Senate Reform Act  Mr. Speaker, I want to correct the record. The member opposite commented on having to be a member of a registered party in order to have one's name brought forward. I would like him to look at section 19.2(b) in Bill C-7 where it states that the name of each candidate must be pri

House debate  Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to tell the House about our government's child care policies. Our government recognizes that families are the building blocks of our society and that getting the best possible start in life is crucial to ensuring that children reach their full potentia

House debate  Mr. Speaker, our government is making a number of other investments to support families with children, such as: the Canada child tax benefit, which includes the national child benefit supplement for low-income families; the children's fitness tax credit and the child arts tax cre

The Economy  Mr. Speaker, our government was given a strong mandate to create jobs and lower taxes, a low tax plan for jobs and growth. This plan is working, with the creation of over 650,000 new jobs since July 2009. We are focused on what matters to Canadians: job growth, expanding the econ

Employment Insurance  Mr. Speaker, the government sympathizes with that mother who is diligently fighting with cancer. Each case is assessed based on the current legislation and the payment of benefits. These will be evaluated for each individual situation. Our government is currently reviewing the l

Marketing Freedom for Grain Farmers Act  Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to speak to this proposed legislation, which would be a major step forward for Canadian grain producers. Our Conservative government knows that a prosperous farm means a prosperous economy. As others have said, this bill would give farmers in western C

Marketing Freedom for Grain Farmers Act  Mr. Speaker, I think the farmers in western Canada had their vote. It was on May 2. They chose to have a majority Conservative government represent them in this House and to make sure that it brought forward this legislation that was so important to them. Farmers in my riding kn

Marketing Freedom for Grain Farmers Act  Mr. Speaker, let us not lose focus on what we are talking about here. We are talking about marketing freedom for western Canadian farmers. We received a strong mandate on May 2 to make sure that this legislation moves forward so that the western Canadian farmers like my late gran

Marketing Freedom for Grain Farmers Act  Mr. Speaker, once passed, this bill would allow prairie farmers to seek their own contracts. We are talking about the Canadian Wheat Board. Our government is committed to giving western Canadian grain farmers the marketing freedom they deserve. We encourage the opposition to en

House debate  Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to respond to the member for Nanaimo—Cowichan and her concerns about providing services to out-of-work Canadians. Canadians gave the government a strong mandate to complete Canada's economic recovery and to return to balanced budgets. That is what we ar

House debate  Mr. Speaker, we have already achieved administrative savings of almost 30% through the modernization of the delivery of EI. Additional savings of up to 15% are possible through more efficient processing of EI claims. Our goal is to expand the automated processing of claims from t

Charitable Organizations  Mr. Speaker, we are always interested in new models to partner with private sector organizations to deliver results. This is why the minister has set up the voluntary advisory committee to discuss ways to leverage government funding and investments to ensure a maximum social impa

Charitable Organizations  Mr. Speaker, as I mentioned before, we are looking at new models to make sure that we can leverage our government's commitment and leverage our government's investments to ensure that those most in need get what they need and get it soon. Unlike the NDP, which wants to tax indiv

Charitable Organizations  Mr. Speaker, as I mentioned before, we are working to build our charitable sector in this country. What the member opposite said is completely false. The minister has been working with a voluntary advisory committee to discuss ways to leverage our investments to ensure maximum i

Ending the Long-gun Registry Act  Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to have the opportunity to speak to Bill C-19, the ending the long gun registry bill. It has been interesting to hear the different debates in the House over the last few days. Two years ago my colleague, the member for Portage—Lisgar, introduced a priv