Peggy Nash

[Petitions, June 20th, 2007]

Mr. Speaker, the third petition is in support of my private member's bill, Bill C-394, called the once in a lifetime bill.

My bill recognizes that family sponsorship is a key component of a fair immigration policy. The current family class rules are too restrictive and they mean that close family relatives in many cases are not eligible for sponsorship. I have had a huge response to this private member's bill.

The petitioners are urging that we act to redefine family class under the immigration and refugee act by passing Bill C-394.

[Petitions, June 20th, 2007]

Mr. Speaker, the second petition is signed by 41 constituents in support of my private member's bill, Bill C-375, to re-establish a federal minimum wage and set it at $10 an hour.

There are more than two million Canadians who make less than $10 an hour, and we know the impact of poverty on health, social development and our economy as a whole. We know that a federal minimum wage can lift minimum wages across the country, and that since the federal minimum wage was abolished by the Liberals provincial wages have been stagnant.

This petition is urging the re-establishment of a federal minimum wage and setting it at $10 an hour.

[Petitions, June 20th, 2007]

Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to rise today to present three petitions from my constituents. The first is signed by 92 people.

The petitioners call upon Parliament to provide Canadians with greater access to natural health products by removing the goods and services tax on them and by enacting Bill C-404.

[Canada Elections Act, June 18th, 2007]

Mr. Speaker, I will pick up on a point the member made about allegations of voter fraud in the riding of Trinity—Spadina as part of the rationale for his support for the bill. I am sure, like everyone else, he knows the results of the investigation into that fraud. There were no irregularities in Trinity—Spadina during the last federal election.

Where is the problem? He has alleged there is the potential for fraud, but in fact there has been no fraud. Does he think it is a fair balance to bring a law in that might prevent something that has not occurred in the past? Does he not think the cost of perhaps disenfranchising people, who do not have the means to get back onto the voter's list in many cases, is too steep a price to pay?

[Canada Elections Act, June 18th, 2007]

Mr. Speaker, I have concerns about this bill and its potential to disenfranchise voters, especially very low income voters who today are able to exercise their right to vote. My question for the hon. member is this. What is the rationale for bringing this bill in? Where is the problem?

I know there was an allegation, a complaint of a problem in the last election in a downtown urban riding in my city. There was an investigation and there was found to be not one instance of electoral fraud, so my question again is, where is the problem that, in the government's mind, is creating the need for this bill?

[Criminal Code, June 13th, 2007]

Mr. Speaker, I thank both my colleagues for their eloquent interventions on this bill. I share their support for it, but share their view that it does not fully address the issue of copyright, nor even the issue of bootlegging film.

I come from Toronto and am pleased to represent a riding with so much artistic talent such as filmmakers, writers, musicians, painters and dancers. It is a very rich area and the whole issue of copyright is of great concern to my constituents.

Obviously we want to protect the rights of the creators of art and ensure that their rights, their work and their livelihoods are protected. However, we also want to adapt with the changing world of technology, and we do not want to be so restrictive that we are limiting educational institutions, universities and libraries in getting access to art.

Therefore, how does my colleague envision the changes with this technology affecting copyright and access by educational institutions while still protecting the rights of creators?

[Petitions, June 13th, 2007]

Mr. Speaker, the second petition is signed by 145 people from my community and is in support of my once in a lifetime bill on family reunification. It recognizes that the most successful newcomers are sponsored by family members so they can reintegrate easily into the community.

The current family class rules are very restrictive and mean that too many family members are not eligible, so the petitioners are calling on Parliament to ensure that Canadian citizens and landed immigrants have a once in a lifetime opportunity to sponsor a family member outside the current family class, as currently defined in the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act, and to pass my Bill C-394.

[Petitions, June 13th, 2007]

Mr. Speaker, I have the honour of presenting two petitions today.

The first is signed by 105 people and concerns the re-establishment of a federal minimum wage. The federal minimum wage was eliminated by the Liberal government in 1996. A $10 an hour minimum wage just approaches the poverty level for a single worker and would mean a great deal for so many low income workers across the country.

A federal minimum wage would of course establish a benchmark for working people in provincial jurisdictions as well, right across the country. That is what happened when it originally was introduced back in 1965. I am pleased to present this petition calling for the reinstatement of a federal minimum wage at $10 an hour, which is also asked for in my private member's bill.

[Justice, June 11th, 2007]

Mr. Speaker, with no thanks to the government, the numbers are still far too high. Our children are being shot and are dying on Toronto streets.

We need action now by investing in youth programming, child care and housing. These are all part of Toronto's community safety plan. The city has invested $35 million. The Conservatives have invested virtually nothing. There are broken promises on youth programming and child care spaces, and there is no money for housing.

Is it that Toronto families just cannot trust the government to keep its word because it never intended to keep its promises or is it that it just does not care?

[Justice, June 11th, 2007]

Mr. Speaker, just weeks after the senseless killing of Jordan Manners and hours after a rally in his honour, another Toronto neighbourhood this weekend was rocked with gun violence.

The Conservative strategy is not working because the government does not keep its word. It broke its promise to fund 2,500 police officers, to invest $50 million for youth at risk programming, and all the while the illegal guns continue to flood across our border from the U.S.

When is the government going to get serious about stopping the flow of guns across the border and when is it going to fulfill its promise on youth crime prevention?