Ottawa (May 22, 2014)— Today, the Honourable Peter Van Loan, the Leader of the Government in the House of Commons, issued the following statement:
“Our Conservative government continues to focus on Canadians’ top priority: jobs, growth and long-term prosperity.
“To ensure that we deliver on this priority, we have worked to make the House of Commons a productive, hard-working, and orderly institution which delivers results for Canadians—but we still have a lot of important work to do over the next year.
“When the House of Commons sits on Monday, I will be proposing that the House have evening sittings for the remainder of the spring. My motion will allow for more than 20 additional hours each week to debate and pass legislation benefitting Canadians.
“Before the House rises for the summer, the Government will be working to achieve progress on real accomplishments for Canadians, including:
- returning to balanced budgets next year by implementing this year’s budget, a low-tax plan for jobs and growth;
- cracking down on cyber bullies and online threats by providing the tools necessary to investigate and tackle these crimes;
- deepening Canada’s ambitious trade agenda by opening new markets for Canadian exporters through free trade;
- supporting veterans and their families by helping veterans find meaningful employment in the federal public service after their time in uniform is complete;
- protecting victims of crime and giving them a stronger voice in our justice system;
- getting grain to market quickly and more efficiently, following a record crop year for Canadian farmers;
- delivering world-class safety standards with polluter-pays legislation covering the offshore and nuclear energy sectors;
- strengthening the value of Canadian citizenship by updating the Citizenship Act for the first time in more than 35 years;
- securing the funds required to ensure government services continue to be supported and delivered for Canadians; and
- honouring our Government’s word by implementing First Nations agreements respecting the Qalipu Mi’kmaq First Nation and the Tla’amin Nation.
“And that just covers some of our ambitious priorities. I look forward to the support of the opposition parties for this reasonable plan to work a little bit of overtime so that we can deliver results for our constituents.”
This is the second year in a row that the Government has moved to have the House of Commons put in extra hours of work for its last month sitting before summer.
For more information, please contact:
Daniel Chomski
Press Secretary
Office of the Government House Leader
(613) 947-7619
