Budget Implementation Act, 2016, No. 2  Madam Speaker, when the Liberals refused to moved on their promise to lower the small business tax rate, I know a lot of small businesses owners across Canada felt a little betrayed. They really are the life blood of the Canadian economy. Furthermore, we know that a lot of small business owners pay themselves quite a low salary just to make sure they can keep up with costs and so that their employees have a adequate standard of living.

Budget Implementation Act, 2016, No. 2  Madam Speaker, it has often been said that, if the only tool one has is a hammer, every problem begins to look like a nail. I remember my partner from Skeena—Bulkley Valley reading out the 2015 edition of the Liberals. Well, let us not forget the 2012 edition of the Liberals, when the member for Winnipeg North often criticized the former Conservative government for ramming through legislation and not working with the opposition; the moral outrage.

Business of Supply  Mr. Speaker, the Liberals are employing a smart strategy today by reading into the record the comments made by the former prime minister on King Abdullah. It exposes and makes a mockery of the Conservative motion today. Where was the Conservative moral outrage when the comments were made by the former prime minister?

Business of Supply  Mr. Speaker, figures like Fidel Castro and Che Guevara are products of the times they lived in. It is safe to say there were no saints on any side during the Cold War. In fact, the United States is responsible for atrocities in Iran, propping up the Shah, installing Pinochet in Chile.

Canada Pension Plan  Mr. Speaker, I want to draw my colleague's attention to the glaring oversight that is present in the bill, and I am sure he is already aware of it: the fact that the bill does not include the dropout provisions for child rearing and for disabilities. When we first brought this up, we got non-answers from the government, and then finally we had an acknowledgement from the President of the Treasury Board that there indeed was a problem.

Canada Pension Plan  Madam Speaker, I want to start off by acknowledging the incredible work of my colleague from Hamilton Mountain in bringing forward the flaws in the bill. My question for the Minister of Finance centres on the drop-out provisions that are missing from the bill. For several weeks now, my colleagues have raised this issue.

Canada-European Union Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement Implementation Act  Madam Speaker, as I stated in my speech, if the Liberals and Conservatives are not going to stand up and raise concerns about the high cost of pharmaceuticals, about the impact of investor-state dispute resolutions, about the abilities of local governments to legislate and make laws in the public interest, then we will bring those issues forward for Canadians.

Canada-European Union Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement Implementation Act  Madam Speaker, I thank my hon. friend for bringing that question up, because I have before me a copy of the minutes of proceedings from the Standing Committee on International Trade, meeting No. 42, when it met on November 1st. Paragraph (b) of the motion that was passed at that in camera meeting states that the committee “consider testimony, written submissions and briefs only from the witnesses appearing before it”.

Canada-European Union Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement Implementation Act  Mr. Speaker, I had three minutes in my speech yesterday so I will be continuing along today. The point I want to underline is that we in the NDP will be here to provide reasoned and progressive elements to debate in this implementation act for CETA. As I was saying in my saying in my speech on the bill yesterday, it remains a mystery as to why the government is trying to ram the bill through without letting parliamentarians conduct their proper research and oversight.

Canada-European Union Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement Implementation Act  Madam Speaker, I realize I have one of those lucky spots, where I get about a four-minute speech, seeing as we are getting close to 6:30 p.m. I want to start by thanking my colleague, the member of Parliament for Essex, for the incredible work she has been doing in raising these issues.

Canada-European Union Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement Implementation Act  Mr. Speaker, I want to ask the hon. member a little about consultations. Back in 2012, when the Liberals were in opposition, they wrote a dissenting opinion in the 2012 report that further consultation with Canadians was needed on CETA. When we compare the consultations that have been held with the TPP, we have had 400 witnesses before the trade committee and submissions from approximately 60,000 Canadians, on this agreement, the implementation legislation is enacted a day after it is signed and is brought before Parliament to be rushed through.

Canada-European Union Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement Implementation Act  Mr. Speaker, as a proud member of the party in this corner of the House, I will unapologetically stand up for those Canadians who do have concerns about these trade deals. While we may disagree on this issue, out of respect for all the views that Canadians have, we should at least try to bring some respect to this place about those different viewpoints.

Canada-European Union Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement Implementation Act  Mr. Speaker, one of the things that struck me from my colleague's speech was that the approval process in European legislatures is going to take between two to five years. Here we are in Canada's Parliament, where the Prime Minister signed the agreement on October 30, and the legislation was brought in on October 31.

Pensions  Mr. Speaker, not only have the Liberals left women behind with their new CPP legislation, but seniors everywhere are still waiting for the Liberals to deliver on their promise of a new seniors price index. Here we are in November and the Liberals have failed to come through with their promise of a better way to index old age security and guaranteed income supplement benefits.

Income Tax Act  Mr. Speaker, I want to congratulate the member for Edmonton West for bringing the bill forward. I am sad to hear from the parliamentary secretary that the government will be opposing the bill. When we look at the three pillars that Canada's retirement system is based on, we know that workplace pensions are really the pillar that is suffering.