Peggy Nash

[Holodomor, November 26th, 2007]

Mr. Speaker, it has been 75 years since the terrible Ukrainian genocide called the Holodomor.

As many as one out of four Ukrainians, including millions of children, perished in the period from 1932 to 1933. Ukrainians died of starvation and disease while the Soviet Union ignored their plight and exported grain and other resources abroad. This terrible crime is largely ignored by the world community.

Now, after 75 years, it is long overdue that we pay our respects to the over one million Canadians of Ukrainian heritage, some of whom are survivors and many of whom lost family during the Holodomor.

We need to ensure that Canadians, especially Canadian students, learn about the Holodomor so that we can pledge to learn from the past and to build a better future.

I am proud to represent the riding of Parkdale—High Park with a large Ukrainian community. I want to thank them for educating me about this terrible event in our human history 75 years ago. I stand with them in recognizing the Holodomor and encourage all members to join one of Canada's largest communities as the Ukrainian Canadian Congress launches a year of commemorative events.

[Business of Supply, November 13th, 2007]

Mr. Speaker, clearly the forestry sector has been under incredible pressure of late. The recently negotiated softwood lumber agreement has not helped in the least and the high dollar, of course, is just the icing on the cake.

In response to the hon. member's question, I believe there is merit in bringing together regional voices from the same sector. In fact, I believe the government should be looking at sectoral strategies for all elements of our economy, especially the sectors that are struggling. I believe in the value of tripartite discussions in getting the--

[Business of Supply, November 13th, 2007]

Mr. Speaker, on the issue of tax cuts, does my hon. colleague not understand that when tax cuts are given with no strings attached to already enormously profitable sectors of the economy, so that they are just a gift to those sectors, that gives nothing back to other sectors of the economy?

How does it help for the government to give billions of dollars in tax cuts that fuel the oil and gas sector and bank profits? In regard to these tax cuts, for example, businesses that are making no profits today, such as the manufacturing sector of the economy, cannot take advantage of them.

With respect, if there are tax cuts, what is needed is targeted tax cuts. They should be tax cuts that are designed to stimulate the struggling sectors of the economy and are tied to outcome, that is, an investment in jobs in that sector, not just a blank cheque to an already profitable sector of the economy.

With respect, the hon. member says that we are in a low unemployment situation. I would like him to come to Brampton and tell the 1,100 Chrysler workers who are going to lose their jobs that because of a low unemployment situation they are welcome to line up for jobs at Wal-Mart and Tim Hortons. I would like him to come to Brampton and hear how popular that comment is.

[Business of Supply, November 13th, 2007]

Mr. Speaker, I will be sharing my time with the hon. member for Acadie—Bathurst.

I rise in support of this important motion on the manufacturing sector and the impact of the high Canadian dollar on this sector. What we have today is a full-fledged crisis in the manufacturing sector in this country. Over the past 10 years, we have seen Canada go from a $12 billion trade surplus in manufacturing to a $16 billion trade deficit. We have seen the loss of hundreds of thousands of manufacturing jobs. Hundreds more are lost each day.

Our manufacturing in Canada as a share of our overall economy has fallen by about 25% in the last 10 years, yet a large sector of our economy has depended on manufacturing, with its one in eight jobs, work for more than 2.4 million Canadians overall. This is a key sector of the economy.

Let us look at our country's history. Canadians were seen as hewers of wood and drawers of water. It was through enormous effort and collective will as a country that we decided we could do more, that yes, we were blessed with abundant natural resources, which were a key part of our economy, but that it was in the interests of all Canadians for us to add value to those natural resources, to add value so that not only would we take fish from the sea, but we would process those fish. We would not simply extract minerals out of the earth; we would process those minerals. Not only would we have an abundant agricultural sector, but we would process food for our own domestic use and export abroad.

Most importantly, we would add value in the manufacturing sector and we would become key suppliers to the world of certain key products. As we have seen, in many sectors of the economy Canada has excelled. It did not happen by accident. It was a project of our parents and grandparents to create a vibrant manufacturing sector in this country.

What we are seeing of late, through a variety of factors, and I will talk about that in a minute, is the erosion of this manufacturing sector. I ask my colleagues in the House how we are going to have a healthy economy and the tax base to support our social programs, our infrastructure and all that we value in this country if we lose our valuable, vibrant and lucrative manufacturing sector. It is a huge concern.

I want to add some more statistics in terms of job loss in this sector. Let us look at certain areas. In clothing and textiles, we have lost 40% of those sectors. We have lost 16% of the aerospace sector, 32% of our shipbuilding sector, 13% of the Canadian food and beverage sector, 13% of the country's primary metals, 9% of paper, 8% of wood products and 7% of our automotive sector. These indicate a huge loss of jobs and huge numbers of families today are living in great insecurity.

These losses are spread across the country. Nova Scotia is down in manufacturing by 20%. In the Kootenay region in B.C., it is down by 25%. British Columbia lost 13,700 jobs. We see that right across the country there is a huge loss in our manufacturing sector. I know that my own city of Toronto has lost more than 100,000 manufacturing jobs. This has caused a huge impact on many families in that area.

Let us look at the causes. This motion identifies the high dollar. Clearly, the high dollar is an urgent and devastating cause of job loss and stress on any sector of our economy that exports or relies on foreign investment, such as the tourism sector and our cultural sector. Our high dollar is having a huge impact.

As the member does in the motion, I also want to identify free trade and poorly negotiated trade deals as one of the problems. The previous government initiated a number of free trade deals. It initiated the current deal with Korea, which the government is continuing, whereby we already have a massive trade deficit. Our auto trade deficit, for example, now totals $1.7 billion, and today we are losing thousands of jobs in Canada because of this trade deficit with Korea, yet the previous government believed and the current government believes that we should just continue to export jobs to other countries like Korea without requiring balanced trade here in Canada.

We have also seen the previous government and the current government give carte blanche to companies in corporate tax cuts, with no strings attached and no requirement for these tax dollars to be invested back into the community in job creation and R and D. It is just a gift to companies, some of which, such as the banks and the oil and gas sector, are phenomenally profitable as they stand now and certainly do not need the gift of tax breaks that will fuel further upward pressure on the dollar. It is a fiscal policy that has also threatened our manufacturing sector.

The current government has continued this tax cutting agenda and seems to ignore the manufacturing crisis in the country. It is also ignoring what this means for workers who are losing their jobs and what that means to families.

When I raise this issue in the House in question period, the answer I get is that there are jobs being created across Canada, but if we look at what happens to people who lose jobs in the manufacturing sector, jobs that pay decent wages and have benefits which will help them support themselves and their families, we will see that often the jobs they end up with in exchange are jobs with low pay, insecure jobs and service sector jobs. They are not the kinds of jobs that allow them to live above the poverty line. That is a reason why I also have introduced a bill calling for a national minimum wage to be set at $10 a hour.

Another factor for people losing their jobs today in the manufacturing sector is the erosion of our employment insurance program. The previous government took billions of dollars paid in premiums by working people and employers, premiums that ought to have been given back to working people in benefits when they became unemployed. It failed to do that.

Today in my city of Toronto, only about 20% of unemployed workers get employment insurance. This means that 80% of working people are paying into a program but are not able to get the benefits when they need them.

We have an urgent manufacturing crisis in the country. It is critical not just for those who work in the manufacturing sector but for all of us right across the country. This is a high tech, high value added sector that is important to the overall strength of our economy. No other country in the world just throws open the doors and says, “Let the market decide”. All countries defend their manufacturing sector. They want to see further investment. They want to strengthen their manufacturing sector for the good of their populations.

Therefore, I support the motion. I urge its adoption.

[Request for Emergency Debate, November 13th, 2007]

Mr. Speaker, I am asking that under Standing Order 52 this House hold an emergency debate on the economic effects of the surge in the Canadian dollar. We have seen an unprecedented rise in the Canadian dollar which has created a real state of emergency for many Canadians who are losing their jobs. Not only does it impact the manufacturing sector, but it impacts other sectors of our economy as well, for example, tourism, the cultural sector and those who export goods out of this country. Families are very concerned. People are losing their jobs. They are asking what their representatives in Parliament are doing to deal with this unprecedented crisis.

I would respectfully request an emergency debate on this issue.

[Food and Drugs Act, November 2nd, 2007]

Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to speak to the bill, which is aimed at protecting the Canadian pharmaceutical supply from bulk exports south of the border.

Canadians need to have a secure supply of the pharmaceuticals they need. This is not to say that we do not understand that the health care system south of the border leaves much to be improved. More than 50 million Americans have no health coverage. Many other Americans have substandard coverage in the sense that they think they are covered by health care insurance, but when they become ill, they find out their hospital stay or drug coverage is not there to protect them.

We understand the need. Americans have been facing very high drug prices. That is why Canadian pharmaceutical companies have been appealing to Americans who have been accessing bulk exports of Canadian pharmaceuticals.

We do not want to be locked into a path where the security of supply for export supercedes the security of supply for Canadians. When Canadians need pharmaceutical drugs, whether for catastrophic care, or for an epidemic or pandemic of some kind, we need a policy to ensure we have the security of drugs we need. While we recognize the situation of Americans, the bulk export of Canadian drugs is not the solution.

My colleague, who introduced the bill, has explained that there are many drawbacks to relying on Canadian bulk exports, such as the scarcity of some ingredients that limit the amount of supply needed for some drugs. Many of them are time dated, so they cannot be stockpiled in a warehouse somewhere in case they might be needed by our neighbour south of the border.

We know what happens in a time of scarcity. During the SARS crisis a few years ago in Toronto, there was a great deal of panic about the cause of the epidemic and a great concern about how people could protect themselves from the spread of this disease. In a situation like this there is always the danger of hoarding. People will do what they think is in their best interests to protect themselves and their families. Some people also hoard because they think they can make some business from this situation. If there is a crisis situation, we want to ensure that Canadians will have access to the drug supply they need.

We also know there have been problems with counterfeit medications. Our border inspectors do not inspect every shipment that goes across the border. I have heard that 1% of shipments are physically inspected. This then leaves open the possibility of counterfeiting, which not only endangers the health of Americans, it also diverts production that could be put to beneficial use rather than counterfeit use.

It is important to safeguard the Canadian supply and to avert going down the path where we open ourselves or our neighbours to the south to the risks of bulk drug exports. The Government of Canada must do what is necessary to ensure that Canadians are protected.

I also want to speak about drug coverage in Canada. While Americans may think we have a more desirable situation here, because of lower drug prices, primarily through generic brand pharmaceuticals, we also have a problem with drug prices on this side of the border.

The drug patent laws have been giving brand name pharmaceutical companies more and more patent protection over the years. The Conservative government extended patent protection up to eight years now for brand name drugs. This will see hundreds of millions more dollars of costs added to our pharmaceutical costs in Canada. We also have the problem of evergreening of drugs under patent protection, which has not been addressed.

What it means is higher drug costs for Canadians. They are so costly that in fact many Canadians simply cannot afford to have their prescriptions filled as it stands today. It adds to the financial stress that many Canadian families are under. We can all imagine the situation of people who go to a drug store to fill their prescriptions. They find out the price and they simply cannot afford to have the prescription filled, which would help them regain their health.

It is time Canada had a national universal drug plan to promote better health for Canadians without breaking the bank. We have an opportunity while we have surplus budgets, surplus funds federally, if the government does not give it all away to the banks and the oil companies, to invest in Canadians. We can pool our resources to bulk purchase drugs for Canadians. We could do that through a universal pharmaceutical program.

We have seen with our universal health care program, medicare, that our costs are far below costs south of the border, by pooling our resources and ensuring that everyone is covered, rather than leaving too many people behind.

The government has dropped its promise to deal with wait times when it comes to health care. That has been a shameful oversight. Here is an opportunity for the Conservatives to introduce something positive with respect to health care, and that is a national pharmacare program.

An important step is to secure our supply of drugs for Canadians and to ensure we do not export drugs south of the border that could jeopardize supply in Canada. I believe a more fundamental, an important step and a necessary step for Canadians is to ensure they all have access to the pharmaceutical drugs they need. We have to keep costs down as a country. I believe a national pharmacare program is long overdue. It would make a huge difference for Canadian families.

[Aeronautics Act, November 2nd, 2007]

Mr. Speaker, the issue of work hours and fatigue are fundamental in the transportation sector and have been an issue of debate and negotiation over the years. There has been a push of late to lengthen the work hours and to reduce the number of personnel, which is a safety concern.

I would remind the members of the House of the Air France fiery crash in Toronto where, due to the quick action of the crew, not one person died. That is the kind of job that airline workers do.

[Aeronautics Act, November 2nd, 2007]

Mr. Speaker, I cannot pretend to know what was in the minds of the government members who initiated this bill. However, we have to ask ourselves: What is government for?

Surely one of the key roles of government is to protect its citizens from harm. After the fact, to say that we should have done this or perhaps we should have been responsible for that is cold comfort to people.

I believe that part of the rationale is simply a transition in the public service, a generational change. It will be costly and there is always a strategy that needs to be worked out to do that transition. I believe the government has not planned adequately for that. This is a very cut rate way to get out from under the responsibility of generational change in our inspectors. It is transferring responsibility to the private sector, to the companies themselves, surely something that is one of the fundamental responsibilities of government. It is of great concern to the members of this caucus and, if Canadians knew about it, I think it also would be of great concern to them.

My colleague raised the issue of harmonization with U.S. laws. If that is a rationale, then I would argue that it is a poor one.

[Aeronautics Act, November 2nd, 2007]

Mr. Speaker, while many of the proposed amendments that we made and many of the witnesses made have been adopted, clear concerns remain among many of the workers and their organizations who presented before committee. They may have endorsed some of the changes that were made but they do not endorse transferring responsibility for setting safety requirements and enforcing safety to the companies that are in fact in a hyper-competitive environment right now in the airline industry.

In responding to my colleague's question, I must ask him if putting the companies themselves in this position is not a little disingenuous. I do not believe that they are asking for it. It is a way to solve the problem for the government, which really does not want to pay to do enforcement itself. Canadians may like privatization of some things but I am not sure they like the privatization of safety enforcement.

I disagree with my colleague that this is widely known by the public. I do not believe it is.

[Aeronautics Act, November 2nd, 2007]

Mr. Speaker, airline employees have been through incredible turmoil over the last 20 or so years with the deregulation of the airline sector and incredible cut throat competition. We have seen bankruptcies in some companies and layoffs in others. We have seen real attacks on the wages and working conditions of airline workers.

I fear that this legislation may create a climate where people will be unwilling to raise their concerns because they do not believe that their voices, as the people closest to airline safety, will be listened to. It is a genuine concern that all MPs and, in fact, all Canadians ought to be concerned about.