Auditor General Act  Madam Speaker, I want to commend and compliment my colleague and friend from Repentigny. I sit with the member on the auditing committee of the House and I know of his passion for this issue. I find it surprising that the Liberal member talked about the fact that we might impugn the motives of the chartered accountancy firms.

Canada Labour Code  Madam Speaker, we in the NDP are pleased to see that minority government is working once again for the people of Canada. This review is important, timely and one that we support. We also support and applaud the appointment of Professor Arthurs. He is a well-renowned, respected individual who we believe will serve the people well.

Canada Labour Code  Hope springs eternal. It has happened before. I was there. However, at the very least, hopefully it will be a minority situation where the kind of pressures that force the government to take the action today that it is taking will also be there to put pressure on it to actually enact the legislation.

Department of Social Development Act  Mr. Speaker, I do not know that I have the answer to the question from the Bloc member. However, it certainly is the central question that needs to be asked when we are dealing with child poverty. It is an area that I did not have time to get into, but our arguments are similar in that we are making the point that we are a rich nation.

Department of Social Development Act  Mr. Speaker, to the best of my knowledge, and again I stand to be corrected, it is still happening. We have had a shift in government, but it is still happening. What perplexed us, and at that time we were the third party in the House, was the deafening silence that came from this place.

Department of Social Development Act  Yes, Mr. Speaker, I do know what LICO is. It is “low income cut-off”. I understand how all of that works. But before I go there, I want to talk about the member's preamble. It is worse than I thought. By the way, Mr. Speaker, I do accept the member correcting me. If the member says that is the wording, I accept that and I stand corrected.

Department of Social Development Act  Absolutely, Mr. Speaker, and I very much appreciate your say in it, because as I said from the beginning and all the way through, it is directed to Bill C-22, very much so. The speeches from the government side of the House have talked about what a wonderful benefit this is going to be to Canadians.

Department of Social Development Act  I will make it louder for the member because when it comes to child poverty, I will be heard. Every New Democrat will be as loud as they can everywhere they can. The fact of the matter is--

Department of Social Development Act  Mr. Speaker, I appreciate the opportunity to join in the debate. As previous government speakers have mentioned, Bill C-22 is pretty much housekeeping. We do not claim to try to characterize it as anything less than that, but it is certainly nothing more. I spend time on the reality of the work that should be done at the national level to ensure we do not have the kinds of poverty we see in Canada.

Canada Labour Code  I hear the member asking if I said that. This is called exploitation. That is what this is about. There are people inside that bus who are just as frightened about their future and their ability to provide for their kids. All of these things are created by allowing this situation to continue.

Canada Labour Code  Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to join in the debate today. I will begin by complimenting my Bloc Québécois colleague from Louis-Hébert on introducing Bill C-263. As my colleague and whip from Acadie—Bathurst has said, our caucus is four-square behind this. It was not a good sign to hear from the Liberals, but I want to say to the hon. member that the NDP will be there this time, next time and every time it takes until this becomes the law of the land.

Supply  Mr. Speaker, I cannot believe that after the debates we have had here today, the hon. member stands up and hands out such gibberish. I truly do not understand the point the hon. member is trying to make. If things were as straightforward and linear as he likes to make them, we would not need laws.

Supply  Mr. Speaker, the member raised a number of things. First, he talked about the lowest possible levels. Yes, I shortened that to use the word “ban”. If we read the material that has been provided, we see that the lowest possible level is de facto, a banning. Therefore, we are saying that we get as low as we possibly can.

Supply  Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to finish off my remarks today. Then my colleague will pick up with the other 10 minutes. In my remaining time, I would like to focus on the comments made by my colleague from Churchill, which are germane to this debate. She talked about the fact that for the most part Canadians, like people in many countries, are awfully confused about what was healthy and what was not healthy.

Supply  Mr. Speaker, I will be sharing my time with the member for Nanaimo--Cowichan. I appreciate the opportunity to join in this debate today. A couple of my colleagues mentioned earlier that members of our caucus were not necessarily gung-ho that this should be one of our lead issues, particularly on an opposition day since we do not get that many of them.