China  Mr. Speaker, China is important to Vancouver Quadra, to Canada and to the global economy. World leaders from France, Britain and Australia get it. Our Prime Minister does not. As the world's second largest economy, China represents enormous economic opportunities for Canada.

Excise Tax Act  moved for leave to introduce Bill C-572, An Act to amend the Excise Tax Act (no GST on bicycles, adult tricycles and related goods and services). Mr. Speaker, I rise today to introduce my first bill as a member of Parliament, entitled An Act to amend the Excise Tax Act (no GST o

Aboriginal Affairs  Mr. Speaker, yesterday the Kelowna Accord Implementation Act received royal assent and became law. This means that the Conservatives must finally honour the accord they have shamefully ignored for the past two years. Cancelling Kelowna has meant that improvements have not been

Ray Perrault  Mr. Speaker, it is with great sadness that parliamentarians and Canadians mourn the loss of our colleague and friend Senator Ray Perrault. Before his 1973 appointment to the Senate, Mr. Perrault served in the British Columbia legislature before entering the Canadian House of Co

Forestry Industry  Mr. Speaker, I would like to invite the minister to Mackenzie where 1,400 people have lost their jobs in the forestry sector and she can explain to them how effective her plan has been Yes, the pine bark beetle has hammered the B.C. forestry sector, but the Conservatives have fa

Forestry Industry  Mr. Speaker, the British Columbia forestry industry is experiencing record lows in sales. Tens of thousands of forestry workers in B.C. are out of work, their families are suffering, and whole communities are being flattened; and I might add, while the cabinet across the aisle an

Stan Hagen  Mr. Speaker, the people of British Columbia lost one of our most honourable and loyal public servants last year, Stan Hagen. The sudden passing of Stan, a 12 year member of the legislative assembly in B.C. and cabinet minister, is a great loss to his friends, his family, his col

Infrastructure  Mr. Speaker, on November 15, 2007, the transport minister held a $50 million photo op for the Ottawa Congress Centre expansion but no money flowed. Again on September 5 last year, on the verge of the last election, the minister held another photo op and forgot to bring his walle

Infrastructure  Mr. Speaker, the minister's department confirms that only $80 million of the $1.5 billion allocated for the building Canada fund has actually left federal coffers. That is five cents on every dollar promised. The minister brags about projects that are piled on his desk. That is p

Infrastructure  Mr. Speaker, the crumbling infrastructure of our cities ought to be a priority for the Conservative government, especially in a time of economic crisis. However, the money has not been flowing. In British Columbia, only seven building Canada fund projects have been announced, and

Chinese New Year  Mr. Speaker, [Member spoke in Chinese as follows:] Kung hay fat choi, xin nian hua leu. [English] Happy Chinese new year. I have the privilege of being elected twice in the riding of Vancouver Quadra, where many constituents have roots in China, Taiwan and Hong Kong. The

Budget Implementation Act, 2009  Mr. Speaker, I appreciate the opportunity to speak to the budget implementation bill. I would like to thank the voters in Vancouver Quadra for their vote of confidence in me in the October federal election. I am very grateful for their dynamic support. This is a unique and diver

Budget Implementation Act, 2009  Mr. Speaker, the member made an error in his statement. We have put the government on probation, not Canadians. It is the NDP members who have put Canadians on probation. If they had really cared about solving the economic crisis, they would have first looked at the budget before

Budget Implementation Act, 2009  Mr. Speaker, as far as I know, there is no money yet. My colleague was generous in calling it a commitment. I would say that it is an announcement. The Conservative government is very generous with making announcements. It tends to announce things over and over again. We will b

Budget Implementation Act, 2009  Mr. Speaker, I mentioned that regrettable attack on pay equity in my remarks. However, the member's party, the NDP, has no understanding of economics, which is perhaps why the economic measures are immaterial. I disagree with that. We need to assist Canadians who are losing the