This bill was last introduced in the 41st Parliament, 2nd Session, which ended in August 2015.
This bill was previously introduced in the 41st Parliament, 1st Session.
Jean Crowder NDP
Introduced as a private member’s bill. (These don’t often become law.)
Outside the Order of Precedence (a private member's bill that hasn't yet won the draw that determines which private member's bills can be debated), as of June 20, 2011
(This bill did not become law.)
This is from the published bill. The Library of Parliament often publishes better independent summaries.
Part 1 of this enactment provides for the establishment of a Government of Canada strategy to eliminate poverty and promote social inclusion.
Part 2 of the enactment establishes the Office of the Poverty Elimination Commissioner, which is independent of government direction.
All sorts of information on this bill is available at LEGISinfo, an excellent resource from the Library of Parliament. You can also read the full text of the bill.
Brad Butt Conservative Mississauga—Streetsville, ON
Mr. Speaker, I am presenting two petitions today.
The first petition calls on the Government of Canada to eradicate poverty and to support Bill C-233.
Jean Crowder NDP Nanaimo—Cowichan, BC
Mr. Speaker, the third petition is with regard to Bill C-233, an act to eliminate poverty in Canada.
The petitioners outline a number of concerns with regard to poverty in Canada.
The petitioners call on the government to develop and implement a strategy for poverty elimination in consultation with provincial, territorial, municipal, and aboriginal governments, and with civil society and organizations.
Ted Hsu Liberal Kingston and the Islands, ON
Mr. Speaker, my constituents bring me many different petitions, and I am happy to present them all in the House.
Today, I have two petitions. The first one draws the attention of the House of Commons to poverty in Canada and calls on the House of Commons to pass Bill C-233, an act to eliminate poverty in Canada.
Jean Crowder NDP Nanaimo—Cowichan, BC
Mr. Speaker, it was interesting to listen to the member's speech. It is as though we are living in a parallel universe. The people I have talked to are worried about the fact that funds for social housing are disappearing, that child and family poverty in parts of our country have not gone down, that people are working two and three jobs just to feed their children and that student loan debt is increasing. Municipalities have been calling on the government to invest in infrastructure, whether it is sewer, water or roads.
With respect to the environment, over the last couple of weeks we saw Canada being castigated on the world stage for its grim record on greenhouse gas emission reductions, plus any of the other initiatives we might be taking around prevention and mitigation. Our former leader, the late Jack Layton, used to say that we needed to talk about the fact that it was fine to fix the roof, but it did not do us any good if the foundation was crumbling. I would argue that the foundation in Canada is crumbling under the government's watch.
With regard to Bill C-4, the NDP is opposing it both on process and content. This is just like the three previous omnibus budget bills, C-38, C-45 and C-60.
Bill C-4 would amend 70 pieces of legislation. It contains two entirely new acts, the Mackenzie gas project impacts fund act and the public service labour relations and employment board. In talking about this, I want to refer to the process for one moment. It is our responsibility as parliamentarians to thoroughly review legislation that comes before us, to call witnesses and propose amendments. We are not able to do that in this current democratic deficit climate.
I want to quote a couple of people who have commented on the government process with regard to omnibus bills.
In iPolitics, former finance officials Scott Clark and Peter DeVries stated:
Budget vagueness is a troubling trend. Vagueness and obtuseness have featured in successive budgets, with details provided in the omnibus budget bills. The real budget has now become the budget omnibus bill. This undermines the credibility and transparency of the budget and requires much more diligence in assessing budget proposals.
Andrew Coyne stated:
Not only does this make a mockery of the confidence convention—shielding bills that would otherwise be defeatable within a money bill, which is not—it makes it impossible to know what Parliament really intended by any of it. We've no idea whether MPs supported or opposed any particular bill in the bunch, only that they voted for the legislation that contained them. There is no common thread that runs between them, no overarching principle; they represent not a single act of policy, but a sort of compulsory buffet....But there is something quite alarming about Parliament being obliged to rubber-stamp the government's whole legislative agenda at one go.
I could not agree more with Mr. Coyne.
The challenge here is that time after time we have heard the government get up and say that the NDP has voted against X. What it does not say is that it was an omnibus budget bill that would change several different pieces of acts and regulations. Perhaps there were pieces of the legislation that we agreed with but also pieces we could not agree with. Therefore, we do a balancing act. We take a look at the overall public good, then we determine whether we will vote for or against. Unfortunately, with the way the government acts, we largely end up voting against its omnibus budget bills because we do not see them as being in the public good overall.
I want to highlight some of the changes proposed by this legislation. As I mentioned, it will amend or repeal 70 pieces of legislation in over 300 pages. It strips health and safety officers of their powers and puts nearly all of these powers into the hands of the minister. It significantly weakens the ability of employees to refuse work in unsafe conditions. It moves to eliminate binding arbitration as a method to resolve disputes in the public service. It guts Canada's most venerable scientific research institution, the National Research Council. It reduces the number of permanent members on the Veterans Review and Appeal Board and repeals the Canada Employment Insurance Financing Board. It pushes ahead with the Conservatives' ill-advised $350 million tax hike on labour-sponsored ventured capital funds and allows for three directors of the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board to be non-Canadian residents.
Many of the changes that proposed deserved separate legislation so we could have had that kind of thorough review. Instead, we have a bill that was rammed through and presented to three different committees in very limited time frames. Any amendments that were proposed by the official opposition or the opposition parties were rejected out of hand.
That is not good governance. That is what the Conservatives claim they stand for in this country: good governance, accountability, and transparency. None of those three are true.
I just want to touch on the Parliamentary Budget Officer for just one moment, another officer of Parliament who has been under attack by the government. He has been forced to go to court to try to get documents to demonstrate what kinds of savings are being proposed by the government.
The Parliamentary Budget Officer estimated that the overall impact of budget 2012, fiscal update 2012, and budget 2013 would be a loss of 67,000 jobs by 2017 and a 0.57% reduction in GDP. This is a significant decline in economic growth.
That leads me to the smoke and mirrors games played by the Conservatives. An article from November 13, on Global News, indicated that the government had“sat on more than $10 billion in funds Parliament approved and Canadians were told they could expect in 2012-13 through a slew of programs in dozens of departments”.
The federal government held on to more than $10 billion it was expected to spend in 2012-13, with almost half coming from two departments, according to recently published financial documents. These were funds Parliament approved and Canadians were told they could expect...including the Senate Ethics Officer, disability and death compensation at Veterans Affairs, and weather and environmental services for Canadians at Environment Canada.
I want to touch on one particular part of this fund, and that is Transport Canada. I do not know where most members live and whether the municipalities where they live are suffering the kinds of infrastructure deficits many of our communities are suffering from. Many of our communities have aging infrastructure, and this is a deficit that is being passed on to future generations, because we have refused consistently over decades to provide the federal contribution to updating and upgrading the infrastructure.
Interestingly, Transport Canada, with Infrastructure Canada, had the most trouble spending its budget.
In 2012-13, that department was responsible for almost $1.6 billion of Transport's overall $2.5 billion lapse, according to the Public Accounts....
Within Infrastructure Canada, a large chunk of the lapse in 2012-13 came from the Building Canada Fund, an $8.8 billion project announced in 2007. The project was set up to support national, regional, and municipal projects related to public transit, green energy and drinking water, among other priorities.
Last year, the two components of the funds—the “major infrastructure” and “community” components—were together slated to spend more than $2.2 billion. Only $1.1 billion made it out the door.
That is shameful. If that is the way the government is going to move toward balancing the budget, it is balancing the budget on the backs of our communities.
The Parliamentary Budget Officer suggested, in a review of the supplementary estimates, that the government has been unable to spend approximately $10 billion of the budgetary authorities provided by Parliament over each of the past three years. As such,
Parliamentarians may wish to seek clarification regarding why this level of unspent money remains so high, what measures will be undertaken by departments and agencies to ensure that spending directed by Parliament occurs, and whether all of the $5.4 billion sought in these supplementary estimates is actually required.
That is just one example. I just want to close by saying that child poverty is not even being tackled in this budget. I want to point to the grim record in British Columbia, where child and family poverty has simply not been tackled. There is absolutely a federal government role in this, and I would actually encourage members in this House to support my Bill C-233, which proposes a poverty reduction plan. The federal government can take some leadership.
I have just a couple of numbers here. B.C. had a child poverty rate of 18.6%, the worst rate of any province in Canada using the before-tax, low-income cutoffs of Statistics Canada as the measure of poverty.
By any measure, I think each and every one of us in this House would agree that children should come first and that it is time for the government to actually demonstrate leadership by putting in place programs and services that support our families and our communities.
Jinny Sims NDP Newton—North Delta, BC
Mr. Speaker, in the second petition, petitioners are expressing their support for Bill C-233, an act to eliminate poverty in Canada.
It continues to be a pleasure to represent the voices of the people of Newton—North Delta in this Parliament.
Jean Crowder NDP Nanaimo—Cowichan, BC
Mr. Speaker, the second petition calls on the House to implement an act to eliminate poverty in Canada, Bill C-233. This would require the federal government to develop and implement a strategy for poverty elimination in consultation with the provincial, territorial, municipal and aboriginal governments and with civil society organizations.
Malcolm Allen NDP Welland, ON
Mr. Speaker, I wish to present a petition today signed by literally hundreds of members across my constituency in relation to Bill C-233.
The petitioners are supportive of that bill as we attempt to eradicate poverty in this country in a joint manner between the federal government and the provinces. It should be noted that these constituents are extremely proud to stand with us in support of Bill C-233.
Jean Crowder NDP Nanaimo—Cowichan, BC
Mr. Speaker, the second petition I have to present has to do with Bill C-233, an act to eliminate poverty in Canada.
The petitioners indicate that a majority of provincial and territorial governments have adopted poverty reduction strategies but are limited in the extent they are able to reduce poverty in their jurisdiction without support from the federal government. Bill C-233 would require the federal government to develop and implement strategy for poverty elimination in consultation with the provincial, territorial, municipal and aboriginal governments, and with the civil society organizations.
The petitioners call upon Parliament to ensure the swift passage of Bill C-233, an act to eliminate poverty in Canada.
Glenn Thibeault NDP Sudbury, ON
Mr. Speaker, I am very pleased to rise today to introduce two petitions. The first is on behalf of many residents from my great riding of Sudbury and the surrounding ridings of Nickel Belt and Algoma—Manitoulin—Kapuskasing. The petitioners call on the government to ensure swift passage of Bill C-233, An Act to eliminate poverty in Canada. The petitioners want to draw to the attention of the House of Commons the fact that poverty affects over 10% of Canadians and disproportionately affects aboriginal peoples, recent immigrants, people with disabilities and youth and children.
October 18th, 2012 / 3:45 p.m.
See
context
Scott Wolfe Federal Coordinator, Canadian Association of Community Health Centres
Thank you.
The good news is that we can change this and we know how.
For starters, we know that an increasing number of Canadians simply do not have the personal and household income and resources required to achieve and maintain health. A widening income gap and the lack of access to adequate and affordable housing across Canada are two key factors. These growing financial pressures and our eroding social safety nets at federal and provincial levels mean that many households simply cannot afford to access the nutritious food, the recreational activity programs, the family supports, and other resources needed to maintain well-being. We must level the playing field and we must give families and communities across Canada the opportunity to access the necessary preconditions for health.
I'm going to move along to our recommendations very quickly. We recognize that these five recommendations don't cover the full spectrum of actions necessary to get us to where we need to go. However, they do provide a launching pad, and we believe they act as key enablers.
The first of these is to design and adequately invest in a federal poverty reduction strategy, such as the one outlined currently in Bill C-233, An Act to eliminate poverty in Canada. This plan must complement provincial and territorial initiatives.
Second is to adopt and implement Bill C-400, An Act to ensure secure, adequate, accessible and affordable housing for Canadians, thereby establishing a desperately needed federal housing strategy.
Third is to negotiate with the provinces and territories a new 10-year health accord, with stable and adequate funding at a minimum 6% escalator over the coming years, and to protect the Canada Health Act within it.
Fourth is to establish a federal pharmacare program and further protect the health and well-being of Canadians by exempting health care—including this new federal pharmacare program—from CETA and other trade agreements.
Fifth is to expand and invest in access for Canadians to high-quality, team-based, primary health care by establishing a federal strategy and funding for a pan-Canadian network of community health centres.
Jean Crowder NDP Nanaimo—Cowichan, BC
Mr. Speaker, the last petition I am presenting in the House of Commons has to do with Bill C-233. The petitioners are calling on Parliament to quickly pass Bill C-233, An Act to eliminate poverty in Canada.
Irene Mathyssen NDP London—Fanshawe, ON
Madam Speaker, I have a petition from a number of residents in my riding, which I will attempt to summarize.
These petitioners are very concerned about the effects of poverty. Ten percent of Canadians live in poverty in a country that is incredibly rich. Among those are aboriginal people, recent immigrants and persons living with disabilities. We know that one in eight children in this country live in poverty.
The petitioners ask the Government of Canada to implement Bill C-233. This bill would require the federal government to develop and implement a strategy for poverty elimination in consultation, of course, with the provinces, territories, municipalities and aboriginal governments. Civil society is very concerned about the effects of poverty on our entire community.
Nina Grewal Conservative Fleetwood—Port Kells, BC
Madam Speaker, I am pleased to rise today on behalf of the constituents of Fleetwood--Port Kells to present a petition signed by a number of residents of my riding.
The petitioners call upon Parliament to ensure the swift passage of Bill C-233, an act to eliminate poverty in Canada and develop and implement a strategy for poverty elimination.
Scott Simms Liberal Bonavista—Gander—Grand Falls—Windsor, NL
Mr. Speaker, I have a petition signed by constituents who want to eliminate poverty in Canada.
The petitioners point out that individuals living in poverty suffer more health problems and have lower life expectancy as a result, that these rights are guaranteed under international covenants as well as the Canadian Human Rights Act and that it threatens the cohesion and progress of society in general.
Therefore, the petitioners call on the federal government, along with its provincial and territorial counterparts, to come up with a good strategy that reduces poverty. Bill C-233 would require the federal government to develop and implement a strategy. They implore the House to support that.
I thank the constituents in towns such as Grand Falls—Windsor, Bishop's Falls, Gander and Harbour Breton.
Gary Schellenberger Conservative Perth—Wellington, ON
Madam Speaker, I have two petitions on Bill C-233, an act to eliminate poverty in Canada. The petitioners call on Parliament to ensure swift passage of Bill C-233, an act to eliminate poverty in Canada.