Business of Supply  He spoke of the very special relationship that Gary had developed with Jack's mother-in-law and the mother of the MP for Trinity—Spadina, who at the time was 85-years old. Like so many seniors, she depended on Gary to keep her connected to the rest of the world, and it was a relationship she valued and cherished.

National Lyme Disease Strategy Act  Experts agree that more accurate testing and earlier treatment of Lyme disease would reduce the health care costs associated with a lengthy illness and the more severe side effects, particularly for women, who suffer longer-lasting effects when their Lyme disease goes untreated. As members know, Lyme disease is caused by a specific bacterium spread through tick bites. It is one of the most under-diagnosed diseases in Canada.

Procedure and House Affairs committee  You are affirming that is the case, whereas if you look at that package, you'll see that on September 22, 2014, Marie-Dominique Sicé wrote to Christian Boileau, the same person who's talking at the House of Commons, and it says this: Bonjour Christian, I just took up to the 11th Floor (Suite 11-45) fifty-one (51) Employment Forms from each Quebec NDP MP for staff working in Montreal.

Reform Act, 2014  A 2007 study quoted in the book I just cited, by Irish political scientist Eoin O'Malley, compared 22 parliamentary democracies and found that the Canadian prime minister ranked as the most powerful of all 22. Not only party leaders but prime ministers in our particular version of the Westminster system have a great deal of power.

Status of Women committee  The after-tax median income of single mothers rose by 81%. Poverty rates for single parent families headed by women declined from 36% to 22%, from more than a third to less than a quarter. Low-cost, affordable child care is a proven practice for preventing violence against women. To prevent violence or a return to violence, women need an adequate standard of living.

Parliamentary Precinct Security  The government is going to give the RCMP, which failed in its duty that day, jurisdiction over the security force that managed to stop the attack, our House of Commons security service. The fact that the motion uses the October 22 attack as an excuse to give the RCMP more power is shameful. It is an insult to the brave men and women who protected us so well that day. As I mentioned earlier, there is no doubt that security on the Hill needs to be better integrated and coordinated.

Intern Protection Act  Incidentally, I would also like to mention the impact of this bill on gender equality. A University of Victoria study of interns found that women are overrepresented in the industrial sectors that use the largest number of unpaid internships. Clearly, Bill C-636 is a step forward for equality between men and women in the workplace.

Business of Supply  I hope that the NDP wins the next election and that the government starts to respect the men and women who get up every morning and work to build this country.

Members not seeking re-election to the 42nd Parliament  Sarah, Jacinthe and Marie-Claude, thank you for always treating my like a friend, and not like an MP. Thanks, also, for your sweet and silly side, one of the things I love most about our friendship. As we can see, MPs are never alone. If not, it would be impossible for them to do their job.

Finance committee  As you know, we're four weeks away from budget day. I'll have a great deal more to say on March 22 regarding the details of our plan for investing in the middle class to grow the economy, but I didn't want to miss the opportunity to be with you today as we begin committee proceedings under a new Parliament and a new government.

Procedure and House Affairs committee  Ten years ago it was 22%, and now it's 26%. That is not huge movement. That's a slow movement. I don't mean to intervene, I respect you greatly, but I think we have to deal with it. The human cost is, in our view, on all MPs.

Electoral Reform committee  First past the post tends to favour parties with regional, rather than national, appeal. First past the post also regularly elects MPs for whom the majority of constituents did not vote. In the most recent election, less than 40% of those elected—including me—were supported by a majority of their constituents. Beyond this, Mr.

Electoral Reform committee  At the last election, we introduced candidate gender quotas. That did have the effect of increasing the proportion of women to 22%, which is the highest for Ireland, but Ireland is not a great exemplar on this point. Again, I think it's one of those things that is not really determined centrally by the electoral system.

Electoral Reform committee  It's having some problems at the moment, but nevertheless it's part of the European Union, and it was once a vigorous democracy before it was part of the Communist bloc, and so on. In Hungary only 10% of the members are women, and there's a proportional system in Hungary as well. Taking the single transferable vote, there is only one major country that uses that for its lower house, Ireland, and women count for 22% there, a bit lower than the rate in Canada and a bit higher than in the U.S.

Electoral Reform committee  In New Zealand, when they introduced the system of PR, they went from having 21% women in their House of Commons up to 29% women in the first election with PR, and in the one after that—the most recent election—up to 31%. The evidence is quite strong that if you adopt a PR system, you're bound to get more women elected than is presently the case.