Child Care  Mr. Speaker, as a former page of the House of Commons myself, I would like to begin by welcoming the new cohort of pages that we are lucky to have here with us. I thank the member for Willowdale for his hard work on behalf of his constituents. Our plan will give Canadian children the best possible start in life and provide support to families who need it most.

Employment Insurance  Mr. Speaker, everyone in the House is sorry to hear about the difficult situations workers and families are facing. The employment insurance system is meant to help these families. I invite the member to forward all the relevant information to my department so that families and workers can get the services and benefits they need.

Main Estimates, 2017-18  moved: That Vote 1, in the amount of $129,915,146, under Privy Council Office — Program expenditures, in the Main Estimates for the fiscal year ending March 31, 2018, be concurred in.

Family, Children and Social Development  Mr. Speaker, congratulations to our new colleague from Markham—Thornhill for her outstanding support to families. Investing in early learning and child care helps strengthen Canada's middle class and supports those working hard to join it. Yesterday, for the first time ever, the federal government, provinces, and territories signed a national agreement on child care to better support Canadian families, to give Canadian children the best possible start in life, to increase gender equity, and to build a more inclusive society.

Families, Children and Social Development  Mr. Speaker, I am delighted to be given the opportunity by our colleague to say how honoured and privileged I was yesterday to sign the first-ever national agreement on child care. I think we should all be delighted in the House, especially as this is going to be about the opportunity to work over the long term to build a system that will bring support—

Intergovernmental Relations  Mr. Speaker, as a government member from Quebec, I am very pleased to serve as part of a government that is working to develop the economy, grow the middle class, and ensure that our economic, social, and physical environments live up to the expectations and needs of Canadians, all while respecting our governments' jurisdictions, and recognizing the special, very strong, and productive relationship we enjoy with the Government of Quebec.

House debate  Madam Speaker, I agree entirely with the view that EI benefits should be helpful for families and workers in need. That is exactly what budget 2017 does, through an increase in the flexibility and generosity of parental benefits, for instance, and maternity benefits, as well as the creation of a new caregiver benefit, a benefit that is more flexible and more generous to Canadians at large, and particularly so for women across Canada.

House debate  Madam Speaker, I am grateful for this opportunity to signal what I think is a view shared by all members of this House, which is the view that all parliamentarians, including our colleagues from the Senate, have an important contribution to make to the debate. In that context, of course we work in different roles and different positions, so we have to listen to each other quite carefully.

House debate  Madam Speaker, I thank my colleague, whom I know really well, as he was my former parliamentary secretary. He is a very hard worker, not only for his constituents but also in the broad mandate of making our society more inclusive and reducing poverty. As he said, we had the privilege last July to introduce the most innovative social policy in a generation.

House debate  Madam Speaker, today I want to talk about the proposed measures in Bill C-44, budget implementation act, 2017, No. 1. These measures are part of our government's ambitious plan to grow the economy and the middle class, support sustainable development of the economy and the environment, and ensure that no one is left behind in our society.

Employment Insurance  Mr. Speaker, all members of the House are very saddened by the difficult times in which many Canadian families are living, such as the circumstance just described. The role of the EI parental benefits, maternity benefits, and other special benefits is exactly to support those families in the difficult times in which they live.

Public Service Labour Relations Act  moved: That a message be sent to the Senate to acquaint their Honours that, in relation to Bill C-7, An Act to amend the Public Service Labour Relations Act, the Public Service Labour Relations and Employment Board Act and other Acts and to provide for certain other measures, the House: proposes that amendment 1 be amended by replacing all the words after the word “construed” with the following: “as affecting the right or authority of the Commissioner of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police under the Royal Canadian Mounted Police Act to ensure that police operations are effective.”; respectfully disagrees with amendments 2 and 4(a) because the government has introduced legislation to repeal secret ballot provisions for other public servants in order to achieve balance in workplace relations, further proof of the government’s intention to maintain a good-faith relationship with bargaining agents, including any future bargaining agents for RCMP members and reservists; respectfully disagrees with amendments 3, 6, and 7 because, while agreeing with the removal of restrictions specific to the RCMP in order to allow meaningful discussions in good faith on topics of importance to RCMP members and reservists, such as harassment, removing restrictions on collective bargaining that have applied to the rest of the public service would upset processes that have worked for over 40 years; proposes that amendment 4(b) be amended to read as follows: on page 19, in the English version, add after the words “implementation of the term or condition;” the word “or”; proposes that amendment 4(c) be amended to read as follows: on page 20, (i) replace line 7 with the following: “sation Act.”; (ii) delete lines 8 to 19; proposes that amendment 4(d) be amended to read as follows: on page 21, replace lines 1 to 32 with the following: “(a) doing so would require the enactment or amendment of any legislation by Parliament, except for the purpose of appropriating money required for the implementation of the term or condition; (b) the term or condition is one that has been or may be established under the Royal Canadian Mounted Police Superannuation Act, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police Pension Continuation Act, the Public Service Employment Act, the Public Service Superannuation Act or the Government Employees Compensation Act; or (c) doing so would affect either of the following: (i) the organization of the public service, the categories of members as defined in subsection 2(1) of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police Act or the assignment of duties to, and the classification of, positions and persons employed in the public service, or (ii) the right or authority of the Commissioner of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police under the Royal Canadian Mounted Police Act to ensure that police operations are effective.”; respectfully disagrees with amendment 4(e), 5, 8, 9, and 10 because they would result in two different grievance processes applying to RCMP members, because the specialized grievance and appeal processes established under the Royal Canadian Mounted Police Act function well, and because allowing RCMP members to file identical grievances under two acts could undermine the Commissioner’s ability to ensure effective police operations.

Oil Tanker Moratorium Act  moved for leave to introduce Bill C-48, an act respecting the regulation of vessels that transport crude oil or persistent oil to or from ports or marine installations located along British Columbia's north coast. (Motions deemed adopted, bill read the first time and printed)

Regional Economic Development  Mr. Speaker, the Quebec City region is a model when it comes to the middle class and economic development centred around science, collaboration, innovation, international trade, and investment in our workers. These are all areas the new government is working on in co-operation with the entire community and the Quebec government in an effective, inclusive, and respectful manner.

Seniors  Mr. Speaker, I am very grateful to our colleague for giving me the opportunity to speak about our record in supporting our seniors, in particular in supporting our most vulnerable seniors. We have reintroduced 65 years as the age of eligibility to receive old age security, which means that 100,000 vulnerable seniors will not need to enter into severe poverty.