Andrew Cash

[Petitions, September 27th, 2012]

Mr. Speaker, I rise today on behalf of the members of my riding of Davenport in Toronto who continue to express concern over Bill C-31. This petition calls for the reversal of some of the more egregious elements of that bill.

[Employment Insurance, September 26th, 2012]

Mr. Speaker, it is clear, the minister either does not get it or just does not care.

Let us take the $5 billion TV and film industry which employs about 130,000 people on a project-by-project basis. In between projects, workers are out there hustling for their next gig. That is how this works. To force them from their field is to rip the muscle right out of the sector.

Why is the government weakening the Canadian arts and culture industries just at the time when they are becoming world leaders?

[Faster Removal of Foreign Criminals Act, September 24th, 2012]

Mr. Speaker, further to that point, the last time the minister wanted to weigh in on the immigration-refugee issue he wrote some regulations on the back of an envelope and suddenly thousands of refugees lost their federal health coverage while they were waiting for status in Canada, which was an outrage across the country. Municipalities and doctors were asking what was happening with the government. This is not what our country stands for.

Today we are dealing with a different issue but it is the same concern. Are we really going to entrust in the office of one minister a very complex file, a file for which the minister and others in the government do not seem up to the task?

I would ask my hon. colleague to give a little more context as to why, for example, families in various immigrant communities in our country would have cause for concern over the bill.

[Faster Removal of Foreign Criminals Act, September 24th, 2012]

Mr. Speaker, my hon. colleague knows very well the real-life ramifications of the wrong-headed direction of the government as it pertains to immigrants, new Canadians and refugees. We on our side have declared frequently and openly that in cases of violent crimes we want to ensure that non-Canadians who commit them are subject to the heavy hand of the law.

However, we are concerned that there are immigrant families, new Canadians, who have grave concerns about the government's ability to understand the complexity and nuances of the reality that is Canada today. This piece of legislation does not give them any confidence that the government understands that the world is much more complex than the Pleasantville, faux reality that it seems to live in every single day.

Could my hon. colleague expand a bit more on the family, human dimension of some of these misguided policies of the government?

[Faster Removal of Foreign Criminals Act, September 24th, 2012]

Mr. Speaker, we on our side have enormous concerns about the gradual increase in powers that ministers on that side want for themselves. They talk a line about accessibility, oversight and transparency but they do not walk the walk.

Does it concern my hon. colleague that we have a government that likes $16 orange juice, nice limousine rides and free bungee cords off helicopters? Is she concerned that more and more we are seeing ministers in the government trying to get as much power with as little transparency as possible?

[Petitions, September 24th, 2012]

Mr. Speaker, finally, I would like to present a petition from a number of people in my riding who are very concerned about the postal service. The petitioners want to maintain a strong, public, affordable, accessible postal system.

[Petitions, September 24th, 2012]

Mr. Speaker, notwithstanding the government voting against our national transit strategy, citizens are still very concerned and are still calling for one. I have a petition here from residents of Toronto calling for that.

[Petitions, September 24th, 2012]

Mr. Speaker, I have a few petitions to present today.

The first petition is from members of my riding who are very concerned about the government's direction as it pertains to refugees and immigrants. The petitioners are calling for a reversal of Bill C-31 and essentially a rewrite.

[Sam “The Record Man” Sniderman, September 24th, 2012]

Mr. Speaker, as a kid in Toronto, Sam the Record Man loomed larger than life. Sam's held out the possibility that somewhere amidst its endless aisles of LPs and 45s we could find a secret passage to the truth or, at least, a rare Elvis Costello import.

We have to go back in time, way back before CDs and MTV, when we barely knew what our favourite band looked like, let alone what they ate for breakfast. We went to Sam's. We went there searching for clues. We went there to get close to and be part of an emerging, exciting Canadian music scene.

Indeed, Sam “The Record Man” Sniderman helped lay the foundation for a cultural renaissance in Canadian popular music from which the industry, artists and Canadian music fans today benefit immensely.

Sam Sniderman died yesterday at the age of 92. On behalf of the House, I would like to pay tribute to his life, to his career, to a pioneer and to a staunch believer in the greatness of Canadian music. We thank Sam.

[Petitions, September 17th, 2012]

Mr. Speaker, the greater Toronto area loses about $6 billion a year due to gridlock. That is why so many people from my city have signed a petition supporting a national public transit strategy.

I am honoured to table that petition in this House today.