Budget Implementation Act, 2005  Mr. Speaker, I rise today to speak to Motion No. 7 which is an important part of Bill C-43. I am fortunate to sit on the finance committee which examined Bill C-43 in its entirety. The Conservative Party of Canada has agreed to and supports Bill C-43, although I am here today to

Federal-Provincial Relations  Mr. Speaker, we have a Prime Minister who has no national vision and we have a government that has abandoned fiscal imbalance. In a rush to buy votes, the Prime Minister is willing to sign deals with anyone, anywhere, on anything. By signing ad hoc deals with--

Federal-Provincial Relations  Mr. Speaker, by signing these ad hoc side deals with no consideration for a national framework, the Prime Minister has widened the fiscal imbalance between the provinces. When will the Prime Minister stop practising patchwork federalism and stop pitting province against province

Federal-Provincial Relations  Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister has sold off the social and economic fabric of Canada in exchange for votes and undermined federalism. The leader of the Conservative Party is the only leader with a national vision and he will defend a strong and united Canada. The Prime Ministe

Child Care  Mr. Speaker, the Liberal government is creating a two tier child care system, one tier for those who can find a space in a government run, nine to five day care centre, and another tier for those who are forced to fend for themselves, especially parents who work shifts. This two

Child Care  Mr. Speaker, each and every parent should be able to afford the choice to care for their children as they see fit. A one size fits all day care plan does not provide choice and discriminates against some parents. When will the minister acknowledge that all parents deserve choice

Child Care  Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister and his friends have developed the annoying habit of meddling to the tune of billions of dollars in areas under provincial jurisdiction. Now that the Prime Minister has taken over child care in Canada, could he tell us what he intends to do to res

Child Care  Mr. Speaker, the Minister of Social Development has embarked upon a path contrary to the request from the provinces, contrary to the desire of parents, and contrary to the established governing procedure. In fact, this past weekend the minister went so far as to say that institut

Federal-Provincial Relations  Mr. Speaker, in the 1996 Speech from the Throne, in response to the Quebec referendum, the Liberal government made the following commitment: The Government will not use its spending power to create new shared-cost programs in areas of exclusive provincial jurisdiction without th

Social Development  Mr. Speaker, the government has invested billions of dollars in a child care program. This program encroaches on provincial jurisdictions. Yet the Minister of Intergovernmental Affairs remains silent on this issue. The provinces have spoken: they want to have a choice. However, t

Child Care  Mr. Speaker, we learned this morning that the Minister of Social Development is negotiating with the opposition Liberal leader of New Brunswick. The families of New Brunswick and the Premier of New Brunswick have spoken loud and clear. They want choice in child care. The minister

Child Care  Mr. Speaker, let us hope the agreement involves choice. The Moncton Times and Transcript said in its editorial today, “It is inane and short-sighted of the federal government to impose a one-size-fits-all solution on New Brunswick”, and we could not agree more. A gender based a

Child Care  Mr. Speaker, the premier of New Brunswick is clearly listening to parents. He has said that he will not sign any day care deal with the Prime Minister unless it supports all choices for parents. However, today we have learned again that the Liberals will not support choice in chi

Child Care  Mr. Speaker, it is clear that the Liberal day care plan is a two tier program, money for a few and none for most. I do not know how the minister can justify giving money to some parents and none to others. Why are the Liberals continuing to support a two tier day care program?

Business of Supply  Mr. Chair, it is the government's choice to implement a program that is restrictive and only offers one choice. However, what we have said on this side of the House is we want an equitable program. We support formal day care, but we also support informal day care, at home day car