Forestry Industry  Mr. Speaker, thousands of workers in northern Ontario, such as those in Smooth Rock Falls, Hearst, Dubreuilville, White River and Wawa, have no more job prospects. Thanks to this government, the forestry industry is an economic engine that has stalled. Families in northern Ontar

Gasoline Prices  Mr. Speaker, Canadians are happy to see that gas prices have dropped. When I left Ottawa last Thursday, I noticed that gas cost approximately 75¢ per litre. However, in my riding, gas prices are higher. On Friday, gas in Elliot Lake cost 20% more than it did in Ottawa. Most of

Status of Women  Mr. Speaker, on November 7, 2008, the UN Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women issued a report that was extremely critical of the Canadian government's record on women's rights. The UN committee was so concerned about the failure of the government to inves

Resumption of debate on Address in Reply  Madam Speaker, I will be sharing my time with my colleague from Elmwood—Transcona. I would first like to congratulate you on your election as Deputy Speaker, as well as congratulate all new members who are sitting in this House for the first time. I too consider it a great honour

Resumption of debate on Address in Reply  Madam Speaker, I can say that in my community the issue of having pensions increased is a big issue. These people are actually living in poverty right now. At a time when all of the downloading by the province happened due to the lack of transfer payments to the province, these s

Resumption of debate on Address in Reply  Madam Speaker, I thank the member for his question. I think it is disgusting that the government is not stepping up to address the inequalities our seniors are experiencing. Our seniors have faced a number of challenges as of late. They helped build our country, and we must absol

Resumption of debate on Address in Reply  Madam Speaker, I would like to remind the member that at the time when the Kelowna accord was agreed to, the Liberals were in government. They had many years prior to that to come through on the commitments to aboriginal people, and you failed to do that. During the current elect

Economic and Fiscal Statement  Mr. Speaker, I would like to put this question to the member opposite. She spoke about the forest industry and the innovation measures that have been taken. My question is this. Why have the mills closed down in the towns in my riding of Algoma—Manitoulin—Kapuskasing, in northern

Points of Order  Mr. Speaker, twice we have asked the member for Peterborough to apologize and he has readily admitted that he will not apologize. He has admitted that he has said the word “traitor”. Please have him withdraw--

Northern Ontario Communities  Mr. Speaker, communities in northern Ontario have been hard hit by the decline in the mining and forestry industries. However, the budget presented yesterday does not provide significant help for the unemployed, workers and their communities. The money in the economic stimulatio

Employment Insurance Act  moved for leave to introduce Bill C-280, An Act to amend the Employment Insurance Act (qualification for and entitlement to benefits). Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank my hon. colleague from Acadie—Bathurst for seconding the bills I am tabling today. My first bill that I woul

Employment Insurance Act  moved for leave to introduce Bill C-281, An Act to amend the Employment Insurance Act (benefit period increase). Mr. Speaker, again, I thank my hon. colleague from Acadie—Bathurst for seconding this bill, which amends the Employment Insurance Act to increase the benefit period f

Canada-EFTA Free Trade Agreement Implementation Act  Mr. Speaker, could the member differentiate between free trade and fair trade? We have seen what happened with the softwood lumber industry and now the impact on our jobs here in Canada. Yesterday, Tembec announced that it would be laying off about 1,500 more workers. We do not d

Canada-EFTA Free Trade Agreement Implementation Act  Mr. Speaker, I am glad to join with my colleagues in denouncing this bill which will have long-term implications for the workers of this country. It is a bill which further commits Canada to a free trade agenda when what we should really be pursuing is a fair trade agenda. I fin

Canada–EFTA Free Trade Agreement Implementation Act  Madam Speaker, when we are looking at shipbuilding, it does not just impact those people who are actually building the ships, but it does have a ripple effect into other industries, especially the mining and forestry industries. Everyone would benefit from that, not to mention so