Andrew Cash

[Business of Supply, February 14th, 2013]

Mr. Speaker, I will take my hon. colleague at her word and will leave some of the rhetoric aside.

It is a simple question that I have for her. Do the Conservatives believe that the high numbers of missing and murdered women in Canada constitute a public safety emergency? If not, why not?

[Business of Supply, February 14th, 2013]

Mr. Speaker, thank you for that timely reminder.

I want to underline the word that my hon. colleague from Winnipeg used, which was “gesture”. That party over in the corner is very good with gestures. One of the reason it is not in government anymore is because all it gave Canadians were gestures. It never backed those gestures up with actual action on the file.

Therefore, I want to ask the member how he squares the circle. Here we have a motion that falls short of calling for a full public inquiry, which all the speeches we hear from the corner suggest they also believe is necessary. However, that is not what the motion is about. Why are the Liberals calling for a committee to be struck and not a full public inquiry?

[Business of Supply, February 14th, 2013]

Mr. Speaker, this has been an afternoon of some very moving and heartfelt speeches on what can only be called a major crisis in this country. It is a crisis into which we on our side, along with many in first nation and aboriginal communities, have been calling for a public inquiry. As members have noted, the motion before the House today falls quite short of that.

Does my hon. colleague feel that this is not the step that would get us where we need to be in Canada? As she has rightly pointed out, we have the studies. It is time for action. I would like the member to comment on this reality, this time for action.

[Business of Supply, February 14th, 2013]

Mr. Speaker, indeed we do recognize that this is a small step forward, but the 1996 report of the Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples identified a number of factors that are linked to violence in aboriginal communities, among them systemic discrimination, economic and social deprivation, alcohol substance abuse, intergenerational cycles of violence and getting at the root of these.

The New Democrats have called on the federal government to implement the recommendations of this report. Both the Liberals in the past government and the Conservatives now failed to implement these recommendations. The Assembly of First Nations published a report card ten years after the report, citing that Canada has failed in terms of action on this report.

Where is the action on this report? Will the government take this seriously?

[Horseshoe Tavern, February 6th, 2013]

Mr. Speaker, one of Canada's landmark cultural icons, the Horseshoe Tavern, recently celebrated its 65th anniversary. This is a huge accomplishment.

Often when we think of the arts in Canada, the opera, the ballet and the symphony come to mind. However, it is in the ramshackle clubs, the backrooms, the storefronts and the church basements of the nation where most of the artists that Canada is so rightly proud of first learned their craft.

The Horseshoe has always been a leader in this tradition, providing a valuable training ground for at the time unknowns from Stompin' Tom to Nickelback, k.d. lang to The Tragically Hip, and even a couple of future MPs. No one does this kind of thing because it makes a lot of money. People do it because they love music. They want to share that music and they believe in the great talent that we have here in Canada.

Today I want to pay tribute to one of the longest-running live music venues in North America by wishing a happy 65th anniversary to the Horseshoe Tavern. Thanks for helping put Canadian music on the map.

[Employment Insurance, February 4th, 2013]

Mr. Speaker, the recent changes to EI are another example how out of touch the Conservatives are with Canadians in the arts and culture sector. Instead of supporting them, they have left them out in the cold, and it is the young workers who are affected the most. Often they work contract to contract, and in between they are looking for the next job. That is how it works. That is what Conservatives do not understand. When will they stop characterizing all unemployed as the bad guys and start taking seriously the issues of work in the arts and culture sector?

[Consumer Protection, January 30th, 2013]

Mr. Speaker, yesterday I asked a very straightforward question, but the Minister of Finance's answer showed that he was more than a little confused. I understand that he is distracted these days, writing letters on behalf of his friends, so I am going to give it another shot.

Many federally regulated businesses are now charging their customers an extra fee just to receive their bill in the mail. It is like a tax on bills. Can someone over there tell us clearly what they will do to protect Canadians from this—

[Consumer Protection, January 29th, 2013]

Mr. Speaker, it is a code that is not working if one is a senior. It is the most vulnerable being hit here: seniors, people on fixed incomes, people with little or no access to the Internet. The CRTC has said the fee is “an increased burden on consumers on limited incomes”.

Instead of going to bat for their big business buddies and their insider friends who are well connected, when will the Conservatives stand up and protect Canadian seniors from this ripoff?

[Consumer Protection, January 29th, 2013]

Mr. Speaker, while the Minister of Finance was out there breaking ethics rules lobbying the CRTC in his capacity as minister, thousands of regular Canadians were also out there trying to make their voices heard about a new unfair billing practice. Over 10,000 people have already signed a petition against forcing Canadians to pay a fee just to receive their bill in the mail, the way they always have.

It is a simple question. When will the Conservatives stand up and protect Canadians from being ripped off?

[Faster Removal of Foreign Criminals Act, January 29th, 2013]

Mr. Speaker, the issue of new Canadians and newcomers to our country is one that is a completely simplified issue and the government loves to paint things in very simple lines. The fact is it not simple. We have families that come to our country and they contribute greatly. The newcomers of today are the excellent citizens of Canada tomorrow. This is the history of our country.

With the rhetoric that constantly comes from the other side, one would think that new Canadian communities were a hotbed of criminal activity. It is just not the case. We have to deal with violent crime and violent criminals. The bill overreaches, oversteps and most experts share that opinion.