Employment Insurance  Mr. Speaker, since October the number of unemployed Canadians has risen by 295,000. According to the OECD, it will continue to rise. A young mother in my riding took on an internship to get Canadian experience. Her employer has just cut the program, leaving her on the street. S

Controlled Drugs and Substances Act  Mr. Speaker, I appreciate the member's understanding of this complex issue and his reluctance to take on the simplistic answers that I am hearing from the other side. Of course we on this side of the House are supporting issues that would make our communities safer. However, he

Foreign Credentials  Mr. Speaker, new Canadians in Toronto are particularly hard hit by this recession. On Friday, I am meeting with Mr. Alamgir Hossain, a Canadian citizen who emigrated from Bangladesh. He is a professional engineer who lost his job when his company downsized in December. What spec

Sultans of Science Exhibit  Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to draw attention today to an incredible exhibit that opened at the Ontario Science Centre in Don Valley West this past week. Sultans of Science celebrates 1,000 years of scientific creativity, imagination and scholarship coming from the Islamic world.

Situation in Sri Lanka  Mr. Speaker, it is a privilege and an honour to be here tonight. I come with a heavy heart. I am very aware of the gallery being filled tonight. I am aware that people have come here with hopes and dreams, with pain and with challenges, and I am very pleased to see them. I am a

Situation in Sri Lanka  Madam Speaker, I thank the minister for her actions today, for announcing humanitarian aid and for other calls for a ceasefire from the government. In that same spirit of co-operation, as an individual member of Parliament, I want to work with her on this. I do have a concern ab

Petitions  Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to present a petition today from residents of Don Valley West, expressing concern about current hostilities in Sri Lanka. The petitioners call upon the Government of Canada to put pressure on the government of Sri Lanka to provide the Tamil population w

The Budget  Mr. Speaker, it is totally interesting to be on this side of the House. This is not a Liberal budget. In every way the budget shines as not being a Liberal budget, so of course we are critical of it. Once we had read it, once we had a look at it, once we examined it, we saw both

The Budget  Those are that member's words, Mr. Speaker. I would say that my job as the member of Parliament for Don Valley West is watching where the government spends this money, how it creates jobs and what gets done. The hon. member will see me at Union Station, downtown Toronto, making s

The Budget  Mr. Speaker, I think the member, in referring to that economist in his statement, was thinking of the Prime Minister . Absolutely, the answer is yes. Employment insurance was never meant to be a static plan for all regions, for all times, for all places and for all people. It is

The Budget  Mr. Speaker, I am sharing my time with the hon. member for Guelph. It is a great privilege to rise again in this House to offer my thoughts, opinions and some of my concerns on the government's so-called economic action plan. Call it old-fashioned, but I would much prefer to sim

Resumption of debate on Address in Reply  Mr. Speaker, it is a tremendous pleasure and a great privilege to rise and speak for the first time in the House. I begin by congratulating you on your election. I pledge that I will do my best to honour the traditions, protocols and etiquette you have suggested to make the House

Resumption of Debate on Address in Reply  Madam Speaker, I welcome the member as a new member just like myself. My question for him is about his moving tribute to the veterans who were in his families, his father and his grandfather. I found that noble and moving. However, I recognize that in the Speech from the Thron

Resumption of Debate on Address in Reply  Mr. Speaker, the hon. member speaks eloquently about the threat to sovereignty in the far north. I am not sure whether she has actually ever been to the far north or not, but as someone who has lived in the subarctic, I know many of the problems that are faced in that area of the