Fisheries Act  Mr. Speaker, my riding of Kootenay—Columbia is located in the Rocky Mountains. For 10 years I was manager of visitor services with provincial parks for the Lower Mainland and Vancouver Island and I know how important a healthy wild salmon population is to the economy, the environ

Jumbo Glacier  Ki'suk kyukyit, Mr. Speaker. At the centre of the majestic Purcell Mountains in my riding of Kootenay—Columbia is Qat'muk, the Jumbo Valley birthplace of the grizzly bear's spirit and the traditional land of the Ktunaxa First Nation. This area is also part of an ecologically si

Rouge National Urban Park Act  Mr. Speaker, as the member was listing some of the other uses of the park, I was reflecting on the Group of Seven painting that sold last night for over $9 million at auction. Sometimes people do not give nature the credit that it is due in terms of its economic value, in a numbe

Rouge National Urban Park Act  Mr. Speaker, when we live in an urban area and have small pockets of important ecological areas, those ecological areas are important not only on their own but for their educational value to the people who live around them. We can use these areas to teach people about the importa

Rouge National Urban Park Act  Mr. Speaker, when we think about ecological integrity in a place like Rouge, we think about a marsh area, for example. Maintaining ecological integrity in a situation like this means keeping the marsh as a marsh and not putting a parking lot in, for example, to provide access to

Rouge National Urban Park Act  Mr. Speaker, across Canada, there are parks of different sizes, and different resource management techniques are appropriate depending on the size of those parks. In large parks, including Banff, Kootenay, and Yoho, things like fire, for example, are a natural part of that ecosys

Rouge National Urban Park Act  Mr. Speaker, I would also like to thank the member across the aisle for his lifelong dedication to national parks. While I have the opportunity, I have to say that the parks and protected areas committee we have been working with should serve as a model for other committees, bec

Rouge National Urban Park Act  Mr. Speaker, it is always a privilege to rise in the House to represent my constituents of Kootenay—Columbia. It is an honour as well to be the parks advocate for nationals parks for the NDP. I prefer “advocate” to “critic”, as I have spent my life working for parks, and I am ver

Rouge National Urban Park Act  Mr. Speaker, I very much appreciate the fact that my colleague supports the creation of the park, but I am curious. Under the Conservative government in 2012, $30 million was cut from Parks Canada's budget. During the tenure of the Conservatives, they cut 33% of the science peopl

Rouge National Urban Park Act  Mr. Speaker, we are pleased to see the bill moving forward for Rouge National Urban Park, but I have some concerns. When we look across the country, in Gros Morne, for example, the recommendation has been that it needs a buffer zone around the park to protect its ecological inte

Budget Implementation Act, 2016, No. 2  Mr. Speaker, Bill C-29 fails on a number of levels: the broken promise to small businesses of reducing taxes from 11% to 9%, nothing for daycare, nothing in terms of capping credit card fees. However, I want to talk specifically about privatization of infrastructure. By definiti

Canada Pension Plan  Mr. Speaker, I appreciate the sincerity in the presentation from the member opposite. One of the concerns I hear from seniors in my riding is somewhat simple in nature, but it is very important. When they walk into a Service Canada centre and ask for information, or help or look

Health  Mr. Speaker, the Liberal government is cutting critical funding from the fight against HIV/AIDS across rural communities, including my riding of Kootenay—Columbia. This will result in service reductions to HIV prevention and education programs. One organization in my riding, ANKO

Employment Insurance  Mr. Speaker, my constituents in Kootenay—Columbia who have lost their jobs will be facing a month-long interruption in receiving their employment insurance. This is because government was not prepared to process the number of applicants that would need assistance when it extended

Budget Implementation Act, 2016, No. 2  Madam Speaker, I always appreciate the member's unbridled enthusiasm for everything Liberal. Last week, I attended a precarious workshop convention here in Ottawa that was hosted by the NDP. It brought together employable youth from across Canada. I went there to listen to some