Social Development  Mr. Speaker, parental leave and maternity leave are essential for Canadian families, but our government can do more to adapt to the new realities facing families. Can the Minister of Families, Children and Social Development tell the House what he is doing to move forward on thi

Queen's University  Mr. Speaker, this year in my riding of Kingston and the Islands, Queen's University celebrated its 175th anniversary. This important milestone demonstrates Queen's University's initiative and excellence in the field of education. This past weekend, Queen's celebrated homecoming

National Maternity Assistance Program Strategy Act  Madam Speaker, I thank all my colleagues who spoke to my private member's bill, Bill C-243, both today and in the first hour of debate that took place a number of months ago. I also want to give great thanks to Melody, the welder in my community who inspired the bill and her now

Income Tax Act  Mr. Speaker, it is my pleasure to rise in the House today on behalf of my constituents of Kingston and the Islands and perhaps on behalf of all Canadians. I rise on behalf of all Canadians because of the national impact that this private member's bill would have. I want to comme

Canada Pension Plan  Mr. Speaker, there is no doubt that my colleague has a valid point when she talks about making sure that employers are able to afford the CPP contribution increases. As a small business owner myself, I am fully aware of the fact that the employer has to match the CPP contribution

Canada Pension Plan  Pricing.

Canada Pension Plan  Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague for his commitment to supporting the bill. He sees the value in this and it is very commendable. He touched on a really good point, which has come up a number of times in this debate. It is specifically with respect to the fact that the labour m

Canada Pension Plan  Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague for her contribution to this debate. It definitely was encouraging to hear her start off by not asking one of my colleagues to resign like she did last time. We are discussing the CPP, how to strengthen it and how to make it better for future g

Budget Implementation Act, 2016, No. 2  Mr. Speaker, that is quite rich, coming from the members of the opposition who spent 10 years, the vast majority of which, delivering deficits and accumulating a $160 billion debt. What did they have to show for it? What projects did they bring in that they can show for it? No, t

Kingston Santa Parade  Mr. Speaker, it's that time of year again. This Saturday, in my riding of Kingston and the Islands, the 13th annual greater Kingston Santa parade will be taking place. The community will join together for the parade and the annual tree lighting ceremony in market square to kick

Points of Order  Mr. Speaker, I rise today to contribute arguments as to why my private member's bill, Bill C-243, would not infringe upon the financial initiative of the crown and therefore would not require a royal recommendation. I appreciate the time of this House to present these arguments.

Canada Pension Plan  Madam Speaker, the member made reference to the fact that there are more people saving now than there were in 1990, but he neglected to mention the fact that there were also many more people paying into employer-generated pensions then that helped people save indirectly through t

Canada Pension Plan  Madam Speaker, I want to thank my colleague for bringing up the issue of young people as it relates to this piece of legislation. We have heard a lot of commentary, in particular from the opposition today, about older individuals and seniors and how fewer of them require the chan

House debate  Mr. Speaker, before I get started with my remarks, specifically I would like to reference the previous speaker. At one point during answering questions he talked about the CPP and not using it as an opportunity to provide middle-income opportunities, yet earlier on his speech he

House debate  Mr. Speaker, that is very loose connection. I spoke to my time on the health board and a particular issue we had. In any event, if the member is looking for me to say that at some point or another I have, can be, or was critical of the provincial government, yes, as the mayor of