Canada-United States-Mexico Agreement Implementation Act  Madam Speaker, I am pleased to join the debate today on Bill C-4, on which we will be voting. Typically, when I stand in Parliament to vote, I am always very comfortable with my vote. Whether it is yes or no, I am proud to stand in my place and vote. Today we will be voting on

Business of Supply  Mr. Speaker, in my speech I talked about the context. The government does have a responsibility to listen to the red flags, to listen to red flags from the Auditor General, to listen to red flags from the unions and to listen to red flags from people who have been in that role an

Business of Supply  Mr. Speaker, we do have a very big and complex system in Canada. Today we are focused on what was clearly an issue in the parole system in either the culture or the decision-making. I know New Democrats also have supply days. It sounds like this is a very important issue, and I

Business of Supply  Mr. Speaker, I go back to my analogy about health care. Every nurse has nursing training, but it is the experience in a very specialized area of a job where they are making decisions that the experience matters. If it is not a factor, then the committee is going to find that ans

Business of Supply  Mr. Speaker, I would like to note that I will be sharing my time with the member for Renfrew—Nipissing—Pembroke. Today, we are discussing what I consider to be a very reasonable motion in response to a horrific but preventable murder. Before I start into that area, I think it wo

Business of Supply  Mr. Speaker, one of the things that has come to light through the debate today is that there was a system change, and that 14 of the 16 parole officers were inexperienced. In these difficult situations, does my colleague not believe that experience does help parole officers make

Regional Economic Development  Mr. Speaker, the government has failed to recognize the softwood lumber crisis in British Columbia. Over two dozen mills have closed down and forestry-dependent communities are losing their primary industries, yet western diversification, the money into British Columbia, has prim

Business of Supply  Madam Speaker, sometimes we can learn from the past. During the global recession, the Conservative government committed to getting $47 billion out the door over two years. An Auditor General's report said we did it effectively and managed the risks. If we have a government that i

Resumption of debate on Address in Reply  Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to address the issue. From 2006 to 2008, Conservatives paid down approximately $30 billion of the debt that was owed. There was something called a global recession. At the time, the former minister of finance presented a five-year plan. He presented it

Resumption of debate on Address in Reply  Mr. Speaker, we built on the debt reduction that Prime Minister Martin took on because he was forced to as a result of things getting so out of control. However, this is not the Liberal government of Prime Minister Martin, which actually focused on getting fiscal responsibility

Resumption of debate on Address in Reply  Mr. Speaker, we could sit and talk about debt and deficits, but I think we can all agree that we are at the point where it is not like paying a mortgage on a house. The government is at the point where it is going into debt for operating costs, and that is absolutely unsustainabl

Resumption of debate on Address in Reply  Madam Speaker, I will be sharing my time with the member for Dufferin—Caledon. As this is the first time I have had the opportunity in the 43rd Parliament to stand and speak, I would like to thank the people of Kamloops—Thompson—Cariboo for giving me the honour of representing t

Resumption of debate on Address in Reply  Madam Speaker, I congratulate my colleague from Milton on both his election and his maiden speech, which I thought was very well done. The member talked about a lot of things that were important to him, such as the child benefit and co-op housing. However, what he did not talk

Questions Passed as Orders for Returns  With regard to the government's negotiations with the United States on softwood lumber: (a) when did formal negotiations on a new softwood lumber agreement commence; (b) how many negotiating sessions have been held to date; (c) who participated in those negotiations in Canada, th

Questions Passed as Orders for Returns  With regard to the government’s Softwood Lumber Action Plan, announced June 1, 2017: (a) how was the funding allocated, broken down by (i) department, (ii) organization, (iii) location, (iv) date of allocation, (v) amount of funding; and (b) how much of this funding been delivere