Protection of Canada from Terrorists Act  Mr. Speaker, I listened with interest to the parliamentary secretary's speech on this legislation. We on this side of the House have said that we support the bill in principle, but we have concerns about the details in the bill, in particular its granting of additional powers to CSIS without strengthening accountability measures.

Protection of Canada from Terrorists Act  Mr. Speaker, with all due respect to the minister, I think there are a couple of things in his statement that may inadvertently mislead the public. One is that the government likes to talk about six hours of debate. How many people does that actually accommodate in the House of Commons?

Protection of Canada from Terrorists Act  Mr. Speaker, once again I am disappointed in the government's attitude. As I have said before in this House, it seems that the government regards debate as something it has to suffer through until it gets its way, instead of an exchange of ideas that are important not only to improve legislation but also to let Canadians know what issues are at stake here in the House of Commons.

Energy Safety and Security Act  Mr. Speaker, the fact that there are only two and a half minutes remaining to debate this bill really does illustrate the point that many members have made on our side. The government has now used time allocation 80 times. It shows that what I want to say about this bill will not get into the record today.

Veterans Affairs  Mr. Speaker, the relationship between Conservatives and veterans has deteriorated dramatically, precisely because of the government's ongoing failures when it comes to veterans. Most serious is the systematic failure to deal fairly with disabled veterans. The Canadian Coalition of Veterans says that members will not participate in government photo ops or be quoted in news releases until veterans are better treated by Ottawa.

Energy Safety and Security  Mr. Speaker, I listened with interest to the member's comments on this bill. I know that he and his party are great advocates of the free market. I wonder why, in this case, they are putting forward a bill that relieves the nuclear industry of some of the pressures of the free market by, in a sense, subsidizing the risks involved in that industry.

Protection of Canada from Terrorists Act  Mr. Speaker, the hon. minister's question contains about seven questions, and I am not sure I have time to answer all of them. When it comes to his reference to us not supporting the budget, this is one case when it is the opposite of the Conservative rhetoric. We did not support the Conservative budget that cut funding for the RCMP, CSIS, and the CBSA.

Protection of Canada from Terrorists Act  Mr. Speaker, I thank the hon. member for Alfred-Pellan for her remarks and for the work she does as the NDP deputy public safety critic. She is a vigilant and hard-working member of our committee and of the NDP team. She makes an important point. Right now, in the public safety committee, we are dealing with Bill C-2, the safe injection sites bill, which of course really belongs in the health committee, but it is in our committee.

Protection of Canada from Terrorists Act  Mr. Speaker, as I have stated very clearly, New Democrats are going to support this bill going to committee so we can ask very serious questions about these things. On the question of protecting the identities of CSIS sources, many people have said there may be an unintended consequence.

Protection of Canada from Terrorists Act  Mr. Speaker, I too enjoy working with the member for Malpeque on the public safety committee. The question New Democrats are asking is the broad, general question about whether there are things that already exist in terms of the government's powers, things it already could be doing and should be doing beyond simply asking for new legislation each time we confront one of these problems.

Protection of Canada from Terrorists Act  Mr. Speaker, we have not been to committee yet to have these discussions. New Democrats are being optimistic that we will have full discussions at that level, but it is very clear that, since 2003, there have been repeated recommendations that we need to strengthen the accountability measures that go along with the powers to enforce legislation to guarantee national security.

Protection of Canada from Terrorists Act  Mr. Speaker, as this may be my last opportunity to speak to the House before Remembrance Day, I really look forward to these Remembrance Day services. I know all members of Parliament are. We expect to be joined by record crowds of Canadians this year. Unfortunately, this year, we have two new names to add to the Canadian heroes who have given their life in service to Canada.

Protection of Canada from Terrorists Act  Mr. Speaker, I listened with interest to the minister's speech on the bill, but we on this side have been very clear that we think Canadians want protection both of public safety and of civil liberties, and I did not hear anything about civil liberties protection in the minister's speech.

Public Safety  Mr. Speaker, as the government rushes to respond to the events of last week with more legislation, one thing remains clear. Canadians expect that any new legislation should improve public safety and protect civil liberties. Inadequate oversight of our intelligence agencies continues to be a major concern.

Public Safety  Mr. Speaker, as we consider how to respond to last week's terrible events, one thing is clear. We need an approach that protects both public safety and our civil liberties. Today, the Information and Privacy Commissioners issued a joint statement underlining this fact. Will the government listen to their recommendations and ensure that any new legislation contains new and effective oversight for our intelligence agencies?