Resumption of Debate on Address in Reply  Mr. Speaker, congratulations. I want to begin by thanking my wife, Amy Symington, my parents, and my family and friends for their love and support through this year's marathon campaign. I thank also the hundreds of volunteers who worked tirelessly to give me this opportunity and

Resumption of Debate on Address in Reply  Mr. Speaker, it is about listening to Canadians. My friend sees a broken promise with respect to Syrian refugees; I see listening to Canadians and actually working across the aisle with the other side. The commitment remains 25,000 Syrian refugees to be brought into Canada by t

Resumption of Debate on Address in Reply  Mr. Speaker, I do not speak for the government; I speak for myself. The government is committed to electoral reform and it is committed to listening to Canadians. I have not heard the government commit to a preferential ballot and no other option. I understand we will strike a w

Resumption of Debate on Address in Reply  Mr. Speaker, I am open to a discussion regarding a referendum, but the fact is that we just had an election. I am not suggesting that the Liberal Party obtained enough votes to make this a mandate, but the NDP also ran on electoral reform. Canadians were very clear that they wan

Resumption of Debate on Address in Reply  Mr. Speaker, we can talk about democratic inputs and we can talk about democratic outputs. My friend repeatedly emphasizes democratic inputs, that in making this decision it should be by referendum. Ignored in this conversation, and what we emphasized throughout the campaign, is

Beaches—East York Volunteer  Mr. Speaker, every year almost half of Canadians over the age of 15 perform volunteer work, which is a collective contribution of over two billion hours. Today, I would like to recognize one individual specifically, Olive Dodds. Olive is 105 years old and still makes time to vol

Income Tax Act  Mr. Speaker, we have heard the Parliamentary Budget Officer referred to many times in this House today. I would like to note that, with respect to the TFSA, the PBO reviewed the previous government's doubling of contribution limits to this savings vehicle and noted that it primar

Canada Labour Code  Mr. Speaker, I do not think anyone would accuse former Conservative Senator Hugh Segal of being a big union boss or supporting big union bosses. He identified a number of problems with Bill C-377, including the unconstitutionality of the bill, the constitutionality question by th

International Mother Language Day  Mr. Speaker, International Mother Language Day, on February 21, is recognized by the United Nations and is celebrated by cultures and countries around the world. In 1952, students in Dhaka, Bangladesh, demonstrated for the recognition of Bangla as an official language of then E

Modernizing Animal Protections Act  moved for leave to introduce Bill C-246, An Act to amend the Criminal Code, the Fisheries Act, the Textile Labelling Act, the Wild Animal and Plant Protection and Regulation of International and Interprovincial Trade Act and the Canada Consumer Product Safety Act (animal protecti

Toronto Beaches Lions Club Easter Parade  Mr. Speaker, I grew up in my riding of Beaches—East York. As a kid, I attended the annual Easter parade along Queen Street East, hosted by the Toronto Beaches Lions Club. It involves marching bands and floats sponsored by local associations and businesses, and it is attended by t

Interparliamentary Delegations  Mr. Speaker, pursuant to Standing Order 34(1), I have the honour to present to the House, in both official languages, two reports of the Canadian Group of the Inter-parliamentary Union, respecting its participation at the annual parliamentary hearing at the United Nations, held i

Criminal Code  Mr. Speaker, “Everyone has the right to life, liberty and security of the person and the right not to be deprived thereof except in accordance with the principles of fundamental justice”, so says section 7 of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. In February of last year,

Criminal Code  Mr. Speaker, I was also perplexed that we did not see palliative care options in budget 2016. We have made a commitment to spend $3 billion on home care, as I understand it, although I am not spending the money personally or individually, so I cannot make that choice on my own.

Criminal Code  Mr. Speaker, we have had a parliamentary committee do incredible work getting a report out after holding hearings that would have taken months and months on end in a very short time span. We have legislation before us that requires fixes, yes, but in the main part addresses the S