The Economy  Mr. Speaker, it looks like the Conservatives have not even seen the most recent job figures: 72,000 full-time jobs evaporated last month because of Conservative inaction. Also, they have blown their own deficit forecast yet again. The government has no plans to create jobs. It so

The Economy  Mr. Speaker, Europe has been rocked by the threat of an economic disaster that could have significant repercussions in countries everywhere, including Canada. Canadians are afraid of losing their jobs, a record number of families are turning to food banks and there are record lev

The Economy  Mr. Speaker, what is clear is that slow growth means fewer jobs for Canadians. Yesterday, the Parliamentary Budget Officer said we should expect another 100,000 Canadians to lose their jobs next year. The Governor of the Bank of Canada said that the economy is slowing. These are

The Economy  Mr. Speaker, let us talk about mistakes. From May 2008 to today, the Conservatives have created barely 250,000 jobs in this country. It is not the numbers they advance, not the bogus mistakes that they put forward. Before the Conservatives start to celebrate, the reality is that

Fair Representation Act  Mr. Speaker, if the hon. member had been to Britain, he would see that its House of Commons is a smaller House with twice the number of members. The House of Commons in Britain has simply done away with desks. We can sit on benches. We can vote from benches. We can speak adequate

Fair Representation Act  Mr. Speaker, I think there are two parts to what the hon. member is asking. First is the issue of seats in the House. Can we keep adding members to the House of Commons? I would like to say that in other parliaments on this globe there are no seats, there are benches. As I hav

Fair Representation Act  Mr. Speaker, this party takes no lessons from Conservative members who have not, since they were elected, stood up on behalf of their constituents a single time. We have seen with the Canadian Wheat Board that a promise was made to consult with farmers across western Canada and

Fair Representation Act  Mr. Speaker, I will be sharing my time with the very talented, eloquent and hard-working member of Parliament for Edmonton—Strathcona and I look forward to hearing her speech on the bill. This is a technical bill that has ramifications for the whole country and I am pleased to r

Fair Representation Act  Mr. Speaker, I listened attentively to the member's speech. As he knows, there has been some concern about the different formulas the government has introduced through the various manifestations of the bill which we have seen in the last couple of Parliaments. Different formulas

Public Safety Officers Compensation Fund  Mr. Speaker, for 14 years, Canada's firefighters have been coming to Parliament Hill to ask that their families be taken care of through a public safety officer compensation fund if they die in the line of duty or if they die saving others. Five years ago, the NDP delivered, an

The Economy  Mr. Speaker, my colleague said that everything is going well, but the Governor of the Bank of Canada, Mark Carney, who has a bit more credibility, said this week that the Canadian economy was weakening considerably. The government is not taking action to stimulate job creation. I

The Economy  Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister has taken any opportunity he can to criticize Europe for its inaction on the economy. The truth is, Europe is acting. However, despite the fact that the Governor of the Bank of Canada says our economy “is slowing to a crawl”, this out-of-touch Co

Ending the Long-gun Registry Act  Madam Speaker, this is an outrageous abuse of Parliament that we are seeing from the government again. There were a lot of commitments made in the spring. The government said it would be moderate. The Conservatives hauled out the sweater vests during the election campaign and sa

Petitions  Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to present a petition on behalf of hundreds of residents of the Lower Mainland of British Columbia, southern Alberta and the Calgary region. These are individuals who believe that Canada should be providing visa-free requirements for visitors from Serbia

Holidays Act  moved for leave to introduce Bill C-337, An Act to amend the Holidays Act (Flag Day). Mr. Speaker, in 2015, the 50th anniversary of our Canadian flag occurs. As I have raised before in this House, it is vitally important that we have a national holiday to celebrate the Canadian