Justice  Mr. Speaker, the government knows full well it is intervening in the case, not standing back from the case. The government claims it does not want to reopen the same-sex marriage debate, but that is exactly what it is doing by disputing the definition of a civil partnership. Cons

Justice  Mr. Speaker, in 2005 Canada made the historic decision to allow same-sex marriage. Unfortunately, the Conservatives are now trying to erode this right by intervening in an Ontario case to oppose recognition of a same-sex civil partnership from the U.K. The Ontario government has

Royal Canadian Mounted Police  Mr. Speaker, the government cannot seem to get its story straight on this file. First the minister says there is a deadline and no more negotiations. Then on Friday, the member for Port Moody—Westwood—Port Coquitlam, speaking as the cabinet minister in B.C., told B.C. municipalit

Senate Reform Act  Mr. Speaker, does the hon. member seriously think his constituents would like the idea of adding 105 politicians to our system if we did not already have a Senate now? Would they really think it would solve their problems? Would they think that spending $109 million or $107 milli

Senate Reform Act  Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank the member for Nanaimo—Cowichan for her excellent speech on this topic and especially for her emphasis on consulting Canadians. It is fairly clear the government on the other side has consulted neither Canadians nor the provinces. Let us imagin

Senate Reform Act  Mr. Speaker, I was wondering whether the hon. member has considered the question of costs. Time and again we see Conservative proposals presented in this chamber with no costing. Could she comment on the more than $100 million the Senate costs us every year? In addition, what a

Points of Order  Mr. Speaker, in a statement delivered today by the member for South Surrey—White Rock—Cloverdale, I was accused, along with the member for Surrey North, of supporting child molesters. As an adult survivor of child abuse, I rise on this point of order and demand an immediate wit

Public Safety  Mr. Speaker, all British Columbians are asking for is a fair deal on policing, one with more community input and better accountability. Instead, they are being offered ultimatums again today and a dangerously out-of-touch approach of one size fits all provinces. While the gover

Royal Canadian Mounted Police  Mr. Speaker, the government likes to talk tough on crime, but when it comes to front-line police, it continues to fall down on the job. It is telling the government in British Columbia to take it or leave it on the contract offer. British Columbians need to know that the result

Salmon Restoration Society  Mr. Speaker, the Juan de Fuca Salmon Restoration Society is a group of extremely dedicated volunteers working in the area from the Sooke Basin to the San Juan River in my riding. Twelve creeks and rivers stand to benefit from their work in rehabilitating and restoring the all-imp

International Trade  Mr. Speaker, Canada's Asia-Pacific gateway should be about more than the Conservative strategy of just shipping our raw materials overseas. Last week, the president of the Asia Pacific Foundation advised the government that to be successful in expanding our trade, Canada needed

Safe Streets and Communities Act  Mr. Speaker, I listened with interest to the parliamentary secretary's comments on deterrence. Before I came to this chamber, I spent 20 years working in the area of criminal justice, where it is very well known that deterrence that actually works is based on the certainty and t

Safe Streets and Communities Act  Madam Speaker, I listened with great interest to the speech by the parliamentary secretary. I have had occasion to meet her a couple of times outside the House. I have always found her to be very reasonable and rational. I think we will have to say that we simply disagree on the

Canadian Human Rights Act  moved for leave to introduce Bill C-279, An Act to amend the Canadian Human Rights Act and the Criminal Code (gender identity and gender expression). Mr. Speaker, this is a reintroduction of the bill that passed this House before the last election but, unfortunately, not the Sen

Preventing Human Smugglers from Abusing Canada's Immigration System Act  Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank my colleague for her very eloquent speech, which was obviously fueled by a great deal of passion on this topic. I wonder if she could say a bit more about her views on this bill's effects on family reunification and the impacts it would have o