Mr. Speaker, I will be splitting my time with the member for Winnipeg Centre.
I am pleased to have the opportunity to address the Speech from the Throne and to send a message to parliament from the people in my constituency of Winnipeg North Centre.
The people in my constituency are working very hard to build their future, our community and to contribute to Canada. They are people who get out of bed, work hard every day, who look after their kids and organize programs at the local community centre, who coach at the rink or help out at the seniors' centre. They share a sense of pride for their neighbourhoods and are determined to make a difference.
I will provide a little idea of just how people in my riding are making a difference in spite of some very difficult odds and conditions. In the last little while we have celebrated many important anniversaries. I want to mention, for example, the 15th anniversary of the North End Women's Centre, an organization working to provide counselling, training opportunities and employment for hard pressed women.
I want to mention the 50th anniversary of Inkster School, a wonderful example of good, solid public education that needs the support of all levels of government.
Let me also mention the 50th anniversary of the Shaughnessy United Church which is working very hard in my constituency to be a presence, to bring a spiritual contribution to our area.
Let me mention the 20th anniversary of Bleak House, a very important centre for seniors working to ensure social and recreational opportunities for all of our senior citizens.
Finally, let me mention the 100th anniversary of the Holy Ghost Parish, a church that is located in the heart of my constituency. It represents an incredible achievement for not only my community and the province of Manitoba but for all of Canada. It reveals a history of courage, tenacity and faith. From its earliest days, the Holy Ghost Parish helped early settlers adjust to life in this new land. It became a focal point for, in this case Polish culture, but it also worked to serve the needs of new immigrants right across western Canada.
Today I mentioned this centennial because it represents the pioneering spirit in the country. It talks about those who built this great country, who devoted so much time and energy and who sacrificed so much in order to foster the spiritual and cultural growth of our community and the country.
All of those organizations are trying very hard to make a difference but the odds are working against them because of a failure of federal leadership. In my own area, along with the constituency of Winnipeg Centre, we have the highest rate of poverty anywhere in the country. We have a housing crisis that is beyond description in the Chamber. Just in the last couple of weeks we have had another dozen or more arsons of vacant properties in the inner city and north end of Winnipeg.
In that context, let me reference the Speech from the Throne which suggests that the government, in response to the housing crisis of the land, is going to study the roots of the problems of homelessness. The situation in areas like Winnipeg North Centre do not need to be studied any more. I can tell the House right now just what the problem is. This is an area that has few economic opportunities because of the policies of the government. This is an area that has been totally abandoned by the government offloading its responsibility for housing onto other levels of government. This is an area that has been abandoned by the big banks. In the next couple of months we will see another two branches close in my area. There are other examples right across the country. This is a situation where people are very much the victims of federal government neglect and of the failure of leadership that permeates every aspect of our society.
The people in Winnipeg North Centre are prepared to do their part to build communities but they want the support of government. They need the co-operation of government and they need the vision of government to do just that.
When I was at the celebration marking the very important occasion of the 100th anniversary of the Holy Ghost Parish, the pastor at that church, whose name is Father Karciarz, actually summed up the situation in the best way possible. He quoted from a prayer by Archbishop Oscar Romero who said:
We plant the seeds that one day will grow. We water seeds already planted, knowing that they hold future promise. We lay foundations that will need further development. We provide yeast that produces far beyond our capabilities.
That prayer is exactly what people in my area and in areas right across the country are saying to the federal government. Together we must plant the seeds of hope. We must ensure that those seeds are watered daily. We must lay the foundation for building a better society and a better day. They turn to the government and especially the throne speech for that sign, the road map of how we will create a better day. They look to the government for a vision to help us overcome these great difficulties around poverty, homelessness, deplorable housing conditions, unemployment and lack of recreational opportunities for our young people. They expect a throne speech to be in tune with that vision, those ideas and those seeds of hope. What did they get from the Speech from the Throne? They got an absolute failure of leadership and an abdication of government responsibility. There was no sign of a vision and no hope for the future.
On every critical issue facing the country, the government is either silent or it claims to be studying the issue. There is no mention of the housing crisis, the fishing crisis or the farm crisis. There is no mention of the real problems facing families and communities right across the country. Nowhere is this more apparent than when it comes to health care.
We are under a serious assault in the country as a result of the failure of federal leadership and an agenda that very much supports the privatization of our health care system. We are under the double assault of the dismantling of our universal health coverage system and the dismantling of our health protection system. This should be readily apparent today as we hear that there are 200 scientists in the government's own department who are crying out with a message that we are headed toward despair and doom on the health safety front unless the government decides to resume responsibility and provide leadership.
If nothing else, perhaps the government will listen to the words of its own former minister of health, Monique Bégin, who said: “Canada's cherished medicare system is steadily eroding and could one day collapse because of federal disregard”. If the government will not listen to the words of the opposition, surely it will listen to the words of those who have helped to preserve and protect our health care system, one of its own former colleagues, the Hon. Monique Bégin.
I represent an area that was held by both Stanley Knowles and David Orlikow, two people who stood and fought for health care, pensions, unemployment insurance, protection for our families and ways to end poverty and despair in our communities. We have a great responsibility to carry on that legacy and it is one we take very seriously.
I hope we can impress upon members of the government the need for addressing the real concerns of Canadians: being there at times of crisis and offering leadership that builds upon the sense of co-operation and community that has been so much part of the history of the country.