Petitions  Mr. Speaker, I would like to present a petition with dozens of signatures from people who are calling upon Parliament to legislate that it be a criminal offence to purchase sex or to pimp in this country.

Property Rights  Mr. Speaker, property rights should be included in the Charter of Rights and Freedoms. Unfortunately any attempts to amend the Constitution through the general amending formula have failed. However, the fight for property rights is still a fight worth fighting. More important, i

Immigration  Mr. Speaker, last night one of my staff, Colleen Valin, was honoured by the communities she serves, at the annual immigrant achievement awards. Remarkably, she is the first non-immigrant to receive the award, but organizers unanimously agreed that an exception should be made for

Petitions  Mr. Speaker, I have several hundred signatures on this petition, which calls upon the government and Parliament to criminalize the purchase of sex with a woman, man or child, and to criminalize pimps, madams, and others who profit from the sex trade.

Protection of Communities and Exploited Persons Act  Mr. Speaker, I would like the parliamentary secretary to comment on the opposition to this on both sides of the spectrum. One side thinks it is not strong enough because it would decriminalize the prostitutes, while the other side thinks it is too strong because it would go so fa

Protection of Communities and Exploited Persons Act  Mr. Speaker, I have a couple of concerns about the opposition to the bill. A lot of the opposition is based on the assumption that the current status quo is full legalization. In the sex worker's letter he quoted, the lady was describing activities that are already illegal. Adve

Divorce Act  Mr. Speaker, I am speaking in support of Bill C-560, which is the bill to amend the Divorce Act to make equal shared parenting arrangements for children following the divorce of their parents, except in proven cases of abuse or neglect. I must admit that when this bill was first

Extension of Sitting Hours  Mr. Speaker, the member of Parliament for the past 20 minutes has talked about all the work that the NDP does through talking. In that same 20 minutes, he said “we spend all our work talking”. In the same 20 minutes he said, “we spend all our work talking and in the meantime, we

Kidnapping of Girls in Nigeria  Mr. Speaker, I appreciate my colleague's discussion on the history of kidnapping and human rights atrocities by terrorist groups in Nigeria. This is not the first incident. I appreciate her call upon Canada and the rest of the world to respond to these things sooner, to realize h

Kidnapping of Girls in Nigeria  Mr. Speaker, I have a letter from a Nigerian-born Canadian in my riding who is a founder of a charity that sets up rural schools in Nigeria. He and the Nigerian community in my riding and people from neighbouring countries are very concerned. My colleague is a champion of human

Mothers  Mr. Speaker, I had a great kindergarten teacher, but I can honestly say that everything I ever needed to know to be successful in life, I learned from my mother. She taught by example. She taught by instruction. She taught through love and patience. I have found these same quali

Petitions  Mr. Speaker, petitioners in my riding are not happy that there is a chance that Canada will have no laws around prostitution and human trafficking. They call upon the House of Commons to criminalize the offence to purchase sex with a woman, man, or child, and to make it criminal

Petitions  Mr. Speaker, this petition calls on Parliament to respond to Canada's Supreme Court, which says that we have a responsibility to enact abortion legislation. Therefore, the petitioners call upon us to speedily enact legislation that restricts abortion to the greatest extent possib

Petitions  Mr. Speaker, I am presenting a petition calling upon Parliament and the government to make a change to the Criminal Code of Canada with respect to drinking and driving. The petitioners wish the charges to be more severe, moving up toward vehicular manslaughter.

The Budget  Mr. Speaker, today is budget day. The economy remains our top priority because it is the priority of the vast majority of Canadians. It is their priority because things cost money. We all love our health care system. We love our education, our roads, our libraries, and parks. M