Bonnie Brown

[Parental Leave, October 25th, 1999]

Mr. Speaker, through our monitoring and assessment report, we have learned to become concerned about some of the unintended effects of the 1996 reform. We are working on those. Our first announcement has been to double the parental benefits allowable under EI for maternity leave. We are also examining the question of hours at this time.

[Division No. 5, October 19th, 1999]

Madam Speaker, the Speech from the Throne clearly indicates that children are the highest priority of the government. Raising the next generation of Canadians is everyone's concern and that is why we are doubling the EI period of parental leave. That is why early childhood development is a key theme in the national children's agenda.

As part of that agenda, we are committed to working jointly with our partners to develop an agreement on early childhood development by December 2000, an agreement with principles, objectives and fiscal parameters and a five year timetable for increased funding to achieve our shared objective.

We recognize that child care and indeed many services for children fall under provincial and territorial jurisdiction but we have already made great strides with the provinces to improve the well-being of children. The centrepiece of our progress is the national child benefit. Thanks to the national child benefit, $2 billion will be going to modest and low income families with children by July 2000, bringing total federal assistance for families and children to almost $7 billion a year.

Through the NCB, provinces and territories are reinvesting in complementary services for children and eight provinces have already invested in child care. The member's own province of B.C. has had $80 million extra to invest in children, some of which they have chosen to invest in child care.

We, the Government of Canada, have also acted on our own through the First Nations Inuit child care program which has created or improved more than 7,000 child care spaces. Through the visions program, we are supporting research projects to improve the quality of child care across the country.

These initiatives are solid contributions to child care in Canada and the Speech from the Throne provides the potential to do much more.

[Foreign Publishers Advertising Services Act, June 9th, 1999]

Mr. Speaker, I am not the least bit embarrassed that the member opposite thinks I remained too calm in answering her earlier question.

In fact the electors in my riding expect me to remain calm, analytical and have an intellectual approach to the subject in front of me, and I think that is the approach of the government. It is only in so doing that one can be a true steward of the nation's resources and come up with programming that addresses the true needs of people and does not respond in some hysterical fashion to some new statistics that come out of a study.

I assure the member that we too are concerned about making sure that EI is fair and accessible to women. We agree with her that claims by women for regular benefits dropped by four percentage points more than claims by men in 1997-98, and this concerns us.

The minister's officials are now in the process of determining why the number of claims went down. The reasons for this decline are not easy to see and not clear. In fact there seems to be several factors at play. Let me assure the member that we are trying to get a clearer understanding and we are looking at various options that could rectify the situation.

I would like to take this opportunity to remind the House that several features of the EI program benefit women. The move to an hours based system, for example, was in large part about helping women out of the 14 hour job trap.

We also know that two-thirds of the people who get the more generous family income supplement are women, that 58% of the small week claims were made by women, and that the reach back provision for active employment measures means women who stayed at home to raise their children can benefit from these measures for up to five years in order to help them get back into the workforce.

We are committed to making sure that EI benefits are fair and accessible for all women, but we are also committed to helping women who wish to enter or re-enter the workforce. Our efforts will continue in that direction.

[Foreign Publishers Advertising Services Act, June 9th, 1999]

Mr. Speaker, the minister and I both agree with the member for Mississauga South on the need for quality service from Human Resources Development Canada to Canadians who have lost their jobs and approach HRDC for help.

The minister did have a town hall electronic session with officials and employees of HRDC from across Canada to discuss how the department could go further in terms of ensuring that Canadians get the very best service possible and that people are treated with respect, compassion and caring when they come to the department for help. As a result of this meeting, several initiatives are now underway at HRDC.

For example, HRDC is committed to ensuring its clients can better understand the rules and regulations behind various programs. It will also make sure that all of its communications with citizens are written in plain language and in an appropriate and friendly tone.

The department will do more to look into hardship cases and complex EI claims to ensure a fair and consistent application of policies and to tell people of available resource mechanisms they might use. Many of the local offices already have public liaison officers who help in this manner.

HRDC is committed to adopting consistent processes for collecting overpayments to ensure that an individual's capacity to repay is respected and that the repayment schedules reflect individual circumstances and take into account cases of hardship. HRDC will also find new ways of consulting and talking to Canadians to ensure that our standards measure up to their expectations and are meaningful to them.

That just scratches the surface of the multitude of initiatives the minister has undertaken to ensure that HRDC's excellent service becomes even better. This commitment is firm and honest and Canadians will be the beneficiaries.

[Foreign Publishers Advertising Services Act, June 9th, 1999]

Mr. Speaker, the minister shares the member's concern about the Sioux Lookout Zone Hospital. However, I must say that in a free society no government at any level can make individual doctors or individual nurses choose to serve in that location. It is a matter of coaxing and it is a matter of offering incentives. We have done that.

In November 1998 Health Canada signed an agreement with McMaster University for physician services within the Sioux Lookout zone. A new compensation package was developed to assist physician recruitment into this area. McMaster University representatives remain optimistic that the number of physicians in the area will significantly increase in the next short while.

The hospital is open and is currently offering as many in-services as possible. The emergency department will reopen when there are sufficient physicians to ensure continuity of care and safe practice within the hospital setting.

Health Canada has been working on innovative strategies for the recruitment and retention of nurses. It has formed a working group involving first nations, the Professional Institute of the Public Service of Canada and Health Canada representatives.

In addition the Minister of Health established a Sioux Lookout zone working group which is a partnership between Health Canada and the first nations to address and resolve the zone's health situation, including the issues of physician and nurse shortages.

Health Canada is also committed to working with all parties on the amalgamation of the existing provincial health facility and the Sioux Lookout Zone Hospital. This will eventually lead to a new provincial hospital with a two-thirds first nations board representation.

The Minister of Health during his visit in April participated in a round table meeting on health care and reaffirmed his commitment to work in partnership with all parties impacted by the situation. He encouraged all parties to contribute toward solutions to address the problems in the long and short term.

[Division No. 504, May 31st, 1999]

Mr. Speaker, I vote no to the motion.

(The House divided on Motion No. 128, which was agreed to on the following division:)

[Division No. 475, May 31st, 1999]

Mr. Speaker, I wish to add my name to the no list.

[Government Grants, May 31st, 1999]

Mr. Speaker, the opposition persists in mixing up two proposals from the same proponent to two different programs HRDC provides. They put forward the proposal for the wage subsidy program which did not require a business plan.

Our officials decided that the proposal being put forward fit better with another program which did require a business plan. Once it was provided that proposal was accepted.

[National Child Benefit, May 14th, 1999]

Mr. Speaker, the national child benefit goals are clear to all of us. They are to reduce and prevent child poverty, to promote attachment to the workforce, and to reduce overlap and duplication.

Today, as the questioner mentioned, the first report of the national child benefit will be tabled in Quebec City. The progress report begins to fulfil the commitment of ministers to report regularly to the Canadian public in an open and transparent way on this important initiative.

It is a concrete demonstration of the commitment of the Government of Canada to the social union framework principles. The progress report will be available to the public.

[Children, May 7th, 1999]

Mr. Speaker, I think it is good news for all Canadians who are sick of jurisdictional wrangling. They are happy to see a new level of co-operation that the publication of the national children's agenda document represents. On the subject of children, we know that Canadian children do not all have the same chance to get a good start in life and in fact that erodes the equality of opportunity we purport to represent.