Committees of the House  Madam Speaker, we have been having some wonderful discussions here. I like the ideas that are coming from the opposition and from the government benches. This is exactly the discussion that we want to have at the procedure and House affairs committee. This is why the discussion paper was put forward by the government House leader.

Committees of the House  Madam Speaker, I hear the NDP and the Conservatives talk about the need to only change the Standing Orders through unanimity. This has not always happened in the past. It has not happened in the case of the member for Lanark—Frontenac—Kingston. He is a member of the Standing Committee on Procedure and House Affairs.

World Autism Awareness Day  Mr. Speaker, April 2 marked World Autism Awareness Day. Autism continues to be a major health crisis in Canada and across the world. Through the raising of awareness, more resources have been dedicated towards research, treatment, and diagnoses. However, even with the added awareness and resources toward autism, I have met many families that are struggling to access resources and help for their children with autism.

Heroism  Mr. Speaker, on February 14, tragedy struck my riding of Brampton North. Jyoti Kapadia and Iftekhar Niazi lost their lives, alongside their oldest daughter, Amina, after a fire engulfed their home while they slept. If not for the heroic act of one young man, another life could have been lost that day.

Business of Supply  Madam Speaker, we made a promise to Canadians in this past election. Our government promised to treat the middle class as it deserves, to treat Canadians as they deserve, and those who want to join the middle class, to give them that chance to put their foot forward. We have been committed to that promise.

Business of Supply  Madam Speaker, I would like to first address my hon. colleague's question by saying that the CRA's domestic and offshore audit activities have put the government in a place to raise assessments over $13 billion this year. That is $13 billion back in the pockets of Canadians and back to the government.

Business of Supply  Madam Speaker, many middle-class Canadians have benefited from our government's tax cut this year. We have also raised a lot of money by increasing the tax on the top one per cent of earners in this country. In addition, the Canada child benefit has served nine out of 10 families in Canada; we have raised 300,000 children out of poverty.

Business of Supply  Madam Speaker, before I begin, I wish to inform you that I will be splitting my time with the member for Rivière-des-Mille-Îles. Let me begin by saying that when we have an economy that works for the middle class, we have a country that works for everyone. Since coming into office, our government has worked to bring confidence and optimism back to Canada's middle class and to help those working to join it.

Status of Women  Mr. Speaker, on March 7, Meghan, from my riding of Brampton North, will be joining me in Ottawa to experience a day in the life of an MP as part of Equal Voice's Daughters of the Vote initiative. Can the Minister of Status of Women please highlight what our government has done to encourage women to get involved in politics and government?

Business of Supply  Mr. Speaker, as I said before, there is no ill intent in the Conservative opposition motion. However, the original Motion No. 103 was worked on for a long time by a member of the House, and that motion in itself was a terrific motion. There is nothing wrong with studying systemic racism among all communities and focusing particularly on Islamophobia.

Business of Supply  Mr. Speaker, I recognize that pointing out systemic racism among all groups, which the original Motion No. 103 does do, in fact, is noble in its intent. However, the removal of the word “Islamophobia”, to me, in itself shows that there is something that is worth fighting for in our current climate in Canada.

Business of Supply  Mr. Speaker, today I rise against the opposition's motion that was introduced by the member for Cypress Hills—Grasslands. This motion looks to gain the support of this House to require the government to recognize the increasing public climate of hate and fear across Canada, condemn all forms of religious discrimination and systemic racism, and to request that the Standing Committee on Canadian Heritage conduct a study.

Youth Homelessness  Mr. Speaker, youth homelessness and mental health is a major issue across Canada, but particularly in my home town of Brampton. Homeless youth have no place to go. Mental health services are lacking and hard to access. Brampton's community partners need our assistance today and tomorrow.

Statistics Act  Mr. Speaker, creating this council that will advise the chief statistician, with the combination of having open transparency and creating that distance between the minister and the advisory council that will then inform the chief statistician, is a great step to putting a distance between the two departments and making sure there is more independence going forward for the chief statistician working with the advisory panel alone.

Statistics Act  Mr. Speaker, I do not know if I fully understood the question, but when it comes to the council or the parliamentary committee that this bill is going to go before, I believe it would be up to the parliamentary committee, of course, to decide on the experts it wishes to hear from.