Business of Supply  Mr. Speaker, I am more than happy to respond to those points. First, with respect to the member's statements about the committee work, the Standing Committee on International Trade has so many files to look at, such as softwood lumber. Our trade is so multi-faceted. Yes, the committee might have a bit of time to look at global arms, and so on, but that will be just one study.

Business of Supply  Mr. Speaker, I want to start off by thanking the member for Laurier—Sainte-Marie for her incredible work on this issue, and for bringing this issue in today's motion as part of our opposition day. The motion comes at a very important and crucial time for Canada. Over the last number of years we have seen some cracks appearing in the government's narrative that all is well and all is under control with respect to our arms exports.

Democratic Reform  Mr. Speaker, this week, the Chief Electoral Officer recommended limiting the length of election campaigns. It just so happens that I have introduced a bill that would cap the election period at 46 days. In the last election, Stephen Harper doubled spending limits by extending the election to 11 long weeks.

An Act to establish the National Security and Intelligence Committee of Parliamentarians  Madam Speaker, yes, I would go back to the parts of my speech where I talked about the committee basically going around in circles because the information it would be seeking might be “injurious to national security”. That just takes away from the purpose of the committee. How can it provide effective oversight if the minister could at any time claim that something is injurious to national security?

An Act to establish the National Security and Intelligence Committee of Parliamentarians  Madam Speaker, absolutely, “smoke and mirrors” is very apt terminology for this practice. It is incumbent on us, here in the opposition, to play our job properly during the proceedings on the bill, not only by pointing out the deficiencies of the bill, but also by not letting the Liberal government off the hook.

An Act to establish the National Security and Intelligence Committee of Parliamentarians  Madam Speaker, we have seen in previous examples, most notably with northern gateway, that CSIS was complicit in providing information to oil companies about suspected activists and environmental protesters, so there is a very real threat. The bill could address that particular problem only if the oversight committee is allowed to have real teeth and real investigative powers.

An Act to establish the National Security and Intelligence Committee of Parliamentarians  Madam Speaker, I would also like to congratulate my friend, colleague, and neighbour from Esquimalt—Saanich—Sooke for a fantastic presentation and all of his work in the previous Parliament as the NDP's public safety critic. There are three main points I want to outline as part of my speech on Bill C-22.

Petitions  Mr. Speaker, it is my honour to present Electronic Petition No. 193. I have 1,410 signatures on the petition. The petitioners call upon the Government of Canada to task the parliamentary budget officer to do a thorough analysis of the trans-Pacific partnership impact on jobs, copyright, our health care, and so on.

The Environment  Mr. Speaker, Canada's emissions keep climbing, year after year, and the Liberal government has yet to explain how its plan will break this trend and live up to our international obligations to combat climate change. Furthermore, Canadians learned yesterday that the Liberal government, which was granted power on promises of change, will be keeping the same Harper government's emission targets in place.

Income Tax Act  Mr. Speaker, I read an interesting opinion piece in the paper a couple of days ago by Robin Sears. He said that one of the great facts of Canadian political life is that Liberals “always break progressive hearts”. I did not come to this House to give myself a tax break, yet this bill is going to give me and everyone in this chamber $679.

Excise Act, 2001  Mr. Speaker, before I begin I just want to extend a warm welcome to you and to all my colleagues in the House. I hope we all had a restful and productive summer. It is great to see everyone again. Also, I want to wish a warm welcome to this year's new crop of pages. I know they are going to do a great job for us, and we are looking forward to working with them.

Life Means Life Act  Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to rise to speak to Bill C-229, introduced by the member for Calgary Signal Hill. Let me be clear from the outset that we in the NDP oppose the bill. Bill C-229 is based on a measure from the dying days of the last Parliament. This is not a bill that was on the agenda of the previous government during its 10 years on that side of the House.

Veterans Affairs  Madam Speaker, last year it was this Liberal Party that supported an NDP motion confirming Canada's solemn covenant with our veterans, but the Liberal government is betraying our veterans by breaking campaign promises on pensions, dragging injured veterans back into court, and shutting down vital long-term veterans care facilities.

Income Tax Act  Madam Speaker, my colleague raises a very important point about corporate tax rates because the other question the NDP has always received is how would members have paid for their platform. No one in the House except this party has looked seriously at how low corporate tax rates are, how they have been on a downward trend for a decade now, how we are the lowest in the OECD with an average lower than the United States, and yet there has not been a corresponding investment by those corporations.

Income Tax Act  Madam Speaker, I most certainly do not. I have met with so many low-income seniors that I have lost count, so many who are struggling. The CPP is one pension plan that went through the 2008 financial crisis relatively unscathed. It is a strong plan. It needs enhancement and if we are to have a serious conversation about low-income seniors in this country, we need to start having it now.