Resumption of Debate on Address in Reply  Mr. Speaker, I listened very attentively to the minister's speech and I noticed that he did not mention one word about wait times, one of the biggest broken promises of the government's now almost two year life. I was reading an op-ed piece recently by I think it was a doctor or

Business of Supply  Mr. Speaker, I listened carefully to the speech by my colleague from the island of Montreal. He spoke at length on the fiscal imbalance and so forth. It is difficult to grasp the true nature of the fiscal imbalance. My question is as follows. At what point will we know with cert

Business of Supply  Mr. Speaker, I listened patiently to the slogans spouted by the member opposite. I have two questions for him. First, when it comes to the spending power and the firm lines between federal and provincial jurisdictions, what approach would he suggest for the environment? This ar

Government Programs  Mr. Speaker, the in and out scheme is not the first time the Prime Minister has had an issue with campaign spending limits. When the Prime Minister was the head of the National Citizens Coalition, he tried to break third party spending limits under the Canada Elections Act, but

Economic Development  Mr. Speaker, since the Conservatives came to power, 65,000 manufacturing jobs have been lost in Quebec. The forestry sector has lost 10,000 jobs since April 2005. These sectors are in crisis and the Prime Minister still has not met with the provincial premiers to talk about it.

Economic Development  Mr. Speaker, the Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Labour and Minister of the Economic Development Agency of Canada for the Regions of Quebec read the wrong briefing note. When will the Prime Minister invite the provincial premiers, as the Premier of Quebec has been as

Democratic Reform  Mr. Speaker, when the premier of Ontario opposed the government's plan for democratic reform, he was called the "small man of Confederation". The premier of Quebec now also opposes the government's democratic reform bill. Does the Leader of the Government in the House of Commons

Canada Elections Act  Mr. Speaker, the hon. member for Winnipeg Centre has a great deal of expertise in these issues, much more than I do because he sits on the committee. However, I have followed the bill and have a deep interest in it. If I understand it correctly, under the bill, one would have to

National Sustainable Development Act  Mr. Speaker, it is a pleasure and an honour to rise on Bill C-474 sponsored by my colleague from Don Valley West. I would like to congratulate the hon. member for Don Valley West on the new opportunities which will be opening to him next summer and into next fall. The gain for

Canadian Forces  Mr. Speaker, veterans in the West Island of Montreal, including many from my riding of Lac-Saint-Louis, spent months collecting over 1,700 Christmas packages for members of the Canadian armed forces serving in Afghanistan. These Christmas packages have been ready and waiting sinc

Prebudget Consultations  Mr. Speaker, I am sitting right beside my colleague and I guess we could have a conversation between us. However, for the record, I would like to say that the hon. member mentioned that he is not a doctor nor an economist. I think he should receive an honorary doctorate in econom

Prebudget Consultations  Mr. Speaker, I would like the hon. member to comment on a couple of ideas. We hear a lot from the party opposite that we have to be disciplined and take the long view. As a matter of fact, the hon. member who got up a few minutes ago said that if we do not pay down the debt at

Senate Appointment Consultations Act  Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank my Bloc Québécois colleague for her eloquent speech. I learned a lot from listening to it. My question is theoretical because I share my party's reservations about this bill. Theoretically, an elected Senate would mean more elected representati

Bulk Water  Mr. Speaker, the Chicago Mercantile Exchange has said that water is about to become commoditized and traded as a futures contract, along with pork bellies, oranges and lumber. Former Alberta premier Peter Loughheed has said he expects lobbying efforts from the United States aime

Bulk Water  Mr. Speaker, “water was not exempted from NAFTA”. Who said that? The MP for Calgary East, the Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Foreign Affairs. The problem started when prime minister Brian Mulroney removed from the last draft of the free trade agreement the exemption