Business of Supply  Mr. Speaker, obviously I find the debate very interesting today because it is an important debate. Our government believes that the best way to move people above the low-income cut-off is through measures such as creating jobs. The NDP has put forward a motion that will affect 0

Business of Supply  Mr. Speaker, I listened to my hon. colleague with great interest. I think there are a few important notes to look at. Our record is very significant. We agree that creating jobs is important and that creating well-paying jobs is very important, but I would like to contrast the Co

Business of Supply  Mr. Speaker, I would also like to note that I had the great privilege of doing some travelling this summer. I was in Cape Breton, a beautiful area of the country, and Vancouver, of course another beautiful area of the country. However, what became very clear to me is that in ev

Business of Supply  Mr. Speaker, the minister very articulately spoke to the provinces being in the best position to set the minimum wage guidelines. Today we are debating a motion that seems somewhat arbitrary. It seems as though the NDP has picked a number and moved forward with it. I wonder if s

Business of Supply  Mr. Speaker, today I hope to have the opportunity to correct some of the misinformation out there in terms of the living wage. We heard about 1996, when we moved away from aligning with the provincial standard, and I understand the NDP supported that at that time. Those members

Business of Supply  Mr. Speaker, there are certainly a number of concerns and flaws in the argument put forward by my hon. colleague. He talks about how many families this would impact. To be quite frank, the federally regulated workforce is what it will impact, and by most recent estimates, 0.05%

Rouge National Urban Park Act  Mr. Speaker, I listened with great interest. I know that the New Democratic Party is anti- pipelines going anywhere. I do not know if the member is aware, but the Kinder Morgan pipeline goes through our beautiful Jasper National Park, and has for many years. I do not think there

Labour  Mr. Speaker, our government is committed to safe and fair labour practices. Of course, if anyone has any concerns in terms of practice, they do have the ability to make reference to the Industrial Relations Board. We have no intention of making any changes to our regulations at t

Service Canada Mandate Expansion Act  Mr. Speaker, I have to say at the outset that I appreciate all the thought and effort the hon. member for Guelph has put into the drafting of this particular bill, and those who went before him in terms of starting the thinking around this initiative. What he is proposing to do

Service Canada Mandate Expansion Act  Mr. Speaker, I appreciate the thought that the hon. member has put behind this bill. I have one question for him. Having worked in the health care field, when we had a death in any of the facilities that I worked in, we always had to complete a provincial form. To what degree w

Business of Supply  Mr. Speaker, what I clearly showed is a number of measures. I was on the finance committee, and we listened to many witnesses who indicated many significant measures, including a move from 15% to under 9% for families that are under the low income cut-off level. That is a huge im

Business of Supply  Mr. Speaker, I have some trouble with what the member said, because he said that 14% of people in this country do not matter. How many benefited from the working income tax benefit? It was a percentage. How many seniors benefited from the income splitting? It was a percentage of

Business of Supply  Mr. Speaker, I am very delighted to join the debate here this afternoon. I have to start by looking at the motion that was put before us. I think there is a flaw in that very first sentence. The first sentence says, “That, in the opinion of the House, the drastic increase in inco

Strengthening Canadian Citizenship Act  Mr. Speaker, I have found it a little unusual tonight, in terms of some of the comments that members of the NDP have been making throughout their speeches. On the one hand, we often hear from them how they do not have enough time to debate. We are giving them plenty of opportunit

Strengthening Canadian Citizenship Act  Mr. Speaker, I do not know if my hon. colleague is aware, but currently many permanent residents wait for four years to make a decision. I have met many people at citizenship ceremonies for whom it was 20 or 30 years before they made that decision. Choosing to become a citizen of