Darfur  Mr. Speaker, yesterday was the fourth anniversary of the beginning of the conflict in Darfur. In the past four years 200,000 people have been killed and at least two million more have been displaced. Currently, approximately four million people are receiving humanitarian aid. The situation is so bad that the United Nations has called it the world's greatest humanitarian emergency.

Budget Implementation Act, 2007  Mr. Speaker, my question for the hon. member is the following. It seems to me that in terms of the government's promise on income trusts one of two possibilities exists. First, at the time when the government made the promise, it fully intended not to keep it. Second, it did not understand the situation that income trusts might be problematic and it woke up to the problem much later.

Lana Hamilton  Mr. Speaker, I rise today with deep sorrow to mark the passing of one of the West Island of Montreal's most wonderful and engaging citizens. When Lana de Liamchin Hamilton passed away in early March of this year, I, like all those who knew her, felt a mixture of sadness and humble admiration for a woman whose tenacity and generosity of spirit continually inspired others to meet the challenges of life head on.

Kyoto Protocol  Mr. Speaker, today I would like to support the members of the environmental committee at Félix Leclerc secondary school in my riding. This group of students believes that the Government of Canada should support and honour the Kyoto protocol. To show their support for Kyoto, the members of the committee—Saranya Danasekaran, Dominique Brown, Stéphanie Trottier, Miguel Degiovanni, Véronique Bader and their teacher, Louise Major—sent me a petition signed by 350 students, teachers and administrative personnel at Félix Leclerc.

Foreign Affairs  Mr. Speaker, last fall, the minority Conservative government cut the funding to the Public Diplomacy Branch of the Department of Foreign Affairs, the branch responsible for the international promotion of Canadian art and culture. The $11.6 million cut will almost certainly mean the end of a variety of important promotional tools, including the exhibition of Canadian art in our embassies around the world.

National Optics Institute  Mr. Speaker, this minority government will soon table its budget and everyone is talking about which programs and organizations will be targeted by the government. One of Quebec's gems is the National Optics Institute, which is a leader here and abroad. Canada must invest in knowledge.

Committees of the House  Mr. Speaker, I greatly appreciated the hon. member's statements and would like him to comment on two points. First of all, he said that the government is very happy to take a piecemeal approach, when it feels like it, without consultation, without issuing a white paper or what have you, as was the case, for example, with the purchase of military aircraft.

Committees of the House  Mr. Speaker, I appreciate the member's point, but sometimes it takes a first step. Sometimes it takes a step in the right direction. The motion is asking the government to take that first step. It would not really be a first step because the media has been full of reports about how the government is active on transforming the old war museum into a new kind of museum.

Committees of the House  Mr. Speaker, I would go back to what I said at the end of my intervention, which is that I do not believe we should look at this motion as pitting one community against another or one part of Canada against another. This motion represents a new direction in museums policy whereby we would no longer only have national museums in Ottawa.

Committees of the House  Mr. Speaker, the reason I talked about the role of rail transport in relation to the future of our country and sustainable development in Canada and around the world is of course because this is one of the challenges that we are going to have to face and that we have already faced in the past.

Committees of the House  moved that the 13th Report of the Standing Committee on Canadian Heritage, introduced on Wednesday, February 13, be concurred in. Mr. Speaker, it is a great pleasure for me to rise today to move concurrence of the House in this report. The purpose of this report is to protect and develop Canada's railway heritage.

Academy Awards  Mr. Speaker, last night Canadians were given a reason again to be proud. Torill Kove, one of our Canadian filmmakers, won the Oscar for best short animated film for The Danish Poet. This is the second time that Ms. Kove has been nominated, but last night's award enshrines years of successful work in animation, scripting and directing.

George Hyde  Mr. Speaker, “we all need to meet someone like George”. Those are the words of Alan Dean on the passing of his long-time friend, George Hyde. When George died on January 28, those of us who had the privilege of knowing him realized immediately that our community had lost a true gentleman.

Student Activists  Mr. Speaker, I would like to congratulate members of the JACtivists, a student run advocacy group at John Abbott College in my riding that campaigns for human rights and environmental sustainability. The JACtivists have come together under the leadership of Devon Willis to push the Government of Canada to rally countries around the world toward strong, coordinated international political, diplomatic and military action to save the people of Darfur from further genocide and crimes against humanity.

The Environment  Mr. Speaker, as the international scientific community assembles in Paris and unanimously underscores the importance of urgent action on climate change, the Prime Minister is using all his political weight to put on the brakes. This Prime Minister believes that, “The accord does negatively impact every region of the country...