Petitions  Madam Speaker, I would like to present four petitions on behalf of some of the constituents from Oxford county. They are from members of the Cornerstone Baptist Church in Woodstock, supporters of Rehoboth Christian School in Norwich, members of the Evangelical Christian Fellowshi

National Defence  Mr. Speaker, it appears the Minister of National Defence's case of the dithers is spreading rapidly. He has moved from dithering on releasing the defence policy review to now dithering on telling Canadians the truth about ballistic missile defence. Last fall the minister assured

National Defence  Mr. Speaker, last fall the minister promised an open, vigorous debate on missile defence. Apparently the minister's version of an open debate is telling Canadians one thing while cabinet does another. This is like a déjà vu of the submarine barter deal; one day it is on and the n

Civil Marriage Act  Mr. Speaker, I have listened to the impassioned words of the hon. member for London—Fanshawe today. I had the opportunity on Friday evening to spend some time with him and some other members from the area of my riding. I have to say that the hon. member was perhaps the most popul

Civil Marriage Act  I thought we were on questions and comments.

Civil Marriage Act  May I give my time to the hon. member for Fundy Royal?

Canadian Forces  Mr. Speaker, it appears that Mr. Dithers has now passed on his flaws in the form of a dithering virus to the Minister of National Defence. The minister shows all the symptoms of dithering with respect to his rewriting of a defence policy review and seems content to operate the mi

Canadian Forces  Mr. Speaker, our military has made it very clear that they are in dire need of a new airlift, new ships and new vehicles. The government, over the last 11 years, has watched our military disintegrate before its very eyes. The Chief of the Defence Staff has made it known that the

Canadian Forces  Mr. Speaker, for days now we have heard cries for help from the newly installed Chief of Defence Staff and his colleagues. Nearly 300 of our Canadian Forces reservists from Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island who take part in South Bound Trooper, an annual training exercise at

Canadian Forces  Mr. Speaker, not only did our reservists have to take a charter flight, they also had to ask Uncle Sam if he could send a plane to Halifax to transport their exercise equipment. Canadian Forces stated that they simply do not have the air lift capability, echoes of the chief of o

National Defence  Mr. Speaker, yesterday the chief of our air force appeared before the Senate defence committee and revealed that our air force has been stretched beyond its capability. Senator Kenny later commented by saying: We have a really stressed air force that is being asked to do more t

Foreign Affairs  Mr. Speaker, yesterday, when the Parliamentary Secretary for the Minister of Foreign Affairs answered my question regarding the Prime Minister's “pizzazz-like” foreign policy review, his answer was absolutely absurd. He said: --the world has changed in the past 35 to 40 days. Th

Foreign Affairs  Mr. Speaker, after campaigning for the job of Prime Minister for the better part of a decade, and holding countless policy discussions and round tables, and after a year of in-house bureaucratic work on a foreign policy review, the Prime Minister has sent the long awaited documen

National Defence  Mr. Speaker, only days after his appointment as Chief of Defence Staff, General Rick Hillier terminated the current defence policy review which was described as boring, dry and dreadful. The minister has delayed the release of the review several times in the House. Now we learn t

Dairy Industry  Madam Speaker, we have heard a lot about the effects of BSE on the beef industry in the past several months, but what we have not heard is that this crisis has had a negative impact on the dairy industry as well. The city of Woodstock in my riding of Oxford is the dairy capital