House of Commons photo

Crucial Fact

  • His favourite word was workers.

Last in Parliament October 2015, as NDP MP for Davenport (Ontario)

Lost his last election, in 2019, with 41% of the vote.

Statements in the House

Infrastructure May 12th, 2014

Mr. Speaker, Toronto is a world-class city. It is a major engine that drives our national economy. However, two decades now of downloading and cuts by Liberals and Conservatives have left the city of Toronto with crumbling infrastructure and crippling gridlock. Now Conservative mismanagement is putting thousands of infrastructure projects at risk right across the country. Cities are still not clear even how to apply.

Why is the minister putting our construction season at risk with all these needless delays?

Music Monday May 5th, 2014

Mr. Speaker, I was lucky to have had a phenomenal music education when I went to school. I played the clarinet, saxophone, and the classical guitar, and the benefits of this experience have been immeasurable.

We know that a music education helps young people to learn, nurturing not only the soul but also the mind. Music education is good for the brain. It also helps build confidence, focus, discipline, communication skills, and empathy. It helps young people to see the world in a broader way. Perhaps, most importantly, it nurtures stronger communities. However, access to a music education should not be left to just luck and chance.

Fewer kids get any type of music training, and these programs are among the first to go when governments cut education budgets. This is the wrong way to go for our kids and our country.

Music Monday highlights the importance of providing all our children with access to music classes. I am proud and honoured to support this important campaign on behalf of the entire Davenport community in Toronto.

Petitions April 30th, 2014

Mr. Speaker, I rise on behalf of residents in my riding of Davenport in the great city of Toronto. These are folks from streets like Dufferin, Lindsey, Rusholme, and Macklem. The petitioners want the government to ban pay-to-pay fees. These are the fees that companies charge, largely seniors and those on fixed incomes, to get their bills in the mail.

Air Transportation April 30th, 2014

Mr. Speaker, the Toronto Port Authority was set up by the Liberals, against the wishes of the City of Toronto. Until 2001, the airport belonged to the city. Then the Liberals created an unelected, unaccountable port authority, taking control of the airport out of Toronto's hands and into Ottawa's. Now this unelected body thinks it is above the law and can cherry-pick which decisions of council to respect.

Will the government tell the Toronto Port Authority it must respect the democratic decisions of Toronto City Council?

Dan Heap April 29th, 2014

Mr. Speaker, the first time I voted for a winning candidate, it was for Dan Heap. I was thrilled because Dan Heap, who died last week at the age of 88, was the real deal.

Priest, politician, pacifist, socialist, a factory worker, and a father, his life was not about a career; it was about a calling. He believed in the social gospel of the common good. He fought for the rights of the little guy, those on the margins: low-wage workers, immigrants, the homeless, refugees. As a priest, Dan did not settle for the comfortable parish assignment, spending 18 years working on the factory floor. As a member of Parliament, he did not settle for the sound bite, challenging the Trudeau government of the day's decision to test cruise missiles in Canada.

Dan Heap walked the walk and countless activists followed. From John Sewell to Jack Layton, from Olivia Chow to many of my colleagues in this place, he will continue to inspire generations of Canadians to stand up for social justice, fight for equality, and work every day for peace around the world.

Protecting Canadians from Online Crime Act April 28th, 2014

Mr. Speaker, I listened to my colleague's speech and many of the speeches this afternoon with great interest because at the heart of it, all parties agree with the essential underpinning of part of this bill, which is to protect young people from cyberbullying.

However, there is a history here, and my hon. colleague from Dartmouth—Cole Harbour presented a bill 10 months ago that would have done exactly this. We have been asking the government, as we have on many other occasions, to split this bill to make this a much clearer declaration and protection for young people, and with the adoption of the measures that were in the previous bill that my colleague from Dartmouth—Cole Harbour presented.

Could my colleague answer a simple question? If this entire House is focused and agrees on the importance of this, why would the government muddy the waters by bringing in a variety of other issues including the imposition of a two-year sentence for somebody who steals cable? Why would that be thrown into a bill that is supposed to protect young people from cyberbullying?

Protecting Canadians from Online Crime Act April 28th, 2014

Mr. Speaker, I think that all of us here in this House would agree that protecting our children is paramount, and it does give one pause, on the one hand, that the provisions in the bill that actually go toward protecting children from cyberbullying were first introduced 10 months ago by my hon. colleague, the member for Dartmouth—Cole Harbour. Leave it to the current government to take 10 months to play politics with what I think all of us can agree is a very serious issue.

Then, on the other side, I spoke with many of the residents in my riding of Davenport in Toronto about the proposed online spying bill, and I did not meet a single person who could support that bill.

We have seen the government throw a lot of additional measures into its bills. Why, in this particular one, if the government wants to protect young people from cyberbullying, does it also have a measure in there to add a two-year sentence for someone who is stealing cable?

Petitions April 28th, 2014

Mr. Speaker, the second petition pertains to the safety of workers. The people who signed this petition are calling for a national urban workers strategy, which would, among other things, end the misuse and abuse of unpaid internship programs.

Petitions April 28th, 2014

Mr. Speaker, I have two petitions to present today.

The first petition comes from constituents, largely seniors, in my riding on streets like Delaware, Symington, and Earlscourt. They are getting charged an extra $2, $3, $4 a month just to get their bills in the mail. The petitioners call on the government to stop all pay-to-pay fees. I am honoured to present that on their behalf.

Petitions April 10th, 2014

Mr. Speaker, I too am proud to rise on behalf of the people of Davenport in the great city of Toronto who are among thousands who signed the Council of Canadians Democracy 24/7 petition. The petitioners are very concerned about the findings of the federal court, and they call on the government to launch an inquiry. They want real democratic electoral reform in this country.