Public Accounts committee  Sir, no, and it was never our intention to minimize this. I thought we were quite clear in the report we released in 2010 that we saw this as beyond the scope of our paper, but we did highlight it as being very important.

Public Accounts committee  Okay, thank you. You had the DND costing handbook here. Just to be clear, when you talk about operating costs, is that talking about personnel costs, activation of reserves, overtime costs for civilian employees, and so on? And there are other things listed.

Official Languages committee  All right. That is one misunderstanding cleared up. That is good. During our February 16 meeting, my colleague Mr. Bélanger, questioned Mr. Léry, the Acting Director General of Support Programs for Official Languages, about the Action Plan that preceded the Roadmap.

Public Accounts committee  Given this, it seems difficult to understand how there could have been any confusion as to whether or not the PBO included operating costs within its estimate. Second, over the past few weeks, it has become clear that the Department of National Defence provided the PBO with figures that did not include all operating costs. The PBO understood that it had been provided with full life cycle costs from DND as required by the House of Commons Standing Committee on Finance in its November 1, 2010 motion.

Official Languages committee  I would also like to point out that in the past the government had a timeline for it, but we changed that. The government now has an ongoing commitment to the fund. It is a clear and firm commitment to protect periodicals throughout the regions of Canada when it comes to official languages. As you know, the goal is to ensure Canadians have access to magazines and newspapers which are not dailies, and this includes official language minority community publications.

Environment committee  So that's why as government we have a responsibility to protect Canadians, to make sure that what Canadians have is something that will really work. And that's the legacy of this government under Prime Minister Stephen Harper; it's a legacy of keeping his promises and getting it done. Referring to Bill C-377, clause 10, we had a comment. And I believe that every member of this committee has a passion for the environment.

Human Rights  Mr. Speaker, the hon. member raises a whole range of public policy issues that it may or may not be appropriate to get into at some point. One issue he raised, for instance, was the organ issue. This is a decision not taken by the political wing of the government but taken by those who have regulatory responsibility.

Afghanistan  Mr. Speaker, because long before Bucharest our allies were made aware of the position of the Government of Canada and of Parliament on the matter in Afghanistan. They understand exactly the position of the Government of Canada. They do not need to ask.

Afghanistan  Mr. Speaker, before the NATO summit in Bucharest, the government had already indicated to our allies that the parliamentary resolution constituted the government's policy and we will pursue that policy.

Heritage Buildings  Mr. Speaker, the armoury, built in 1887, is one of the most important historic monuments in Quebec City. My office has already contacted the office of the mayor of Quebec City. We have indicated that we are determined to explore every possibility to rebuild this building, which is such a wonderful illustration of the proud military history of Quebec City.

Seal Hunters  Mr. Speaker, I have already said yes to the other question. The Leader of the Opposition should accept that answer. In the meantime, the government has already indicated that there will be a number of investigations into this incident. It is an immense tragedy. These investigations will be independent and the results will be made public.

Member for Newton—Delta North  Speaker, the Prime Minister claims he was unaware of negotiations between his office and opposition MPs. Yet the records show that his chief of staff and his health minister make it clear that the Prime Minister wanted to meet with the member for Newton—North Delta. How can the Prime Minister say that he was unaware when he was prepared to meet with the member for Newton—North Delta the evening before the vote?

Member for Newton—Delta North  Speaker, I think the records will show that Mr. Kalia is no third party. He was speaking on behalf of the government. It is quite clear from the records that the government was prepared to make offers to members in the House in exchange for their vote. Is the Prime Minister denying that the voices on these tapes are those of his chief of staff and his health minister?

Citizenship and Immigration committee  Part of it, from our perspective, is the importance of identifying individuals who are claiming refugee status and understanding who those individuals are and what their past is all about. It's an issue of safety. Let me be clear. In the last decade this has made up less than 0.5% of what our refugee system is all about. When we talk about a refugee system overall—you pointed it out, and I'm proud to hear that even as far away as Australia, Canada is considered to have one of the best refugee and immigration systems in the world—it doesn't mean that we are fixed or we shouldn't be improving it.

House debate  Anyone in the House who thinks that responsible development of natural resources has not been a feature of this country's growth, progress and advancement over centuries is misreading the history of this country. I will make one point clear. We will ensure that Canadians have enough time to adjust their retirement plans so they can adapt to any changes to OAS. We will also work to ensure that federal income support programs aligned to age 65 are changed so that Canadians are not adversely affected.