Government Accountability  Mr. Speaker, they made the rules. They just cannot explain them to us. The Prime Minister's friends, his lawyers, his strategists and all those close Conservative ties are lining up to sell access to the government, and now the health minister is getting on the bandwagon. In 20

The Budget  Mr. Speaker, the hon. member did a very good job of giving a synopsis of what the government has done, which is precious little. We talk about the tax cuts. The tax rate base for lower income Canadians was 15%. The Conservatives came into government bragging about how they were

The Budget  Mr. Speaker, in 2006 the Conservatives promised 125,000 new child care spaces over five years. Fourteen months into this mandate Canadian families are realizing that this promise was not worth the paper it was printed on. There have been zero spaces created in this past year. Wh

The Budget  Mr. Speaker, I will be splitting my time with the member for Labrador. I am pleased to have the opportunity today to comment on the recent Conservative budget. Like most Canadians, I was hopeful that the budget would provide substantial measures to address issues such as social

Hockeyville 2007  Mr. Speaker, I stand today to congratulate North Bay on being chosen as Hockeyville 2007. North Bay was one of five finalists vying for the coveted title, which was announced during the CBC'S Hockey Night in Canada broadcast on Saturday evening. North Bay's entry in the competi

Cabinet Ministers  Mr. Speaker, the three musketeers of the Harris government are back on the political scene, but now they are operating at the federal level. We have seen how they governed in Ontario and left the province with a $6 billion deficit. Now we get to see them in action in the feder

Business of Supply  Mr. Speaker, a lot of the comments being made referred to historic things that are happening. Let us take one case in particular which is happening in my riding. It is the case of Deirdre Pinto who has been waiting for two years. I am not going to try to throw the blame on one

Yolande Bélanger  Mr. Speaker, I would like to pay tribute to Yolande Bélanger, who is celebrating 34 years of service at the Sainte-Anne parish in Mattawa. Ms. Bélanger initiated a French language choral group. She worked for the mill for a long time and is a valued member of the Fédération des

Paul Harris Fellowship Award  Mr. Speaker, I stand today to congratulate a dedicated group of volunteers in my riding of Nipissing—Timiskaming. Earlier this week, Joanne Comerford, Janet Comerford and Eric Magill were each presented with the Paul Harris Fellowship Awards by the Rotary Club of Nipissing. The

Carnaval des Compagnons  Mr. Speaker, today I want to tell you about the largest francophone festival outside Quebec. The Carnaval des Compagnons is an annual festival in North Bay and this year it is being held from February 9 to 18. When a few people got together in 1963 to think about ways to bring t

Business of Supply  Mr. Speaker, the hon. member mentioned that we all have to be engaged. When I hear that, I turn to low income Canadians. In the past we had programs such as EnerGuide that not only helped save precious little income that lower income Canadians have but it helped them promote go

The Environment  Mr. Speaker, once again, they are not answering the question. While the scientific community is calling on world leaders to take action against climate change, the Prime Minister said: “Kyoto is designed to address the so-called 'greenhouse gas' phenomenon, the hypothesis that t

Petitions  Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to present several petitions. The first is on behalf of residents of northern Ontario who are calling on Parliament to ensure lifetime surveillance and containment of released sex offenders as well as stricter penalties for violent behaviour against inf

Petitions  Mr. Speaker, third, I wish to present a petition on behalf of the residents of Nipissing--Timiskaming who are calling upon the government to take all measures necessary to raise the age of consent from 14 to 16 years of age. I respectfully submit these petitions to the Clerk of

Petitions  Mr. Speaker, the second petition I wish to present is on behalf of residents of my riding who are calling upon Parliament to amend the Income Tax Act in order to permit a pension from a registered pension fund to be split between spouses.