Criminal Code  Madam Speaker, I rise in the House today to echo the message of my colleagues in the NDP that we support this piece of legislation, Bill C-310, An Act to amend the Criminal Code (trafficking in persons). I would like to note the work of the MP for Kildonan—St. Paul, a fellow Manitoban, on this particular file.

Status of Women  Mr. Speaker, the Conservatives' regressive priorities do not end with their budgetary choices. While 1.4 million Canadians are unemployed, yesterday, because of the Conservatives, the House was forced to debate women's right to choose. Canadian women will not sit back and allow their hard-earned rights to be attacked like that.

Status of Women  Mr. Speaker, Canadians will not be fooled because the Conservatives did the exact opposite and reopened the debate last night in fact. The Conservative manoeuvre to reopen the debate is not unfortunate, as the Prime Minister called it; it is hypocritical. During an election the Conservatives say one thing and in government they do exactly as they intended to do.

Special Committee on Subsection 223(1) of the Criminal Code  Madam Speaker, today I would like to begin by expressing how honoured I am to be newly appointed critic for the Status of Women for the NDP. It is an honour to follow in the footsteps of my colleagues, such as the member for Gatineau, the member for Nanaimo—Cowichan, the member for London—Fanshawe, Judy Wasylycia-Leis, dynamic women such as Dawn Black, Alexa McDonough, Audrey McLaughlin, Margaret Mitchell, Rosemary Brown, Grace MacInnis and so many others.

Justice  Mr. Speaker, the facts are simple. Today in this House in the year 2012, because of a Conservative motion, we will be debating a woman's right to choose, years after this issue was dealt with. The Prime Minister has told Canadians for years that he will not be reopening the debate and here we are.

Status of Women  Mr. Speaker, nothing at all is clear. The Conservatives are in the process of reopening the abortion debate, which is part of their overall attack on women's rights. Their latest victim is the Women's Health Contribution Program. This assault on women's equality sends a clear message: if our research contradicts the Conservatives' ideology, we have to pay the price.

Status of Women  Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister promised Canadians that he would not reopen the debate on abortion. Nevertheless, that is exactly what one of his Conservative members is going to do tomorrow in the House. Canadian women have been fighting for decades for this right. Why is the Prime Minister not speaking out loudly and clearly against what his own party is trying to do here in the House?

Status of Women  Mr. Speaker, during the election and in the House the Conservative government has said that it is not going to reopen the abortion debate, but that is exactly what it is doing in this very House. While other members have done this in the past, the Prime Minister has done something to stop it.

Royal Canadian Mounted Police  Mr. Speaker, yesterday in committee RCMP Commissioner Paulson made some strong statements about the abuse that women were facing in the RCMP. For too long, women officers have suffered unimaginable abuse at the hands of their co-workers, while senior officials have looked away. The commissioner seems committed to dealing with what has come forward in terms of harassment and abuse.

Royal Canadian Mounted Police  Mr. Speaker, these cases are urgent and the scope is grand. We want to see the minister and his government act immediately. Women in the RCMP have suffered harassment and abuse because they are women, something that is unacceptable in any workforce across the country. We are talking about a broader culture in the RCMP and without the resources and the public commitment of the minister today, nothing will change.

41st General Election  Mr. Speaker, the reality is that the Conservatives are being investigated. It was the Conservatives who pleaded guilty last year because they broke other election laws. As punishment, the Prime Minister appointed those Conservatives to the Senate. The fact is that it was Conservative campaign lists being used to send voters to the wrong polling stations.

Leader of the New Democratic Party of Canada  Mr. Speaker, this past weekend, we elected our new leader, the member for Outremont, a dynamic leader who will unite Canadians as our first NDP prime minister. Over the last five months, I travelled across our great country and heard from Canadians about their real concerns: growing inequality, aboriginal poverty, inaction on climate change, the hollowing out of our economy and the growing threat of conflict.

Marketing Freedom for Grain Farmers Act  Mr. Speaker, perhaps it is important that I remind my colleagues across that this House is built on the very principle of honouring a member's word. That is exactly what did not happen last week in my interaction with the chief government whip or as the member continues to repeat that story.

Marketing Freedom for Grain Farmers Act  Mr. Speaker, today we are talking about a government that is fundamentally taking for granted western Canadians. It is a government that has refused to give western Canadians a voice in the House of Commons through its failure to respect the Canadian Wheat Board plebiscite, through its failure to live up to the election commitment of the Minister of Agriculture in my home province of Manitoba, through its failure to follow legislation that commits a vote to farmers and through its failure to hold proper debate both in the House and at committee.

Marketing Freedom for Grain Farmers Act  Mr. Speaker, today Canadians are witnessing the anti-democratic, ideological agenda of the Conservative government. Western Canadians are today witnessing a government take a position without listening to the very voices of the people they claim to represent. Today many Canadians will realize the way in which the federal government does not represent us and why it is time to talk about the need to have real representation about the real issues that matter to Canadians.