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Crucial Fact

  • Her favourite word was information.

Last in Parliament May 2004, as Liberal MP for Brant (Ontario)

Won her last election, in 2000, with 56% of the vote.

Statements in the House

Vyrt Sisson February 8th, 1994

Mr. Speaker, everyone knows that a volunteer helps others, but Vyrt Sisson, a new retiree with an impressive record of service in the Brantford area has turned the tables and is helping volunteers.

Mr. Sisson has opened The Office at the YM-YWCA. This provides a place where retired or displaced business people have an office environment available to them to facilitate their work for volunteer organizations. So much more can be accomplished with the right equipment and atmosphere. Networking, co-operation, camaraderie; that is a great combination.

Leading by example has always been Mr. Sisson's style but this novel idea shows the impact one individual can have on a community.

I am bringing this to your attention because Mr. Sisson is a fine example of volunteerism in Brant.

Petitions February 8th, 1994

Mr. Speaker, I would like to present a petition on behalf of some constituents from the riding of Brant encouraging the government to look at the role and responsibilities of the Senate.

Pre-Budget Consultations February 1st, 1994

Mr. Speaker, I do not pretend to speak on behalf of the Minister of Finance. I cannot say that is going to be part of the budget. I will only reiterate his comments that he will develop a fair and equitable budget. I have every confidence in his ability and his commitment to do that.

Pre-Budget Consultations February 1st, 1994

Mr. Speaker, I would like to comment particularly on the unemployment insurance issue. I believe that the Minister of Human Resources Development has taken a very responsible approach to the UI increases. We have a debt in that bank. He took a minimum increase and froze it for two years. Hopefully our businesses can use that stability to help plan for the future.

With regard to NAFTA, I think we can compete. In my community we are currently working very hard to develop new economic clusters we believe will revitalize our economy.

I am certainly very much a part of the Liberal strategy that says debt and deficit management come from three areas, spending cuts, increased revenues, but most importantly economic growth.

Pre-Budget Consultations February 1st, 1994

I wish to congratulate the Minister of Finance for recognizing that the success of our next federal budget will be as dependent on the quality of the process that we use to identify and implement our budgetary measures as it will on the substance of those budgetary measures themselves.

Our Minister of Finance understands quite well that over the last number of years Canadians have come to feel very uncomfortable with the ways and means of government, and in fact this has translated into the inability of the previous government to implement effective and efficient government initiatives. Consider, for example, the GST.

We all know that if we are going to bring our financial situation into an acceptable state of control, we are going to need the combined and national commitment of all Canadians. It is not going to be good enough just for 176 Liberal members to say: "We can make a difference". We have to ensure that every single Canadian is committed to helping us bring down a $45 billion deficit and rein in a $500 billion debt.

This debate today provides us with a good opportunity to ensure that we get the commitment of Canadians to manage our deficit and our debt in a humane and acceptable way that is consistent with getting them back to work.

I applaud our Minister of Finance for his original speech, given on November 29 to the students at the Universities of Montreal and McGill where he committed himself and his ministry to an open and transparent process with no more private delegations. He wanted to hear what Canadians have to say. I congratulate him on the completion of four very good cross-country townhall meetings.

The minister in doing this gave each and every one of us as members of Parliament an opening to do the same thing in our constituencies. I challenged the minister on that and asked him if he would not send a member of his ministry into my riding to hear what the people of Brant have to say on this very topic of budget management. I was not surprised and was very pleased that he responded very quickly in the affirmative. On January 6, 1994, Mr. Karl Littler, a member of the minister's office, came to the riding of Brant and listened for three hours to what my constituents had to say on this topic. It is that information I would like to share with the House today.

First of all, and it was not surprising, my constituents said we have to restore integrity in government. Otherwise meetings like the one I held and debates like this mean nothing. Fortunately, Mr. Littler's attendance at the meeting indicated to my constituents that this government does intend to do business differently and so we carried on with our agenda.

My constituents said they wanted a clearer and a more understandable way of keeping on top of how the government spends its money and collects its revenues over the course of the year. They were extremely uncomfortable with the previous Prime Minister's response, or lack of response, to the now Leader of the Opposition's question during the leadership debate on the state of the nation and what the size of the deficit really was.

We talked at length about the GST, about its failure and about possible solutions to it. By and large my constituents felt that a melding of the federal and provincial retail sales tax would make sense but small business warned us against implementing procedures that would negate the money, the time and the effort they had already put into accommodating the goods and services tax to date.

Other small business owners and the farmers in my riding indicated the importance of capital gains exemptions and RRSPs to them. For them they are the main tools, in fact, in many cases the only tools they have to provide and plan for their retirement. They understand changes may be necessary but they want them done in a fair and equitable fashion.

Other members of my constituency, some who work in the real estate business, others who build homes and others who are looking to buy their first house asked that the minister consider continuing the home buyer's plan. At the point of our conversations they understood that plan was a no cost plan to the government and had in fact encouraged economic development in our community.

I was interested by other constituents who spoke in support of arts and culture. One constituent in particular stated he believed that for every dollar spent on the arts $7 more were generated in spin-off purchases. It was suggested that a tax break for Canadians who choose to donate to the arts be created, something like what we have for Canadians who choose to contribute to political parties.

We talked about a number of other things. There was support, for example, for a national debt reduction fund. There was support for an interesting idea where we might provide tax breaks to businesses that offer new, permanent and long-term jobs to the community.

There were a number of very interesting ideas but the one which received the most debate, most conversation and the most support was one which was presented by an individual. He called it GAMI, a guaranteed annual minimum income.

We have talked about guaranteed annual incomes for a number of years, since the 1960s in fact. Every time we take a look at our income support systems we think about a guaranteed income. The Croll Senate report on poverty talked about a basic income, as did the Castonguay-Neveu report in Quebec and later on the Manitoba basic annual income experiment. In the 1980s the Macdonald commission and the Forget commission all talked about and gave real consideration to a guaranteed annual income.

There are those who will say that this kind of negative tax strategy will not work, it will instil poverty across our nation. I believe there are strategies to avoid that and some of them are mentioned in the Macdonald commission report.

There are others that say we cannot offer a guaranteed income to able-bodied Canadians because they will not work. I submit that Canadians will work. We found over the course of this election that Canadians want the dignity of work and a guaranteed income will not stop them from going to work.

In fact data we are now analyzing from the Mincome experiment in Manitoba suggests there is not a really strong relationship between a guaranteed income and a refusal to work. It does not exist.

Others will say we cannot afford that approach. Interestingly enough the gentleman who proposed the GAMI at our meeting was to my mind probably more a part of the right wing of the political spectrum than the left wing. He saw real opportunity to streamline the number of programs we have now to support Canadians and their income. He saw an opportunity to reduce the bureaucracies we have built up around unemployment insurance, old age security, WCB, some provincial programs as well.

What I am seeing is that we may have a window here where the left and the right and where all provinces across this country may now be able to come together.

I started my comments by congratulating the Minister of Finance on a step change in process toward budget consultation. I now ask him to consider a step change in the substance of what many of our programs might look at, the one that we spend a majority of our money on, income security.

It will take some work and we will not be able to do it in the 1994 budget but I believe as Liberals we have a mandate for a number of years and we do have to seriously consider the notion of a guaranteed annual minimum income.

I have given you some highlights of the meeting I held in my constituency on January 6. In closing I would like to recognize that the citizens of Brant know that the minister has a difficult task ahead. They appreciated the opportunity to share their ideas, provide advice and direction.

They hope and expect that he will listen to a number of their ideas and they also expect that those ideas which are not incorporated are talked about after the process and the reasons why they were not considered will also be shared. The process must continue. It must go on.

This is the kind of process to which our government is committed. Certainly our minister has indicated that is the way it will be. I wish him well on the tough road ahead and would like him to know that the people of Brant appreciate his continued support and openness.

Social Security System January 31st, 1994

Madam Speaker, I would like to congratulate the member for Wetaskiwin on his intervention.

I felt compelled to comment on what he said concerning the Canadian youth service corps. The member needs to understand that these programs are just that. They are programs. As members we have a great opportunity to work with our local communities to ensure that the programs considered and used in our ridings do provide good quality opportunities for our young people.

To my mind, that is part of the role of the member of Parliament. I would encourage the hon. member to consider that just because the government presents these programs, it does not mean that the government does not encourage and want the participation of all members of this House to make sure these programs work effectively and efficiently.

Speech From The Throne January 28th, 1994

Madam Speaker, just a short comment. Congratulations to the hon. member for Wild Rose, a marvellous name for a constituency and for a very impassioned speech.

I would like to point out that as we look through the total throne speech there are only very short references to all the important aspects this government will be focusing on.

We had the pleasure of having almost every single minister stand up in this House and broaden their perspective, including the Minister of Justice yesterday. I point that out to the member. If he did not hear it yesterday I hope the hon. member will read the speech by the hon. Minister of Justice, his lengthy dissertation on all his points of focus, many of which were mentioned in the hon. member's speech today.

Speech From The Throne January 27th, 1994

Mr. Speaker, absolutely. There is no question that not everything can be moved. There is no question that we have to look at the economics. However, I think we have to look at the longer term.

While there may be costs associated with the physical move and with restructuring and organizing particular agencies or departments selected to move, in the longer term there is a tremendous advantage to be held. It would be a very broad advantage for the country. I mentioned several reasons why that is important.

I do not want the hon. member to get me wrong. Certainly there is a reason for many government departments and ministries to stay centralized.

As I look at our need to stabilize economies across this country, in my area and particularly in the east, I think of the money that we put in in terms of unemployment insurance and social services and think maybe we should also be providing government jobs.

Speech From The Throne January 27th, 1994

Mr. Speaker, I appreciate the question.

I do not see these projects as only being of value in the short term. We are very anxious of course to get the shovels in the ground in my community because we do need job creation.

Certainly in the discussions that I have had with all my municipalities there is a true expectation that this work will provide longer term opportunities. It will provide economic benefits to Brantford, Paris, South Dumfries and Brantford township.

I have been extremely excited by the energy that all the municipal councils have shown toward the project. They feel they do have the moneys and can reallocate moneys collected for these projects.

I have no hesitation in supporting the program and encouraging it to other municipalities.

Speech From The Throne January 27th, 1994

Mr. Speaker, it is an honour and a privilege for me to rise in my place as a new member for the riding of Brant and participate in this throne speech debate.

Before I make my comments in that regard, I would like to thank the people from the riding of Brant for electing me as their representative to this House. As well, I would like to recognize the contribution made to this House and to my riding by my predecessor, Mr. Derek Blackburn. I wish him well on his appointment to the Immigration Board and thank him for accepting that appointment prior to the call of the 1993 federal election. Certainly that is one political appointment that I will not argue with the previous government.

Mr. Speaker, I would like to recognize you and congratulate you on your appointment to the Chair and on behalf of the people of Brant congratulate the Speaker for being elected as our presiding officer. I have every confidence in his ability to keep our House in order and I offer all my support and my co-operation in that regard.

There are a couple of things I would like to share with the House this morning. First of all, I would like everyone to know why I so strongly support the speech from the throne as it was presented to us by the Governor General on the opening of this historic 35th Parliament.

Second, I would like to offer to the government an idea. It is not a new idea, but it is one which, if implemented more broadly, would help us effect real change in government.

Why do I support so strongly the agenda that has been presented to us in the speech from the throne? In a word, it is because it is practical. The people of Brant are tired of smoke and mirrors. They want no nonsense. They want a common sense approach to the challenges that face us. What we find in the speech from the throne is just that.

Take, for example, the infrastructure program. It is a program that can be used by municipalities all across the country. My riding of Brant is a wonderful mix of rural and urban. Brantford and South Dumfries townships boast some of the most fertile and productive farm land in Ontario and they are dotted with beautiful historical villages like Glen Morris, Mount Pleasant, Harrisburg and the community in which my family has been for over six generations, the village of St. George.

We need road improvements to connect our rural residents with these villages and with our urban centres, the town of Paris and the city of Brantford. Paris is a wonderful town, located between the rivers Nith and Grand. It needs new sewers for their residential areas. On the other hand, the city of Brantford needs support to improve its landfill site, its water treatment facilities and its roads if it is going to compete for the economic development that we so sorely need. The infrastructure program makes sense. It is practical for the people in my riding and I believe members will find it is practical for the people in theirs.

When we look at the government's approach to small and medium sized business we see yet another set of practical strategies. In my riding we have historically depended on the manufacture of farm implements and farm equipment. Companies like Cockshutt, then White, Massey-Harris, then Massey-Ferguson, are the companies that employed the people of Brant.

Not very long ago the city of Brant boasted having 5,000 of the highest paying manufacturing jobs in North America. However, those jobs are all gone. Those companies are all closed and we, like many communities, are now trying to rebuild our economy. We know that it is small and medium sized businesses that are going to do that for us. My employers are very supportive of this government's understanding that they need better access to capital and less government red tape. They need support if we are to build local economic, industrial clusters.

As a final example of our government's practicality let us look at the approach to youth and youth employment. Again, two very practical programs have been suggested. The national apprenticeship program is one example. It is a very important strategy for us because we need to transfer our young people more effectively from school to the work place.

It might interest members to know that the city of Brantford, despite a population of over 100,000 people, does not have its own post-secondary educational institution. This is a real liability for us. It means that we do not have a history of lifelong learning. It means it is very difficult for us to attract new high tech investment.

When we think of the apprenticeship program we see some possibilities for partnerships to be forged between the private sector and government, perhaps in starting technological institutes that can help with apprenticeship training. Of course, we believe Brantford is a perfect place for such an institute.

We talk about the national youth services corps, an idea that received great support in my riding over the course of the campaign. There are a number of organizations in my riding that could provide opportunities for our young people. One of our great natural resources is the Grand River. It is a wide, slow moving river that comes right through the centre of my riding.

The Brant Waterways Committee, I am sure, has environmentally related jobs that would help our young people get that very important first work experience.

There is also a vibrant seniors community in my riding and the opportunity for inter-generational work, training and experiences exist. Our schools need young people to help younger people learn to read, write, do math and improve their computer skills.

When I read the speech from the throne I saw all kinds of opportunities for me as a member to go back to my riding and work with the people to make things better and to improve our local economy.

However, there is one idea that is not included in the speech from the throne and I would like to suggest it to the government for consideration. It is the idea of government decentralization; of taking certain government agencies, ministries and departments and moving them out of large urban centres like Ottawa and Toronto into smaller centres like those in my community.

The people of my riding are very supportive of this notion. In fact, we had been promised the relocation of the computer and telecommunications services department of the provincial government into our riding early in 1993. This made a lot of sense to us because Brantford is the telephone city. It is where Alexander Graham Bell made the first long distance phone call between Brantford and Paris.

We were very excited about the possibility and expected this relocation to occur. Unfortunately, with the change in government, there was a decision made to cancel that program. With that cancellation came depression, not only economic but social, to my community.

Decentralization is an interesting idea. It is not new. However, it can help us meet a number of our priorities. It can help improve economic equality across the country. It can help improve the physical and social well-being of Canadians. It is a strategy that we can use as we look to streamline the public service and increase participatory democracy. It certainly would require us to make quantum leaps in the development and use of the electronic highway.

Whether the federal government chooses to utilize the strategy of decentralization by itself or in concert with the provincial governments, as we try to affect reduction in duplications of government servicing or in new and innovative ways by working with the private sector in out-sourcing models and concepts, I believe that government decentralization is an idea whose time has come. I would encourage all our ministers as they look at their departmental management to consider this strategy. If they find that they have opportunities, particularly in the area of telecommunications, agriculture, the environment and others, I hope they would think of the riding of Brant.

I have enjoyed the opportunity to share with the members of this House a little bit about the riding that I represent. I also appreciate the opportunity to share with them the reasons why I so strongly support the agenda that has been put before us in the speech from the throne.

I would ask them all to vote in favour of the motion that is on the floor, put there by my colleague, the member for Bruce-Grey, and seconded by my colleague, the member for Madawaska-Victoria.