Business of Supply  Madam Speaker, I listened to my colleague with great interest because when it comes to employment insurance, it seems that we are all in the same situation with respect to our constituents who find themselves in many cases in very heartbreaking situations when they are forced to

Petitions  Mr. Speaker, I rise today on behalf of 850 fishers from Newfoundland and Labrador and some from Quebec who have been treated unfairly by the Government of Canada through Revenue Canada. A group of fishers took part in a voluntary retirement program when they were invited to get

Business of Supply  Madam Speaker, I listened with interest to the comments of the parliamentary secretary. It is one thing to talk about effective expenditure of money, but for me another issue is to ensure the money is spent in a way that is in the interest of Canadians. In the area I represent, t

Coast Guard  Mr.Speaker, I rise today to pay tribute to the crew of the Coast Guard ship, Leonard J. Cowley. If there were ever any doubt of the need for the government to invest in the Coast Guard, the activities of this week, which saw the loss of a Spanish fishing vessel and the rescue of

Petitions  Mr. Speaker, I rise today to present a petition on behalf of 800 fishers from Newfoundland and Labrador and 50 from Quebec who have been treated unfairly by Revenue Canada. In 1998 the federal government introduced the Atlantic groundfish licence retirement program, which made

Petitions  Mr. Speaker, I rise today to present a petition on behalf of 800 fisher people in Newfoundland and Labrador. In 1998 the federal government asked fishermen to voluntarily retire from the fishery in exchange for a retirement benefit. However, because of wrong information provided

The Budget  Madam Speaker, interestingly enough, one of the areas in which we would like to see a lot more in terms of research and development would be the fishery, which is paramount in terms of the future of Newfoundland and Labrador. We talk about diversifying the economy. As I said in

The Budget  Madam Speaker, this is a serious situation for the people of Newfoundland and Labrador, one with which I am not about to play politics. People need to realize that if we do not stand up to be counted as a province now, then the Prime Minister will, I fear, continue to wreak havoc

The Budget  Madam Speaker, when governments bring down budgets, people affected prepare for both good news and bad news, hoping naturally that the good outweighs the bad. No one could have prepared themselves for the bad news inflicted on the people of the province of Newfoundland and Labrad

The Budget  Mr. Speaker, the member for South Shore—St. Margaret's went on ad nauseam about all of the benefits included in the budget and talked about the various tax breaks. There is one thing in the budget for which I have difficulty understanding the rationale and that is the removal of

Equalization Payments  Mr. Speaker, we hear of the Prime Minister making side deals with one province while deliberately harming another. The Conservatives are sending a clear message to the people of Newfoundland and Labrador that they simply do not count by taking $1.5 billion away from them, money t

Family Literacy Day  Mr. Speaker, today is Family Literacy Day, an occasion for families, young and old, from coast to coast to coast, to celebrate the many benefits of reading and learning. Literacy is the foundation of any successful society, a skill that opens not only minds but doors of opportun

Red Cross Young Humanitarian Award  Mr. Speaker, I am delighted to inform the House of an award received by a young woman in my riding. Heather O'Reilly of Clarenville was presented with the Red Cross Young Humanitarian Award for Newfoundland and Labrador, the Red Cross' highest provincial honour. At 26 years old

Infrastructure  Mr. Speaker, jobs are disappearing in this country and yet to date the promised investment by the Conservatives on infrastructure has not happened, investment that could see jobs created. The Federation of Canadian Municipalities has said that the $3 billion the Conservatives co

Resumption of Debate on Address in Reply  Mr. Speaker, it is only when we have an opportunity to actually live and work with people who live and work in fishing communities that we have a truer appreciation for how difficult the circumstances are under which they have to survive. When we talk about people in rural commun