Food Safety  Mr. Speaker, my colleague from Guelph is quite right. In fact, not all of the Weatherill report's recommendations have been implemented, and the comprehensive audit recommended in the report has not been conducted. He is quite right about that, and the Conservative government is denying it.

Food Safety  Mr. Speaker, first, I would like to say that I am going to share my time with the hon. member for Burnaby—Douglas. We are here to discuss a major issue. My thoughts are with the families affected by the tainted meat. That is why we are here tonight. We have heard a lot of background and many facts.

International Trade  Mr. Speaker, contrary to the Conservatives, the NDP believes that we need clear criteria to assess trade agreements. The Conservatives said that they were going to table any new trade agreements in the House of Commons for 21 days of debate and comments, but they did not say whether they would put such agreements to a vote.

International Trade  Mr. Speaker, yesterday, in his speech in New York, the Prime Minister did not announce new cuts to seniors programs. Instead, he launched into a diatribe against international consensus. Let us speak about the international consensuses that the Conservatives tried to scuttle: the consensus on the ban on asbestos, the consensus on the fight against climate change, the consensus on cluster munitions and the consensus on arms trade.

Asbestos  Mr. Speaker, as my colleague knows, there was recently an NDP opposition day on the asbestos issue. That day, particularly when the vote was held, a rather interesting phenomenon occurred: several members, Conservatives in particular, withdrew from the House prior to the vote and they did not vote.

Helping Families In Need Act  Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague from Richmond—Arthabaska for his speech. He spoke about some shortcomings. We agree because we will support the bill at second reading, but certain shortcomings, certain omissions should be pointed out. I hope that they will be addressed in committee.

Helping Families In Need Act  Mr. Speaker, when I raised the issue, I pointed out that the Conservative government was specifically excluding such cases from the bill. I can quote verbatim what other members, including the member for Saskatoon—Wanuskewin, said in committee. They used dramatic examples to justify the exclusion and to view victims solely from a law and order perspective.

Helping Families In Need Act  Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague for his question. This is a problem for us because it has to do with a Conservative philosophy I have a hard time understanding. Among the bills that have been previously introduced, there is a very similar bill that the government opposed. A criticism was made in the House on December 10, 2009: Right now, because of the global economic situation of the past year and because previous governments used EI premiums for non-EI spending...the EI account is under strain.

Helping Families In Need Act  Mr. Speaker, as was mentioned earlier, the NDP will support Bill C-44 for a number of reasons. Basically, it responds to a number of the demands that the NDP has traditionally made in order to help parents who are in drastic and often unusual circumstances. With this in mind, one can hardly be opposed to virtue, and this is why we will support the bill.

Helping Families In Need Act  Mr. Speaker, I really enjoyed the speech by my colleague from Hull—Aylmer. She spoke at length about what the Conservatives have done to the employment insurance program. While we are in agreement with regard to the bill, what is proposed here is in fact the tree that hides the forest in terms of what the Conservatives have done to the employment insurance program.

Helping Families In Need Act  Mr. Speaker, I have another question for the member for Winnipeg North concerning the promise that the Conservatives made during the 2011 election campaign with regards to the funding of this program through the general revenue fund and not the employment insurance fund. This time, they are turning back the clock.

Helping Families In Need Act  Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague from Winnipeg North for his question. As he is aware, the NDP will support Bill C-44 at second reading. Nevertheless, we have a number of reservations regarding the bill. I would like to hear the point of view of the member for Winnipeg North regarding a particular issue.

Government Accountability  Mr. Speaker, the Conservatives are hiding details of their reckless cuts and refusing to hand over important information to the independent Parliamentary Budget Officer. Under the Federal Accountability Act the government is required by law to share this information with the PBO.

Government Accountability  Mr. Speaker, the Federal Accountability Act is clear and they are not obeying it. The Parliamentary Budget Officer is clear: the government is hiding information. I quote, “...they’re not telling us where the axe is going to fall within federal departments.” In my riding and across the country, people are worried about decreased services.

Business of Supply  Mr. Speaker, it is my pleasure to answer the parliamentary secretary in the same manner as she answered me this morning. In matters of economic policy, we do not talk in terms of individual measures, but in terms of the economy as a whole. I have mentioned the effects of the reduction in the GST.