Economic Action Plan 2013 Act, No. 1  Mr. Speaker, it will come as no surprise that, as the Veterans Affairs critic for the Liberal Party, I do not share the minister's view with respect to the impact of this budget on veterans. With respect to the Last Post Fund, first, the budget trumpets a $65 million increase ov

Economic Action Plan 2013 Act, No. 1  Mr. Speaker, I was interested to hear my colleague talk about how good the economic policies of the Conservative government have been for the province of Saskatchewan, where the unemployment rate is 3.7%. The government decimated the economy of my province with the disproportiona

Petitions  Mr. Speaker, I rise today to present a petition on behalf of several residents of Atlantic Canada who are concerned about the decision with respect to the Experimental Lakes Area. These petitioners call on the government to recognize the importance of the Experimental Lakes Area

Criminal Code  Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to rise in the debate on Bill C-394 and the issue of gang recruitment. I had the privilege of sitting in on the Standing Committee on Justice and Human Rights while it considered this legislation, and I will expand on some of the issues discussed in thos

Criminal Code  Mr. Speaker, the biggest single problem the Liberal Party has with the bill is the introduction of yet another mandatory minimum sentence. The introduction of mandatory minimum sentences through private members' bills, of course, avoids the necessity of having a review done by De

Last Post Fund  Mr. Speaker, I am proud to speak today. To begin, I would like to congratulate the member for Random—Burin—St. George's and thank her for her work on this file. This is a very important motion. It is very important that this matter be debated publicly because we were not able to

Petitions  Mr. Speaker, I rise to present a petition on behalf of hundreds of Prince Edward Islanders concerned about changes being made by Canada Post to post offices across the country without adequate consultation, as is required under the Canada postal service charter. As an example, o

Questions on the Order Paper  With regard to the Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade (DFAIT): (a) who drafted the press release issued on September 22, 2012, under the title “Baird Receives Honourary 7th Degree Black Belt in Taekwondo”; (b) who approved or authorized the release of that pres

Questions Passed as Orders for Returns  With respect to staffing at the Canada Revenue Agency, what is the number of personnel, sorted by job title and broken down by year, working on aggressive international tax planning for the years 2003-2013 inclusive?

Questions Passed as Orders for Returns  With respect to staffing cuts at Canada Revenue Agency (CRA): (a) how many positions at CRA have been cut as part of the government’s plan to eliminate 19,200 jobs from the federal public service as of February 1, 2013, broken down by the (i) number of actual positions cut, (ii)

Questions Passed as Orders for Returns  With respect to advertising for the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) for the years 2003-2013 inclusive: (a) what was the advertising budget, broken down by year; (b) how many different advertising campaigns were created or used, broken down by year; (c) how many different advertisemen

Committees of the House  Mr. Speaker, I am grateful to have the opportunity to speak to the House this evening about bullying and cyberbullying in particular. The hon. member for Vancouver Centre is to be commended for her bill before the House. The hon. member is someone whose public and private lives h

The Budget  Mr. Speaker, I was quite surprised to hear the member say that all of these measures would be brought in without any increase in taxes. I am looking at page 292 of the budget. Perhaps he has not had a chance to look at it, but on page 292 it shows that the projected premium rate

Royal Canadian Mounted Police  Mr. Speaker, yesterday the Veterans Ombudsman called on the Conservatives to settle a class action lawsuit with disabled RCMP veterans. Former ombudsman Pat Stogran and veterans organizations have also called for a settlement in order to avoid repeating the costly mistake of figh

Ethics  Mr. Speaker, Peter Penashue resigned as member of Parliament to avoid having Elections Canada rule on his 28 illegal campaign contributions. His plan to run again shows that the Conservatives want victory at all costs and that they are prepared to let honesty and ethics take a ba