Bernadette Jordan

[Committees of the House, May 30th, 2018]

Mr. Speaker, I have the honour to present, in both official languages, the 13th report of the Standing Committee on Fisheries and Oceans in relation to Bill C-68, An Act to amend the Fisheries Act and other Acts in consequence.

The committee has studied the bill and has decided to report the bill back to the House with amendments.

[Extension of Sitting Hours, May 29th, 2018]

Mr. Speaker, my hon. colleague kept talking about the disrespect being shown to the House. I was here on Friday, on House duty. The disrespect shown in the House when for one hour solid the members opposite slammed their desks and would not listen to the Speaker when he called for order was total disrespect.

Second, today, during question period, when the minister got up to answer questions, I could not hear the answer in my earpiece because of the screaming from the other side of the House. I really would like to know what my hon. colleague's definition of disrespect is.

[Cystic Fibrosis, May 25th, 2018]

Mr. Speaker, earlier this week, members of Parliament were seen sporting a yellow rose in support of people with cystic fibrosis. Members of my household are familiar with the challenges caused by CF. Growing up, my son's best friend suffered from complications of this debilitating disease, and still does.

Nick was an active child and never let it slow him down, but at 29 years old, he is currently waiting for a double lung transplant. It is because of this that I would like to highlight the efforts of my other friend, Cheryl, who also has CF. She and her husband Keith have raised thousands of dollars for CF research through the Great Strides walk for cystic fibrosis.

I would like to urge all members of the House to donate to CF research and to sign their organ donor cards. This small act can mean saving the life of someone who is waiting for a transplant.

[Tourism Industry, May 10th, 2018]

Mr. Speaker, tourism is a huge economic driver in my province of Nova Scotia and especially in my riding of South Shore—St. Margarets. Next week, the Rendez-vous Canada conference will be held in Halifax, Nova Scotia. We will be welcoming members of the tourism industry from not only our country but from around the world.

Can the Minister of Small Business and Tourism update the House on how our government is helping to market Canada tourism to the world?

[Petite Rivière Elementary School, April 18th, 2018]

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to talk about Petite Rivière, more commonly referred to as just Petite, an elementary school in my riding of South Shore—St. Margarets but also in my community. Jut a few months ago, Petite was on the brink of closure, a decision that would have devastated its students and their families and our whole community, but we rallied around to support it. In February, the Nova Scotia Supreme Court overruled the former school board's decision to close Petite, meaning that an essential service and a driver of rural sustainability will continue to thrive.

Now, just a few months later, Petite has won a national contest, a $20,000 shopping spree for new technology from Staples Canada. The school was one of only 10 winners nationally of the Superpower Your School contest and was chosen out of over 740 applications, based on its remarkable sustainability and environmentalism. This is a school that raises chickens. Yes, actual chickens.

I would like to congratulate the students and faculty of Petite. I look forward to seeing what they do with their technology.

[Fisheries Act, March 26th, 2018]

Mr. Speaker, as a member of the Standing Committee on Fisheries and Oceans, I am quite happy to see this legislation come forward. One thing I thought was great is that every recommendation we put forward in our report on the Fisheries Act was accepted by all parties on the fisheries committee.

We heard from lots of people. We heard from over 50 people who appeared before committee. There were lots of submissions.

I would like to ask the minister if he could address some of the consultations he heard. We just heard that he has had many of them. Did they come from right across the country? How did he go about determining what was going into the bill?

[The Budget, March 19th, 2018]

Madam Speaker, my colleague is right. Pay equity is extremely important. This is 2018. Women should be paid at the same scale as men no matter what, and I am really proud of the fact that our government has taken the initiative to make sure this happens.

[The Budget, March 19th, 2018]

Madam Speaker, when my colleague mentioned provincial versus federal, we have made historic transfer payments to the provinces, so that has to be taken into consideration when we look at the debt-to-GDP ratio.

With regard to women in non-traditional female roles, this is something that I am extremely passionate about because it has affected me directly. I have a daughter who studied heritage carpentry and actually left the trade because of the sexism she faced in the workplace. It is important that when we are looking to make sure that women have access to these programs, we do everything we can to support them and to make sure that they not only get the training they need, but they get the respect they deserve in the workplace.

[The Budget, March 19th, 2018]

Madam Speaker, my hon. colleague is right. We have made a commitment to invest in Canadians. We have done it through the Canada child benefit and now with the increase in WITB. We have done it through increases in the GIS for our seniors and our most vulnerable population. I am very committed to that.

I am very excited to see that it is not just about investing in the infrastructure we desperately need, but it is investing in those families and in the people who need the disposable income. With the tax cuts and the programs we have been able to offer through our past two budgets and now this one, I see great changes for people in South Shore—St. Margarets.

[The Budget, March 19th, 2018]

Madam Speaker, I will be splitting my time with my colleague from Mississauga—Lakeshore.

I rise today to talk about budget 2018. In particular, I want to talk about the great things I found in this budget for my riding of South Shore—St. Margarets in Nova Scotia.

However, before I do, I want to commend the Minister of Finance for bringing forward a budget that recognizes the importance of giving women the tools they need to succeed in the economy. It is clear that when we add women to the economy, the economy does better.

Just like when we add women to politics, politics changes. It gets better. I think we can all agree that it needs to get better. I am one of only nine women who have been elected to represent Nova Scotia in the House of Commons in the last 100 years. Just let that sink in. That is why I am happy today to be speaking to a budget that would put women in the driver's seat, and acknowledges the importance of having women represented in our economy and in our communities.

For communities across my riding, there are a lot of great things to be found in the budget, which I would like to address, things like $250 million for small craft harbours. This is a huge investment in our coastal communities, especially because the state of small craft harbours in my riding is, an issue about which I have heard so much.

During the election, as I travelled across the riding, constituents raised a lot of concerns with me. One of the issues I heard about the most was that our small craft harbours really needed to be repaired.

Since the election, constituents have sent me videos of wharves crumbling and flooding, messaging me on Facebook and Twitter, sending me emails, writing letters, and calling my office to share their concerns about the state of our harbour infrastructure. I have toured a lot of these harbours and my constituents are right. These wharves need serious repairs.

Small craft harbours are a major economic driver in my coastal communities. I am sure some of my colleagues, like the members for West Nova, Bonavista—Burin—Trinity, St. Catharines, Avalon, and many other members across the country would agree that this infrastructure is heavily relied upon. Forty per cent of lobster exports in Canada comes from southwest Nova Scotia.

Fishers rely on safe small craft harbours for their livelihood. The fishing industry is the backbone of my riding's economy and it relies on access to these harbours. Communities and families up and down the South Shore rely on this infrastructure as well. Having safe and accessible small craft harbours means that fishers in my riding can sell their catch and provide for their families.

By investing in our small craft harbours, we are investing in our fishing industry, allowing it to grow, develop, expand, and attract future investment. This historic $250 million investment will ensure the sustainability and preservation of a vital industry for generations to come.

It is much like the commitment to protect our forestry industry in Atlantic Canada. By investing almost $75 million in the forestry sector, we are supporting and protecting important forestry jobs and the communities that rely on them, not only in my riding but across Atlantic Canada.

As I am sure my New Brunswick colleagues can attest that the threat and damage of the spruce budworm is catastrophic and can destroy our valuable forests and natural resources. This funding is great news for our forest-dependent communities. It means they can be protected from the devastation of spruce budworm and ensures the survival of our forests. To be honest, there are communities in my riding that rely entirely on the forestry sector. This industry is the economic backbone of these communities. Therefore, if they experience a spruce budworm outbreak, the impact would be devastating.

The economy and the environment go hand in hand, and it is important to ensure we make the necessary investments to protect our natural resources and the benefits they provide to our country.

That is why our government is committing over $1.3 billion to support Canada's biodiversity, protect our species at risk, and increase our capacity to manage protected areas, including our national parks, like Kejimkujik National Park in my riding.

This new funding, along with the existing $1.5 billion oceans protection plan, demonstrates that Canadians can be confident that their government takes environmental protection seriously.

While it is important to invest in the environment, it is also important to invest in the workers themselves. That is why I was thrilled about the introduction of the new and enhanced Canada workers' benefit. The working income tax benefit is a refundable tax credit that would supplement the earnings of low-income workers. It would put more money in the pockets of hard-working people across the country.

The government already committed to enhancing WITB to a combined $750 million in the 2017 fall economic statement. Now budget 2018 wants to strengthen that commitment by introducing the Canada workers benefit. This new strengthened benefit is more generous and, more important, more accessible. Currently, too many Canadians are unaware of their eligibility for the working income tax benefit, so they are not applying. Our plan would allow the Canada Revenue Agency to automatically apply the Canada workers' benefit, which would ensure Canadians would get the money to which they would be entitled.

We need to be clear about what this means and why it is so important. We are talking just shy of $1 billion in new funding for hard-working people across the country. We are talking about impacting the lives of almost two million working Canadians. We are talking about lifting approximately 70,000 Canadians out of poverty.

I also want to highlight what it means to individual Canadians. This benefit means that a single mom from Queens County, who is living paycheque to paycheque, can buy her children new boots, or young couples living in Lunenburg, who are just breaking even, can afford to pay their power bills and their phone bills at the same time. It means that we are investing in the hard-working people in my riding and in the hard-working people right across the country.

This budget will do that. It invests in Canadians. It recognizes potential. It will help us grow. It invests in low-income earners and gives them more money for necessities like groceries and utilities. Not only that, it sees their potential and invests in their future. It invests in rural Canadians like fishers and foresters in my riding. It understands the importance of our harbours and our forests and recognizes that these industries are a way of life. It invests in women and girls. It recognizes the challenges we face every day and gives solutions to those challenges. We know that getting a seat at the table is not the only problem. We know we cannot get a seat at the table if we cannot make it there to begin with.

That is why I am proud to stand in the House today on behalf of my riding of South Shore—St. Margarets and speak in support of this budget. This budget is an investment in all of us. It is an investment in Canada. I encourage all members of the House to support it.