Ed Broadbent

[Criminal Code, April 22nd, 2005]

moved for leave to introduce Bill C-369, an act to amend the Criminal Code (legal duty outside Canada).

Mr. Speaker, I have the honour to introduce a bill entitled an act to amend the Criminal Code, legal duty outside Canada.

The bill is about the health and safety of workers employed by Canadian companies outside of our country. It would internationalize the present Westray bill and extend to foreign workers of Canadian companies the same health and safety protections that are guaranteed to their workers in Canada.

Essentially, when it comes to health and safety, companies and their directors would no longer be able to do abroad what they are not permitted to do on Canadian soil.

(Motions deemed adopted, bill read the first time and printed)

[Liberal Party of Canada, April 21st, 2005]

Mr. Speaker, once again the minister has done it. She has talked about individuals but refuses to acknowledge the collective responsibility for her party.

Is the Prime Minister, who refused earlier to answer these questions in the House, finally going on television tonight to make an apology to the people of Canada for his party's wrongdoing, an apology that he should have made days ago in the House of Commons?

[Liberal Party of Canada, April 21st, 2005]

Mr. Speaker, my question is for the Deputy Prime Minister and it refers to an earlier answer that she gave in the House.

Day after day we have learned more details about the trail of missing public money. Day after day ministers of the crown, including the Deputy Prime Minister today, have said that responsible individuals will be punished.

When will a minister of the government acknowledge that virtually all of these individuals are members of the Liberal Party and apologize to the people of Canada for the wrongdoing of the Liberal Party?

[Government Policies, April 13th, 2005]

Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister is making a complete mockery of his moral responsibility to deal with issues in the House of Commons.

Considering that the Liberals have broken promises on health care, day care, child poverty and post-secondary education, when is the government going to understand that broken promises undermine moral authority also?

[The Environment, April 13th, 2005]

Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister has said that he has the moral authority to speak out on issues. I want to say to him that when the Leader of the Opposition asks a question about corruption and he replies with a question to the Leader of the Opposition about health care, he completely undermines the office of the Prime Minister. He should check the moral authority.

When I left politics 15 years ago, the Prime Minister was talking about the need to deal with climate change. When I returned a year ago, he was still talking about the need to deal with climate change. Today we have a program that ignores the promise.

[World Health Day, April 6th, 2005]

Mr. Speaker, tomorrow is World Health Day. The theme this year is “Make Every Mother and Child Count”.

The global reality for women and children is that issues concerning their health are a low priority and Canada's Liberal government is no exception.

In a recent UNICEF report on child poverty, Canada ranked a shameful 19 out of 26. This confirmed what we already know; that the government has completely failed to live up to its 15-year-old commitment to eliminate child poverty.

Another report by the United Nations reveals that in the past decade the number of women living in poverty continues to increase.

Poverty is the number one determinate of ill health. If mothers are living in poverty then their children are living in poverty. It is that simple.

We call on the Liberal government to bring forward progressive legislation that will make a real difference in the lives of the thousands of mothers and their children who are now living in poverty. Let us get on with it.

[Housing, March 11th, 2005]

Mr. Speaker, there is not a student association in Canada, au Québec ou dans les autres provinces, that would agree with that ridiculous statement. Thousands of Canadian students are going into debt every year.

My supplementary question is for the Minister of Labour and Housing. Not only did the government break its commitment to students, but it broke its commitment to thousands of Canadians who are looking for affordable housing.

Why did the government promise $1.5 billion new money for affordable housing and not deliver a penny in the budget?

[Post-Secondary Education, March 11th, 2005]

Mr. Speaker, my question is for the Deputy Prime Minister.

More than 100,000 students in Quebec are now on strike. This is a symptom of the Liberals' failure in education, all over Canada.

In the budget there was not a cent to reduce tuition fees; nothing to reduce student debt, except in the case of death. It is clear the Liberal Party has not kept its word.

Why are the young people of Canada now joining in the chorus of “Promises made, students betrayed?”

[Housing, March 11th, 2005]

Mr. Speaker, last week there was a disappointing but not surprising report on homelessness in Ottawa.

According to nationally accepted housing standards, families should be able to meet their housing needs on only 30% of their income. However, here in Ottawa, over 65,000 families are paying in excess of 30% of their income on housing, leaving them at serious risk of becoming homeless. In addition, at some point last year over 8,500 people in Ottawa actually were homeless. This is happening here in the Nation's Capital.

Last week's budget did not include the $1.5 billion new money that the Liberals promised for affordable housing. Instead, corporations were handed a $4.6 billion corporate tax break. Liberal priorities are clear: nothing for those who need housing and billions for already profitable corporations.

These are not the values that Canadians voted for last June.

[The Budget, February 24th, 2005]

I thank you for your assistance, Mr. Speaker.

In their first budget the Liberals have betrayed the people of Canada by producing a budget only Conservatives can love. They have cut corporate taxes by a whopping $4.6 billion. At the same time, the budget does nothing for poor children, nothing for housing, nothing for farmers and nothing for students.

This hypocritical budget will not be supported by the NDP.