NORAD Santa Tracker  Mr. Speaker, everyone in the House knows that Canada's north is the home of Santa Claus, and that the North American Aerospace Defense Command was created to track his whereabouts on Christmas Eve. I grew up in Goose Bay, Labrador, which is located in Canada's north, and is the

Oil and Gas Industry  Mr. Speaker, the Hibernia oil field lies 315 kilometres southeast of St. John's. In 1993, it was expected to pump 563 million barrels in its lifetime. In December it pumped its one billionth, and it will continue on for who knows how long. Why? It is because the reserves have bee

Fisheries and Oceans  Mr. Speaker, marine incidents can happen anywhere in the world and there is no one approach that works best in all cases. Today, the east coast of Canada has some of the busiest shipping routes in the country. Marine shipping has always been a part of Atlantic Canada's identity,

Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship  Mr. Speaker, in 1847 the Dominion of Canada numbered some 1.5 million people. Yet, small as we were then, we welcomed some 100,000 Irish immigrants, immigrants who were leaving a devastating famine behind them, fleeing terror and persecution. At the time, Irish immigrants were t

Underwater Vehicle Competitions  Mr. Speaker, two weeks ago, students from all across Newfoundland and Labrador competed in the MATE underwater remotely operated vehicle competition at the Marine Institute in St. John's. I stand today to recognize the outstanding achievements of O'Donel High School and Mount Pea

Governor General's Performing Arts Awards  Mr. Speaker, the Governor General's Performing Arts Award is presented each year in the categories of theatre, dance, classical music, popular music, film, and broadcasting. This year's recipients of the Lifetime Artistic Achievement Award are Jean Beaudin, Yves Sioui Durand, Br

Infrastructure  Mr. Speaker, the people of Newfoundland and Labrador know how important reliable infrastructure is to ensuring a high quality of life. In my riding, cities and towns also know they have a federal partner working alongside them to deliver better infrastructure for their residents.

Questions on the Order Paper  Mr. Speaker, with regard to (a), Veterans Affairs Canada provides disability benefits to veterans with a service-related health condition or disability, regardless of the cause. The department applies the policies related to peacetime service and wartime and special duty service

Veterans Affairs  Mr. Speaker, whatever the cause, we support veterans with service-related illnesses and injuries. Every situation is unique. We work with each veteran on his or her individual circumstances. The health and well-being of our veterans is our top priority.

Invictus Games  Mr. Speaker, I thank the hon. member for Scarborough—Rouge Park for championing the Invictus Games in Toronto. These games have already saved lives. They give many ill and injured servicemen and servicewomen purpose, comradeship that many of them miss, and the joy of elation of

Veterans Affairs  Mr. Speaker, “You have done it,” Prince Harry said to the athletes. “You are Invictus”. The Latin word from which these games take their name means unconquered, and that unconquerable spirit was written on the face of every athlete we saw at these games. They flew our flag higher

Veterans Affairs  Mr. Speaker, the member brings up a very specific case on which I have not been fully briefed or of which I am aware. However, I would be happy to meet with any concerned veterans and their families at any time. Therefore, I will work with his office to make that happen. In the

Veterans Affairs  Mr. Speaker, let me be blunt that there will no depriving any member of the wreaths that he or she may lay at a cenotaph or at a monument in his or her riding. In fact, every member in the House, as always, will be allotted at least two. If you need more, all you have to do is as

Veterans Affairs  Mr. Speaker, certainly I give my condolences to the families involved. We cannot talk of specific cases out of respect for the privacy of the veteran and of the families involved, but there is no question that one suicide is one too many. With the Minister of National Defence w

Veterans Affairs  Mr. Speaker, I will meet with the family at a convenient time today.