Safe Streets and Communities Act  Madam Speaker, the evidence is irrefutable that in the United States this tough on crime legislation, the increasing of mandatory minimum sentences, does not work. It is extremely costly. It costs $108,000 per year to house an inmate in a federal institution. Is that caring for o

Safe Streets and Communities Act  Madam Speaker, I acknowledge that, yes, 40% of those who voted or roughly 25% of Canadians did support her party in the last election. I also acknowledge that there were significantly less who supported our party. However, I would point out that this absolutely flies in the face

Safe Streets and Communities Act  Madam Speaker, the short answer to the question is, yes. It is most unfortunate that the bill has been presented in the manner that it has, putting together 110 pages and compiling 9 acts. If there were any room for movement, compromise, amendment or to have this bill severed u

Safe Streets and Communities Act  Madam Speaker, I had hoped that I made that fairly clear in the course of my remarks. Lest there be any confusion, should the motion fail we will most certainly be voting against the bill.

Safe Streets and Communities Act  Madam Speaker, here we go again, the language of division. This party and this member are not soft on crime. We are absolutely not backing criminals. I absolutely reject that suggestion and, quite frankly, it is offensive. We stand in favour of victims. We stand in favour of cri

Safe Streets and Communities Act  Madam Speaker, today marks the second speech that I have given in the House. It has been a busy week. As some of the members may know, I am a new member of Parliament for the riding of Charlottetown, the birthplace of Confederation. I trust I will be allowed this opportunity to

Preventing Human Smugglers from Abusing Canada's Immigration System Act  Mr. Speaker, I agree with my friend that that is a laudable objective, but the legislation misses the mark. The legislation, instead of offering a hand of compassion to refugees, says to them, “Welcome to Canada. Now we are going lock you up. We may or may not be back in 12 mont

Preventing Human Smugglers from Abusing Canada's Immigration System Act  Mr. Speaker, it struck me in the course of preparing my remarks that when people come through the door of my constituency office in Charlottetown, they want to talk about jobs. They want to talk about the fact that the economic situation on Prince Edward Island and in Canada is s

Preventing Human Smugglers from Abusing Canada's Immigration System Act  Mr. Speaker, the hon. member's reading of the bill is the same as mine. There are provisions within the bill which allow for the arrest of a ship, but irregular entrants to Canada are not defined solely on their mode of arrival. They are defined on the basis of the number. Two pe

Preventing Human Smugglers from Abusing Canada's Immigration System Act  Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to have the opportunity to speak to the bill today and to participate in this very important and serious debate. I am new to this chamber, like many of my colleagues, but I am not new to the notion of justice and fairness. I do not see much of that in

Questions Passed as Orders for Returns  With respect to the New Veterans Charter, the tax-free, lump-sum Disability Award, and the tax-free, lump-sum Death Benefit, between April 2005 and June 2011: (a) how many recipients of the lump-sum Disability Award or the Death Benefit filed a complaint with the Department of Ve

Questions Passed as Orders for Returns  With respect to Agent Orange and Canadian veterans trying to obtain fair compensation for their exposure to Agent Orange spraying at Canadian Forces Base Gagetown: (a) what is the total amount of money spent by all federal departments and agencies, excluding the Department of Jus

Questions Passed as Orders for Returns  With respect to staffing at Veterans Affairs Canada (VAC): (a) what is the breakdown, expressed as a percentage of the total number of VAC staff, of VAC staff who work in (i) the departmental headquarters in Ottawa, (ii) the departmental headquarters in Charlottetown, (iii) regio

Questions on the Order Paper  With respect to the lump sum disability awards under the New Veterans Charter: (a) how many eligible recipients received the maximum amount; (b) what is the percentage of eligible recipients who received less than $50,000; (c) what is the percentage of eligible recipients who rec

Restoring Mail Delivery for Canadians Act  Mr. Speaker, I want to pick up on the intimidation theme referenced by the member for Windsor—Tecumseh and, also, to come back to a question from the member for Saanich—Gulf Islands earlier. It strikes me that the legislation is probably unconstitutional. It strikes me, also, th