Millennium Development Goals  Mr. Speaker, Charlotte Côté and Camille Desrochers-Laflamme, two individuals I greatly admire for their social involvement, came to my riding office to give me a petition asking the Government of Canada to fully participate in meeting the millennium development goals. These young students from École d'éducation internationale de McMasterville took the initiative to start this petition and collected no less than 450 signatures as part of the International Day for the Eradication of Poverty on October 17.

Ending the Long-gun Registry Act  Mr. Speaker, my colleague referred to people who are being treated like criminals. Yet people will pay for licences to drive their boats and they will pay registration fees. They do the same thing for their cars. Those people do not feel like criminals. People use those things in their everyday lives.

Ending the Long-gun Registry Act  Madam Speaker, I am pleased that the hon. member mentioned the tragic events at the École Polytechnique. They are etched into the collective memory of Quebeckers and, for many, they are one of the reasons this registry was created in the first place. This registry is extremely important to Quebec and, mere days ago, the Prime Minister stated that his respect for the provinces is one aspect of good governance.

Ending the Long-gun Registry Act  Madam Speaker, the positions may be clear, but the goal of a debate is not only to describe a position but also to explain why one espouses it. Although this debate has been going on for a long time, as the minister pointed out, many things have changed. For example, the government did not say that it would destroy the information in the registry instead of transferring it to the provinces.

The Economy  Mr. Speaker, although all Canadians are feeling the adverse effects of economic uncertainty, students are also being hit hard by the high rate of unemployment and an average student debt in excess of $25,000 and rising. Using the excuse that the Conservatives are doing better than the previous government is insulting.

Post-Secondary Education  Mr. Speaker, obviously, the minister needs to do her homework. The reality is that tuition fees have never been higher, and by 2013, student debt will be more than $15 billion. The government is pushing an entire generation to the brink of bankruptcy. Will the government finally take measures to reduce the burden of student debt by developing an education transfer for the provinces?

House debate  Mr. Speaker, I would quickly like to remind my colleague that we did not intend to criticize the Canadian armed forces. The first mayor I spoke with after the election was the mayor of Saint-Basile-le-Grand, Mr. Bernard Gagnon. He reiterated some points, with which I was very much in agreement, such as the fact that members of the Canadian armed forces did an exceptional job helping the victims.

House debate  Mr. Speaker, I am very honoured to continue on with the question regarding the flooding that affected my region so much back in May and June. The question being asked at the time was whether our soldiers would help us with the cleanup. I would like to point out that the people of Chambly—Borduas, including myself, owe a debt of gratitude to the soldiers who helped us.

Business of Supply  Madam Speaker, I want to thank my colleague for his speech. I liked what he said about investing in infrastructure, which is strongly linked to the economy and the unemployment rate. For example, this summer when I met the mayors in my riding, the mayor of Saint-Mathias-sur-Richelieu, a bedroom community, told me there was a lot of vandalism in his community and that the young people were causing a lot of problems.

Otterburn Boating Club  Mr. Speaker, I would like to recognize the outstanding performance of the members of the Otterburn Boating Club who won a number of medals and set a new record at the Canadian championships, which were held this summer in Welland, Ontario. I would like to congratulate Sarah-Jane Caumartin, who won no fewer than seven medals—three gold, three silver and one bronze.

Service Canada  Mr. Speaker, our seniors deserve better. By significantly reducing the services offered at Service Canada centres, the Conservative government is showing no consideration whatsoever for our seniors. Apparently, according to the minister, anyone who cannot communicate with Service Canada over the Internet is unworthy of the 21st century.

Preventing Human Smugglers from Abusing Canada's Immigration System Act  Madam Speaker, I would like to quickly come back to a comment made by my colleague across the floor. He said that human trafficking presents a minimal risk. This raises the question as to why they are introducing even more arbitrary and draconian bills, when instead we could be enforcing existing measures better to end human trafficking, without penalizing refugees.

Restoring Mail Delivery for Canadians Act  Madam Speaker, I make no claim to fully understand the intentions behind the bill, but I know that in the present situation the workers are indeed trying to defend their pensions, their wages and their needs. For them, it is very important to be able to have access to these tools.

Restoring Mail Delivery for Canadians Act  Madam Speaker, I thank the minister for his congratulations. I am very pleased to hear him acknowledge my passion for these matters. At the present time, passion is indeed what is needed. To answer his question, I will say that it is quite simple. As the New Democratic members have said since the start of this debate, a union functions democratically.

Restoring Mail Delivery for Canadians Act  Madam Speaker, since we do not have the same concept of time in the House right now, I would like to follow up on what I was saying this morning. I was telling the story of a teacher who, although not in the same situation as the one Canada Post workers are currently in, said she was scared of the precedent this would set and the domino effect it will have.