Jim Green  Alas, Mr. Speaker, last week Vancouver lost an inspiring advocate for my community. On February 28, former councillor and two-time mayoral candidate Jim Green lost his fight with cancer. Jim was a well-known progressive force in municipal politics and a key architect of solutions to improve the city.

Business of Supply  Mr. Speaker, I have a question for my colleague. The minister claimed there were no cuts. The Conservative member, however, for Ottawa—Orléans has said, “there may have been some cuts to veterans programs, but it can't hurt the dead”. My colleague made the point that many services were underfunded.

Business of Supply  Mr. Speaker, I liked what the NDP member had to say, and I want to ask her a question. I support the motion, but I find it a bit vague. Can the phrase “provide...in a timely and comprehensive manner” be more specific? In my riding of Vancouver Quadra, a 90-year-old veteran waited one year for a specific service and, during that time, he was confined to his house.

41st General Election  Mr. Speaker, the government has a duty to ensure the integrity of Canada's voting process. Fraudulent calls also harassed Liberal voters in Vancouver Quadra and we reported it at the time. The independent Elections Canada returning officer in Vancouver Quadra wrote, “The Vancouver Quadra campaign office did inform me by phone of inappropriate calls during the 2011 election”.

41st General Election  Mr. Speaker, yesterday a senior in Vancouver Quadra wrote to me that she received an election call giving wrong poll station information so she reported it because, “it is my duty to report it in defence of Canada's treasured democracy and moral integrity”. Campaign Research, the robocall company caught making Conservative—

41st General Election  Mr. Speaker, Campaign Research, the robocall company caught making Conservative-funded false calls in Mount Royal, also provided services to the Conservative campaign in Vancouver Quadra. When will the Prime Minister accept his responsibility and investigate these nationwide complaints—

Business of Supply  Madam Speaker, I would like to thank my NDP colleague for his impassioned speech defending the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, which will soon celebrate its 30th anniversary—30 years since a Liberal government presented this historic guarantee to the people of Canada. I thank my colleague for his support for this important event.

Business of Supply  Madam Speaker, even Liberal members sometimes disagreed with their government and voted against it at committee. That would never be allowed by the Conservative government. The government does not allow its members to disagree. These things would have been hashed out in committee in a way that has not been possible under this over-controlling and dictatorial government.

Business of Supply  Madam Speaker, frankly I am surprised that the member is calling on me to justify something from 10 years ago in a government that I was not here for. In fact, the debate that we are having now is one that is raising some very serious issues and my concern is that despite the good intentions of the NDP and Liberal members, the Conservative members might do what they have been doing for the last seven months, and barrel ahead with bad legislation and ignore all of the input from civil society and members of Parliament to improve the legislation so that it would actually deliver a public good.

Business of Supply  Madam Speaker, I thank my colleague for her question. This is very worrying. This is not just about the use of information obtained through torture; it is also about the fact that the Minister of Public Safety announced that Canada's anti-terrorism strategy will list environmentalists and animal rights activists as threats.

Business of Supply  Madam Speaker, I note the member made the very reasonable comment that Conservatives expected Parliament to conduct a thorough review of the bill to ensure it achieved the right balance, et cetera. It was exactly the same wording and statement made by the previous speaker on the Conservative side, so clearly there are some talking points.

Business of Supply  Madam Speaker, I will be splitting my time with the member for York West. I am very pleased to speak to the motion today because of the important principles that are so fundamental to Canadian democracy. The motion calls on the House to recognize the fundamental right of all Canadians to freedom of speech, communication, privacy and an affirmation of the need for these rights to be respected.

Canada-Panama Economic Growth and Prosperity Act  Madam Speaker, I appreciate that the member has reiterated his position three times now. There was nothing new in that question. My request of the Conservative government in the debate today is to look at what it is doing to undermine small business growth in our country with its EI tax increases and why it is choosing large businesses over small businesses by giving major corporate tax reductions to the large businesses and nothing but a slap in the face to small businesses.

Canada-Panama Economic Growth and Prosperity Act  Madam Speaker, I am disappointed at that kind of rhetoric. We are talking about something that is important to the lives of Canadians, their jobs and their ability to support their families. I think my debate has been clear. It is as though the Conservative government is like a chef that has prepared a very tiny snack of a few peanuts and spent the same amount of time for which that chef could have prepared a healthy meal for a family.

Canada-Panama Economic Growth and Prosperity Act  Madam Speaker, Liberals know that the member of the NDP is with a party that is ideologically against free trade agreements and will find ways to express that. I do not take very much from what the member is saying in terms of moving the debate forward. The reality is it is positive for farmers and growers of pulses and potatoes who would like the tariffs removed that Panama has placed on those goods so they could potentially sell more to Panama.