Aboriginal Affairs  Mr. Speaker, one of the most disturbing outcomes of the discrimination and marginalization that aboriginal women in Canada suffer is the extreme violence they face. In recent weeks, the remains of two young aboriginal women, Amber Redman and Tashina General, have been found. Along the Highway of Tears and in Vancouver's east side, over 80 women are missing or have been found murdered.

Business of Supply  Mr. Speaker, yes, creating a strong economy would help women if the government had indeed created a strong economy. We are looking at layoffs and plant closures. In my community nearly 6,000 jobs have been lost. This creates a profound sense of insecurity. When the member talks about the government doing a great deal for women, does it include the fact that there is no affordable housing strategy?

Business of Supply  Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague for his little history lesson because I too remember the fiscal responsibility policies of great premiers like Tommy Douglas, Roy Romanow and Gary Doer. It seems to me, in terms of Saskatchewan, that the economy was doing very well there and that the government of Lorne Calvert was doing well.

Business of Supply  Mr. Speaker, today only one in three unemployed women collects employment insurance benefits. This number is down from 70% of unemployed women who collected in 1990. Changes to employment insurance in the early 1990s under the Mulroney government reduced EI access for part time, seasonal and low income workers.

Food and Drugs Act  Nor will we.

Food and Drugs Act  Mr. Speaker, the New Democratic Party caucus also has concerns with regard to this legislation, specifically in the areas she addressed, and that is the safety of drugs and the shortcuts that can be taken in clinical trials. I remind everyone that some years back the Liberals closed Health Canada drug labs and entered into what they called partnerships between drugs companies and Health Canada.

Price Monitoring  Mr. Speaker, Londoners are paying record prices at gas pumps for gas while big oil and gas companies are raking in windfall profits. Individuals and families are suffering not just because of the price of gas, but the price of food is increasing because of the energy costs for production and transportation.

Controlled Drugs and Substances Act  Mr. Speaker, certainly all of us here in the House, members of the media, and I hope the people of Canada are catching on to the shenanigans of the government members in terms of obstructing committees and doing precisely as the member has indicated. They are running out on committees such as justice and the environment in an effort to sidetrack and delay important legislation in terms of their own legislation and the environment bill currently before the environment committee.

Controlled Drugs and Substances Act  Mr. Speaker, it seems to me the answer is that this is a government hell bent on punishment. It has a punitive mentality that has nothing to do with the reality within communities. It is a punitive mentality with some kind of strange need, that seeks some strange revenge, to further brutalize those who have been victims.

Controlled Drugs and Substances Act  Mr. Speaker, my colleague's question is quite timely. About two weeks ago, the council for the city of London had its quarterly meeting with London area MPs. The program, London CaReS, the proposal with the four pillars approach, was presented to the MPs. One of the government MPs present was asked if he would ensure this important program was funded because, despite the fact that London has done a great deal of work, there has been no response.

Controlled Drugs and Substances Act  Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to speak to Bill C-26, which deals with minimum mandatory sentences for drug crimes. I would like to acknowledge the work of the member for Vancouver East who has been tireless on this issue on behalf of her constituents. Bill C-26 is flawed and ineffective.

Equality Day  Mr. Speaker, tomorrow we will celebrate Equality Day. Equality Day marks the coming into force of the equality provisions in the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms on April 17, 1985. Thousands of women, including NDP MPs Pauline Jewett and Margaret Mitchell, fought for women's inclusion in the charter.

Community Volunteer Income Tax Program  Mr. Speaker, federal government agencies, like the Canada Revenue Agency, are reducing services in our communities. In the past, CRA has arranged for volunteers to help low income constituents with income tax returns. These clinics were in places like community centres and libraries.

Committees of the House  Mr. Speaker, I am looking at a letter from the Assembly of First Nations chief, Phil Fontaine, who has written a critique of the government's excuses about why it cannot implement the declaration. He talks about the government's actions on education, drinking water, et cetera. He says that the government keeps insisting that it has moved on land claims, education, housing, child and family services and safe drinking water, and that this is somehow enough.

Committees of the House  Mr. Speaker, I appreciate the intervention of the member opposite in the debate. I have a question for her in terms of the declaration itself, which states: The Declaration establishes a universal framework of minimum standards for the survival, dignity, well-being and rights of the world's indigenous people...addresses both individual and collective rights...