Liberation of the Netherlands  Madam Speaker, the largest official delegation of Canadian veterans ever, representatives of veterans organizations, youth, and War Amps Operation Legacy are in the Netherlands from May 1 to May 10 to participate in events commemorating the 60th anniversary of the liberation of the Netherlands.

Veterans Affairs  Mr. Speaker, shortly the Minister of Veterans Affairs will be introducing a new veterans charter in the House. I rise today to pay tribute to the veterans organizations that have brought some of their members from across the country to take part in this memorable day. They are: Mary Ann Burdett, Dominion President, the Royal Canadian Legion; Pierre Allard, Director, Service Bureau, the Royal Canadian Legion; Ken Henderson, Dominion President, the Army, Navy and Air Force Veterans in Canada; Lorne McCartney, Secretary-Treasurer, the Army, Navy and Air Force Veterans in Canada; Brian Forbes, Honorary Secretary-General, the National Council of Veterans Associations; Cliff Chadderton, Chairman of the National Council of Veterans Associations and also the Dean of the heads of veterans organizations; Bob McKinnon, past National President of Gulf War Veterans Association; Dave Munro, National President, Canadian Peacekeeping Veterans Association; Harold Leduc, past National President, Canadian Peacekeeping Veterans Association; Gaètan Martel, National President, Canadian Association of Veterans in United Nations Peacekeeping; and Don Ethell, past National President, Canadian Association of Veterans in United Nations Peacekeeping.

Skiing  Mr. Speaker, I rise today to pay tribute to North Bay native, Steve Omischl, who just last week captured the gold medal for the world freestyle ski championship in Ruka, Finland. Steve performed two jumps in the event, including a quad-twisting triple somersault, which Steve claimed was the best he had ever done.

Arts and Culture  Mr. Speaker, I rise today to pay tribute to Judith Fitzgerald, an acclaimed writer and poet who currently resides in northern Ontario's Almaguin Highlands. Judith Fitzgerald is a writer of complex poems, a literary journalist and a biographer of Marshall McLuhan and Leonard Cohen.

Veterans Affairs  Mr. Speaker, today is Valentine's Day and across this country, Canadians are once again remembering our nation's veterans. As part of the Valentines for Vets program, Veterans Affairs Canada has received more than 4,000 valentine greetings which have been forwarded to veterans in long term care facilities.

National Defence  Mr. Speaker, could the government please update the House on the status of the search and rescue operation now underway in the Baltic Sea for Canadian Forces Leading Seaman Robert Leblanc?

Raymond Klibansky Prize  Mr. Speaker, Dr. Steven High, a history professor at Nipissing University in my riding, was recently awarded the Raymond Klibansky Prize. This award is presented annually by the Canadian Federation for the Humanities and Social Sciences. Professor High's book Industrial Sunset: The Making of North America's Rust Belt, 1969 to 1984 was deemed to be the best English language book in the humanities.

Global Positioning System  Mr. Speaker, a new instructional manual and DVD developed in my riding will help solve the learning dilemma for many global positioning system users. A book entitled, What Do Those Numbers Mean Anyway? , written by Bill Steer, has recently been published by the Canadian Ecology Centre Foundation.

Veterans Affairs  Mr. Speaker, the government's veterans independence program has been providing home care, housekeeping and groundskeeping services for veterans for two decades. Last year the program was extended to provide these services to surviving primary caregivers for life. Unfortunately many deserving widows were left out because of the time of death of their veteran.

Agriculture  Mr. Chair, from what I can understand the member from across the way is asking me to comment on a specific case that I have no knowledge of. He keeps asking for an application. There is no application. The loan is being worked on with a lending institution. I do not think the government is going to be in the business of lending the money or guaranteeing the loan.

Agriculture  Mr. Chair, once again, as mentioned earlier, there are no loan applications. The government is working with lending institutions to help these organizations get off the ground. We are very willing to work with these institutions to get things going. This is a cooperative model.

Agriculture  Mr. Chair, I am pleased to have the opportunity to speak in the House on such an important issue. Without a doubt, BSE has affected every Canadian in one way or another. Certainly once Canadians found out about a cow testing positive for BSE the public sought assurances that their food supply was still safe.

Mental Illness  Mr. Speaker, an unfortunate accident 14 years ago forced North Bay resident Dave Gallson, now the program director for the National Network for Mental Health, to face new realities, work through mental health issues and change his profession. He created the BUILT Network: Building Up Individuals Through Learning and Teamwork.