Andrew Saxton

[RCMP, May 8th, 2009]

Mr. Speaker, that issue is before the courts and so, I cannot comment on it. However, what I can comment on is what we are doing for the RCMP.

We are increasing the number of officers in the force, not laying them off like the Liberal government did in the 1990s. We have increased spending for training, not cut it like the Liberals. We have increased funding for cadets, again, something the Liberals did not get done. We have introduced tough new legislation designed to protect police officers in the line of duty, again, something the Liberals did not get done.

[The Economy, May 4th, 2009]

Mr. Speaker, our government's economic action plan is delivering real results for Canadians.

At this critical time we are reducing taxes on Canadian families, creating jobs, and helping Canadians who are hardest hit by the global recession. That is what Canadians have asked for and that is what we are delivering.

This is in stark contrast to the Liberals. Over the weekend the Liberal Party reaffirmed its commitment to taxing Canadians. The Liberal leader supported the risky carbon tax scheme during his first leadership race and the Liberals have once again adopted a carbon tax policy at their convention.

We also know that they want to increase the GST and they want to end the universal child care benefit. As if that was not enough, the leader of the Liberal Party recently announced that he will have to raise taxes. The Liberal Party is just reaffirming its economic clumsiness.

When will the Liberal leader come clean with Canadians and tell them which taxes he will raise, by how much he will raise them, and who will have to pay these increased taxes.

[Criminal Code, April 24th, 2009]

Mr. Speaker, my hon. colleague keeps saying that the government is doing nothing to help prevention. I point out that individuals living in Vancouver's downtown eastside will benefit from two new treatment services thanks to an investment by the Government of Canada.

These two new treatment initiatives represent the creation of treatment stabilization beds and the launch of an effective service delivery model, so persons with more disabling disorders have a range of treatment options. As part of the national anti-drug strategies treatment action plan, these new and comprehensive treatment service initiatives are aimed at helping individuals with complex, mental health and addiction problems, with a focus on women involved in the sex trade living in Vancouver's downtown eastside. This is just one of the many things we are doing to help prevention.

[Taxation, April 24th, 2009]

Mr. Speaker, the Liberal Party is showing time and time again that it is out of touch with Canadians.

The ability of Canadian families to spend their hard-earned money is key to stimulating our economy. Conservatives know this, economists know this, and Canadians know this.

The Liberals however just do not seem to get it. Canadians told the Liberal leader they want to keep their hard-earned money and in response last week the Liberal leader announced that he will have to raise taxes.

Now that he has revealed his new tax-hike policy, the Liberal leader must fully disclose the details of his plan to Canadians. Which taxes will the Liberals raise, by how much will they raise them, and who will have to pay these higher taxes?

[April 23rd, 2009]

Mr. Speaker, my hon. colleague knows the current system is broken. It does not work for women and it does not work for the government. When it takes 15 to 20 years to settle disputes, it does not take much to see that it is a lengthy, costly and adversarial process, which does not serve anyone well.

We want to correct this problem by improving upon the existing models of Ontario, Quebec and Manitoba and, I might add, along the lines of what an independent task force, appointed by the previous Liberal government, recommended.

I do not understand why my hon. colleague cannot see how a proactive system will be far better than a reactive one. Justice delayed is justice denied.

[April 23rd, 2009]

Mr. Speaker, I thank my hon. colleague for her speech.

There is no about-face here, and I hope that I will provide clarity on this issue.

The Public Sector Equitable Compensation Act was tabled as part of the government's Budget Implementation Act, 2009 on February 6 and it received royal assent on March 12. I would like to take the opportunity to thank all the members who supported the legislation.

This act replaces an adversarial complaints-based system with a collaborative one as part of the collective bargaining process.

Our government respects the principle of equal pay for work of equal value. That is why we have acted to ensure a more modern and collaborative approach to equitable compensation in the federal public service. Our approach brings much needed reform to our complaint-based pay equity regime, which has proved to be a lengthy, costly and adversarial process, a process that does not serve employees or employers well.

Our government is proud to be leading the way when it comes to recruitment and compensation of employees.

We should be especially proud of the progress toward gender balance in the public services, particularly within the senior ranks. It is worth noting that back in 1983 fewer than 5% of women were in senior management. Today, women are approaching half of the senior and executive ranks of the federal public service. They are not only taking the top jobs, but their representation in many groups has also increased dramatically over the years.

Today's public service provides women and men with equal access to all positions and identical wages within the same groups and levels. I am proud of the example we are setting for both private and public sector organizations around the world.

Given this situation and given the need to ensure the strides women have made in the federal public sector continue to be maintained, we have put in place a more modern approach to pay equity from public service employees. We need to put an end to the long and drawn out court cases of the past.

Before this act, public service employers and unions were not required to take pay equity issues into account during wage setting. The issues were raised only when complaints were made. Many Canadians would be surprised to know that the last court case on pay equity concluded in 1999, at a cost of millions of dollars to taxpayers, a settlement that took over 15 years to achieve.

Public service employees deserve better. Taxpayers deserve better. This has clearly been a case of justice delayed being justice denied. That is no longer acceptable.

The new system will address any unfairness in women's wages and deal with it straight up, instead of allowing a settlement to drag on in the courts. It will make employers and bargaining agents jointly accountable for setting fair wages. It will ensure these decisions are made at the time of collective bargaining for unionized employees. It will impose a rigorous process to ensure employers address pay equity in a timely way for non-unionized employees.

The legislation ensures that such prolonged court cases become a thing of the past. This is about doing the right thing, finally, for Canadian women. Our government makes no apologies for taking long overdue steps to protect the rights of women to fair and equitable pay.

[The Economy, April 3rd, 2009]

Mr. Speaker, as I said earlier, I am proud to say that much work has been done in the past few weeks by the government in getting these funds out. We are negotiating with the provinces and municipalities to make sure that these funds go to the places where they are needed most to create jobs and stimulate our economy during these difficult economic times.

[The Economy, April 3rd, 2009]

Mr. Speaker, the Liberals are not the ones to lecture us on accountability.

I am proud to say that much work has been done by our government over the past few weeks. A substantial amount of money has already been identified from this fund for economic stimulus initiatives outlined in our economic action plan.

I expect the member will see announcements by my colleagues over the coming weeks and I would encourage her again to monitor our website.

We do not need more roadblocks. We need more roads built.

[The Economy, April 3rd, 2009]

Mr. Speaker, our government is taking unprecedented action to stimulate our economy and to protect Canadians during these difficult economic times. There will be ample information about how this money is spent through our quarterly reports to Parliament, a full accounting of spending in supplementary estimates, reports from the Auditor General and on our action plan website, actionplan.gc.ca. If the hon. member has not already been there, she should visit the website.

We are cutting red tape. The opposition should do the same.

[Justice, March 25th, 2009]

Mr. Speaker, I am proud to be a member of the only party that is committed to fighting crime 365 days a year, the Conservative Party of Canada.

The Minister of Justice has recently introduced new measures that directly target organized crime in this country.

This government is addressing the serious issues of gang murders, drive-by shootings and offences committed against police and peace officers, and ensuring mandatory jail terms for serious drug dealers, importers and those who get involved with grow operations.

These measures can now be added to the lengthy list of crime and order items we have delivered on, including: limiting conditional sentences, making street racing an offence, ensuring serious gun crimes are met with mandatory jail time, raising the age of protection, toughening impaired driving laws, and making it tougher to get bail for firearm offences.

Canadians know they can count on this Conservative government to tackle violent crime in this country. We have done a lot, and we will continue to do more.