House debate  Mr. Speaker, that self-congratulatory tone over there is a little rich considering it was our former leader who announced a major infrastructure spending program as a response to this recession at a time when the members opposite were still pretending that Canada was in a surplus situation.

House debate  Mr. Speaker, I asked the Minister of Transport a question a couple of weeks ago that was not well answered. In fact, his answer was very dismissive. I asked about the seven out of seven infrastructure projects that had been announced in British Columbia that were all in Conservative ridings and suggested there might be a bit of pork barrelling going on.

Public Safety  Mr. Speaker, I rise to speak about the recent explosion of gang crime in metro Vancouver. Crime has always been part of human society but that does not excuse government ineffectiveness in controlling and reducing it. On the contrary, we must continuously improve and strengthen the complex network of resources, policies, processes and laws designed to protect citizens.

Public Safety  Mr. Speaker, the minister is obviously strong on spin, though weak on crime. At a time of escalating gang violence in B.C., unfortunately we do have a Conservative government that is weak on crime. On the Conservatives' watch, the situation has become worse. They have been three years in power and communities are experiencing the reeling from their failure.

Softwood Lumber Industry  Mr. Speaker, the U.S. Southern Governors' Association has passed a motion attacking the already crippled Canadian softwood lumber industry. It calls on President Obama to take new extraordinary measures to punish a sector that has done nothing wrong and is hanging on by a thread.

Justice  Mr. Speaker, today marks the 200th anniversary of Charles Darwin's birth, and it is 150 years since he published his theory of evolution in the seminal book The Origin of Species, which has contributed so much to our understanding of the natural world and human behaviour. Social scientists have used Darwin's theories to better understand the root causes of crime.

Budget Implementation Act, 2009  Madam Speaker, I listened to the comments of the member for Burnaby—New Westminster. I want to acknowledge the member as being a master of righteous indignation. I appreciate the member's list of deficiencies of the current government, and I share those views. I agree with much of the critique of the budget.

Budget Implementation Act, 2009  Mr. Speaker, I appreciate the hon. member's dilemma with respect to his province and the unwarranted attack by the Prime Minister on Newfoundland and Labrador. However, I would like to correct a statement about the Liberal Party agenda. The Liberal Party agenda is pretty straightforward.

Budget Implementation Act, 2009  Mr. Speaker, the member made a comment about there being only one real difference between last November's budget and today's budget, and that the Liberals will not be opposing the budget this time. That seems more than a little myopic. I presume the member opposite does not believe the only thing of significance is the voting that is happening in the House.

House debate  Madam Speaker, I am disappointed that the member opposite has come with a full-blown message box and is apparently not responding at all to the concerns I am raising. He talks about announcing funding. That is the very problem I am pointing at. The Ottawa Congress Centre was announced in 2006, 2007 and 2008, before a single dollar ever flowed.

House debate  Madam Speaker, on January 29 I asked a question in the House and I did not receive a satisfactory answer from the Minister of Transport, Infrastructure and Communities. I asked whether the Conservative government was actually getting money out the door for crucial infrastructure projects across the country or simply conducting serial photo opportunities.

The Economy  Mr. Speaker, it sounds like we have a new buzzword from across the aisle. In December, while the Prime Minister was busy protecting his own job and insisting that this was just a “technical recession”, the people of B.C. were suffering. Bankruptcies jumped 42% from the previous December, home sales plunged 58%, and the 68,000 full-time jobs lost last month could be only the tip of the iceberg.

Budget Implementation Act, 2009  Mr. Speaker, I mentioned that regrettable attack on pay equity in my remarks. However, the member's party, the NDP, has no understanding of economics, which is perhaps why the economic measures are immaterial. I disagree with that. We need to assist Canadians who are losing their jobs and we need to create the jobs of the future, and we need to do that now.

Budget Implementation Act, 2009  Mr. Speaker, the member made an error in his statement. We have put the government on probation, not Canadians. It is the NDP members who have put Canadians on probation. If they had really cared about solving the economic crisis, they would have first looked at the budget before passing judgment on it.

Budget Implementation Act, 2009  Mr. Speaker, as far as I know, there is no money yet. My colleague was generous in calling it a commitment. I would say that it is an announcement. The Conservative government is very generous with making announcements. It tends to announce things over and over again. We will be holding the government to account to ensure the funds do flow and there is a genuine commitment, not just a commitment to announcements.