Kidnapping of Girls in Nigeria  Mr. Speaker, last month, or two months ago, I think, Nigeria became the biggest economy in Africa, essentially because of its natural resources. The population is in fact 135 million inhabitants, maybe more. It is therefore a large country. On the first question I was asked, tha

Kidnapping of Girls in Nigeria  Mr. Speaker, I welcome the opportunity to participate in this debate. I thank the member for Ottawa Centre and his colleague from Laurier—Sainte-Marie for their remarks, and my colleague from Etobicoke North and the Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Foreign Affairs and f

Citizenship and Immigration  Mr. Speaker, this spring, four officials from the ministry of the interior of the Democratic Republic of Congo travelled to Canada at taxpayers’ expense to interview approximately thirty Congolese nationals threatened with deportation by the government. Ironically, one of these n

Fair Elections Act  Mr. Speaker, I have no questions for the minister because I do not believe him. I think his answers are illogical and short on the truth. I do not have a question, but I have two comments. First, I think it is a shame that the government is once again limiting the number of spea

Fair Elections Act  Mr. Speaker, I think it is a shame that only 10% or 15% of members will have the opportunity to speak to such an important bill, including a whole host of amendments that have been made. What is more, a hundred or more other amendments will have to be considered. We will have jus

University of Ottawa  Mr. Speaker, I would like to draw attention to the University of Ottawa's Alumni Day, which my alma mater will be celebrating on Friday, May 9. On the occasion of the University of Ottawa's Alumni Week 2014, I would like to recognize the some 89,000 graduates of this institution

Business of Supply  Mr. Speaker, I would like to tell the member for Oxford that I was not a member of the government in that particular circumstance. I was a member of the governing party but not of the government. I would like the member to know, and he could check my voting record, that at times

Business of Supply  Mr. Speaker, I generally do agree that the House, in order to function, needs to have some time allocation, some time constructs of some sort. However, the one example that our colleague across the way gave, which I am a little surprised he used, is reference to a committee of a

Business of Supply  Mr. Speaker, I would like to add, if I may, to the response by my colleague to the House Leader of the Official Opposition as to why the motion would focus on these two particular bills. It is because the Elections Act and the Parliament of Canada Act are fundamental to our democ

Rwanda and Central African Republic  Mr. Speaker, today marks 20 years since the beginning of hostilities in Rwanda, where, in less than 100 days, 800,000 people, most of them Tutsis, were massacred. At the time, we promised that we would never forget that genocide. On this sad anniversary, we must consider how th

Michel Picard  Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank a man whose community is very important to him and whose career is coming to an end. After working at Radio-Canada for 41 years, today, Michel Picard is retiring, thus ending a remarkable career in the media. Michel is known for his professiona

Interparliamentary Delegations  Mr. Speaker, pursuant to Standing Order 34(1), I have the honour to present to the House, in both official languages, the report of the Canadian Parliamentary delegation of the Canada-Africa Parliamentary Association respecting its bilateral mission to Morocco and Republic of Côt

Protecting Canadians from Online Crime Act  Mr. Speaker, my question for the minister is on process and deals with the fact that, again, the government has chosen not to refer the bill to committee before second reading. If the matter were of the urgency the minister says it is, after five hours of debate the bill could ha

Qalipu Mi'kmaq First Nation Act  Mr. Speaker, I would like to make a comment and ask a question. I listened very carefully to the minister's comments on what happened this morning and on the possibility that the Chief Electoral Officer's appearance in committee will have to be cancelled. He implied that if the

Canada-Africa Parliamentary Association  Mr. Speaker, a little more than 10 years ago, the Canada-Africa Parliamentary Association, or CAPA, was formed. In its first decade, CAPA constructively engaged with fellow African parliamentarians to help them entrench democratic principles and to share best practices in our dua