Enhancing Royal Canadian Mounted Police Accountability Act  Mr. Speaker, the member raises a very serious question on how we can actually make the legislation provide the kinds of things the RCMP commissioner needs to take action on sexual harassment. In terms of the timing of the bill, one of the curious things is that the minister had

Enhancing Royal Canadian Mounted Police Accountability Act  Mr. Speaker, this is part on which Paul Kennedy, the former public complaints commissioner, made very strong statements. His view was that in his time in the job, which amounted to five years, he felt he needed greater powers to make binding recommendations. It goes back to this

Enhancing Royal Canadian Mounted Police Accountability Act  Mr. Speaker, the member has asked a very interesting question. We have seen a regrettable tendency by the government across the board to shed responsibilities and pass them down to the provinces. The RCMP is in fact our national police force. If Canadians are to have confidence

Questions on the Order Paper  With regard to the decision to terminate the Office of the Inspector General of Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS) in Bill C-38: (a) when was the decision made; (b) who was consulted on the decision; (c) what provision has the government made to ensure that the Securit

Questions on the Order Paper  With regard to audio-video monitoring and recording by the Canadian Border Services Agency: (a) how much has the federal government spent on the equipment and installation of that equipment to date; (b) under what legal authority has the audio monitoring equipment been installed;

Enhancing Royal Canadian Mounted Police Accountability Act  Mr. Speaker, I, too, have benefited from the very thoughtful speech by my colleague from St. John's East on this topic. I wonder if he has any reflections on the amount of time it has taken the government, which has been in power since 2006, to act on these issues, which we have

Enhancing Royal Canadian Mounted Police Accountability Act  Mr. Speaker, the member is vice-chair of the status of women committee, and I think what she has illustrated is a kind of rebuke to the Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Finance who cited the number of police on the Conservative side to speak on this. It is the very dive

100th Anniversary of the Township of Esquimalt  Mr. Speaker, 2012 marks the 100th anniversary of the Township of Esquimalt in my riding of Esquimalt—Juan de Fuca. From the initial European and Chinese settlers in the 1850s to the arrival of the navy in 1865 and the establishment of the naval dockyard in 1887, Esquimalt has con

Enhancing Royal Canadian Mounted Police Accountability Act  Mr. Speaker, I listened with interest to my colleague's comments on the bill and she has really pointed out some of the areas in the bill that need to be strengthened and improved. I would like to give her the opportunity to talk a little bit longer about those suggestions for i

Public Safety  A 1,400-page study about the privatization of prisons does not just appear out of nowhere. However, the Minister of Public Safety kept Canadians and even the correctional investigator in the dark about this secret study. Mike Harris already tried this in Ontario and it cost the t

Public Safety  Mr. Speaker, either privatization of prisons is on the table or it is not. The minister likes to talk about certain models being considered and certain models not. A 1,400 page study--

Helping Families in Need Act  Mr. Speaker, it is a pleasure to rise today to speak to Bill C-44, a bill that has some very good ideas to help families who are in very critical situations. All Canadians have compassion for parents of critically ill children and, of course, for families who have lost a child.

Helping Families in Need Act  Mr. Speaker, I want to assure the hon. member that I am not trying to give a mixed message on the benefits. As I have said, all Canadians have the compassion to want to assist families that are in the most dire crisis. I am trying to point out that in my community there are many

Helping Families in Need Act  Mr. Speaker, the member's dedication to making progress on aboriginal issues in this country is well known. I certainly thank him for his hard work. I do not have the answer to his general question of why we failed so badly as a Parliament to address the needs of aboriginal peop

Public Safety  Mr. Speaker, the fact is Conservative cuts are putting Canadians at risk and it is not just food inspection. Reckless budget cuts this year ended the joint emergency preparedness program. Internal government evaluations warned that these cuts would significantly and negatively