Business of Supply  Mr. Speaker, if I am correct, my research has told me that some four provinces of this country had senates at one time and abolished them. I think if we went to the citizens of those provinces, they would tell us they have absolutely no memory whatsoever of there being a senate n

Search and Rescue  Mr. Speaker, the fact is we were lucky no one was hurt this weekend. The situation is only going to get worse this summer when our coast is full of kids learning to sail, families on vacation and more marine traffic. Sea Island took 31 minutes, not 11 minutes, to respond in Engl

Search and Rescue  Mr. Speaker, this past weekend a ship ran aground in English Bay near Vancouver. If the Kitsilano base were still open, the Coast Guard could have responded in a matter of minutes, but instead the response time from Sea Island was over half an hour. British Columbians are concer

Enhancing Royal Canadian Mounted Police Accountability Act  Absolutely, Mr. Speaker. If we just stop and think for a moment, in 2013 I think Canadians expect that when men and women walk through the workplace door, they do not check their rights. When they walk through the workplace door, they expect to be treated professionally. They exp

Enhancing Royal Canadian Mounted Police Accountability Act  Mr. Speaker, some of the amendments that the NDP proposed dealt with adding mandatory harassment training for RCMP members, specifically in the RCMP Act. When we have a national scandal going where 200 women have launched a class action lawsuit alleging sexual harassment in the

Enhancing Royal Canadian Mounted Police Accountability Act  Mr. Speaker, I am very pleased to stand to speak to Bill C-42, an act to amend the Royal Canadian Mounted Police Act., an issue that is not only of importance to all members in the House, but is of great interest to the public at large, from coast to coast. To put this in conte

Committees of the House  Mr. Speaker, the New Democratic Party is very supportive of deepening and broadening Canadian economic relations with Japan. We share the view that closer economic relations between Canada and Japan can lead to greater prosperity for the people of both nations. We believe that pu

Business of Supply  Mr. Speaker, the New Democrats believe that a long-term effective infrastructure plan should be included in the 2013 budget, which is developed through continuous consultation with provinces, territories, municipalities and aboriginal communities and which would span a period of

Business of Supply  Mr. Speaker, my hon. colleague's intelligent and thoughtful question gives me an opportunity to point out the other forms of infrastructure that are important to Canadians such as broadband Internet, hospitals, schools, airports, power lines, dams, wind farms and energy plants. T

Business of Supply  Mr. Speaker, I will be sharing my time with the hon. member for Western Arctic. I am incredibly pleased and proud to speak to what I think is one of the most excellent motions ever presented in the House this session, and that is the opposition day motion drafted by my colleague

Business of Supply  Mr. Speaker, while I listened with interest to my hon. colleague's speech, I was also present in the House when the government produced an economic update in November 2008 that projected a surplus for 2009 and completely failed to see coming what it now refers to as the “great re

Business of Supply  Mr. Speaker, the website of the Federation of Canadian Municipalities says there has been an infrastructure deficit, a backlog of delayed repairs and construction that hurts every Canadian family and business. It says that, for 25 years, Canadians have watched the symptoms of the

Citizenship Act  Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to stand and speak to Bill C-425, which introduces three new grounds for citizenship, or its removal, under the Citizenship Act based on relations with the Canadian armed forces. The bill introduces, first, a new ministerial power to shorten permanent r

Technical Tax Amendments Act, 2012  Mr. Speaker, since the hon. Conservative member raised the issue of promises and party platforms, I would remind the Conservatives that they said in their 2008 platform that they would not export bitumen. They also brought in fixed election date legislation in 2006, which they vi

Labour  Mr. Speaker, workers at the St. John's airport have been on strike for almost six months. They just won their case at the labour board, proving they are bargaining in good faith. Now they want their employer back at the bargaining table. With the Minister of Labour attending a