The Economy  Mr. Speaker, this morning's statistics on the number of jobs lost take one's breath away. It is unprecedented in Canadian history. For months, the Conservatives have responded to our concerns by saying that everything was going very well and that we did not need to worry. Will t

The Economy  Mr. Speaker, the Conservatives inherited a healthy economy and balanced budgets. In the month of January alone, 26,000 jobs were lost, just in Quebec and the unemployment rate has risen to 7.2%. In Quebec, residential foreclosures were at a four-year high in January and hundreds

Canada Not-for-profit Corporations Act  Mr. Speaker, it is true, Canada does punch above its weight in astronomy. I think it raises a very fundamental point, the importance of supporting not only applied science in this country but also fundamental science. For those who do not know it, our astronomers are the pride of

Canada Not-for-profit Corporations Act  Mr. Speaker, I take note of the member's comments. It is a large document, but the consensus that has been reached in consultations over a period of six to eight years is this is in fact a document that streamlines and clarifies the responsibilities and the processes involved wit

Canada Not-for-profit Corporations Act  Mr. Speaker, I thank the hon. member for his very important comments. Although, as he points out, education is a provincial matter, I think there is federal involvement and a leadership role that can be assumed by the federal government. In the particular area that I have been

Canada Not-for-profit Corporations Act  Mr. Speaker, it is certain that in this time of economic crisis we must put a great deal of emphasis on the importance of science, research and innovation for the future of our country. The Liberal Party, back in the 1990s, under Mr. Chrétien and Mr. Martin, had the foresight to

Canada Not-for-profit Corporations Act  Mr. Speaker, as my party's industry, science and technology critic, it is my honour to say a few words about Bill C-4, An Act respecting not-for-profit corporations and certain other corporations. This bill, you will remember, originated with the Liberal Party almost a decade ago

Aerospace Industry  Mr. Speaker, in other words, this government has no strategy. As I pointed out to the minister, hundreds of jobs in the aerospace sector are at risk. While he dithers, foreign countries that compete with our Canadian champions are taking action. In France, the government has mad

Aerospace Industry  Mr. Speaker, when I asked the Conservatives what their plan was for the aerospace sector, the minister told us that Lockheed Martin was making investments. I am happy for Lockheed Martin, an American company, but what does this have to do with our government's plan to strengthen

Aerospace Industry  Mr. Speaker, I asked the government how it planned to protect the aerospace industry from the crisis long before it came to its senses and proposed an economic stimulus package. I am still waiting for an answer. I did not see anything about it in the budget. Yesterday, Bell Helic

Aerospace Industry  Mr. Speaker, in last fall's election campaign, the Conservatives promised an injection of $200 million into the very important technology development program known as SADI, the strategic aerospace and defence initiative. However, this promised funding was not mentioned in Tuesday

Genome Canada  Mr. Speaker, several new genetic research programs and cancer research programs are at risk because this budget did not provide any new funding for Genome Canada, an extremely important scientific research program. Canadian scientists involved in that program have been recognized

Genome Canada  Mr. Speaker, the minister of state knows that small amount of money is already fully committed and has been for some time. Genome Canada's world-leading research programs are in jeopardy and thousands of jobs will be lost if the Conservatives fail to fund it. Canadian scientist

Regional Development  Mr. Speaker, by cutting funding for non-profit regional economic development organizations, the Conservatives have very clearly shown that they do not understand anything about job creation. Thousands of people are losing their jobs in all regions of Quebec. It is imperative that

Regional Development  Mr. Speaker, instead of practising sound management of development for the regions of Quebec, the Conservatives in fact created a patronage fund designed to secure the re-election of the former minister and his neighbour, the present minister. Will the Minister of Regional Deve