Albina Guarnieri

[Government Policies, December 7th, 2007]

Mr. Speaker, the Liberal Party chose to abstain from voting on last month's economic statement because the government has itself abstained from acting on the crucial issues facing the nation.

The cost of employing Canadians is now 50% higher in U.S. dollars than it was just five years ago. The pressure on exporters to cut costs and cut jobs is growing. Yet the government remains so oblivious that it is actually trying to boost imports from Korea with an unfair trade agreement that will cost Canadian jobs.

On the environment, a $14 billion surplus did not shake a dime free to support action on climate change. The government could have given the provinces more green for being green by providing a cent for every kilowatt hour of green energy they produce, but there is not a penny for our thoughts if our thoughts are about the environment.

The government has had a surplus of opportunity, but suffers a deficit of direction on the crucial issues of our time.

[Identity Theft, November 26th, 2007]

Mr. Speaker, last week the government claimed to be addressing identity theft without touching industries that traffic in surreptitiously obtained personal information and credit histories.

There is nothing to prevent retailers from violating the privacy of customers by selling purchase histories, unlisted phone numbers, and credit information to U.S. based telemarketing firms.

Worse, these firms are under no legal obligation to reveal the source of credit histories they purchase to target Canadians for U.S. credit card companies. Regrettably, the same information that makes someone a candidate for pre-approved credit also makes the person a candidate to be a victim of fraud.

I ask the government to take immediate steps to prevent companies from selling personal information without obtaining consent.

If the government is serious about curbing identity theft, it cannot allow a free for all in the possession and sale of the ammunition that makes identity theft possible.

[Infrastructure, November 13th, 2007]

Mr. Speaker, in Canada, nation building is about building our cities into stronger economic engines and better homes, but instead of cities growing stronger, they face a crumbling future under a $100 billion municipal infrastructure deficit and a federal government that refuses to share its record surplus.

Last week, when they appealed to Ottawa for investment, the Conservative government effectively told our cities to get out of town. And now Mississauga's Hazel McCallion has told property taxpayers to expect huge tax increases to fill the funding void left by Canada's new government.

I call on the government to stop choosing short term vote buying over long term nation building and start funding the future by funding our cities.

[Remembrance Day, November 2nd, 2007]

Mr. Speaker, last Remembrance Day, 28 young Canadians serving in Afghanistan were among those who stood to honour fallen friends and a century of sacrifice by our nation's veterans.

This Remembrance Day, they are among those we pause to remember. They are among the more than 116,000 Canadians who have given their lives in the wars of their time so we could have peace in our time.

In their silent moment on November 11, Canadians should reflect on the price of the peace that surrounds them and remember that every year lived in freedom is a year owed to a veteran.

[Sri Lanka, June 13th, 2007]

Mr. Speaker, after a year during which the Sri Lankan army killed humanitarian workers and bombed civilians, we learned last week that Tamil civilians had been driven out of the capital at gunpoint.

When international groups protested these mass expulsions, the Sri Lankan defence secretary accused the international community, especially the U.K. and European nations, of bullying his country over human rights.

Meanwhile, the Government of Canada has remained relatively silent, and has not followed the lead of Great Britain, Germany and the United states by cutting off aid to Sri Lanka.

It is time for Canada to finally suspend aid and trade until the Sri Lankan government starts respecting the human rights of Tamil civilians.

[Veterans Affairs, June 12th, 2007]

Mr. Speaker, the minister is a broken record defending his broken promises.

In addition to stalling a $3 billion election promise on agent orange, the minister has reversed his pre-election position that agent orange disability claims should be automatically approved. In fact, in just the last fiscal year, over 700 agent orange claims have been rejected while only 19 have been approved.

Why has the minister taken so long to deliver so little after promising so much?

[Veterans Affairs, June 12th, 2007]

Mr. Speaker, yesterday the Prime Minister told Nova Scotians that if they wanted him to keep his word, they would have to go to court.

Veterans affected by agent orange are already going to court as the Prime Minister continues to stall a compensation package in cabinet.

I ask the Prime Minister, will he finally pay up, or does he plan to betray veterans the same way he betrayed Nova Scotia, Newfoundland, and Saskatchewan?

[Veterans Affairs, June 8th, 2007]

The minister might think that he is the Artful Dodger, but the government is sounding more like Fagan.

The minister was fond of saying when in opposition that studies are just a way for the government to get to the next election without offering compensation. Now that the election is delayed, he says that these fact-finding missions are important.

I ask the minister directly, does he have no plan at all? Is he stalling until the next election or was his plan rejected by the Prime Minister?

[Veterans Affairs, June 8th, 2007]

Mr. Speaker, we might as well be waiting for Godot. We have heard that promise before.

[Veterans Affairs, June 8th, 2007]

Mr. Speaker, in December 2005 the Prime Minister gave his word to 150,000 veterans that they would receive immediate and full compensation for potential exposure to defoliants at Gagetown.

The Minister of Veterans Affairs promised to deliver a compensation package by fall 2006. In January he said it was weeks away, then it was the spring, and then this week he voted for a budget that did not identify a single dime for agent orange compensation.

I ask simply why he cannot keep a deadline and why can he not keep a promise and keep the Prime Minister's word to Canada's veterans?