Children  Mr. Speaker, last week, I participated in UNICEF's “Bring Your MP to School Day”. The students at Monsignor Haller, St. Aloysius, Cardinal Leger, Hespeler, and Groh public schools asked some great questions. Today is the anniversary of the General Assembly's adoption of the Dec

The Economy  Mr. Speaker, people in my riding of Kitchener South—Hespeler in the Waterloo region are proud of our government's commitment to grow the economy, create jobs, and strengthen the middle class. They know that the smart investments our government is making will help more Canadians f

Budget Implementation Act, 2017, No. 2  Mr. Speaker, the hon. member mentioned that in his riding of Surrey Centre, there is a population of 500,000, and 35,000 new jobs have been created. It is similar to my region of Kitchener and Waterloo. I want to ask how the investments have helped in his region and how job growt

Budget Implementation Act, 2017, No. 2  Mr. Speaker, that gives me an opportunity to talk about this further and to address the member's question on financial literacy. One thing I want to say is that the way we grow our economy is by making investments in our middle class and in business. We have lowered the tax rate

Budget Implementation Act, 2017, No. 2  Mr. Speaker, I want to express support for this bill and address the question of the hon. member. As a result of the bill, the Canada Labour Code would allow for greater flexibility in terms of vacation days, holidays, and bereavement days. This is something that we wanted to do

Budget Implementation Act, 2017, No. 2  Mr. Speaker, I have friends on BBM, where we have a group chat. In our case, the topic was to alert all parents out there that the Canada child benefit would be increasing again in 2019. They were very happy to hear that because they know that the cost of raising their children i

Budget Implementation Act, 2017, No. 2  Mr. Speaker, I will be splitting my time with the member for Thunder Bay—Rainy River. Those in Waterloo region are very fortunate. The national unemployment rate is 6.2%, a nine-year low. Kitchener's unemployment rate is just 4.5% and it is experiencing an almost 5% job growth.

Budget Implementation Act, 2017, No. 2  Mr. Speaker, in closing, the member mentioned higher taxes due to our government, but our government is lowering taxes on small businesses. It is at 10.5% currently and will go down to 9% in 2019. I want to ask the member what he means by higher taxes. We have lowered taxes for t

Portuguese Heritage Month  Madam Speaker, I am proud to support the motion by the hon. member for Toronto—Danforth to declare June 10 as Portugal day and the month of June as Portuguese heritage month. In doing so, I know I would have the support of many Portuguese Canadians in my riding of Kitchener South

Nutrition for Learning  Madam Speaker, one in 10 children arrives at school in Canada without enough food to sustain themselves an entire day. Good nutrition can lead to improvements of memory and an increased ability to focus in the classroom Recently I visited Howard Robertson Public School in Kitche

Situation in Myanmar  Madam Speaker, as mentioned in my speech, I sit on the Subcommittee for International Human Rights. I applaud my colleague for bringing this study forward in the last session. Our response to the Myanmar Muslims who are in Rakhine State and now fleeing to Bangladesh is that our

Situation in Myanmar  Madam Speaker, the first is to work with multilateral nations as well as the United Nations and like-minded nations to look at instilling peace and security there and to ensure atrocities do not happen anymore. Second, it is absolutely imperative that we ensure that humanitarian

Situation in Myanmar  Madam Speaker, I rise today to discuss the plight of the Rohingya people and condemn the atrocities they continue to be subjected to. My remarks today will echo those of my colleagues as we stand unanimously in condemning the persecution of the Rohingyas in Rakhine State and alon

Police and Peace Officers' National Memorial Day  Mr. Speaker, Sunday is Police and Peace Officers' National Memorial Day. Singing at the 11 a.m. memorial service on Parliament Hill, as they have for many years, will be the 57 men of the Waterloo Regional Police Male Chorus. The Waterloo Regional Police Male Chorus has been en

Portugal Day  Mr. Speaker, on June 10, Portuguese Canadians across Canada will be celebrating Portugal Day, Camões, and the Portuguese community. This day marks the anniversary of the death of Luis de Camões, the greatest Portuguese poet, who captured the essence of Portugal, its history, and