Tax Conventions Implementation Act, 2010  What did we do? We said to Canadians that we would have to do a program review. Today they call it an austerity program, which is fairly true. We had to make adjustments. We had to make cuts, simply put. Today when the government stands up and says we had to make cuts, let me remind the government members that their people at the time, Ray Speaker for example, stood up in this hon.

Information & Ethics committee  I talked about businesses that can be created using open data, but there's also another metric of looking at it. Maybe in austere government times there might be an opportunity to provide a little bit less government service, so that instead of government being the only utilizer of that data in providing service to citizens, the private sector perhaps could do some of that work.

Government Operations committee  What was the decision-making authority for purchasing those small items, which added up to a very large cost, especially at a summit that was about austerity and fiscal management? I'm at a loss.

National Defence committee  The engineering requirements, which are part of our contract, are written around the most austere operating environments--both hot and cold--in the world. They were written specifically by the three U.S. services that have to operate aircraft in those environments, and the requirements of the partner nations were integrated into that.

Subcommittee on International Human Rights committee  So, our job is to look at how those funds should be used and whether we are consistently thinking in terms of the peace and security of women. Furthermore, it doesn't really matter that we are going through a period of budget austerity; the point of the plan is not really to secure new money. We want to use the plan to determine how Canada can respond to conflict or cases of fragility where the peace and security of women are at stake.

Sustaining Canada's Economic Recovery Act  What Canadian families want and deserve is a government that will control government spending and restore fiscal order. Instead, we have the Conservatives who preach fiscal austerity while borrowing and spending more than any other government in Canadian history. There is a better way. A Liberal government would clean up this fiscal mess created by this borrow-and-spend Conservative government.

Finance  Mr. Speaker, the finance minister wraps himself in the flag of austerity, but it is made of Cellophane.

Finance  What about $16 billion for stealth fighters, $10 billion for jails and $6 billion every year for extra tax breaks for the wealthy? Why are these big, risky Conservative schemes exempt from austerity?

National Defence committee  While many aircraft are capable of long-range, high-speed, fixed-wing search and assist, only the V-22 has the ability to hover or land vertically to complete the rescue in extremely austere environments and then transfer the rescuee directly to a care facility. The V-22's ability to operate independent of runways also allows forward basing with minimal infrastructure.

National Defence committee  Here is something extremely important, as I see it, given Canada's geography and climate. NRC is recommending acquiring the “ability to: operate from short gravel runways and austere airfields.” In the case of operations carried out in the Far North, among other places, it is extremely important for your aircraft to “perform“ under these conditions. According to the report, it is important for the aircraft to have the capability to “fly in icy conditions”, something which we often experience in Canada, and “to operate in ground icing conditions where facilities exist.”

National Defence committee  Proven and flown daily in charting the most challenging environments worldwide, the C-295 allows operation in high winds and extreme cold. It is capable of supporting itself in austere airfields. It is operated today in mountainous terrain under adverse conditions, and operates over the world's oceans, from the tropics to the polar regions. We take pride in the fact that the C-295 family is one of the very few medium twin-engine aircraft capable of operating in winds experienced in the North Atlantic.

Government Priorities  That same government, for a one-day G8 meeting, gave tens of millions to a Conservative cabinet minister's Ontario riding: $16.7 million for an arena, $100,000 for a gazebo, $200,000 for a welcome sign, $300,000 for a toilet and $400,000 for a steamboat refit. Why the open government wallets for Ontario ridings, but austerity for Edmonton?

Constitution Act, 2010 (Senate Term Limits)  There are dozens of experts to be heard from as well as provinces that are equally affected by any changes we make to this austere chamber. It is imperative that we ensure this bill is constitutional and that reforms that are suggested are in the best interests of Canadians and Canadian institutions. The Senate is not one of many political tools in a legislative arsenal.

Justice committee  Quite frankly, my fear would be that it could be another excuse not to provide those programs at earlier dates. We also know that the longer people spend in the most austere conditions without those sorts of programs the more entrenched they may become in their thinking. So I think it's in the interest of public safety for all prisoners, particularly those serving life sentences and those who are in for some of the more serious crimes, to be able to participate in programs at earlier dates rather than later dates and to entrench a different model.

Finance committee  The initial reason I brought it up is that the U.K. is facing such severe austerity and yet they've made the conscious decision that for some capital projects, some of their science and research budgets, they would protect those simply because they have to maintain a longer-term growth base.