Crucial Fact

  • Her favourite word was liberal.

Last in Parliament October 2000, as NDP MP for Bras D'Or (Nova Scotia)

Lost her last election, in 2000, with 20% of the vote.

Statements in the House

Cape Breton Development Corporation Divestiture Authorization And Dissolution Act June 6th, 2000

Mr. Speaker, I rise on a point of order. I would like to ask for the unanimous consent of the House to have the opportunity to question the minister on such an important piece of legislation.

Supply June 6th, 2000

Madam Speaker, I want to thank my hon. colleague for her comments this morning. She spoke about one of the TJF projects in my riding, Scotia Rainbow, for which I have not been able to get any answers. God forbid me to say that maybe it could be because the owner of the business has a very close relative who is a sitting Liberal member of the Quebec legislature.

What is really important is this. We have heard the minister day after day saying “We found out there was a problem. We recognized there was a problem. We told Canadians there was a problem and now we have fixed it”. Unfortunately, just in the last two weeks in my riding, I have been asked to concur in projects when the money was already spent in November.

Does the hon. member believe, if the government agrees to look at the department and look at an inquiry, that these initiatives could truly help Canadians in the way they should?

Supply June 6th, 2000

Maybe he made a donation to the Liberals.

Cape Breton Development Corporation Divestiture Authorization And Dissolution Act June 5th, 2000

Mr. Speaker, as I listen to my colleagues from the New Democratic Party caucus speak passionately tonight about a part of the country that I love so dearly, I remember being a young child living in Glace Bay.

I am very proud to say that I am a daughter of a coal miner. My grandfather was in the coal mine when he was 11 years of age. I remember my first day at school. The teacher went around and asked us about our heritage, whether we were Irish or Scottish. I went home and asked my grandfather what my heritage was. He stood and adamantly said to me, “You are a Canadian and you should forever be proud of being a Canadian, because we live in such a wonderful democratic country”. Unfortunately it is fair to say that my grandfather is probably turning over in his grave right now because I do not feel much like a good Canadian.

When we look at the amendments in Group No. 3, as we have heard from all of my colleagues, the amendments are not tying the hands of the government. Motion No. 14 says that “the corporation, in conjunction with the Government of Canada or of Nova Scotia or any agency of either of those governments, shall adopt and continue all reasonable measures deemed necessary to reduce as far as possible the unemployment or economic hardship that is expected to result from the closing, privatization or reduction in the production of coal”.

Some would argue that members of the government do not want to support that amendment because they themselves are not really sure of the economic or social impact, but that is not true. The government's own document commissioned by the Prime Minister in 1995 told the government of the social and economic impact of privatizing Devco.

As we know, a study that the government commissions, especially when it is with respect to a strategy to allow foreign investment, is a very detailed document which talks about the loss of tax revenue both provincially and federally. It talks about the service sector and by what percentage it will be cut in Cape Breton.

It is fair to say that, unfortunately, the government did know what Bill C-11 would do to Cape Breton.

I was taught that government works by people making their case, by people making their argument. We tried that at committee. Unfortunately, there were less than six hours of hearings. I talked to some of my colleagues who have been here a lot longer than I. They have never seen a piece of legislation at any other committee dealt with the way Bill C-11 was. There was no steering committee set up to discuss how long we would hold hearings, how many witnesses we would hear, or whether the committee would travel. None of that was done with Bill C-11. I cannot help but ask myself why. Is it because the government could not? Is it because the government would not? Or, is it because the government did not want to?

I have received a number of phone calls from miners, their wives and their children who are watching tonight, listening to the only people in the House of Commons who are talking about what is important to them, the members of the New Democratic Party. That is not new to us in the New Democratic Party. We have always been and will continue to be committed to workers.

A number of my colleagues made reference to a number of, shall we say, Liberals with a heart from years ago. I came across an interesting quote: “Business has a responsibility to eliminate the human deficit of unemployment. Canada must work not just for the powerful and the privileged, but for ordinary Canadians”. I think it is pretty safe to say that is what we are saying in the NDP caucus. That is the job and the responsibility of government.

It is interesting that the quote I just read was made by the Prime Minister on February 27, 1996. Clearly, once again what we have seen is nothing but empty words and empty promises from the government.

I have another quote: “No one in the Chrétien government approves of the kind of corporate downsizing that is going on without having regard to the long term effect on communities in terms of the people”. Who was that infamous individual? None other than the finance minister, who was quoted in Regina on March 6, 1996.

Once again we have had nothing in Cape Breton but broken promises from the Liberal government. Have Cape Bretoners asked for something they are not entitled to? I do not think so. All they have asked for is support from their government.

A few moments ago I heard a government member heckle “You do not want them to continue to be dependent”. Who created the dependency? Why was the dependency created? Some would say it was created because once the government has a dependency then it has control. To a degree that was correct. The Liberal government did have control of Cape Breton until 1997. It did have control of Nova Scotia until 1997. It does not have it any more, because Cape Bretoners have now recognized what the government is doing.

We heard about a miner's wife who received a letter from the Prime Minister. In the middle of the provincial election campaign, all of a sudden a letter came from the Prime Minister saying “Don't worry. Be happy. We will look into it. We will look after the miners”. That letter was worth about as much as the words that I just read from the Prime Minister. I have to ask myself why.

I have gone to schools and I have talked to kids about how important it is for them to have principles and integrity. One of the most difficult questions I have had asked of me in the three years since I became a member of parliament was when I recently went to my daughter's grade five class. The kids were wonderful. They wanted to know about parliament, what we do here and how we do it. A little hand rose up in the back of the classroom and a girl said to me “Miss Dockrill, may I ask you a question?” I said “Yes, dear”. She said “My dad is a miner and my dad is not going to have a job any more. The next time you go to Ottawa can you ask the Prime Minister why I am not important to him?”

I will leave that question with the few Liberal members that we have in the House tonight to see if they can find an answer to that question, because I do not have an answer for that little girl. I do not know why she is not important to this government. Maybe it is as my colleague said, she is not from Ontario. I hope I am wrong, but unfortunately, with what we continue to see from this government, it is no wonder we have 10 year old children in Cape Breton saying “Why don't we count?”

Cape Breton Development Corporation Divestiture Authorization And Dissolution Act June 5th, 2000

Madam Speaker, I rise on a point of order. There does not appear to be a quorum in the House.

And the count having been taken:

Cape Breton Development Corporation Divestiture Authorization And Dissolution Act June 5th, 2000

moved:

Motion No. 13

That Bill C-11, in Clause 12, be amended by replacing line 35 on page 4 with the following:

“good mine safety, to provide permanent, full-time employment to the residents of the Island of Cape Breton, Nova Scotia, and to conduct its operations in a manner that benefits the economy of the Island of Cape Breton, Nova Scotia.”

Motion No. 14

That Bill C-11, in Clause 12, be amended by adding after line 10 on page 5 the following:

“17. The Corporation, in conjunction with the Government of Canada or of Nova Scotia or any agency of either of those governments, shall adopt and continue all reasonable measures deemed necessary to reduce as far as possible the unemployment or economic hardship that is expected to result from the closing, privatisation or reduction in the production of coal.”

Cape Breton Development Corporation Divestiture Authorization And Dissolution Act June 5th, 2000

Madam Speaker, I rise on a point of order. I think you will find we do not have quorum.

And the count having been taken:

Cape Breton Development Corporation Divestiture Authorization And Dissolution Act June 5th, 2000

Madam Speaker, I rise on a point of order. There does not appear to be a quorum in the House.

And the count having been taken:

Cape Breton Development Corporation Divestiture Authorization And Dissolution Act June 5th, 2000

Madam Speaker, once again we find ourselves in this Chamber trying to find some semblance of a conscience in the government members concerning the Cape Breton miners.

I would like to take a few minutes to read a couple of paragraphs which some members and maybe some members of the Liberal Party across Canada would be interested in.

The federal government realizes that the Cape Breton coal problem is essentially a social one. It is because of its awareness of, and concern for, the well-being of individuals and their communities that the federal government is prepared to assist, on a massive scale, the transition of the area from dependence on a declining natural resource to a sound economic base.

That was a quote from Prime Minister Lester B. Pearson on December 29, 1966. There is another quote which I think some hon. members will find very interesting.

I must say...that unless the social equation is introduced into an examination of the current corporate plan of the Cape Breton Development Corporation, an important element in approaching the problem will have been overlooked....When the Cape Breton Development Corporation was organized and legislated, it was a move from privatization to public ownership, because privatization was incapable of dealing with the community and social problems which would occur from a sudden cessation of production in the coal industry.

That was an excerpt from a speech by Senator Allan J. MacEachen on March 21, 1996. I think all hon. members across the room today recognize those two individuals.

When I was looking through the large amount of documentation that we have on Devco, I came across another interesting comment. It reads:

If elected on October 25, 1993 the Liberal Party of Canada would want to increase production at the Cape Breton Development Corporation.

With an increase in production, no downsizing would be executed. It was an interesting quote by a gentleman by the name of David Dingwall on October 7, 1993.

On a number of occasions in the House we have said that the one thing Cape Bretoners are sure of is that the Liberal government and the members opposite are renowned for making empty promises to Cape Bretoners and have done so for the last 30 years.

My colleague from Sydney—Victoria and all members of the NDP have tried for the last three years to show government members the serious implication Bill C-11 will have on Cape Bretoners but our concerns and the concerns of the communities continue to fall on deaf ears.

If there was one simple way to sum up what Cape Breton miners are looking for we should go to the document called “A Message from Cape Breton Coal Miners”. It says:

We are not asking for a handout. We, Devco's hard-working employees, are asking Ottawa to give us a real chance to help secure a brighter future for the company and our community. We can make a difference.

That is the message from Cape Breton miners and the people on Cape Breton Island that unfortunately has fallen on deaf ears.

We are here today, as my hon. colleagues in the New Democratic Party have talked about, with respect to amendments in Group No. 2.

For those people in Cape Breton who are listening, it is important for them to recognize that the amendments put forward by the members of the New Democratic Party are not amendments that will cost the government any money. They are not amendments that will change the very essence of what the government is trying to do in terms of privatizing Devco. They will allow some semblance of transparency as it relates to the managing of the pension funds.

My hon. colleague from Sydney—Victoria talked about the members of the pensioners association, who we have both had meetings with and who have a novel idea. They know their pension fund is generating approximately $7 million a year. They want that money to be invested in their community. Is that not something new and radical? Why do they want to invest that $7 million in their community? It is because this government has failed to do that.

Day after day we continue to hear government members talk about the good job they have done as it relates to Devco and that they have given the miners a fair package. We just found out on Friday that, as we have been saying for three years, as delegation after delegation and as miner's wife after miner's wife have come to Ottawa and clearly said, an arbitrator has finally said that the package is inadequate. The arbitrator has said that this government's package, as it relates to Cape Breton coal miners, is inadequate and unfair.

I and my colleagues have talked to members of the government about the implications that the bill will have on Cape Bretoners. However, it continues to fall on deaf ears. When the bill was before a committee, over 75% of the Liberal members were whipped at committee and some did not even have the decency to be there to listen to the witnesses who came to Ottawa. I am talking about witnesses such as a miner's wife who gave up a 12 hour shift at $5.50 an hour to come here. She is the sole breadwinner in her family because her husband is not working. Government members could not find the time to pretend that what these witnesses had to say was important.

We have tried and tried. Every week I ask myself why the Liberals will not try, why they will not do something to help these communities and why they will not recognize the economic hardship that already exists in Cape Breton, never mind the results from the privatization of Devco. I finally came to the conclusion that they are not listening because they do not care.

I just finished reading excerpts by other members from what I would like to call the old Liberal Party, the Liberal Party that had a heart. They clearly indicated that Devco's abdication from the industry would be a social problem. In 1967 the Liberals made a commitment to the community to diversify the economy.

I can tell the House a number of stories about the attempts that were made to diversify the economy of Cape Breton under the Liberal government. One case in particular involved sheep being brought in from Scotland. These sheep were quarantined for a year at a cost of hundreds of thousands of dollars and they eventually died. The joke was that the Liberals were going to take the wool from the sheep and some of the steel from the steel plant and make steel wool. The Liberal government's attempts at economic development and recovery in Cape Breton became a joke. It was not about assisting the community, it was and continues to be about assisting the government's friends.

In closing I want to say that there is no doubt in my mind that Cape Bretoners will survive. We will survive because we always have. However, the one thing that the government should and will be able to count on is the long memory of Cape Bretoners for what this Liberal government has done to them, their children and their communities.

Devco June 5th, 2000

Mr. Speaker, after 18 months of uncertainty and suffering, Cape Breton miners have finally had this minister and the government acknowledge that their human resource package was inadequate.

Will the minister tell the House today whether or not the money related to the arbitrator's decision is new money or will it come from money already allocated for Cape Breton?