Tamil Heritage Month  Mr. Speaker, four years ago, the House unanimously approved Motion No. 24, designating January as Tamil Heritage Month. Tamil Canadians have had a significant impact on the fabric of our society. Canada has been strengthened by the contributions of over 300,000 Tamil Canadians

Resumption of debate on Address in Reply  Mr. Speaker, I think anyone in the House would have to see a bill before agreeing to support it. However, if the member looks at our platform in the last election, not only did we talk about supporting the UN declaration on emissions and ensuring that we meet the targets by 2050,

Resumption of debate on Address in Reply  Mr. Speaker, let me talk about a few actions from the Conservative Party. Let us go back to a time when the Conservatives had the lowest growth since the Great Depression. They had no plan for climate change in 10 years in office and they continue to have no plan for climate chan

Resumption of debate on Address in Reply  Mr. Speaker, it is refreshing to actually get a question about climate change and on taking more action on this critical issue. One of the most effective ways to address emissions is by putting a price on pollution, which is precisely what we did in this government, but there is

Resumption of debate on Address in Reply  Mr. Speaker, it is with great pleasure that I rise today to speak to the Speech from the Throne, the roadmap that will be guiding the government. However, first, as I am rising for the first time in our 43rd Parliament, I would like to take a moment to thank my constituents of P

Carbon Pricing  Mr. Speaker, let us talk about what we have done for Canadians and the investments we have made, because it seems the members opposite just do not get it. One of the first things we did was lower taxes on the middle class. The next thing we did was make the Canada child benefit

Finance  Mr. Speaker, I am glad that the Conservatives are now admitting that they think their $150-billion debt was tiny. We do not agree with that. While they were increasing that debt, they were cutting support for seniors, for our veterans and for Canadians. We invest in Canadians,

Finance  Mr. Speaker, our focus and our plan has been clear since day one: invest in Canadians, grow the economy and create an economy that works for everyone. We stopped sending cheques to millionaires, as the Conservatives did, and as a result, we have seen the growth rate increase. We

Finance  Mr. Speaker, I can tell you very clearly that our plan is not to follow the failed Conservative economic policies that led to the worst growth since the Great Depression and stagnant wages. Unemployment rates, we are now seeing, through our policies, are the lowest in recorded hi

Finance  Mr. Speaker, once again, the member opposite is frankly wrong. One of the first measures we introduced was lowering taxes for the middle class, making the Canada child benefit more generous and making it tax-free, something the Conservatives used to tax. Again, we will continue

Finance  Mr. Speaker, it is really sad that the Conservatives are attempting to rewrite history, but Canadians are not going to forget the fact that they added $150 billion to the debt, and they had nothing to show for it. They had the worse growth since the Great Depression. We have re

Government Priorities  Mr. Speaker, that is simply not true. One of the first things we did was lower taxes on the middle class, which the NDP in fact voted against. We then made the Canada child benefit more generous, which again the NDP voted against. It is hard for Canadians to take the NDP serious

Finance  Mr. Speaker, the worst already came. It was the 10 years of the Harper Conservative government. Thankfully, our plan has been focused on Canadians. A typical Canadian family is actually $2,000 better off. The Conservatives do not want to base their questions on facts. They want

Finance  Mr. Speaker, again, we will take no lessons from the Conservatives on how to be honest with Canadians, when we are focused on Canadians. We know we need to create an economy that works everyone. That is why we lowered taxes on the middle class, we stopped sending cheques to mil

Finance  Mr. Speaker, what is irresponsible is the Conservatives constantly misleading the House and Canadians about their economic record. The numbers do not lie. Frankly, it was 10 years of economic darkness under the Conservatives which saw the lowest growth since the Great Depression.