Foreign Affairs committee  I wanted to speak about the situation of women, but the limited time that I had did not allow me to do so. The situation of women in Afghanistan can be divided into two classes, the situation for women in the cities and the situation for women in the villages or areas out

SOFTWOOD LUMBER PRODUCTS EXPORT CHARGE ACT, 2006   deeply for my communities and I worry deeply for the future that it holds. When I speak to high schools and colleges and I look upon the young people and talk about what their future means in our region, there is not a lot of hope. I stood in front of a class in Hazelton, B.C., which

Finance  Mr. Speaker, the hon. member seems to have a short term memory loss. He fails to appreciate that over the last five years we have had a $100 billion in tax cuts. During that period of time all the thresholds have been raised and all the percentages have been lowered. We now have

Human Resources committee  ... When in opposition, the Conservatives supported only eight of the 28 recommendations, including one for an independent fund—but I fear that, with them, this means privatization—and another involving lowering EI premiums. We now see that the surplus has been reduced from $7 billion

Agriculture committee  . Processors in the U.S. will not be subject to these higher costs—at least not yet—and that will impact the economics of cattle slaughter in Canada. We support a policy of harmonization with the U.S. feed ban. They will argue that they have a lower risk for BSE, but we believe the global

Information & Ethics committee   the office and its role under PIPEDA to the attention of the Canadian public. In my classes and talks I have rarely found anyone who knows about Canada's privacy law, his or her rights under the law, or the existence of the OPC, the current Privacy Commissioner, or the activities

Canada Transportation Act   and particularly with movement of traffic around the country, while communities everywhere were crying for our help, he did nothing. The Conservatives did nothing. Not only did they dither, but they did nothing. Let us look at the ports, for example. The ports in the lower mainland in British

Human Resources committee  -earners pay no further premiums, whereas lower income-earners contribute for the entire year. The Bloc Québécois is recommending that there be greater fairness. The maximum was once $43,000. Furthermore, higher income-earners are only covered for 55% of $39,000, the maximum yearly

National Defence  . This incident should have been reported to the hard-working people of the north. We are not second class citizens. Will he immediately announce that any incident like this will be promptly reported to the Canadian people?

Official Languages   in his own language. How can the Minister for la Francophonie and Official Languages go along with an approach that, instead of looking for ways to reach objectives, is lowering requirements?

Government Policies  Not at all, Mr. Speaker. This government had a budget surplus last year. I am expecting a balanced budget from the Minister of Finance, a budget that will invest in essential services, lower taxes for Canadians, and reduce the national debt. These are the policies of our

Taxation   for transit users, for kids sports, for senior citizens. Every single time that party opposite voted against those tax reductions. There is only one party that supports lower taxes and it sure is not the Liberal Party of Canada.

Transfer Payments  , the Prime Minister has decided to help the wealthy in society with targeted tax measures that do little to help the least fortunate and the middle class. Why does he not show leadership and resolve the fiscal imbalance once and for all in the interest of the entire population?

Transfer Payments  Mr. Speaker, we increased transfers to the provinces and we also cut taxes for taxpayers and for the middle class. I want to thank the leader of the Bloc Québécois for supporting our budget.

Taxation  Mr. Speaker, the Minister of Finance wants to give couples the option of splitting their income. He claims this will help the middle class. However, this measure, far from helping the majority of people, only benefits the wealthy. Will the minister acknowledge that by taking