Canada Labour Code  Madam Speaker, the minister talked about consultation with unions, but I would like to know if she talked to anyone other than union leadership. That has been a cozy relationship. She met with the Teamsters several times, the American Federation of Labor, and some of the biggest unions in Canada, but has she actually talked to union members?

Business of Supply  Mr. Speaker, I want to congratulate the hon. member on her position as Parliamentary Secretary for Status of Women. As I said earlier, I had an opportunity to serve on that committee. It was one of the most rewarding experiences I have had as a parliamentarian and we were able to accomplish a great deal on that committee: STEM projects, attracting women to skilled trades, and those kinds of initiatives.

Business of Supply  Mr. Speaker, it is quite clear the member is very passionate about this issue, and that is great to see. I think all of us in this place would agree that this is a very important issue for all of to discuss. I had an opportunity to be a member of the status of women committee during my time here.

Ethics  Mr. Speaker, it was immediately addressed because they got caught. The government House leader said last week, when these illegal donations from big unions first came to light, that the Liberals followed the letter of the law. That is simply not the case. We have a document from the union itself that states the Prime Minister's own campaign team asked specifically for union members to be props in this Liberal campaign event.

Ethics  Mr. Speaker, they may have paid back the one, but did they pay back the other two? The Liberals did not just hold one campaign event; they held at least three. On August 27, the Prime Minister held an event with the International Union of Operating Engineers in Oakville. On October 8, he held an event with the Carpenters' District Council in Vaughan.

Business of Supply  Madam Speaker, I certainly did not say that our Conservative government was a failure when it came to the natural resource sector. If anything, we were a success story. We built four pipelines during our 10 years in government—four not zero. Yesterday the Liberal government pretty much stood up to the resource sector and said that it would be building zero pipelines during its term.

Business of Supply  Madam Speaker, the misnomer about the energy east project is that it is all about Alberta and Quebec. The fact is that this is a project that will impact Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Ontario, Quebec, and the Atlantic provinces. This is a project that will bring $55 billion over its 20-year lifespan to the Canadian economy.

Ethics  Mr. Speaker, it is obvious that the minister is confused about where her priorities should be. Why? It has come to light today that the Liberals received illegal union donations during the election. This morning, the minister was repaying her union friends. She announced the Liberals have made it their priority to remove accountability and transparency from government.

Labour  Mr. Speaker, what is very clear is why the Liberals' priority is to reward union leadership. Just today, we found out that the unions illegally donated to the Liberals' campaign. It is no wonder that the Liberals want to hide this information from Canadians by repealing legislation that imposes transparency and accountability on union members.

Business of Supply  Mr. Speaker, nowhere in my speech did I say that we were going to bypass consultation or the regulatory regime. I said that we had one of the best regulatory regimes in the entire world. In fact, we are ranked in the top 10 oil producing countries, according to the World Energy Council and the recent report from the Canadian Association for Petroleum Producers.

Business of Supply  Mr. Speaker, I want to thank my colleague from Regina—Qu'Appelle for sharing his time with me. I have to say, it was a long day yesterday as I watched the announcement from the Minister of the Environment and the Minister of Natural Resources.. I was eager to see some glimmer of hope that the Liberal government now understood the significance of the energy industry to Canada's economy and the crisis that is going on in our energy industry right now, especially in Alberta.

The Economy  Mr. Speaker, contrary to what the Liberals may believe, Alberta is facing an economic crisis. It is losing jobs at a rate we have not seen before or since, ironically, the Liberals introduced the national energy program in the 1980s. When asked about these job losses, the member for Calgary Centre sounded like a Liberal from the 1980s.

Resumption of Debate on Address in Reply  Mr. Speaker, I am glad the member asked that question. I had the opportunity to meet with several business leaders from the oil and gas sector last week in Calgary. It was interesting. We talked about the Prime Minister's pledge to give $1 billion to Alberta to help in this time of need, which is really just a drop in the bucket.

Resumption of Debate on Address in Reply  Mr. Speaker, it is very interesting that the member says the Liberal government is in support of natural resources and understands how important they are to Canada's economy. That is certainly not the message that was received from the Prime Minister when he was in Davos last week.

Resumption of Debate on Address in Reply  Mr. Speaker, it is great to see the hon. member in the House. Talking about energy east, for example, this is a pipeline that already exists, is already in the ground. The vast majority of this infrastructure is already there. It is already used for natural gas; this is not something new.