speaker, I am proud to be here in this House and no longer in the union, because I am proud to stand here on behalf of all Canadians and to work on behalf of Canadians to further their rights of openness and transparency for all union members. The member talks about the secret ballot and PSAC, which leads to this question.

Canada Labour Code  Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to rise in the House today to speak on Bill C-4. We heard a lot from the other two parties about the importance of unions and the union environment, and I agree. Unions play an important role in our society and our economy, but they also have to keep up to pace with the modern society and modern economy that we now have in the 21st century.

Canada Labour Code  Mr. Speaker, I find it interesting that the Liberal Party, which always talks about empowering the backbenchers, would be so anti-backbench, anti-private members' bills that the previous Parliament passed. It is as though there were something sinister about private members' business in this House.

Income Tax Act  Madam Speaker, as I said in my speech, my team and I knocked on over 30,000 doors and income splitting for families was the most common issue raised at the doorstep. They saw it supporting their families. They saw it as a worthwhile mechanism to put more money into their pockets and the pockets of their families.

Income Tax Act  Madam Speaker, I am a Conservative. I believe in lowering taxes. Therefore, it is worthwhile to look at all opportunities to lower taxes for hard-working Canadians and those who actually need it, lower income Canadians, not the wealthy, as the Liberals across the way would do.

Income Tax Act  Madam Speaker, I am pleased to rise in the House today to speak to Bill C-2, an act to amend the Income Tax Act. Since this is the first opportunity for me to address the House at some length, I would like to take this opportunity to thank the good people of Perth—Wellington for bestowing on me the honour of serving this House as their member of Parliament.

Resumption of debate on Address in Reply  Mr. Speaker, I listened with some interest to the member for Halifax. In his statements he talked a lot about urbanism and the urban century. We all agree that our urban communities are important to our economy, but that is not a justification to completely ignore rural Ontario and rural Canada, and our small towns and cities.

Speech from the Throne  Mr. Speaker, I am proud to represent the people of Perth—Wellington in the House. In my riding, as in other parts of southern Ontario, jobs are always the number one concern. The new Liberal government is now proposing to hike taxes for job creators and is waffling on international trade agreements.