Federal Public Sector Labour Relations Act  Madam Speaker, prior to being elected, I was fortunate enough to work for a major union in this country for 16 years and represented many workers before the Canada Industrial Relations Board who were seeking certification under federal legislation. The legislation I worked under always gave the Canada Industrial Relations Board the discretion to order a vote in any certification application where it felt it was necessary.

Petitions  Mr. Speaker, I have three petitions to introduce today. The first petition is from hundreds of people who note that Canada is the only OECD country that does not have a national public transit strategy. It notes that over the next five years there will be an $18-billion gap in transit infrastructure needs.

Petitions  Mr. Speaker, the second petition is signed by many Canadians who are continuing their call to stop the cuts to Canada Post, in particular to have the government halt the conversion of home mail delivery to community mailboxes. They want to reverse those community mailboxes that have been introduced and proven to be problematic for people, and to preserve that vital public service to allow full mail delivery for all Canadians.

Petitions  Mr. Speaker, the third petition is signed by many people in my riding of Vancouver Kingsway. The petitioners are asking the government to adopt the New Democrat plan for affordable child care. The petition points out the vital need for this program for parents across the country and that this would be a money saver, an important social investment, and would return benefits to our economy far beyond the investment in our children.

Health  Mr. Speaker, there is a national epidemic of drug overdoses, and the Minister of Health has acknowledged that safe injection sites like Insite in Vancouver make sense and save lives. Public health officials in Toronto and cities across Canada are asking for federal help to open these desperately needed facilities.

Citizenship Act  Mr. Speaker, I would like to turn the debate to another aspect of the bill, which is the language and knowledge requirements. I think there are reasons for a difference of opinion on this. I keep thinking of my Hungarian grandmother, Mary Varyu, who came to this country in 1926.

Citizenship Act  Mr. Speaker, once again I would like to congratulate the member on his speech, but I would also like to put to him a question that may enlarge on the issue of citizenship. I would remind him that something the Conservatives did, albeit in another piece of legislation in the last Parliament, was strip Canadian citizens who have lived outside the country for more than five years of their right to vote.

Citizenship Act  Mr. Speaker, I am a little disappointed to hear the hon. member make a defence of differential fees and say that the Canadian education system depends, for its funding, on extremely high differential fees as a proxy for not having enough funding from government, but that is for another day.

Citizenship Act  That is an excellent question, Mr. Speaker, and is high praise indeed coming from my hon. colleague from Burnaby South who is, I think, certainly one of the most eloquent speakers as well in the House. The reception will be fantastic. I already know, through doing casework in my riding, how damaging and how worrying the previous Conservative legislation was to many people in our riding who wanted to get citizenship.

Citizenship Act  Mr. Speaker, I wholly concur with my hon. colleague's point in that regard. I can give a real life example. One of my constituency assistants, Wei Qiao Zhang, came to our country as a student. His wife is actually doing a Ph.D. in law at UBC in her third language, by the way. He came here to do a degree in philosophy at the University of Toronto.

Citizenship Act  Mr. Speaker, I hear “nonsense” coming from the Conservatives. They should read their own legislation. I will give them an example. It used to be that someone coming to this country had to pass a language test if they were between the ages of 18 and 54. The Conservatives extended that and said that people wanting to get citizenship in this country would have to pass a language test between the ages of 14 and 17 and between the ages of 55 and 65, making it harder for young people and seniors, many of whom were the parents of their sponsors in this country, to acquire citizenship purely because they might not have been able to speak English or French.

Citizenship Act  Mr. Speaker, I am honoured and very pleased to stand in the House today in March of 2016 to speak to Bill C-6, an act to amend the Citizenship Act and to make consequential amendments to another act. I want to start by congratulating the government on bringing forward this legislation.

Petitions  Mr. Speaker, I rise to present three petitions today. The first petition is from hundreds of concerned Canadians who are raising the issue of rail tankers and crude oil. They call on the House to pass regulations that would enhance tank car standards for the transportation of hazardous goods, reverse cuts, strengthen rail safety rules and regulations, and require rail companies to carry sufficient insurance to cover the damage that may be caused by accidents, spills, or derailments.

Petitions  Mr. Speaker, the second petition calls on the government to work in partnership with the provinces and municipalities to create better cycling infrastructure in this country, something that not only helps the environment but would also help keep Canadians healthier and fight the epidemic of obesity in this country.

Petitions  Mr. Speaker, my final petition is signed by many people in the riding of Vancouver Kingsway who are presenting a very real concern in British Columbia around affordable housing. They are calling on the government to develop a national housing strategy to maintain existing federal support for co-operatives, non-profits, low-cost and rental housing, and lastly, to make the investments necessary to address what can only be called a housing crisis in this country.