Resumption of debate on Address in Reply  Mr. Speaker, it is indeed a pleasure to rise in the House today for this my maiden speech in the House of Commons. I want to congratulate you, Mr. Speaker, on your position in the chair, but first and foremost, congratulate my colleague from the riding of Halifax West on his succ

Resumption of debate on Address in Reply  Mr. Speaker, I believe the position of the government is to work with the provinces in coming up with an effective way of reducing carbon in this country. If we do not do that, the cost that our citizens will bear will be significantly higher than anything we may face today.

Resumption of debate on Address in Reply  Mr. Speaker, that is an excellent question from the hon. member. Of course, it is a concern. One of the most negative parts of the changes to the EI program by the former government was that it hurt those in the lower income bracket the most. Any time that government puts forwa

Resumption of debate on Address in Reply  Mr. Speaker, the clawback was one of the most damaging and regressive aspects of the old EI system because it penalized people for going back to work. It took 50¢ of each dollar earned from them. The old system allowed a person to earn well over $100 a week while on EI before it

Petitions  Mr. Speaker, I rise to present a petition on behalf of fair electoral representation from Fair Vote Canada. The petitioners prepared this petition to express their point of view on democratic reform.

Canada's Contribution to the Effort to Combat ISIL  Mr. Speaker, I first want to acknowledge and thank our military men and women who have been engaged in overseas combat over the years for their contribution, and for standing up for what this country believes in. I would ask my hon. colleague if he could explain to the House wha

Youth Employment  Mr. Speaker, funding for the youth employment strategy was cut by more than $60 million under the previous government, with $30 million of that funding going unspent in the 2014 fiscal year. I recently met with students facing significant personal barriers to employment, who were

Budget Implementation Act, 2016, No. 1.  Mr. Speaker, it is indeed an honour and a pleasure for me to rise in the House today as the newly elected member of Parliament for Egmont to speak to Bill C-15. Before I get to my comments on the budget, I want to acknowledge the situation that is occurring in our sister provinc

Budget Implementation Act, 2016, No. 1.  Mr. Speaker, we were the only party that was candid during the elections. Given the fiscal situation we could see at the time, we were unlikely to balance the budget. In fact, we indicated that we would run a deficit that could exceed the $10 billion range, while the other two ma

Budget Implementation Act, 2016, No. 1.  Mr. Speaker, of course we delivered changes to things on which we campaigned. We changed the tax rate for the middle class. We changed the child benefit, which has a significant impact for those most in need. We changed the GIS for single seniors. We changed significant parts of

Mike Gallant  Mr. Speaker, on the morning of May 14, 2015, Captain Mike Gallant and his fellow members of the Miscouche Volunteer Fire Department were called to an emergency scene in western P.E.I. Afterward, while returning to his day job, Mike was killed in a single-vehicle accident. His dea

Business of Supply  Mr. Speaker, as probably one of the only members sitting in the House today who was a signator and party to the negotiations that led up to the 1995 AIT, I would like my colleague to comment on why he thinks using the courts would be better than a negotiation process. After all,

Holland College Graduates  Madam Speaker, I rise today to congratulate this year's graduating class at Holland College, Prince Edward Island's community college. Its West Prince Campus opened in my riding in 2011, and it has quickly become a major asset to the community. In particular, I want to congratu

Life Means Life Act  Mr. Speaker, rising to participate in the debate today, one cannot argue with the reality that those impacted by crime is real. Are there lives affected and changed? Of course they are. Do they go back to normal? No, never. Everybody who is impacted by acts of crime are impacted

Agriculture  Madam Speaker, earlier this month, I spent some time harvesting potatoes at a large farm in my riding, owned and operated by Winston and Harris Callaghan of Miminegash. I was amazed at the technology involved. Today's farmers are employing advanced technologies and farming prac