Safe Streets and Communities Act  Madam Speaker, part of the reason we are here today discussing amendments to this legislation coming back from the Senate requires a little context. When the bill was at committee, the member for Mount Royal indicated that with respect to victims of terrorism, the bill needed to

Safe Streets and Communities Act  Mr. Speaker, legal scholars across this country and the Canadian Bar Association have very serious concerns about the constitutionality of many aspects of this bill. The member for Mount Royal has asked the minister whether he will table the legal opinions with respect to its c

John F. Dee  Mr. Speaker, I rise here today to pay tribute to the life of John F. Dee, who passed away last Friday in Grand Falls, New Brunswick, after a tough battle with cancer. John worked for Canadian Pacific for his entire career. He was a long-time member of his local Baptist church. He

Veterans Affairs  Mr. Speaker, yesterday the Minister of Veterans Affairs had a letter in the Charlottetown Guardian, praising the employees of his department. However, last Saturday he had a letter in the Chronicle Herald calling them a bloated, inefficient bureaucracy. Why is the minister speak

Corrections and Conditional Release Act  Mr. Speaker, as the Liberal critic, the member for Lac-Saint-Louis, has already indicated, we will vote to send this bill to committee to ensure that it makes sense and to hear from experts as to whether it is even constitutional. I have serious concerns as to its constitutionali

Corrections and Conditional Release Act  Mr. Speaker, I am a lawyer by training and have practised law for most of my adult life. I served as managing partner in a successful law firm back home in Prince Edward Island. I have some experience as a prosecutor with respect to narcotics offences and election offences. That

Old Age Security  moved: Motion No. 307 That, in the opinion of the House, the government should: (a) recognize the contributions that the baby boom generation has made in building Canada; (b) affirm its support for the Old Age Security program; (c) commit to maintaining the sixty-five year

Old Age Security  Mr. Speaker, there has been absolutely no indication that there has been consultation with the provinces or with the business community with respect to this proposed change. This appeared to be some sort of a pronouncement from an alpine perch. It will, undoubtedly, result in eit

Old Age Security  Mr. Speaker, there are many seniors in the country who are dependent on provincial welfare payments for their basic needs. However, when they hit age 65, the federal system is more generous than many of the provincial systems with respect to old age security and guaranteed income

Questions Passed as Orders for Returns  With regard to translation services: (a) how many contracts were entered into since January 1, 2011, for translation from a non-official language into an official language by (i) the Privy Council Office, (ii) the Prime Minister’s Office, (iii) the Office of the Minister of Inter

Questions Passed as Orders for Returns  With respect to the television advertisements “Our Veterans Matter”, “The Pride of Our Country”, “Veterans’ Week Vignette”, and other 2011 Veterans’ Week television spots: (a) how many different advertisements were produced or used to promote Veterans’ Week in 2011; (b) what was

Questions Passed as Orders for Returns  With regard to government advertising: (a) which departments or agencies were engaged in any television advertisement by a department or agency of the government during the television broadcast of any Super Bowl game from Super Bowl XL (2006) through Super Bowl XLVI (2012) inclus

National Philanthropy Day Act  Mr. Speaker, I am honoured to have the opportunity to speak this evening on the bill before the House of Commons to establish a national philanthropy day. One of the outstanding qualities of Canadians is our willingness to extend our sense of purpose beyond our immediate famili

Veterans Affairs  Mr. Speaker, yesterday we learned that the chair of the advisory committee for the Veterans Ombudsman, himself a decorated veteran, had his medical records wrongly accessed. The minister's talking points will require him to recite his ten point plan. It is not working. What the

Questions Passed as Orders for Returns  With regard to websites accessed on the personal departmental desktop computers, laptop computers, mobile phones, tablet computers, or other internet-enabled devices issued to the Minister of Justice and to the Minister of Public Safety: (a) what are the URLs of all websites acce