National Elizabeth Fry Week  Mr. Speaker, this week marks National Elizabeth Fry Week. It is intended to enhance public awareness about the circumstances of victimized and criminalized women in the criminal justice system. Because the majority of women who are in our prison system are mothers, this week always precedes Mother's Day.

Business of Supply  Mr. Speaker, in fact, I recall the promise that after 85¢ per litre there would be no more GST. I just heard some members in the Conservative caucus say that they did not get elected on that promise. That is weaseling out. I am sorry, I cannot accept that. We heard a lot of promises from the Conservatives.

Business of Supply  Mr. Speaker, I find it quite astounding that we hear all of this bafflegab. The Conservatives know full well that they could lower gas prices right now by simply dropping the GST. In terms of where the New Democrats stand, we stand with Canadians. We stand with Canadian families, hard-working consumers, and we want to narrow the affordability gap.

Business of Supply  Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank the member for Windsor West for sharing his time with me. The rising price of gasoline is causing great concern to hard-working Canadians. New Democrats believe ordinary Canadians are being cheated at the gas pump every time they fill up their cars.

Government Programs  Mr. Speaker, the richest Canadians have increasingly enjoyed very good fortune while, at the same time, 40% of Ontario families, more than 600,000 households, have seen little or no gains in their incomes in 30 years despite working longer hours. Conservative and Liberal governments have failed working Canadians.

Government Programs  Mr. Speaker, it is not effective. Ordinary people are struggling to afford food. One time funding and tax tinkering does not solve long term hunger or homelessness. Why does the government continue to give tax breaks to the rich and leave the poor to struggle every day? We have no national housing program, not enough child care spaces and women in Canada still only make 71¢ for every dollar a man earns.

Petitions  Mr. Speaker, I have two petitions for the Government of Canada regarding seniors. The signatories wish to remind their government that the unification of seniors with their families through immigration is a core aspect of forming strong and vibrant families and communities. Newcomer seniors currently suffer discriminatory eligibility criteria within Canada's income security program.

House debate  Mr. Speaker, the member talked about the direction the government is taking. My first response is it seems to be going in circles, but that is not really accurate. The government is going backward, and it is going backward in terms of women's rights. What we see with the cancellation of the court challenges program and the end of funding for research and policy development for Status of Women Canada is quite symptomatic of what can only be described as an entrenching of Republican style values.

House debate  Mr. Speaker, that is the quality of nightmares. Canadians are much too cautious and much too intelligent to ever give the Conservative government that kind of power. There has been a great deal of discussion, but they have seen what happened in the United States with the entrenchment of a right-wing agenda and the kind of despair that we see there.

House debate  Mr. Speaker, I am splitting my time with the member for Acadie—Bathurst. The truth is that changes to the mandate of Status of Women Canada and the termination of the court challenges program are a travesty. The court challenges program of Canada provided access to justice in languages and equality rights.

The Environment  Mr. Speaker, this Sunday is the 37th Earth Day. Sadly, we are still facing an environmental crisis in Canada and around the world. Since taking office, the Conservatives have embarrassed and disappointed Canadians by their position on the environment. One of their first acts in government was to give up on Canada's international commitments to address climate change and global warming.

Budget Implementation Act, 2007  Mr. Speaker, it is interesting that the member made reference to housing for first nations. That is old money. There is absolutely no mention of money for new housing initiatives. I stand by my statement. The government has no interest. It is trying to recycle money that was available because of the hard work of New Democrats.

Budget Implementation Act, 2007  Mr. Speaker, I am a member of the status of women committee and interestingly enough there was a discussion about income splitting and pension splitting. A group brought a rather fascinating chart to our attention. It showed the effects of income splitting on seniors. The interesting part was that for a senior couple making $21,000, there was absolutely no tax benefit, nothing, but a couple who made $121,000 a year received a tax benefit of nearly $9,000.

Budget Implementation Act, 2007  Mr. Speaker, I would like to take this time to talk about the impact of the budget on the housing crisis in Canada and its impact in my riding of London—Fanshawe. With the growing homeless crisis in this country and the cost of housing on the rise, there is a definite need for more investment in affordable housing.

Isabel McNeill House  Mr. Speaker, the government recently announced the closure of Canada's only minimum security prison for women. The Isabel McNeill House provides a transitional environment for incarcerated women offenders. It provides training to enhance their employment skills, making it more possible for them to have opportunities to participate successfully in society.