Divorce Act  An Alliance member is asking how that affects divorce? We are talking about creating a strong environment for family units. Members across the way addressed that as one of the major issues relating to breakups and divorce. I was addressing their comments as previously stated in t

Divorce Act  Madam Speaker, I am certainly not surprised that the member from the Alliance could not understand what I said.

Divorce Act  Absolutely. It makes me feel better, Madam Speaker, because he quantified it as an astonishing statement. Let me preface this. The reason I feel that way is that my parents divorced when I was at a very early age. A lot of positive things have come out of my life because my pare

Divorce Act  Madam Speaker, I thank the hon. member for the question. As well, she has been very generous in providing French lessons since I have been here. I am still on a slow learning curve. I have had a couple of formal lessons, but I think my colleague has provided the best lessons, dur

Taxation  Mr. Speaker, three times since February 2001 my colleague from Windsor--St. Clair has raised the issue of Canadians paying unfair tax levels on American social security benefits. In June 2001, my predecessor, the former deputy prime minister, assured us that the former finance m

Vimy Ridge Day Act  Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to support my colleague from Algoma--Manitoulin and Bill C-227 which would formally recognize Canada's important role in the Battle of Vimy Ridge during World War I. It was a battle that raged in France from April 9 to 12, 1917. I support this bill beca

Black History Month  Mr. Speaker, the birthday of the renowned abolitionist Frederick Douglass falls on February 14. This is one reason that we observe the month of February as Black History Month. I had the honour of welcoming Frederick Douglass II last year when he came to celebrate with the commu

Infrastructure  Mr. Speaker, the finance minister keeps telling us how much he has done for municipalities, but he knows very well he has failed to do his job. The $1 billion over 10 years for new municipal infrastructure falls short of what is needed. The minister also knows very well this dow

Infrastructure  Mr. Speaker, it was that type of complacency that created situations like Walkerton. The Prime Minister's task force on urban issues concluded its report by asking the government to have courage and vision to work on our cities. What happened? Can the parliamentary secretary exp

Infrastructure  Mr. Speaker, last week the Minister of Finance stiffed municipalities by leaving them out of his budget. We warned at that time that new taxes and user fees would be introduced. Yesterday the Minister of Transport introduced a plan with no new funds and today he is calling toll r

Lobbyists Registration Act  Mr. Speaker, with regard to Bill C-15, an act to amend the Lobbyists Registration Act, it is important to note that it really ties to government and transparency and confidence of the public. The Speech from the Throne referred to the lobbyists act, which we are dealing with tod

Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety  Madam Speaker, I appreciate the opportunity to rise to elaborate on a question that I asked in the House of Commons with regard to Kyoto and the auto industry. In particular I want to note the question with regard to the auto industry continuing to lose jobs and not having the su

Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety  Madam Speaker, I want to point out one thing that is important. The smokestack emissions from the plants was something different and was something on which the emissions were changed. We are still at the tailpipe, and it is still a major contributor to greenhouse gases in emissio

Border Security  Mr. Speaker, the situation at American-Canadian border crossings is getting worse with the tightened security measures from the United States. We are seeing traffic tie-ups and delays threatening businesses and putting municipalities in very tenuous situations. We know right now

Sex Offender Information Registration Act  Mr. Speaker, I rise today in the House to once again call upon the government to create an auto policy to deal with the ongoing issue of losing auto jobs to Mexico, the United States and other parts of the world. I asked a question on December 11 which highlighted the fact that