Thomas Mulcair

[Employment, April 15th, 2013]

Mr. Speaker, regardless of their intentions, that is what is happening.

It was David Moreau, a courageous employee dismissed by the Royal Bank, who informed Canadians about how companies are getting rid of Canadian workers and replacing them with temporary foreign workers.

It is the Minister of Citizenship, Immigration and Multiculturalism who is in the wrong here, whether the Prime Minister likes it or not. Unlike the Royal Bank, the minister is still trying to shirk his responsibilities.

Will the Prime Minister show the same courage as David Moreau and insist that his Minister of Citizenship, Immigration and Multiculturalism apologize?

[Employment, April 15th, 2013]

Mr. Speaker, last Thursday, the Royal Bank took responsibility and publicly apologized for firing Canadian workers in order to replace them with temporary foreign workers.

The 340,000 temporary foreign workers currently in Canada work in every sector of our economy, from the Royal Bank to Tim Hortons. The public forced the Royal Bank to apologize for doing the wrong thing.

Will the Prime Minister do the same? Will he do the right thing and insist that his Minister of Citizenship, Immigration and Multiculturalism apologize to Canadians?

[The Budget, March 25th, 2013]

Mr. Speaker, when we hear malarkey like that, we know why the Conservatives want to destroy the PBO.

This weekend, outgoing Parliamentary Budget Officer Kevin Page said that the Conservatives are trying to “unwind” the PBO. Page slammed the Conservatives for refusing to come clean about the details of $14 billion in cuts included in this budget.

Without a full-time budget watchdog, Canadians are being kept in the dark. Why are the Conservatives continuing to hide the truth from Canadian taxpayers?

[The Budget, March 25th, 2013]

Mr. Speaker, it is nice to see the minister default to his talking points. He did not listen to the question: Why do we pay 30% less for education for first nations youth than for other Canadians?

The Conservatives' budget is a shell game. There is a billion dollars less for infrastructure next year, then funding is frozen for 10 years, so 10 years of darkness for the communities and 10 years of crumbling infrastructure.

Do the Conservatives not understand that the costs of government programs have to be adjusted for inflation? Is it incompetence or just dishonesty?

[Aboriginal Affairs, March 25th, 2013]

Mr. Speaker, for the past three months, six young people from a Cree community in northern Quebec have been trekking 1,600 km through snow and ice to come to Ottawa in the hope that a new relationship can be forged between Canada and the first nations. Today, spring has arrived, together with hundreds of walkers. The problem is that instead of giving them hope, the new Conservative budget will crush them with paternalistic programs.

The Prime Minister promised equality in education. Why is Canada still spending 30% less on education for aboriginal youth than for other Canadians?

[Financial Institutions, March 20th, 2013]

Mr. Speaker, there is another constituent who is upset about the finance minister throwing his weight around with lenders. He is from the Beauce. He is the Minister of State for Small Business.

Banks have been gouging small businesses on merchant fees for years. They have been gouging consumers with higher and higher interest rates. Why is the finance minister doing nothing about double-digit credit card rates while dictating higher mortgage rates for Canadian families?

Which minister has the Prime Minister's confidence: the Minister of State for Small Business or the Minister of Finance?

[Financial Institutions, March 20th, 2013]

Mr. Speaker, I received a telephone call from Salomon Rouimy in Laval. He is paying 29.9% interest on his credit card—29.9%.

The Minister of Finance has done nothing to stop banks from gouging consumers like Salomon with exorbitant interest rates on credit cards.

How can the Prime Minister justify allowing his finance department to tell banks to impose higher mortgage rates on Canadian families?

[Ethics, March 20th, 2013]

Mr. Speaker, Peter Penashue broke the law. If our law and order Prime Minister considers Peter Penashue, a known lawbreaker, to be the best Conservative MP, what does that say about the rest of his caucus?

[Ethics, March 19th, 2013]

Mr. Speaker, Peter Penashue has finally resigned after breaking the law. The Prime Minister has to answer a simple question. If Penashue did nothing wrong, why did he resign? If he did something wrong, why is the Prime Minister allowing him to run again?

Elections Canada has not even finished its investigation into Mr. Penashue's last campaign and the Prime Minister's office, using taxpayer money, has already started the next one.

Will the Prime Minister commit right now to allow Elections Canada to conclude its investigation before calling the byelection in Labrador, or is it that he is afraid of what illegal activities might come to light?

[The Economy, March 19th, 2013]

Mr. Speaker, adding jobs by creating a sustainable economy is the future of our country. If we do not learn how to add value to our natural resources here instead of shipping our jobs to the U.S., we will not get out of the mess they have created. There are 300,000 more unemployed today than when the crisis hit in 2008. That is a fact.

Yesterday, Peter Penashue resigned. When did the Prime Minister find out—