Resumption of Debate on Address in Reply  Mr. Speaker, I am not sure what the question is but the question was on monopolizing compassion. I am not saying that anyone in this Parliament has any monopoly on compassion but one thing that I have seen from the other side is a complete lack or even understanding of compassion

Resumption of Debate on Address in Reply  Mr. Speaker, the words that keep coming back to me when I think of regional development are the words that came out of the Prime Minister when he was the opposition leader. I think the words he used were, “it breeds defeatism”. What happens is that certain areas of the country

Resumption of Debate on Address in Reply  Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to have this opportunity to take part in this debate and to air my views on the Speech from the Throne. I would like to begin my remarks this afternoon by thanking the people of Nipissing--Timiskaming for their overwhelming support during the recent ele

Canada's Commitment in Afghanistan  Mr. Chair, the member across the way talked about his regret with the actions of the Liberal government. I do not know if he realizes it but he is in government now and there are new actions that have to be taken toward the future. There will be questions that have to be answered

Canada's Commitment in Afghanistan  Mr. Chair, the report is new. I really have not had a chance to look it over. I know that the agreement initially taken into consideration did take into consideration the Geneva convention and looked at certain areas. We have to trust that the people who entered into this agreem

Canada's Commitment in Afghanistan  Mr. Chair, I will be splitting my time with the member for Etobicoke—Lakeshore. I appreciate the opportunity to take part in this very important debate. There is no question in my mind that the mission that the Canadian Forces are currently undertaking in Afghanistan is vitally

Canada's Commitment in Afghanistan  I apologize, Mr. Chair. During that trip I had a firsthand look at the extraordinary work that our dedicated men and women in uniform are doing to help that country face some incredible challenges. I also saw just how grateful the Afghan people are for the tremendous efforts Can

FedNor  Mr. Speaker, I rise today to emphasize the importance of regional development programs such as FedNor. Constituents in my riding and throughout northern Ontario have benefited greatly from the stable, long term investment that FedNor provides. While the opposition has made it cl

Arts and Culture  Mr. Speaker, I rise today to draw attention to a movie that is currently being filmed in my riding called That Beautiful Somewhere . North Bay and Temagami serve as the backdrop for the film which is being directed by Rob Budreau. That Beautiful Somewhere tells the story of a you

The Economy  Mr. Speaker, my question is for the Minister of Finance. Some critics have erroneously claimed that Ontario will not benefit from the Liberal government's economic update. Our economic success is no accident. We have had over 200,000 jobs created this year and October's unemploy

Canada's military mission in Afghanistan  Mr. Chair, the important issue here is the importance to protect. I think that is what we are all striving for. We are trying to protect not only our country, but other countries as well. Let us take Afghanistan, for example. The whole idea there is to instil some form of civil

Canada's military mission in Afghanistan  Mr. Chair, I would echo the hon. member's thoughts and also continue on the wonderful work that our troops are doing. I found it very interesting living with the troops. When we were there we lived in tents, slept on cots and ate with the troops in the morning. Someone earlier s

Canada's military mission in Afghanistan  Mr. Chair, the member brings up a very good point. It is important when we look at different countries around the world and what can be done. It is very important that we look at what we do and how we go in. Afghanistan was a multilateral action. It was not a situation where one

Canada's military mission in Afghanistan  Mr. Chair, I appreciate the opportunity to take part in this very important debate. There is no question in my mind that the mission currently being undertaken by our Canadian Forces in Afghanistan is vitally important for the future of the country and the security of Canada. La

Canada's military mission in Afghanistan  Mr. Chair, I could draw a parallel and perhaps give an example. Let us take a city like Ottawa for example. We have a mayor and some counsellors, maybe 24 or 25, but how many police officers do we have? In this example, we see that diplomacy is at one level, but keeping the peace