Rodger Cuzner

[February 23rd, 2009]

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to again bring further focus to an issue about which I had posed a question for the Minister of Human Resources a number of weeks ago. It is with regard to EI premiums and Canadians who are finding themselves in a very difficult situation, having lost a job and having to look for some type of revenue to help support their family. In many cases, these people are the most vulnerable. These people are least apt to go a week or two without a paycheque, not that anybody can really go too long without a paycheque. When there is an interruption in household income over a period of time, it creates an incredible amount of stress on the family unit and we should do all we can to try to help these people who are in need.

There is a chance that this problem will even worsen as more and more Canadians find themselves, through no fault of their own, out of work. The January job statistics showed that 129,000 jobs were lost in this economy.

I came to this chamber eight years ago. At one time, it took four to five weeks to turn around an EI claim. It then drifted up to six weeks. Now it is even seven and eight weeks before somebody can receive benefits. That is very much of great concern.

The day I posed the question in the House 10 weeks had passed from the time my constituent lost her job, filed for EI and was notified that she would receive benefits. That is unacceptable. The employment insurance fund is one that Canadians pay into and it should be there when they need it.

I know Service Canada employees are a very caring and concerned group of employees who are doing all they can to help these Canadians, but they do not have the resources. They need additional resources and we have to put those in place so Canadians who find themselves out of work are helped.

Service Canada says that it can turn the processes around in 28 days. However, the reality is if there is any kind of glitch or if there is anything out of the norm at all, a case has to go to a level 2 agent for review. That is where the delay is because there are not enough agents, or the workload is too great, or there are not enough resources within the department to deal with these claims. However, no Canadian worker should have to wait eight, nine, ten weeks for some type of assistance from the government.

Therefore, I call upon the government to make the necessary investments to help Canadians who need it now.

[Olympic Winter Games, February 23rd, 2009]

Mr. Speaker, in just 354 days, Canada will welcome the world's best to Vancouver for the 2010 Olympics. However, as our athletes continue to train for their competition of a lifetime, a bureaucratic competition is set to deliver a devastating blow to one of our country's premiere sport governing bodies.

For the past three Olympic Games, our hockey and sledge teams have worn the Hockey Canada emblem with great pride. The crest is a Canadian branding success story, with sales revenues expected to reach $20 million this Olympic year. Those increased revenues have helped develop young officials, coaches and volunteers and have kept insurance costs down for over half a million young players.

The COC is placing at risk an incredibly successful business plan should it deny Hockey Canada this opportunity. I urge all members of the House, and indeed all Canadians, to ask the COC to reverse its decision and allow our men's and women's hockey teams, our sledge team and, of course, Hockey Canada's business plan to continue their gold medal performances.

[Business of Supply, February 12th, 2009]

Mr. Speaker, the Liberal Party will be voting yea.

[Petitions, February 11th, 2009]

Mr. Speaker, I stand today to present a petition on behalf of the over 100,000 volunteer firefighters across this country. I have in my own riding 50 different volunteer fire departments, including Little Dover, Mulgrave, Glace Bay--I will not name them all, but I would like to mention some--Manitou, Whycogomah, Blues Mills, Bateston, Cheticamp, Judique, Port Hastings, East Bay, Howick Centre, and St. Peter's. That is about a quarter of them. All those different departments share one thing: they are there to serve and protect the people of their communities. They do this without any compensation. They do this a great deal of the time at their own expense.

There are over 1,200 signatures on this petition. These people believe that these volunteers deserve some type of recognition and compensation from the government and hopefully that will move forward. There are private members' bills in this regard. Hopefully, as the list of private members' business moves along, a bill acknowledging the work these volunteer firefighters do will be presented. The intent of this petition is to support that principle.

With all due respect to volunteer firefighters right across this country, I am very proud to present this petition.

[Business of Supply, February 10th, 2009]

Mr. Speaker, notwithstanding the order adopted on Thursday, February 5, the order for the deferred recorded division on the opposition motion in the name of the member for Kings—Hants be discharged and the motion be deemed adopted unanimously.

[Budget Implementation Act, 2009, February 9th, 2009]

Madam Speaker, the vast majority of Canadians want this Parliament to work and they want parliamentarians to work together in their best interests. There is a great deal of fear out there right now whether or not this is enough stimulus to help the economy along. Certainly, it has been difficult. It is a leap of faith from the people on our side to support the budget. We are trying to determine exactly what is fact in the budget and what is perceived.

The issue that I have not been able to get any reassurance on is the measures regarding EI where it was announced that there would be an extension of five weeks with the EI program. I am wondering if that applies only to those recipients who are receiving full benefits, 45 weeks and extended to 50, or does my colleague know whether or not it is extended to all recipients of EI. If they are qualified for 32 weeks, is that extended to 37? It is a question that is being asked out there and I am wondering if he has any more insight on this.

[Budget Implementation Act, 2009, February 9th, 2009]

Mr. Speaker, I commend my colleague for his words. One thing we know is if the government had taken just one idea from the Liberal platform, it would have been stealing, but we would never accuse it of that because it lifted several. Therefore, I will refer to it as market research.

There is one in particular that comes to mind, and that is the one on assistance for recreational facilities. It was one that was very clear in the Liberal Party's past platform and one that the member did quite a bit to develop. There are a great number of facilities in rural communities that can use some assistance from the federal level. Usually recreational facilities are more in the realm of provincial and municipal responsibility.

It is more a comment than a question, but would my colleague like to comment on the significance of this aspect of the budget, that being support for arenas and swimming pools, and what impact this will have in communities?

[Budget Implementation Act, 2009, February 9th, 2009]

Mr. Speaker, I came in midway through the debate, so my colleague may have addressed this earlier in his comments. I have just been reading through some of the media reports as to where the NDP would like to go with this budget. Obviously, each aspect of the budget would have various costs associated with those aspects. We know there will be a deficit going forward the next number of years. Could he share with the House if the NDP has costed out the exact counts on the proposals and measures that the NDP are putting forward?

[Employment Insurance, February 6th, 2009]

Mr. Speaker, with all due respect, regurgitating talking points is offering no help to these people.

Norma Peck phoned the call centre during all of January with a great deal of frequency. I guess a mother with no income who is trying to feed her two daughters would do that. Service Canada employees are trying their best to accommodate these people but there are not enough resources in the system.

The minister has to understand the problem and the hardship out there. When is she going to wake up, take some action, and show these people that she gives a damn?

[Employment Insurance, February 6th, 2009]

Mr. Speaker, the inactions of the Conservatives are obvious today with the record job loss figures, and those who have lost their jobs are being ignored.

A constituent of mine, Norma Peck, lost her job December 9 and filed for benefits that same week. It is now nine weeks later and Norma and her two daughters have received no help from the Conservatives.

With today's news of the record job losses, does the minister understand the degree of urgency that is out there? I ask the minister to please help these people.