Afghanistan  Mr. Speaker, that is a poor answer from the wrong minister. Like the foreign affairs minister, this is a PR driven exercise. The minister never left the compound. The government is more concerned about diverting attention away from the fact that it is spending nine times more on

Afghanistan  Mr. Speaker, that is not what our members conveyed. There is a lack of information about the development and what is being done in Afghanistan. Last year Colonel Heatherington said that we would see development projects completed by the year 2006. Well, it is 2007. The members o

Afghanistan  Mr. Speaker, our mission in Afghanistan will only succeed if we ensure that all elements of the treaty approach are followed, yet the government has seriously neglected the diplomatic and development component. I ask the minister responsible for international development, why is

Canada Elections Act  Mr. Speaker, as I said in my speech, people at the polling station are going to be able to identify most of the people coming in and out, but if someone really wants to do something wrong, it is hard. As for someone who comes in with someone else's identification and says he or s

Canada Elections Act  Mr. Speaker, I appreciate the member's question, as many MPs have aboriginal communities in their ridings and it is very difficult for them. Many times, their communities are remote and polling stations are out of reach. We have to make it as easy as possible for those people to

Canada Elections Act  Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to have the opportunity to speak to Bill C-31, an act to amend the Canada Elections Act and the Public Service Employment Act. On June 22 the Standing Committee on Procedure and House Affairs tabled a report in the House entitled, “Improving the Integr

Literacy  Mr. Speaker, the Conservative government's recent cuts to literacy are no way to build a country. In Cape Breton and across Canada the Liberal government invested to tackle low literacy rates, supporting groups like the Adult Learning Association of Cape Breton. Will the ministe

Employment Insurance Act  Mr. Speaker, as I close out the second reading debate on Bill C-278, I want to take this opportunity to thank all members of this House who have contributed to this debate. I know my colleagues in the Liberal Party, the New Democratic Party and the Bloc have been particularly sup

John Allan Cameron  Mr. Speaker, it is with great sadness that I speak of the passing away of John Allan Cameron. John Allan was born in Inverness, Cape Breton in 1938. He learned to play the guitar at the age of 12. After studying education at St. Francis Xavier University and after studying for

Softwood Lumber Products Export Charge Act, 2006  Mr. Speaker, that is quite a question. The reality is that the committee was becoming quite dysfunctional. Mostly because of the NDP filibustering, the committee was not going to get past the first clause. We all knew that the Bloc and the Conservatives would push the bill throu

Softwood Lumber Products Export Charge Act, 2006  Mr. Speaker, I am glad the hon. member spoke about the member from Thunder Bay. Whether it is in our rural caucus or any discussions in our caucus, the member from Thunder Bay is out front and centre for the industry. He is trying to make the best of a bad situation brought abou

Softwood Lumber Products Export Charge Act, 2006  Mr. Speaker, I rise to speak at report stage of Bill C-24, commonly referred to as the softwood lumber bill. It is with great disappointment that we have witnessed some of the actions of the members opposite trying to make our committee non-functional. The hon. member said that

Softwood Lumber Products Export Charge Act, 2006  Mr. Speaker, I will explain later in my speech how much the Liberals are against this bill, but I have a question for the hon. member. What really bothers me is the part about leaving $500 million in the United States to the lobbyists who are going to use it to come back at us in

Employment Insurance Act  Mr. Speaker, I talked with the member for Chambly—Borduas earlier in the week. It has been brought to my attention that he did a lot of work on the bill. People cannot pay their bills. People have financial difficulties because they have no income, which is why we need to help th

Employment Insurance Act  Mr. Speaker, the reality is that our society is changing. At one time people who got cancer died. Now they get cancer and they come back to society and they are also working. What is also very important to recognize is the work of the subcommittee. My hon. colleague from Cape Br