Freedom of Religion  Mr. Speaker, 25 years ago today, members of the United Nations signed the UN Declaration on the Elimination of All Forms of Intolerance and Discrimination Based on Religion or Belief. Like the UN Declaration of Human Rights before it, this new declaration proclaimed the fundament

The Environment  Mr. Speaker, while there are numerous members of the former Harris government present in this House, I want to ask the Minister of the Environment a question. The contaminated water saga in Walkerton was caused in part by heavy precipitation, which produced heavy runoff of conta

The Environment  Mr. Speaker, the previous government funded a range of climate change programs, including the Canadian Climate Impacts and Adaptation Research Network. The network was funding research into the impact of climate change on water at the Brace Centre in Ste. Anne de Bellevue in my

The Québécois  Mr. Speaker, I am proud to be a Canadian, and I am proud to be a Quebecker. No, let me rephrase that. I am passionately proud to be a Canadian and passionately proud to be a Quebecker. I would like to give a brief account of my personal history, not because it is an extraordinar

The Québécois  Mr. Speaker, I thank the member for his remarks. He spoke about the nation of Quebec while the motion of his government says that it is the Québécois who form a nation. Is there reason to correct the text or is this a distinction that the member is consciously trying to make?

The Environment  Mr. Speaker, everyone agrees that the Conservatives have defaulted outright on the Kyoto protocol, an international treaty signed by Canada. Furthermore, the Minister of the Environment is not taking enough responsibility for this government's ill-considered actions. Twice this

The Environment  Why take such a confusing approach to the Kyoto protocol, and why is the minister refusing to explain her actions to her colleagues and to Canadians?

The Environment  Mr. Speaker, the Liberal government implemented a dozen programs to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. The current government canceled all of the most effective of those programs, including the one-tonne challenge, EnerGuide and the wind power production incentive. Internal Departm

Health  Mr. Speaker, constituents from my riding are petitioning the government to implement tax incentives to encourage Canadians to take out gym memberships. They believe it is time for the government to focus on prevention rather than treatment as the overarching principle of our he

Summer Career Placements Program  Mr. Speaker, young Canadians will soon be knocking on the doors of not for profit organizations looking for summer jobs. Given that the Conservative government has cut more than $1 billion from programs that help individuals and communities—including cutting funding of the summer

The Environment  Mr. Speaker, as the international scientific community assembles in Paris and unanimously underscores the importance of urgent action on climate change, the Prime Minister is using all his political weight to put on the brakes. This Prime Minister believes that, “The accord doe

Student Activists  Mr. Speaker, I would like to congratulate members of the JACtivists, a student run advocacy group at John Abbott College in my riding that campaigns for human rights and environmental sustainability. The JACtivists have come together under the leadership of Devon Willis to push

George Hyde  Mr. Speaker, “we all need to meet someone like George”. Those are the words of Alan Dean on the passing of his long-time friend, George Hyde. When George died on January 28, those of us who had the privilege of knowing him realized immediately that our community had lost a true g

Academy Awards  Mr. Speaker, last night Canadians were given a reason again to be proud. Torill Kove, one of our Canadian filmmakers, won the Oscar for best short animated film for The Danish Poet. This is the second time that Ms. Kove has been nominated, but last night's award enshrines years o

Committees of the House  moved that the 13th Report of the Standing Committee on Canadian Heritage, introduced on Wednesday, February 13, be concurred in. Mr. Speaker, it is a great pleasure for me to rise today to move concurrence of the House in this report. The purpose of this report is to protect