Democratic Reform  Mr. Speaker, I note in the member's written question a reference was made regarding proportional voting and he just expressed some concerns about the first past the post system that we now use. I also note that the member opposite was first elected as a member of the New Democratic Party, later to become an independent member of Parliament, and more recently to join a party again, in this case, the Green Party.

Points of Order  Mr. Speaker, in the tradition of this place, when a point is raised and a ruling requested, obviously there has to be representation from all sides so that you can bring back a ruling that takes fully into account the arguments and facts. The government would like to contribute to this particular discussion, and we will be making a timely submission so that you can make that ruling.

Economic Action Plan 2014 Act, No. 1  Mr. Speaker, I guess we will just have to disagree on some things. The prior Liberal government had 13 long years to speak up and stand up for municipal infrastructure, and British Columbia received $1.5 billion. In the seven years that this government has been in office, British Columbia has received $4.5 billion.

Economic Action Plan 2014 Act, No. 1  Mr. Speaker, I welcome the question from my colleague who is also from British Columbia. We are very proud of our province, and I know she speaks from that perspective. Getting to the point, we all in this place will get an opportunity to express our democratic values in votes.

Economic Action Plan 2014 Act, No. 1  Mr. Speaker, I rise today to speak in support of Bill C-31, our government's economic action plan for 2014. I understand that the member for Burlington will be speaking after me, which I think is wonderful, because what I lack in eloquence and possibly content I am sure he will more than make up for.

Economic Action Plan 2014 Act, No. 1  Mr. Speaker, I want to thank my colleague for her speech. Obviously she has many ideas different from what is discussed in the BIA, and I suppose that is why we have a democracy that allows people to get a chance to speak to the values they would like to see in these kinds of budget documents.

Economic Action Plan 2014 Act, No. 1  Mr. Speaker, any economist would tell us that if we want to see manufacturers export more, we need to have a strong system of both intellectual property and international trade agreements. Our government has had a very strong record of taking action to strengthen Canada's intellectual property system.

Economic Action Plan 2014 Act, No. 1  Mr. Speaker, I want to thank the member opposite for her wonderful speech. I find her to be a great colleague to work with. My question is very short, due to time. In this budget implementation act, there is a provision that would allow the automatic entry of people who would receive an HST or GST cheque into the program, so that people with low incomes, or seniors and pensioners, no longer have to apply.

Economic Action Plan 2014 Act, No. 1  Mr. Speaker, I want to thank the member opposite for his speech. I always find him to be a very reasonable person, so I was quite happy to hear his views as the deputy critic for finance for the official opposition. My question is very specific. He mentioned some of his concerns regarding the regulation, particularly to this budget implementation act, of derivatives.

Economic Action Plan 2014 Act, No. 1  Mr. Speaker, specifically following up on the environment, I just want to say that the government recently announced $4.4 million of support, in partnership with the Nature Conservancy of Canada, for 743 hectares of land just outside of the Oliver-Osoyoos area in the South Okanagan Similkameen.

Pan-Canadian Palliative and End-of-life Care Strategy  Mr. Speaker, I rise today to speak to Motion No. 456, sponsored by my colleague from Timmins—James Bay. Palliative and end-of-life care are important topics, and I would like to recognize the member for Timmins—James Bay for raising these concerns in his motion. I would like to briefly share an experience from my riding of Okanagan—Coquihalla that I believe is relevant to the motion we are discussing here today.

Pan-Canadian Palliative and End-of-life Care Strategy  Mr. Speaker, I thank the member opposite for his eloquent speech in the debate we are having today. I know first hand that working through private members' business can be a very positive thing. With these kinds of initiatives we draw influence and inspiration from many Canadians right across this country.

International Trade  Mr. Speaker, recently our Prime Minister announced that Canada and South Korea have concluded negotiations on a new free trade agreement. The opportunity to access such a large market, with a fair playing field, was welcome news to value-added wood producers, winery owners, and others in my riding of Okanagan—Coquihalla.

Business of Supply  Mr. Speaker, I appreciate the compliment and I will certainly try my best to answer the question in the limited time. To be frank, the motion that the opposition parties have put forward do not represent some sort of appeal to protect the taxpayer. In fact, every time we bring forward motions and budgets that do exactly that, they vote against them.

Business of Supply  Mr. Speaker, I am happy to speak to the member's own party's motion. There is no mention of, and the motion has nothing to do with, dollars. Again, as my speech says, it attempts to restrict the Prime Minister from whom he may have along with him. If this member had issues, then maybe that should be part of the motion.