Instruction to Committee on Bill C-2  Mr. Speaker, I want to the thank my colleague for his in-depth work and for bringing this forward. I, also, have gone back to my riding and talked to people. There is huge support for keeping tax-free savings accounts and for bringing it back to a reasonable amount that future g

The Environment  Mr. Speaker, Vancouver Islanders are happy to see the government listen to the NDP calls to remove a sinking 100-foot derelict tug from a sensitive area in my riding. The problem is that there is still no plan to deal with more than 400 other abandoned vessels. These pose a thre

Consular Affairs  Mr. Speaker, the Azer children who are my constituents were abducted eight months ago. These four Canadian children were taken to Kurdistan in the middle of a war zone and they now may be in Iran. These children did not choose this. We need urgent action. The Prime Minister has

Situation in Indigenous Communities  Mr. Speaker, earlier in the debate, one of our colleagues apologized for showing emotion with tears. I do not think there is a need to apologize for the tears. I think the children deserve our tears. If anything, we should be apologizing to the children that we have let down in t

Situation in Indigenous Communities  Mr. Speaker, I want to thank all members in the House for being here tonight to talk about what is really a tragedy in our history and in our time. A fiend of mine, an elder of the Tla-o-qui-aht people, Moses Martin, when we were talking about building a recreation complex in ou

Income Tax Act  Mr. Speaker, I absolutely think that this is exactly the right time to help those people earning $17,000 a year. No, they are not included in this tax bill, actually, because anyone earning under $49,000 a year does not get a tax break with this bill that has been introduced. T

Income Tax Act  Mr. Speaker, I appreciate the question from the member because we both agree that tax-free savings accounts are important. They are important to help people save for the future. We want to encourage that, but at what cost? We have to define what it will cost future generations. W

Income Tax Act  Mr. Speaker, the government made a decision and put forward an idea upon which it got elected, a promise of a tax cut to the middle class. I want to ensure that the middle class get that tax cut. If the median income in our country is $31,000 a year, the people who earn $31,000 a

Income Tax Act  Mr. Speaker, it is an honour to rise in the House to join the debate on Bill C-2. I would like to spend some of my time speaking on why definitions of the middle class are so important. In the last election the Liberals campaigned on a promise to reduce taxes for the middle clas

Foreign Affairs  Mr. Speaker, six months ago, my constituent, Alison Azer, experienced one of the worst nightmares a parent can ever face. Her four children were taken by her ex-husband. Alison has reason to believe that her children are now in Kurdistan in northern Iraq. Today she is here in Ott

Canada's Contribution to the Effort to Combat ISIL  Mr. Speaker, I want to thank the hon. member for his speech. I know him to be a proud Canadian. Given that the Liberals have gone on the record and stated that Canada should not have a combat role, how can they guarantee that Canadian troops will not face combat in their advise

Telecommunications  Mr. Speaker, that will not bring down cell phone prices. Canadians pay some of the highest cell phone bills in the world, yet the previous government failed to make any progress, and the Liberals have shown no interest. Yesterday the CRTC denied an appeal to spark real competiti

Business of Supply  Mr. Speaker, I would first like to thank the hon. member for Sarnia—Lambton for sharing her personal story. She also talked about the Conservative track record in standing up for the rights of women. The Conservatives are known for gutting the status of women in Canada in the la

Income Tax Act  Mr. Speaker, before I start, I want to quickly wish my eldest daughter a happy 16th birthday today. In the member's speech, I did not hear a lot about Bill C-2. He talked about consultation with Canadians and going around the country. We know that the bill benefits 40% of Canadi

Income Tax Act  Madam Speaker, according to the Parliamentary Budget Officer, it is estimated that 17.9 million Canadians who will file income tax returns in 2016 fall within the first tax bracket of $45,282 or less. They are going to get nothing out of this tax break. What do the Liberals defi