Questions on the Order Paper  With regards to the risk of a pandemic influenza: (a) what steps has the government taken to protect the health of Canadians during the initial delay in the availability of a specific influenza vaccine for the pandemic strain; (b) what human health and economic costs have been id

Questions on the Order Paper  With regards to the stockpiling of Tamiflu for an influenza pandemic: (a) how does Canada rank among other G7 countries in terms of the number of antiviral treatments the government has stockpiled or intends to stockpile; (b) how do the steps of the government compare to the acti

Science and Technology  Mr. Speaker, I believe those facts are incorrect. In order to attract the best and brightest to this country and at the same time avoid a brain drain, we must invest in research in all subject areas, yet the government wants to direct funding only to the research it approves of.

Science and Technology  Mr. Speaker, according to the OECD, Canada lags behind other G7 nations in investments in science. We have all seen how President Obama has made research and development a key plank of his stimulus package. So why are Canada's three granting councils--social science, natural scie

Business of Supply  Mr. Speaker, I would like to repeat the comments of my hon. colleague. Absolutely, a decade ago we had scientists leaving Canada. They started coming back. In the last month we have already lost a number of key scientists, for example, in climate change.

Business of Supply  Mr. Speaker, I believe we are debating the current time and the need for research funding. I would just like to point out that the United States has a long-range plan, and it never lets funding drop for the National Institutes of Health or the National Science Foundation. We ne

Business of Supply  Mr. Speaker, I am glad the hon. member brought up the economy. Over the last month our focus has been a stimulus package for the economy. Universities contribute $15 billion per year, 2% of GDP. The question I have, then, is why would we cut back on funding to this fundamental

Business of Supply  Mr. Speaker, absolutely, the government has invested in infrastructure and that is appreciated. However, research cannot be undertaken if there are no operating funds, and there are no funds to people and the research. By cutting $148 million from the three granting councils hurt

Business of Supply  Mr. Speaker, I will be splitting my time with the member for St. John's South—Mount Pearl. Just before death, Sir Isaac Newton described how humbled he was to have glimpsed a fraction of the coming research revolution. He reflected, “I seem to have been...like a boy...whilst the

Infrastructure  Mr. Speaker, the people in Toronto have been waiting since 2007 for promised funds for the extension of the Spadina subway line to Vaughan; $700 million announced, but not a penny has hit the ground yet. Given that they are sitting on almost $4 billion, why can the Conservatives

Infrastructure  Mr. Speaker, as the recession gets worse every day, the Conservatives are sitting on $3.9 billion in infrastructure funding that has already been approved by Parliament, money that will lapse on April 1 if it is not flowed. Yet, the Conservatives have failed to fund even so-calle

House debate  Mr. Speaker, the answer is that we do not know what caused the three outbreaks in 2004, 2005 and 2009. All owners, operators and workers on poultry farms should take steps to protect themselves from avian influenza. Operators should develop a response plan to complement provinc

House debate  Mr. Speaker, during the 20th century, influenza threatened the world, in 1918, 1957 and 1968. The latter two pandemics killed a total of three million people. In stark contrast, the Spanish influenza of 1918 killed upwards of 50 million people. Today the World Health Organizatio

Budget Implementation Act, 2009  Madam Speaker, I would like to thank my hon. colleague for his reflective and well thought-out discussion, as well as the previous member. They both talked about companies and housing. Last week I met a taxi driver who proudly told me he had earned his bachelor's degree at 19,

Budget Implementation Act, 2009  Madam Speaker, I think the point of the speech was that municipalities do struggle to pay that one-third. We really have to make sure that municipalities that need infrastructure can in fact afford it.