Budget Implementation Act, 2017, No. 1  Madam Speaker, I would just point out that in the last two election campaigns, in 2011 and 2015, the Liberals clearly promised to set a cap on how much can be claimed through the stock option deduction, but they backtracked on that promise once they were in power. Why did the government decide to renege on its promise to eliminate the tax loophole associated with stock options for CEOs in budget 2017?

Petitions  Mr. Speaker, I rise to present a petition from the residents of British Columbia, who point out that mountain caribou are designated as an endangered species under the Species at Risk Act, that the provincial crown lands adjacent to Wells Gray Provincial Park in the Clearwater Valley have been designated as critical habitat for that species, and that British Columbia is continuing to allow this critical habitat to be logged.

Department of Public Works and Government Services Act  moved for leave to introduce Bill C-354, An Act to amend the Department of Public Works and Government Services Act (use of wood). Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank my colleague from Kootenay—Columbia for seconding the bill. The bill calls on the government to give preference to construction with wood when building infrastructure, balancing those decisions on the relative costs of various building materials and the savings in greenhouse gas emissions that those materials might produce.

Petitions  Mr. Speaker, I rise today to present a petition from some British Columbia citizens who are concerned about the mountain caribou population in the Clearwater Valley of British Columbia. The southern mountain population of caribou is listed as endangered under the federal Species at Risk Act, and provincial crown lands in the Clearwater Valley are designated as critical habitat.

Forestry Industry  Mr. Speaker, last week I attended the Council of Forest Industries' convention in Vancouver and I heard concerns about the softwood lumber negotiations. Canada's chief negotiator said that this issue does knot appear to be front of mind for the new U.S. administration. We also heard that Canada needs to engage American businesses that would be hurt by higher lumber prices to press their government for fair treatment of the Canadian forest industry.

Canadian Broadcasting Corporation Privatization Act  Mr. Speaker, while I am disappointed that we are speaking about privatization of the CBC today, I am very happy to take this opportunity to strongly oppose this bill and support the continued existence of a stronger publicly owned and publicly funded CBC. I have a strong history with the CBC.

Business of Supply  Mr. Speaker, I want to change the subject from air travel and go back to the budget and the huge deficits that Canadian taxpayers are facing over the next decade. The Conservatives cut corporate income taxes by over one-third over a six-year period. The parliamentary budget officer found that these cuts were costing the Canadian taxpayer $12 billion a year.

Food and Drugs Act  Mr. Speaker, I am happy to speak today to Bill C-291, a bill that would require the labelling of food products made from genetically modified organisms, or GMOs. I want to start by acknowledging the work and mentorship of Alex Atamanenko, who served as MP for British Columbia Southern Interior for almost a decade.

National Security and Intelligence Committee of Parliamentarians Act  Mr. Speaker, I asked this question earlier of a Conservative member but I would like to see what the response is from the other side of the aisle. Members of the committee would have to take an oath of secrecy. They would have to be cleared for top secret information. They would have to be aware that they could be charged under the law if there is any breach, and yet they would not be given the same access to information that members of other security committees in Canada, such as SIRC, are given.

National Security and Intelligence Committee of Parliamentarians Act  Mr. Speaker, could the member comment on the fact that although every member of this committee will have to have top secret clearance, will have to swear a permanent oath of secrecy, and will have to waive their immunity to prosecution based on any breach, but despite this, these members will not have the same access to the sensitive information that existing committees in Canada such as SIRC already have?

National Security and Intelligence Committee of Parliamentarians Act  Mr. Speaker, I was wondering if the parliamentary secretary could comment on the fact that the government is insisting that the chair of this committee not be elected by the members of the committee itself, as is done in other committees like this in the United Kingdom, the United States, and elsewhere.

The Environment  Mr. Speaker, for 10 long years, Stephen Harper received dozens of fossil awards. To be clear, they were ironic. Now the current Prime Minister is taking it to another level. Yesterday, a crowd of global oil and gas executives in Houston awarded the Prime Minister a true fossil award, an award for the approval of pipelines without the social licence that he said would be needed during the last election.

First Things First  Mr. Speaker, five years ago, Penticton resident Fred Ritchie became concerned about the issue of climate change. He called a few friends, and half a dozen of us ended up sitting around his table. Before the meeting was over, we had formed an informal group that we called First Things First, because climate change was clearly the problem the world had to solve before anything else.

Business of Supply  Madam Speaker, I could go on and on about birds, but I'll try to be succinct. Yes, there are certain impacts that renewable energy projects have on birds, but we have done a lot of studies on this and we know how we can mitigate that. We know how we can operate wind farms to really reduce those losses, and some of the losses that the member mentioned were from years ago.

Business of Supply  Madam Speaker, on photosynthesis and carbon dioxide, we have long passed the time, years and years ago, when all the trees and plants in the world could take up the carbon dioxide we are producing; and that is what is causing this. The carbon dioxide levels are increasing in the atmosphere, we have the greenhouse effect, and the world is warming.