Patricia Davidson

[Canadian Forces, February 13th, 2007]

Mr. Speaker, yesterday we heard troubling news that widows of Canada's brave men and women who had served in Afghanistan were being denied benefits related to mortgage insurance claims. The finance minister stated yesterday that he would raise this issue with Canadian banks.

Could the minister update the House on any response he may have received?

[Senate Tenure Legislation, February 9th, 2007]

Mr. Speaker, it has now been 255 days that the unelected, unaccountable Liberal senators have been filibustering Bill S-4.

There are a lot of things one can do in 255 days. For example, one can sail around the world. Ellen MacArthur not only sailed around the world but she did it in 71 days. That is almost one-third of the time that Bill S-4 has been in the Senate.

Let us compare the statistics on this. Bill S-4 has 66 words, 3 clauses and 1 simple concept, whereas sailing around the world is a 27,000 mile voyage while dealing with the elements, including gale force winds. Last time I checked, there were no gale force winds in the Senate.

As we all know, the Liberal leader is on the record as supporting Senate term limits, yet day after day he still cannot provide leadership to his caucus on this. Why? Is it that he simply just cannot get the job done?

[Health, January 30th, 2007]

Mr. Speaker, earlier this month the Prime Minister and the Minister of Health were in Toronto to announce yet another initiative with regard to patient wait times. After 13 years of empty promises from the Liberals and the doubling of wait times, the Conservative government is delivering for Canadian families.

Could the Minister of Health tell the House the details of this latest initiative?

[Petitions, December 13th, 2006]

Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to present a petition today in the House on behalf of 290 residents of my constituency and from Summerside, P.E.I. supporting Remembrance Day as a national holiday.

[Status of Women, December 11th, 2006]

Mr. Speaker, on Sunday, December 10, we celebrated International Human Rights Day. I will remind the House that December 10 also marks the 25th anniversary of Canada's ratification of the UN Convention on Discrimination Against Women.

Since our government took office, the fight on discrimination against women has been ramped up. Our Minister of Indian Affairs is fighting for aboriginal women by dealing with matrimonial property rights. Our Minister of Health has introduced wait times for prenatal aboriginal women. Our Minister of Justice is protecting our young women from sexual predators.

Our Minister of Citizenship and Immigration is protecting victims of human trafficking. Overseas, our Minister of International Cooperation is dedicating $45 million to UNICEF to provide medical treatment to mothers and their children in Bangladesh.

Finally, our Minister of Canadian Heritage and Status of Women is putting $5 million more into women's programming in 2007.

That is how our government fights discrimination against women.

[Health, November 22nd, 2006]

Mr. Speaker, yesterday the Minister of Health made an important announcement with regard to health care professional human resources. Canadians know that there is not a sufficient number of health care professionals, especially in rural and remote areas of our vast country.

Can the minister inform the House what he has done in order to alleviate the pressure on the current human resources level, something which was not addressed by the previous Liberal government?

[Medical Radiation Technology, November 8th, 2006]

Mr. Speaker, Medical Radiation Technologists Week is being celebrated across Canada from November 5 to 10. Medical radiation technologists are highly trained health professionals with specialized skills, knowledge and competencies, who carry out diagnostic imaging in a number of treatment procedures in hospitals and private medical clinics.

The profession is composed of four disciplines: the radiological technologist, the radiation therapist, the nuclear medicine technologist, and the magnetic resonance technologist. These dedicated practitioners function as patient advocates, educators, health care researchers, technical and therapy specialists and interdisciplinary consultants.

I would like to take this opportunity to recognize the vital contribution of these key members of our health care system and their ongoing commitment to provide optimal patient care to all Canadians.

[Petitions, October 25th, 2006]

Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to rise today to present a petition signed by approximately 288 of my constituents and another 234 from across Canada in support of Remembrance Day as a national holiday.

[Rural Mail Delivery, October 23rd, 2006]

Mr. Speaker, the issue we are debating today is of great importance to my constituents from Sarnia—Lambton, to rural Canadians from coast to coast and to all members of the House.

Let me start off with a story from my riding Sarnia—Lambton in southwestern Ontario, where some actions by Canada Post have been unfolding over the past few days, weeks and months.

On Friday, October 20, I had a notice faxed to my Ottawa office. It was a letter that had been sent to approximately 40 of my constituents, who reside in St. Clair township. This notice stated that their rural mail delivery was being discontinued and they would be receiving their mail at a community mailbox starting today, Monday, October 23.

The notice also went on to say that Canada Post planned to pursue the installation of a community mailbox as the overwhelming majority of surveys sent out in August stated a preference for a community mailbox located at the Courtright post office. The notice is closed by this statement: “We thank you for your assistance remedying the potential safety hazard for our driver”.

Nowhere in the notice did it refer to the petition that was signed by 38 of the 40 residents in protest to community mailboxes. Nowhere did it refer to the fact that the Courtright location was a preference over another location, which is even more inconvenient. Nowhere did this notice consider that of the 40 affected residents, several are elderly and some do not even drive. Nowhere does it mention the fact that I, the MP, had very serious concerns and had asked repeatedly to be consulted in an attempt to find a local solution that would be satisfactory to the residents, to Canada Post and to the municipality.

Finally, the notice refers to a potential safety issue, not a known one. Everyone involved in this unfortunate chain of events values the safety of workers and has no intention of causing undue stress or harm to any employees. This is precisely why the residents and the municipality are willing to work to find a solution that all can accept.

Canada Post tells us how it is always informing and working with local members of Parliament. In this case, I was not informed of this decision before it was implemented. There were no community consultations held in my riding explaining to my constituents why this was happening to their community. Also, the residents and I have asked for consultation every step of this arduous process.

There is no explanation why this problem is facing people who have been receiving their mail for decades, if not more than a century, in their rural mailbox at the end of their driveway. There are so many unanswered questions. Could Canada Post have moved the mailboxes to a safer location? Are the rural residents of Sarnia—Lambton less deserving of quality mail service than are other Canadians? Is the action of 40 residents, driving unnecessarily to a central location, environmentally friendly, good economics or safe practice? Has Canada Post considered using right-hand drive vehicles? Has Canada Post considered having the carrier drive with the traffic flow instead of against it?

I feel as though Canada Post made no serious effort to find a solution or engage my constituents in a dialogue. Rather, I feel it has taken a serious and a potentially very negative decision to cut services to the constituents of my riding. The same taxpayers, who are the owner shareholders of this Crown corporation, feel betrayed.

Let me assure all members of the House that we in the government are the voice of rural Canada. We are standing up for rural Canada and for all taxpayers across our great country. That is why I am very pleased to speak to the motion today and commend my colleague across for bringing it forward to this floor today.

In closing, I would like to reiterate that the government will continue to fight the good fight to ensure quality rural mail delivery is maintained for Canadians coast to coast to coast.

[Aboriginal Affairs, October 20th, 2006]

Mr. Speaker, the Red Deer Advocate commented yesterday:

[The member for Winnipeg South Centre's] party had nine years to provide to native people the same rights in family law enjoyed by all other Canadians, and chose not to right that wrong.... Native people have been waiting for such a law for too long.

The former Liberal government's inaction is unacceptable. Could the Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Indian Affairs tell us what Canada's new government is doing to improve the lives of women and children to give them the same rights as other Canadians?