Angela Vautour

[Supply, April 23rd, 1998]

Mr. Speaker, I am in total agreement with the member on this side of the House. What is happening is totally disgusting. What we are seeing is a government that just does not care.

We often hear the government side saying that it did not know before 1986. I believe that in the Krever report it had been put on alert in 1981. Could the member confirm that for me?

[Royal Canadian Mounted Police Superannuation Act, April 2nd, 1998]

Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to rise today to speak on behalf of my party in support of Bill C-12, an act to amend the RCMP Superannuation Act.

The legislation gives members of the RCMP serving abroad as peacekeepers the same benefits as their counterparts in the armed forces in the event of illness, injury or death. It has been too long in coming.

While we support its passage at third reading, we hope that in future when we ask our young men and women to place their lives on the line for their country they will not have to worry about their benefits and our commitment to them.

We must recognize that when our peacekeepers are serving abroad in war zones, areas of civil strife or natural disaster they are on duty around the clock, putting their lives at risk for their country 24 hours a day.

Canada is respected around the world for its commitment to peace and as a leader in peacekeeping missions. We as representatives of the people must ensure that every measure is taken to give full support to our peacekeepers and their families both at home and abroad.

The legislation is intended to provide RCMP members who serve as peacekeepers the same health benefits as their counterparts in the armed forces. It is a step in the right direction and is only fair.

However, more must be done to recognize the service of our peacekeepers and the sacrifices they and their families make in the name of peace on behalf of all Canadians. The issue of equity for all those who serve Canada must be addressed both at home and abroad, particularly with respect to the RCMP that currently do not have the same collective bargaining rights as their brothers and sisters in other law enforcement agencies across the country.

We hear stories of members of the Canadian Armed Forces and their families having to use food banks to sustain themselves. Men and women who put their lives on the line for their country and for peace around the world are forced to live in near poverty conditions when they return home to Canada.

Long expected raises for servicemen and women have been put on hold. This is in stark contrast to the Treasury Board decision to pay huge bonuses to an executive group of the public service averaging from $4,300 to $12,000, illustrating the government's bias in favour of the executive ranks while denying long, outstanding, legally required pay settlements to lower paid workers.

Recent history shows that the Canadian government will use its power against its own employees to take away rights and discriminate against low paid workers. In the name of fiscal restraint, the government has in the past passed legislation to take away employee bargaining rights, freeze wages and remove job security.

The slash and burn policies of the government jeopardize the lives of Canadians at home and abroad. Half of the military installations across Canada have been closed. Aircraft and equipment are being mothballed, services reduced and thousands of jobs lost in both the public and private sector.

This has been the impact of the Liberal government and demonstrates its lack of commitment not only to our peacekeepers but to all Canadians. It is timely to address these issues at a time when all Canadians are encouraged to reflect upon the great sacrifices made by all members of our services on behalf of Canada and peace around the world.

We support Bill C-12 and hope that it is the beginning of a renewed commitment to our peacekeepers and indeed to all Canadians, for the government has a very long way to go to restore equity and fairness to Canadians. We in the NDP will continue to fight to ensure that it does.

[Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency, April 2nd, 1998]

Mr. Speaker, my question is for the Minister responsible for the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency.

With ACOA having been created to help foster economic development in Atlantic Canada, keeping in mind the extremely high unemployment rates in the region, and knowing that small and medium size businesses are the ones creating the jobs, can the minister responsible confirm for Atlantic Canadians that the ACOA budget will be reduced by one-third to $250 million by the first year of the next millennium, projecting the lowest level of funding since 1988-89?

[Income Tax Amendments Act, 1997, April 2nd, 1998]

Mr. Speaker, I thank the hon. member for his question.

As I said, the problem is they are handing money out but without any planning. Does this mean the planning should be up to the provinces? This would be a problem in New Brunswick because the money does not always go where it should.

Where I come from, we were always afraid to give Frank McKenna money because all of it might be used on roads, while health care would be left out.

This is the problem: how the money will be managed once in the province. I feel there is not enough control and I think it is also the case federally. That is why I say we need programs that accommodate people, and not programs where people have to accommodate the programs. That is why nothing is working and there are so many bankruptcies. No one wants to listen.

Sometimes loans are denied to small businesses or organizations looking to create year round work because they do not meet the criteria. Look what that does. A $45,000 loan might create 25 permanent jobs but the bank has to go by the criteria. That is a problem and it is one at every level.

That is what the expression bottom up suggests. Does it mean that the province will be in charge of managing the money? Will the Kent economic commission manage the whole thing? Someone has to do it, but first we need to have programs.

We talk about prevention. People would rather earn a living than to always take money from the government, because, at some point, they no longer know why they should get up in the morning. People get depressed in winter when they are out of work. They always look forward to spring when they can resume working.

Ever since the Liberals were elected, they have gone after seasonal workers as if they were all lazy people. When the Prime Minister came to my riding to get elected, he said he was going to take care of everything. He would help the unemployed. He came back here and said: “They all live in shacks, they are drunk all the time and unemployed”. That is what he said.

We are the ones who elected him. But even worse, we believed him.

I find it sad that the Prime Minister, who chose to run in a region with the worst unemployment rate in Canada and made promises to the voters, came back here, to Ottawa, and said, as we found out later by reading the newspaper, that everyone was living in shacks, drunk all the time and on the dole. What an insult! Believe me, the next time they tried to get one of theirs elected, voters were more wary. That era is over. The people back home will not put up with this any longer.

I think it is time for the Liberals to start thinking about this. Nova Scotia has sent them a message and I am sure New Brunswick will do the same. I hope this will keep up, because we have a problem in this country.

[Income Tax Amendments Act, 1997, April 2nd, 1998]

Mr. Speaker, I am pleased today to talk about Bill C-28. I think this bill addresses several issues that are very important for Canadians today, and I believe it is important to discuss them.

It deals with taxes, health care, education, social services and social assistance. We have to say that this is a rather complicated bill, and this is probably intentional, to ensure that all kinds of things will go unnoticed, as my colleagues from the Bloc Quebecois pointed out. There are certainly some questionable clauses in this bill.

I believe that it is very important that Canadians understand that this bill is extremely complicated, but in another way it is also quite simple. The bottom line is that we in this country still have problems with health care, education and employment, and nothing in this bill will solve these problems. It is important to talk about these issues.

On the flight to Ottawa this week, I was sitting beside a lady from the Fredericton area and I asked her where she was going. She was coming here to Ottawa for an eye operation. The waiting period in Halifax was 15 months, but she could have this operation right away in Ottawa.

I ask myself the question: What is the difference from one province to another in terms of waiting lists? I know that, in the Atlantic provinces, there are very serious problems with hospital services, as well as with health care in senior homes such as the Villa Providence in Shediac. Seniors certainly do not have the services they need in these institutions.

They are short-staffed. Their employees are totally exhausted. As in many other seniors home, several staff members are on extended sick leave because they are exhausted. There is just so much a person can do between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. Too much is being asked of these workers and our relatives in these places are suffering because of it. It is important that this be pointed out.

We are told that money is being reinvested in health care, but that is not true. Transfers were cut drastically and people have to be reminded of that. That is the truth. The only thing the government did was not cut the $1.5 billion they had said they would cut. That is the only thing they did.

We are getting even less money than we did previously and there is nothing in this bill to reassure the people who have to wait four or five hours before they can see a doctor or the children who have to wait hours before someone can take care of their broken limbs. These are not imaginary problems; they are real and we keep hearing about them every day. We often hear about people who have to wait or even pay to get a cyst removed, etc.

On the television program This Hour Has 22 Minutes , there was a very good sketch where they said that if you are diagnosed with cancer, you will get your $100 back. That is so sad. How many people will not get their first $100 back and will still get cancer? Why? Because we have a government that took the word care out of health care.

I am also saddened to hear the opposition parties say that the United States have a better health system than we do. We should be careful with this kind of statement, because people in the United States do not have medicare. Health care is for people with money only. This should be taken into consideration when comparing health care in both countries.

Even if I do find fault with our present system, we still have a system which NDP members are striving to preserve because it is important and it should remain as a national system so that the same standard of health care should be available to all Canadians. The ability to pay should not be a consideration as far as health care is concerned. A patient who may have cancer should not have to pay for surgery.

It is about time we take a hard look at where we are headed in this country, because we are in a sad situation. Many people cannot get an appointment because doctors are overworked. We have the same situation in hospitals. The number of beds is down, but people still get sick. And the less health care we have, the sicker they will get, and the more beds and the more nurses we will need.

In the Moncton area, right now, 300 nurses work only part time. This is a problem. We should be realistic about this situation. First of all, people deserve a little bit of security. Bill C-28 does not deal with these issues. We have 730,000 people on welfare, and the government is telling us it has put in the system $1.5 billion more. It has not. It has simply cancelled cuts that were supposed to be made. This is the important thing to remember. The government has been cutting right and left for a long time.

We have seen in the last few weeks that if we have 730,000 people on welfare, it is largely because of the cuts in employment insurance. In high unemployment areas, we should be aware that there are no jobs, and that whatever jobs there are are part time jobs at $5.50 an hour.

I meet women who have worked for 25 years in fish processing plants and who earn $5.75 an hour. That is sad. How many of us could live on just $5.75 an hour? Not many, I think. And yet this is what we expect the poor in Canada to live on.

The places where there are paying jobs, like the employment centre in Bouctouche, where at least three or four full time employees were earning $13 or $14 an hour, they close. These are jobs our children might have had eventually. They are also services that are no longer available to the public. Now people come to my office because they no longer have access to the employment centre. Members of Parliament who want to look after their constituents are the ones who have to deal with these cases and settle the problems. That is what we see.

It is sad to see them continually closing down businesses in a region where the unemployment rate this winter was 50% and where jobs are replaced by seasonal employment, which pays $5.50 or $6.25 an hour. And the provincial maximum is $6.25.

These people cannot live on $5.50 an hour anymore than I can. I cannot expect them to either. This is the sort of thing we have to deal with.

It is no different in education. There is a problem here, too. Sure, our young people can borrow. I have visits from young people who are $40,000 in debt. They have been out of university for two years and they are still looking for work. They move. They leave. As I was saying the other day, half of the people in Calgary are from New Brunswick. It is sad, but that is what is happening.

So we have to look carefully at just what bills like C-28 have to offer. It is not very useful indeed. It may be beneficial to some Liberal members, but it does nothing for those who suffer, for the sick, for the growing number of children who live in poverty because of the cuts made by the Liberals and the Conservatives before them—sometimes we have a tendency to put all the blame on the Liberals, but the party that was in power before them did not do anything good either. It certainly made its share of cuts.

Social assistance is a serious problem in our region. Sometimes we do not want to talk about it, but in our part of the country, it is a reality. Those who do not have jobs live on welfare. Sometimes, when they are not eligible for welfare, they tell us they want to kill themselves.

There is money in this country. Lots of money. It is not true that there is no money. The problem is that governments have decided they will no longer help the poor in our country.

The statistics are clear: the poor are poorer than ever and the rich are richer than ever. And the middle class is paying for both. The middle class is beginning to disappear. I think the rich were sick and tired of seeing middle class people sitting next to them in the same restaurants. It was becoming a problem, a threat.

The middle class and the small and medium size business sector are constantly under attack. The ACOA, for instance, will lose one third of its funding. The government is cutting social programs in Atlantic Canada and it is also taking away the only agency that can help small and medium size businesses. We are beginning to wonder. Will the government totally abandon Atlantic Canada?

A couple of us were elected and we will see to it that Atlantic Canada is not abandoned. There is no job creation, and that is the main problem in our country. If the government did its job and made sure that Canadians had decent jobs with decent salaries, we would not have the problems we are experiencing today.

People are being replaced by machines, well-paying jobs are being destroyed, and then we wonder why there is a high level of unemployment. Do you want to see what high unemployment is? Come live in the Atlantic provinces, or in any rural area in the country. Then you will see what high unemployment is all about.

It is not true that the figure is 9% for Kent county, for Albert county, for Cap-Pelé or Port Elgin. I am sure it is the same in many places throughout the country, in all provinces. We will have to start by going to see how things are in the regions and then doing some long term planning. That is what I would like to see in this House, a government that says “OK. We will have to go to the rural regions to find our why there is such high unemployment. What is not being done right? What have we done wrong? What needs to be done?”

There are factories in our region that need a five to seven year program to ensure that people can be self-supporting. There is no such program. Programs must be created in this country to fit these regions, instead of waiting for us in the regions to change to fit the programs. That is not how it is done. We are serious about addressing the problem of lack of work in the rural communities.

In my riding people are, again this year, having to live for three months without any income whatsoever. And why is that? Because they cannot draw employment insurance. This is serious. Nobody in our region can survive for three months with no money coming in without the danger of getting into a real bind. There is a surplus of close to $20 billion in the employment insurance fund, and yet these people are expected to survive with no income. Ridiculous.

This is a great pity. All this is a real eye opener for a newcomer to this place like myself, as we see bills appear that can work to the advantage of certain companies in this country. That is a sad thing.

I have met with young people and I have asked them “Is there any tax reform that can help you?” They tell me no. I have a young fellow working for me who is way over his head in debt. There was nothing in the last budget, or the one before that, to help him out. Nothing at all. In fact things are getting worse. For 10 years our students will get some assistance, but only 7% of them, while 90% of them will be left out, and there is nothing at all for them between now and the year 2000.

If the government does not start introducing bills and promising to make job creation the number one priority in this country, we will keep on having this problem of young people graduating and unable to find work. There are people who had jobs but lost them. Money is no longer circulating. It is a problem

It is not true that the economy is so wonderful. Come and live in my riding for a while and you will see that things are not that rosy. Our SMBs are trying, however. We are trying to develop them, but we need help. They cannot simply be told that they will have to go it alone now.

All Canadians should have the same rights, whether they are rich or poor, men, women or children. Everyone has the right to food on the table, a roof over their head, clothes to wear, and an education. These are not privileges, although it is starting to look like it. The way governments are operating, a post-secondary education is becoming a privilege. Imagine.

Then they have the nerve to say that companies cannot find trained students to work for them. Something is not right. Once again, I think it is a lack of planning. One has only to think of how many people are on unemployment insurance, which is now called employment insurance. They have tried to change how we think of it, but it is not employment insurance. When people go to an employment centre for unemployment insurance, they are not offered a job. That is not what happens.

The government has tried to convince Canadians otherwise, but I am sorry. And I will not call it employment insurance till people go to employment centres with their little pink slip to find a job there. There would go to these employment centres in search of a job. It is not the case at the moment. People get unemployment insurance because there are no jobs.

The name may be changed over and over again, but no one can convince me or the people that this is employment insurance, because this is not true. We must endeavour to put these people back to work.

We must also be realistic. We have to recognize the impact this reform will have in areas with a high unemployment rate. It is sad to see the situation young people are in. There is no planning. We need long term planning. We need financial assistance for groups willing to invest their time developing our natural resources, whether in fisheries or forestry.

There is potential in our region, hard working people. There are hard working people throughout the country, in regions where the unemployment rate is high. Professionals are supposed to be working to help these people. Where are they? Who is listening when we say we need these programs? I must say that we do not hear much, because I read in the newspaper that ACOA will lose one third of its funding. The government is cutting on both ends.

The same thing is happening in the fisheries. We know that we must ask ourselves some questions about the conservation of lobster and cod. Who are the people who are making decisions that are causing so many problems?

Obviously, the New Democratic Party opposes Bill C-28. I look forward to having the opportunity to debate in the House something that will help people. Perhaps, for once, the Liberal Party will finally give priority to the poor and the destitute and the small businesses that are hurting in Canada.

[Taxation, March 24th, 1998]

Mr. Speaker, the minister of the Department of Fisheries and Oceans is sacrificing Canadians' health, environment and economic well-being to benefit the activities of large oil companies.

The minister's weak response in the House last week was a pathetic attempt to answer the question I had put forth, asking if he would commit to implementing the Gold report recommendations and say no to retroactive fees.

By dodging this vital question, which affects the protection of Canada's waters from oil and chemical spills, the minister demonstrated to all Canadians why the problem associated with the Department of Fisheries and Oceans is not limited to the bureaucracy itself. This is a minister whose discretionary powers are used to circumvent the protection of fish habitat and ignore Fisheries Act regulations.

His decisions regarding the Cheviot mine and lack of action in the New Brunswick aquaculture are a testament to the minister's absolute disregard for environmental matters. The bottom line is that he is ignoring a panel of inquiry by not implementing the panel's recommendations.

Presently the DFO is determining the bulk oil cargo fee, which is designed to extract funds from oil companies to clean up their spills. A handful of major oil companies presently profit from the bulk oil cargo fee by laundering their fee through their own certified response organizations.

Moreover, the oiled wildlife response organizations subcontracted by the certified response organizations have no guaranteed funding to provide essential environmental and safety services, while the certified response organizations automatically receive the bulk oil cargo fee whether or not they perform the duties expected of them.

The Canadian Coast Guard is unable or unwilling to monitor the establishment, collection and allocation of the fee on an equitable basis. Furthermore, the DFO consistently refuses to publish reports on the fee structure and to consult the principal stakeholders involved in the bulk oil cargo fee.

What is worse, the certified response organizations receive guaranteed funding and make a great profit from it without providing the service. In some cases they state they can provide the service but end up utilizing expert organizations such as Maritime Atlantic Wildlife to carry out the service.

In addition, the certified response organizations claim that oiled wildlife response is not part of their mandate so they can pocket more money at the expense of both the environment and inevitably the taxpayer.

As a result of such activities, I propose that the DFO take immediate action toward the following three points: the creation of a non-profit, independent, national oil spill agency that would determine the fee structure, collect the fee, specify a fixed percentage for the other parties according to the need, such as oiled wildlife response organizations, and monitor the oil spill response organizations; forbid oil companies from owning any share in certified response organizations; and forbid non-Canadian owned response organizations from benefiting from the bulk oil cargo fee.

Over the last 31 months the fairness and equity of the bulk oil cargo fee have been well analysed. The overwhelming view of both government and independent studies demonstrate there are serious legal and viability problems. It is also the view of many including myself that it was the Tories who were responsible for creating this collusive, monopolistic practice by putting the interest of corporate greed ahead of fundamental principles.

Today I ask the Liberals to stop putting the interests of oil companies' pocketbooks ahead of the health of Canadians, our environment and our economic well-being.

[Taxation, March 24th, 1998]

Mr. Speaker, I thank you for giving me these two minutes. This is a very important issue.

I was a single mother for a long time. My son played hockey and it was always an additional cost in my budget. I always had to find ways to pay for registration fees, equipment, etc. All these things cost money.

I support the motion, but I am somewhat concerned by what the Reform Party member says about our taxes. It is true that Canadians pay a lot of taxes. We often hear that the government should reduce taxes, but the Reform Party never talks about the big corporations that do not pay their fair share. Reform always says that ordinary people pay too much taxes and it is true.

However, I was very concerned when I heard the hon. member say that the government should stop collecting taxes. This really concerns me. As we know, they want to give up our national programs, which are so important in this country, such as our health care program.

We invest in post-secondary education. We have social assistance for those who have nothing. We should think twice when Reform talks about taxes. What is its real objective?

We pay taxes for one reason: to get services. Americans may pay less taxes, but look at how much it costs when a mother delivers a baby, or when someone seeks medical help for a bout of the flu.

A motion to adjourn the House under Standing Order 38 deemed to have been moved.

[Job Creation, March 24th, 1998]

Mr. Speaker, many Canadians are still looking for those jobs the Liberals claim to have created.

The phone in my riding office has been ringing non-stop with calls from my constituents asking where those jobs are. Worse still, some of the people in my region no longer get EI because of the Liberal government's cuts.

When will the Prime Minister quit attacking the poor and start attacking the real problem, the lack of jobs, and when will he create a long-term job creation strategy to create real jobs rather than band-aid solutions like the ones announced by the Minister of Human Resources Development?

[Budget Implementation Act, 1998, March 24th, 1998]

Madam Speaker, I thank my colleague for everything he said. I totally agree with what he said. I would like his opinion on a few issues.

What is in the budget for regions that have very high unemployment rates and for the regions that are running out of unemployment because the UI program has been totally dismantled? What is in the budget to help somebody on a waiting list for months for heart surgery? What is in the budget to help a student who has a $50,000 loan? What is in the budget to help the people who are now paying 15% of the BST we have in New Brunswick and Nova Scotia that we now pay 15% on heating fuel?

What is in the budget to help the people who now have to pay on the toll highways in New Brunswick and Nova Scotia? What is in the budget for the people who have all these additional burdens and still have absolutely no jobs?

Could my colleague help Canadians across this country figure out what is in the budget to help all these people who are suffering today?

[The Environment, March 19th, 1998]

Mr. Speaker, the Department of Fisheries and Oceans may ignore a panel of inquiry and impose unfair oil spill response fees to be collected by big oil companies at the expense of small competitors.

There are serious concerns that the minister's decision may be retroactive and could increase gasoline and heating oil prices across Canada. Atlantic Canadians are still suffering from the HST impact on home fuels.

Will the minister commit today to implement the Gold report recommendations and say no to the retroactive fees?