Status of Women  Mr. Speaker, this week, members of Parliament will have a third honour of debate on Motion No. 312, the Conservative government's veiled attempt to reopen the abortion debate in Canada. We, the NDP, call on all members of the House, Conservative and Liberal, to vote with us, stand up for women's rights and vote against Motion No. 312.

Petitions  Mr. Speaker, I would like to present two petitions. The first petition is in support of Katimavik, a critical program for our youth, and building understanding across our great country.

Petitions  Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to present a second petition on behalf of Canadians who are opposed to Motion No. 312, a thinly veiled attempt to reopen the abortion debate. Many Canadians are hoping that not just government frontbenchers but backbenchers as well will stand up for a woman's right to choose and moving on to gender equality.

Increasing Offenders' Accountability for Victims Act  Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague for his question. Clearly, investing in prevention will result in lower crime rates. Research proves that. We know that when the government stops investing in programs for youth, in education and in opportunities for young people, for example, the crime rate goes up.

Increasing Offenders' Accountability for Victims Act  Mr. Speaker, I might be bursting the member's balloon but the reality is that first nations are under federal jurisdiction, so when I talk about Lac Brochet, it is actually the federal government that is not at the table to help the community. Let us be clear about the level of government that he is a part of and the fact that it is nowhere to be seen when it comes to working with first nations to ensure their communities are safer.

Increasing Offenders' Accountability for Victims Act  Mr. Speaker, my colleague has raised an excellent point. This brings us to one of the NDP's major concerns, the attack on judicial discretion. It is an attack against the very essence of the legal system and against the respect Canadians must have for the very foundation of our democratic system.

Increasing Offenders' Accountability for Victims Act  Mr. Speaker, I will be sharing my time with my colleague from Saint-Hyacinthe—Bagot. Along with my colleagues, many of us have said that we encourage this bill to be the source of great discussion and deliberation at committee. Therefore, our side of the House will ensure it goes in that direction.

Questions on the Order Paper  With regard to Status of Women Canada: (a) in the recent federal budget, were there cuts to Status of Women Canada and, if so, did those cuts affect the Women’s Program in terms of personnel or funding for projects; (b) are the PDF files of the reports of completed Women’s Program projects still available on Status of Women Canada website and, if so, where are they, (i) if they are not available, why not; and (c) are the summaries of the results of the current and past Women’s Program competitions still available on the Status of Women Canada website and, if not, why, (i) if yes, where are they?

Petitions  Mr. Speaker, I am honoured to stand here on behalf of the thousands of Canadians, women and men, who oppose the Conservative Motion No. 312, a veiled attempt to reopen the abortion debate in Canada. Many Canadian women and men hope that, along with the front benches of the Conservative government, all members of the back benches will stand up and support a woman's right to choose, a right that was achieved decades ago and a debate that has happened in Canada.

Enhancing Royal Canadian Mounted Police Accountability Act  Mr. Speaker, I have a question for the hon. member across, who represents an area with very similar challenges to my own when it comes to policing and support for the RCMP. While this legislation talks about disciplinary action, with what kinds of resources would this action take place when we know that in areas in northern Canada there are extreme shortfalls in terms of funding and in terms of resources on the ground that the RCMP have to work with?

Enhancing Royal Canadian Mounted Police Accountability Act  Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank my colleague for his excellent remarks on this important issue, as it is obviously something that we in the NDP have been fighting for. While we are glad to see the government take leadership, as my colleague noted, it has been a long time coming.

Aboriginal Affairs  Mr. Speaker, unprecedented protests are taking place in Inuit and northern communities across this country to protest the high cost and lack of availability of healthy foods. People are fed up with this high cost and with the government's failure to act. Will the Minister of Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development stand here and do two things: one, recognize the government's failure to act when it comes to providing accessible, healthy foods to northern communities and, two, show some leadership with the government and put an end to the third world living conditions that aboriginal people in Canada face today?

First Nations Financial Transparency Act  Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank my colleague for raising an issue that, as we know, was not only part of one of the Auditor General's reports some years back, but before she left, she made known a couple of key priorities she felt had been overlooked, and one of them was exactly the situation that aboriginal people face, generally in terms of living conditions but also very specifically in terms of the auditing process.

First Nations Financial Transparency Act  Mr. Speaker, it is quite clear that aboriginal people see through this kind of legislation. A number of my colleagues in the House have spoken about how opposed they are and they have raised concerns. What is so absurd, and that is the word that keeps coming to mind, is how consistent the government is in ignoring and insulting aboriginal people, trying to pit people against one another and change the channel instead of talking about its own failure to live up to its obligations and the kinds of financial commitments that need to be made.

First Nations Financial Transparency Act  Mr. Speaker, absolutely, they should be put in third-party management. This is the kind of stuff that throws bands into third-party management. Yet somehow the government is able to shove it all aside and, instead put the target on aboriginal people and rile people up on the issue as well.