Darfur  Mr. Chair, I will be sharing my time with the hon. member for Mount Royal. The present day hell of Darfur has its roots in the competition for scarce resources in the region. African farmers and nomadic Arab herders have been vying for what little sustenance the land can provide

Citizenship and Immigration  Mr. Speaker, my Canada is not one in which law enforcement officers intimidate school teachers, nab children from class as bait and then put them in a detention centre. Canadians expected that tough on crime meant going after guns, gangs and drug dealers. Will the Minister of C

Citizenship and Immigration  Mr. Speaker, obviously someone was not listening carefully. Enough excuses and obstinacy from the Conservatives. The rules allow for ministerial discretion. The member for Medicine Hat is the minister. The buck stops with him. Instead of guarding our borders against terrorist ce

Petitions  Mr. Speaker, pursuant to Standing Order 36, I have the honour of presenting a petition signed by over 340 constituents from my riding of Etobicoke Centre. The petitioners express ongoing concerns about the immense challenges the people of Somalia face in rebuilding a civil societ

Chernobyl  Mr. Speaker, 20 years ago Chernobyl ignited. The radiation released was 400 times greater than in Hiroshima. Following the explosion, the communist elites of the Soviet Union secretly removed their families from nearby Kiev and Minsk. Meanwhile, the children of those cities mar

RESUMPTION OF DEBATE ON ADDRESS IN REPLY  Mr. Speaker, today is an unofficial day of mourning. Four young Canadians offered up the ultimate sacrifice, their very lives, to bring hope to the people of Afghanistan. One of those soldiers was from Toronto. As a sign of respect to the soldiers and their families, the Mayor of

RESUMPTION OF DEBATE ON ADDRESS IN REPLY  Mr. Speaker, I will answer the member's question in two parts. First, on the issue of commitment, unfortunately our commitment has slid. At the same time, there is a great deal of confusion. Some people talk about our Afghani mission as being a peacekeeping mission but quite cle

RESUMPTION OF DEBATE ON ADDRESS IN REPLY  Mr. Speaker, I will be splitting my time with the member for Etobicoke North. I would like to congratulate you on your re-election, Mr. Speaker, and also take this opportunity to thank the people of Etobicoke Centre for the honour of being elected twice in the last year and a h

Resumption of debate on Address in Reply  Mr. Speaker, I notice the throne speech states that the government would, “ensure that the Senate better reflects both the democratic values of Canadians”. Does the hon. member opposite believe that the definition of “Senate democratic values and reforms” means naming a campaign

Petitions  Mr. Speaker, pursuant to Standing Order 36, I have the pleasure to present a petition signed by some 30 people from my riding of Etobicoke Centre. The petitioners are deeply worried about the ongoing challenges faced by Somalia in nurturing civil society and are calling upon th

Resumption of debate on Address in Reply  Mr. Speaker, as my predecessors have done, I would like to congratulate you on your new position. I would like to thank the member for Kitchener--Waterloo for a most enlightening speech and for his dogged determination over the years to guarantee that all Canadians, Canadians by

Petitions  Mr. Speaker, I rise on a point of order. Discussions have taken place between all parties with respect to Bill C-385, an act to amend the Criminal Code (hate propaganda) which received first reading on May 11, 2005. I hope to find consent for the following motion, “That, notwith

Ukraine  Mr. Speaker, as a light snow fell on my way to the House of Commons this morning, I felt a moment of nostalgia. On this morning one year ago, I stood in Independence Square with Viktor Yushchenko as a light snow fell on a gathering of tens of thousands of people. The day before

Criminal Code  Madam Speaker, I thank the hon. member for the kind comments about the government, through the Senate, having brought this bill forward. A couple of interesting items were touched upon. Cultural destruction and genocide also deal with the tremendous hatred that the perpetrators

Criminal Code  Madam Speaker, once in a while we get bills from the Senate, and it is encouraging. Although we may have various opinions on the role of the Senate and its effectiveness, in this case I think we can all agree that it has addressed a very important issue and it needs to be commend