Standing up for Victims of White Collar Crime Act  From now on, when faced with a fraudulent scheme designed to steal pensions from poor people, we will have specific provisions under which minimum sentences can be imposed. This will send a clear message that stealing from our retirees will not be tolerated. In Quebec, 9,800 retirees lost money because of an individual named Vincent Lacroix, who was sold a company by my own government's Caisse de dépôt et placement.

Standing up for Victims of White Collar Crime Act  Every single member of the Conservative Party and every single member of that Conservative government knows that the official opposition supports the bill. We supported it in the last session of the 40th Parliament. We made it clear. We were very public about our support. So for any member of the Conservative Party to rise in this House, or outside of the House, and claim that the opposition is opposing this bill or holding up this bill is simply an untruth.

Standing up for Victims of White Collar Crime Act  Committee members came to an agreement that judges should write restitution orders. I would like to reread an excerpt from my speech so that it is clear. However, in the version amended by the House of Commons' Standing Committee on Justice and Human Rights that we currently have before us, Bill C-21 now only—this word is important—requires a judge to provide reasons for not ordering restitution where the victim has made an application for it.

Public Safety committee  He also said: “If this committee can find something that will address the concern of multiple offenders taking advantage of the system...it would be worthwhile for the committee to consider.” So we have two clear indications from the minister himself that further consideration is not only beneficial but welcome. I think they were wise comments on behalf of the minister, and that's why I think we do need to have at least another couple of sessions so that we can make sure we hear from everybody, all the stakeholder groups, to have that consideration that the minister talked about that I think is important before we change the laws of Canada.

Subcommittee on Neurological Disease committee  I just wanted to say that that's precisely why we are taking care, as we develop the case definition for the autism surveillance program, to ensure that it's scientifically sound and reliable and that we can in fact replicate and use those measures to get a better sense of the true prevalence of autism in the country. What we've heard loud and clear from stakeholders is that there's a huge information gap in Canada around autism prevalence and that this needs to be filled, but it needs to be done in a very scientific manner.

Subcommittee on Neurological Disease committee  But we don't know the prevalence of epilepsy, or the prevalence of cerebral palsy, or the prevalence of autism, or the prevalence of Tourette's syndrome because we don't have systems to collect that and we don't have clear definitions, as has been said repeatedly.

Petitions  The military mission has cost Canadians more than $18 billion so far, money that could have been used to improve health care and seniors' pensions right here in Canada. Polls show that a clear majority of Canadians do not want Canada's military presence to continue after the scheduled removal date of July 2011. Therefore, the petitioners call on the Prime Minister to honour the will of Parliament and bring the troops home now.

Status of Women committee  First of all, the resolution health support program does not have the mandate to replace the Aboriginal Healing Foundation projects. That's clear. However, we have a mandate to serve former students and their family members as they are going through the settlement agreement processes and provide mental health and emotional support services.

Subcommittee on Neurological Disease committee  Further to what I was saying about jurisdiction, I think one thing that's important to make clear when I say that treatment funding is provincial in nature is that families across the country are not getting the help they need. There's no question. There are some places where families are going into lotteries to determine whether they should get treatment or not, and that can't happen.

Agriculture committee  I think Mr. Easter knows this, but he's playing politics with the issue, and I think he needs to be clear how the money is actually allocated. This year our government is providing a record amount, $11.7 billion, in science and technology. This of course is going to create jobs. It's going to improve the quality of life for Canadians.

Subcommittee on Neurological Disease committee  In terms of the timeframe for the development of the surveillance system, there are a couple of things that need to happen and that will happen very shortly in order for us to be more clear on how close we are, and that is the meeting of our scientific advisory committee, which is currently in the process of being finalized. That committee will help us determine whether we have the case definition for surveillance correct.

Official Languages committee  Yes, but if that person needed to call an ambulance, for instance, perhaps the emergency services— That being said, it has been resolved and we have made sure that very clear instructions are sent so that the family can choose the language of their family caregiver. However, to understand clearly, when this is being considered, the goal is to ensure that these people can be served in the event of an emergency and that they can get the children to the hospital.

Official Languages committee  The instructions are clear. People need to be able to speak one of the two official languages and that has to correspond to the family's needs.

Status of Women committee  Okay, quickly, there is no doubt that the determinants of health have a very important impact on health. That's very clear. There have been studies on that, and certainly Health Canada is very seized with the fact that we don't control the determinants of health. They're outside of our control; they're controlled basically by everything else.

Status of Women committee  I know it encompasses my colleague's colleague at Indian Affairs who is responsible for family violence. So there is a clear strategy, and work is being done there on an interdepartmental basis. On programs for young women, I referred to the fact that in our national aboriginal youth suicide prevention strategy we are working closely with the Native Women's Association of Canada on one project related to Daughter Spirit.