House debate  Madam Speaker, on November 4, I asked the Minister of the Environment why the government seemed to be shutting off funding for the Lake Superior binational program and I received a dismissive answer. The minister's answer called into question the information I had received from Lake Superior Binational Forum members, while leaving some faint hope that the funding would appear at the 11th hour.

Business of Supply  Mr. Speaker, I am glad I heard the member talk about the funding increases that are needed, but he also indicated that the government will continue to review the recommendations. We need action and not reviews all the time. We have studies, national panels and reports, but no action.

Business of Supply  Mr. Speaker, I am sure that being a teacher my colleague fully understands the intent of lifelong learning. Earlier the member for Desnethé—Missinippi—Churchill River talked about portable classrooms not only being in first nations communities. If members have ever been in a first nation community and have seen those portables, they would know why they are such an issue.

Business of Supply  Mr. Speaker, I will comment on a question that was just posed and a comment just made about the member for Timmins—James Bay. Both the Liberals and Conservatives have continually failed to address the issues in Attawapiskat and the only person who has really been bringing those issues forward has been the member for Timmins—James Bay.

Business of Supply  Mr. Speaker, I really appreciate my colleague's speech. It certainly has given us some hope that as opposed to dusting off reports and having study after study, hopefully we will see an increase in funding for first nations education in the budget. Maybe he could elaborate on that for us.

Business of Supply  Madam Speaker, Regional Chief Toulouse has certainly been working very hard with our first nations communities in addressing treaty rights. Until that is dealt with, I think we will continue having these challenges. I will quickly reiterate a statement that Chief Angus Toulouse made when he appeared before the standing committee.

Business of Supply  Madam Speaker, of course the provinces play an important role in education. On this matter in particular, we need to ensure there is proper consultation with first nations with respect to their needs for education. If they believe that is working in conjunction with the provinces, then I think they will take those necessary steps.

Business of Supply  Madam Speaker, I will be sharing my time with the member for Timmins—James Bay who has been a true advocate on first nations issues. I am proud to speak to this motion today on a subject that is of vital importance to the people of my riding, the first nations and Canada. The motion, if I were to sum it up in a word or two, speaks to opportunity.

Financial System Review Act  Mr. Speaker, I listened intently to my colleague who spoke about the importance this will have for jobs, but the government is actually reducing jobs at Service Canada, the department that helps Canadians who find themselves unemployed at this time. We have known for quite some time about the sunset clause, so why is it that the government took so long to send this bill to committee?

Financial System Review Act  Mr. Speaker, my colleague talked about the fact this bill was actually introduced in the Senate. Here, the question of transparency is something that we on this side of the House and members of the general public are always asking ourselves about. Was this important bill tabled in the House via the Senate because the Conservative government was trying to avoid transparency?

Pensions  Mr. Speaker, we voted against it because it did not get the job done for seniors. Let me tell the House about a constituent of mine. He receives about $1,000 a month in CPP disability, but this will be slashed when he turns 65, when OAS is supposed to kick in. If he has to wait until he is 67, he will lose close to $600 a month for two full years, and he is not alone.

Justice  Mr. Speaker, women across Canada today are facing the return of a battle we all hoped had ended years ago. The Conservative member for Kitchener Centre is reopening the debate on a woman's right to choose. Canadian women see this for what it is, an attack on our reproductive rights and on our bodies.

Business of Supply  Mr. Speaker, I have been listening to the speeches all day and we hear the government side talking about fairness. If it is about fairness, what is so fair about giving $6 billion of corporate tax cuts to the biggest corporations, like banks and big oil companies? We know that big corporate tax cuts do not create a single job.

Pensions  Mr. Speaker, New Democrats have been stating loud and clear that we need to lift more seniors out of poverty. In last spring's election we presented to Canadians specific proposals to do just that, but it is becoming apparent that the Conservatives hid their plan to attack pensions.

Pooled Registered Pension Plans Act  Mr. Speaker, members on that side of the House do not want healthy debate to look at the pitfalls of any legislation they may put forward. We have debate in the House to ensure that, if there are any pitfalls or problematic areas, we can look at fixing those. This registered pension plan is another tool but, at the end of the day, is it really what we need?