Democratic Reform  Mr. Speaker, our government takes the protection of the personal privacy of Canadians extremely seriously, which is why we proactively reached out to the Privacy Commissioner to answer any questions he might have had. We thank him for his very thorough report and we accept those

Access to Information Act  Mr. Speaker, I will be splitting my time with the member for Vancouver Quadra. I am proud to rise in the House to speak to Bill C-58, an act to amend the Access to Information Act and the Privacy Act. Our government was elected on a promise to reinforce public trust in our demo

Access to Information Act  Mr. Speaker, I want to thank the Centre for Law and Democracy for the concept of the RTI and for its contribution to the bill, through its advocacy, as it stands now. Our government is raising the bar and enshrining a culture of openness and transparency across government. The l

Access to Information Act  Mr. Speaker, it is hard to imagine anything that creates more cynicism than being chastised for doing the right thing. We are very proud to be doing the right thing. It is overdue. We are taking a very good, fundamental step toward increasing openness and transparency through th

Access to Information Act  Mr. Speaker, as I said, this is part of our massive effort across government to increase openness and transparency, not just through this act but through amendments to other acts that are on the Order Paper as well. We are fundamentally increasing the openness and transparency of

HMCS Kootenay Day  Mr. Speaker, in Nova Scotia and in Halifax, October 23 is HMCS Kootenay Day. The HMCS Kootenay was a Restigouche-class destroyer in the Royal Canadian Navy. Forty-eight years ago, in 1969, the Kootenay was passing through the English Channel, headed home to Canada after exercises

Democratic Reform  Madam Speaker, Bill C-50 was reported back from committee to the House this week. I want to thank the members of the procedure and House affairs committee for their hard work and sound advice. Canadians want greater transparency with respect to how their political leaders fundra

Budget Implementation Act, 2017, No. 2  Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to rise in the House to speak to Bill C-63, which would implement certain provisions of the budget tabled in Parliament in March, 2017. Before I get to the crux of Bill C-63, I would like to set the broader context in which it has been introduced, becaus

Budget Implementation Act, 2017, No. 2  Mr. Speaker, as the parliamentary secretary mentioned, an incredible investment has been made in the employment insurance program. When investments like that are made across the country, it will in fact be a benefit that accrues to all Canadians, as the economy as a whole is rais

Budget Implementation Act, 2017, No. 2  Mr. Speaker, I find it highly ironic that the question is coming from the member. Under his government, there was a 10-year period where the poor in Canada became poorer, the rich became richer, and the middle class were ever more squeezed with a flat or negative income growth. I

Budget Implementation Act, 2017, No. 2  Mr. Speaker, although we are able to walk and chew gum at the same time, we are not able to do everything at the same time. Clearly, right now our focus is on the middle class. As we all know now, Canada has the lowest small business tax rate in the G7. We have the fastest-growin

Petitions  Mr. Speaker, I rise in the House today to table e-petition 1140, initiated by Angus Gus Cameron of Halifax, Nova Scotia. Mr. Cameron is a devoted veterans' advocate in my riding and a veteran himself. He, along with 1,724 petitioners from across the country, ask the Government

Democratic Institutions  Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague from Ottawa—Vanier for her question and for the good work that she does. We believe in a vibrant and inclusive democratic process in which more Canadians, not fewer, should be able to participate. We are committed to improving our democratic ins

Halifax  Mr. Speaker, 100 years ago, in 1917, two ships collided in Halifax harbour. One, the SS Mont-Blanc, was laden with high explosives destined for the western front in France. It caused the largest human-made explosion the world had ever known. Four hundred acres of my hometown were

Access to Information Act  Madam Speaker, my thanks to my friend from Kamloops—Thompson—Cariboo for her intervention today. I am struck by the characterization of this bill as regressive when, in fact, it addresses a number of issues that were highlighted by Canadians during the previous government's tenur