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Crucial Fact

  • Her favourite word was regard.

Last in Parliament October 2019, as NDP MP for London—Fanshawe (Ontario)

Won her last election, in 2015, with 38% of the vote.

Statements in the House

Rural Digital Infrastructure February 20th, 2019

Mr. Speaker, it is interesting that we have banks closing all over this country but there is no problem. When I travel around my riding, I see more and more payday lenders.

I find constituents who need banking services that are affordable, yet I hear from the Liberals and Conservatives that they do not believe there is a problem. There are reports that were never released. They covered them up. They hid them because they are out of touch with the reality of Canadians. They are out of touch and they have been for decades because they have been so busy pandering to Bay Street millionaires and friends. They have ignored the needs of the people in our communities.

I want bold ideas, like the ones that I have been describing in “Delivering Community Power”. I believe that Canadians need a government that is on their side like the New Democrats. I can tell my colleagues that there will be a government on their side, a New Democratic government after the next election.

Rural Digital Infrastructure February 20th, 2019

Mr. Speaker, it was clear back in November 2018 that this Liberal government took its marching orders from the Canada Post Corporation management when the government passed its anti-worker back-to-work legislation. Now that the Canadian Union of Postal Workers has been once again stripped of its right to strike, we see that management is retreating from what was previously offered at the bargaining table. Why would they not? Management knows that there is undemocratic legislation passed and backed by the government that hurts the workers' right to take action.

I believe that the people of Canada are seeing that there is a trend here with this Liberal government. When well-connected corporate insiders at SNC-Lavalin need the scales to be tipped in their favour, their friends in the PMO are just one phone call away. When the Canada Post Corporation needs anti-worker legislation passed again, the PMO is just a phone call away. When insiders need someone, they know that this Liberal government, like the previous Conservative government, is on their side. When workers need a champion, they know that New Democrats are with them.

We know that the legislation imposed by the Harper Conservatives back in 2011 was subsequently deemed in violation of the union's charter rights, yet our sunny ways Prime Minister had no qualms about following in Mr. Harper's footsteps to once again violate the union's charter rights. The members opposite, in debate, said, “No, no, this legislation is different.” Well, I believe them on one point. I believe that they spent more time than the previous government did to write legislation that would get around the Charter of Rights and Freedoms and workers' rights to take action. Despite the Prime Minister's continued charade of supporting the collective bargaining process guaranteed under the charter, he has demonstrated no interest in resolving CUPW's concerns around workload, pay equity, health and safety, and harassment.

Let us examine just one of the issues this government has no interest in resolving. Workplace injuries at Canada Post have increased by 43% over the last two years, largely as a result of postal transformation, which requires workers to walk longer routes carrying heavier loads. Today the disabling injury rate for a letter carrier is eight times the average for the rest of the public sector, a sector that includes longshoring, mining, road transport and railways.

Workplace injuries are avoidable and preventable. It is unconscionable that CUPW members must endure this kind of risk just to put food on the table and keep a roof over their heads, food, I might add, that workers are unable to share with their families, and homes they are unable to enjoy and in which to find rest, because there are not enough hours in the day to walk the routes Canada Post expects them to walk and maintain family life.

I believe there is a way forward. I challenge members to look into the initiatives around deliveringcommunitypower.ca. There they will find bold ideas to expand our affordable public services and deliver more. Our postal services can deliver medicines to those who cannot travel and help those who stay in their homes by delivering groceries and other necessities. We can expand postal offices to include charging stations for electric vehicles, make post offices community hubs for digital access and social innovation, and connect communities and climate-friendly businesses to customers. We can also expand Canada Post to offer postal banking that invests in our communities and helps to maintain those services people depend on.

Business of Supply February 19th, 2019

Madam Speaker, I have so much to ask.

The question today is whether the Prime Minister or a staff member directed or pressured the former attorney general to stop the criminal prosecutions of SNC-Lavalin.

As was mentioned previously by a colleague, the conditions laid out in the remediation agreement state very clearly that the director of public prosecutions is within her rights to refuse to negotiate remediation, that she would be breaking the law if she did pursue such a negotiation with SNC-Lavalin and that the attorney general cannot instruct the director to let SNC-Lavalin or any other off the hook.

As in the words of Andrew Coyne, I would like to pose this question. Since it is very clear that this is not possible, what on earth was there for the Prime Minister or his staff to discuss with the Attorney General in the first place?

Petitions February 8th, 2019

Mr. Speaker, I have a petition from folks in my community who want to protect the Thames River system.

The petitioners want to draw the attention of the House to the fact that the Conservative government stripped environmental regulations covered in the Navigable Waters Protection Act, leaving hundreds of rivers vulnerable, rivers like the Thames. The Liberals promised they would reinstate those environmental protections, but they failed.

The petitioners ask the government to support my bill, Bill C-355, which commits the government to prioritizing the protection of the Thames River by amending the Navigation Protection Act.

Child Care February 8th, 2019

Mr. Speaker, that is more Liberal obfuscation.

Canada needs a federal child care program. CCPA's “Development Milestones” report reveals that the distressingly high cost of child care burdens Canadian families. Child care costs are 10 times higher in Toronto than in Montreal. In fact, universal child care in Quebec pays for itself. It has actually created revenue.

What will it take for the Liberal government to smarten up and implement a national child care program for all Canadian families so everyone wins?

Child Care February 8th, 2019

Mr. Speaker, the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives' annual report on the cost of child care in Canadian cities is out, and it is not good.

Since 2017, child care costs have risen faster than the rate of inflation in 61 Canadian cities, and in some cases the wait-lists for infant care are longer than the nine months it takes to create an infant. Child care is the second-largest expense for families, after paying the rent or mortgage.

It is especially distressing since the solution lies right before us in the province of Quebec, where in all age categories the cost of child care to families living there is less than $200 per month. If we cannot make child care fully accessible by making it free, we can at least know that set-fee child care programs like the ones used in Quebec, Manitoba and Prince Edward Island make child care more affordable for families.

An NDP government will ensure safe, accessible, affordable child care right across Canada, after the next election.

Canada-Israel Free Trade Agreement Implementation Act February 8th, 2019

Mr. Speaker, Canada has always given lip service to corporate responsibility standards. This new CIFTA includes a commitment to encourage the use of voluntary corporate social responsibility standards.

Does the member agree that it should not be voluntary, that we should behave as we say to the world that we will behave, and that the government should have a plan to ensure that companies that may be profiting from human rights violations do not receive benefits under this agreement or any agreement?

Petitions February 6th, 2019

Madam Speaker, I have a petition from residents of the Thames River valley area who call on the government and the House of Commons to acknowledge that the Conservative government stripped environmental regulations under the navigable waters act and left hundreds of rivers vulnerable, the Thames in particular.

As a result, the petitioners are asking the Liberal government to fulfill its promise to reinstate environmental protections that were gutted in the original act and commit to support my bill, Bill C-355 in order to protect the future of the Thames River by amending the Navigation Protection Act.

Child Care February 6th, 2019

Mr. Speaker, March 8 is International Women's Day, and though it is 2019, the government has yet to do anything more than pay lip service to women's equality. Universal child care is recognized as an undisputed contributor to the equality of women and the welfare of children, yet our feminist Prime Minister has done little to nothing toward creating it.

We know from the experience of the province of Quebec that executed responsibly, a universal, accessible and affordable system of child care not only pays for itself but serves to increase the GDP by enabling more women to enter the workforce, knowing that their children are taken care of.

Child care costs run as high as $2,000 per month per child in larger centres. This is financially crippling for women and families. We are raising the next generation of citizens. This failure is not feminism. We can do better, and when we do, all Canadians will benefit.

Transport February 4th, 2019

Mr. Speaker, they have already hesitated for eight years. Task forces, pilot projects and reviews do not put seat belts on school buses.

The minister and his department's own statements reveal the truth. Evidence that seatbelts save lives is not the problem. The real question is who is going to pick up the tab, although money never seems to be a problem when it comes to propping up corporations or padding the pockets of their rich friends.

The Conservatives and the Liberals cannot seem to find the will when there is a cost involved with providing better public service like health care, pay equity or environmental protection, or when it comes to saving the lives of children.

The truth is plain to see: Seatbelts save lives. When will the government, the Prime Minister and the minister understand that we are the stewards of the public dollars placed in our trust by the Canadians who elected us? When will we see the day that good public service and good public progress take priority over personal and corporate interests? When will the minister move to make seatbelts mandatory on school buses?