Petitions  Madam Speaker, I bring forward a petition signed by many Canadians in regard to the government's decision on November 4, 2011, to put a freeze on the sponsoring of parents and grandparents. The petitioners believe that parents and grandparents play a vital role in terms of the family unit and they call upon the government to lift the freeze so that Canadians and others will be able to sponsor their parents to be reunited as a family unit, or to at least allow them the opportunity to sponsor.

Citizenship and Immigration  Madam Speaker, the Canadian Association of Refugee Lawyers has concerns in regard to Bill C-31, as does our party. It said, “The designated 'safe' country list, and the Minister's unilateral power to list countries, dangerously politicizes the refugee system”. Will the minister agree to an amendment, similar to that contained in the bill from the last Parliament which passed the House unanimously, that would require the minister to make recommendations for countries to be listed from an advisory committee?

Citizenship and Immigration  Madam Speaker, let us be fair. At the end of the day, the government is choosing which country is going to be a safe country. The minister is going to make that decision. If people come from one of those safe countries, then that means there is no appeal. In fact, to attempt an appeal, it has to go through a federal court.

Corrections and Conditional Release Act  Madam Speaker, could the member provide some comment with regard to the whole concept of restorative justice in which victims and individuals who perpetrated the crime come together to see if in fact something can be done that would adequately compensate or even give victims comfort in terms of what the eventual outcome might be?

Business of Supply  Mr. Speaker, the sad thing is that the minister just admitted that he has never even read the Kelowna accord. If he does not have a copy I am sure we could arrange to get him a copy. One has to be concerned that the minister did not even read the Kelowna accord. I wonder if the Prime Minister even read the Kelowna accord.

Business of Supply  Mr. Speaker, the provincial government in Ontario places importance on education and equates it with opportunities. We need to see the same leadership from the national government in dealing with some of the educational challenges in our remote areas and reserves. If we can make that connection, then we will have more people of aboriginal ancestry as leaders in many different sectors, whether mining, tourism or other industries.

Business of Supply  Mr. Speaker, it is a pleasure to provide some comments on the opposition motion today. It is a motion from which I would think every member would recognize the valuable lessons to be learned. If we do not take the actions necessary to provide good quality education for all people in Canada, focusing attention especially on first nations, at the end of the day we will be denying opportunities for future generations of children.

Citizenship and Immigration  Mr. Speaker, the Minister of Citizenship, Immigration and Multiculturalism has made a clear statement. He says that he is the one who is going to decide what is a safe country for refugees. He says he does not need any help from a professional advisory committee, that he is the minister who has the ability and power to determine that a refugee from some country around the world does not need to have an appeal, that the refugee will have to go through the Federal Court.

Business of Supply  Madam Speaker, I am interested in the member's comments. I would be interested in knowing what he thought of the Kelowna accord. When he talks about all parties and stakeholders coming together, that in fact did happen. Paul Martin did a fabulous job in bringing first nations, aboriginal peoples, and many different stakeholders together in Kelowna.

Petitions  Mr. Speaker, I am presenting a petition in regard to the Minister of Citizenship and Immigration's policy decision to freeze the ability of an individual to sponsor his or her parents to come to Canada. The petitioners wish to make a strong statement that what is being done by the minister is met with great opposition in many different communities throughout Canada.

Ending The Long-Gun Registry Act  Mr. Speaker, the Province of Quebec, as a government, has decided that it would like to have a gun registry. As the member knows, it is fairly expensive to create a gun registry. The province is looking to Ottawa to assist it in having that data bank, as opposed to having to re-create it, thereby saving millions of dollars and perhaps using those millions of dollars to invest in things such as community policing.

Ending The Long-Gun Registry Act  Mr. Speaker, my greatest frustration is probably when government of the day, no matter what, says there is absolutely zero benefit from the gun registry, when we in fact know there have been benefits. We know that for a fact. However, the government time and time again refuses to acknowledge that.

Ending The Long-Gun Registry Act  Mr. Speaker, the member brings up a great point. If we look at the registry as a whole, we have had endless examples of how the registry has made society a safer place. However, I give the government credit for its communication network, which has been highly successful over the years.

Ending The Long-Gun Registry Act  Mr. Speaker, I can assure the member that not all 33 of those registered items were in fact known to the police. They were only known to the police because of the registry. The point is that if someone fabricates something or takes an issue such as this and says that the government is making people criminals because they are not registering their long guns, it will have an impact on public opinion.

Ending The Long-Gun Registry Act  Well, Mr. Speaker, the Reform Party's dream has really come true. Let us look at how long we have been having this debate. The debate first started when a Progressive Conservative senator suggested to Kim Campbell that the House look at registering long guns. This idea was well received back in 1991 by the Progressive Conservative Party, the Liberal Party and the New Democratic Party.