Business of Supply  Mr. Speaker, it is my pleasure to rise today to contribute to the debate on pay equity in Canada. I thank the hon. member for Nanaimo—Ladysmith for bringing this important issue to the floor of the House. In 2016, it is not acceptable that women in Canada are still earning 23% le

Income Tax Act  Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank the hon. Minister of Finance for reaching out and listening to Canadians and for introducing this important bill. In my riding of Ottawa West—Nepean, we have a number of middle-class families who are struggling with child care expenses, trying

Status of Women  Mr. Speaker, I rise today to celebrate the 100th year of women's suffrage in Canada. On this day a century ago, a savvy group of Manitoba women succeeded in their campaign to give women the right to vote and hold political office, first in Manitoba, and three years later at the f

International Human Rights Day  Mr. Speaker, I rise today on the 67th International Human Rights Day, when we celebrate the day on which the UN General Assembly adopted the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. We all know that there are people throughout the world whose civil, economic, political, and social

Resumption of Debate on Address in Reply  Mr. Speaker, this is exactly the reason our government is committed to consulting with Canadians regarding the kind of electoral system they would choose. The first-past-the-post system, if we look around the world, is never used as a best practice internationally. In fact, the

Resumption of Debate on Address in Reply  Mr. Speaker, I thank my hon. colleague for that question and for his kind words about me and my predecessor. I would also like to pay tribute to other predecessors in this role: Marlene Catterall, David Daubney, and many others whose shoes I plan to fill. With regard to internat

Resumption of Debate on Address in Reply  Mr. Speaker, we are very proud that the Canada child benefit will help nine out of ten families and will raise over 300,000 children out of poverty. In addition, in the infrastructure funding we will be providing money for social infrastructure, which will also include things l

Resumption of Debate on Address in Reply  Mr. Speaker, I will be splitting my time today with the hon. member for Brampton East. As this is the first time I am rising in the House, I would like to express my heartfelt thanks to the people of Ottawa West—Nepean for placing their confidence and trust in me to be their re