House of Commons photoLost his last election, in 2019, with 8% of the vote.
Petitions April 15th, 2013
Mr. Speaker, despite the fact that the Experimental Lakes Area funding has run out and it is now closed, petitions continue to roll into my office asking that the government reconsider and reverse the poorly thought out decision to close the Experimental Lakes Area and continue to provide staff and financial support for this important Canadian institution.
Regional Economic Development March 27th, 2013
Mr. Speaker, I want to underscore another part of the government's plan that has real effect on the economy of Canada and northwestern Ontario, and that is its wilful ignorance, even outright hostility, to facts or science that contradicts its ideological beliefs.
One example is its obsession with closing the Experimental Lakes Area in northwestern Ontario at a cost of tens of millions in lost research and billions in future environmental and health impacts that could have been prevented.
Another example just happened yesterday when the National Round Table on the Environment and the Economy, itself axed by the government, revealed that the government was attempting to bury a lot of its valuable information.
Erasing inconvenient facts and muzzling scientists and policy experts undermines our ability to weigh evidence and to make good policy decisions.
Regional Economic Development March 27th, 2013
Mr. Speaker, the Conservative's economic plan has failed many Canadians. It has especially failed northwestern Ontario and will continue to fail our region under the 2013 budget. They have already handed us the largest trade deficit in Canadian history, the largest budget deficit in Canadian history and stalled unemployment. Now the Communist Chinese are handed control of our key resources, science is sabotaged and environmental controls are scrapped. It is a plan where ideology kills evidence and science.
The Conservatives have spent tens of millions of tax dollars advertising the plan to the very taxpayers who pay for the ads. However, the ads do not mention the cuts to critical services across Canada, particularly in northwestern Ontario. They are cuts like closing the Thunder Bay citizenship and immigration office, and the upcoming closure of the Thunder Bay Marine Communication and Traffic Services Centre after 105 years of life-saving service. Now calls will be routed over 1,000 kms away, to a call centre in southern Ontario.
The Thunder Bay Veterans Affairs Canada office is also closing. It served RCMP officers, 500 senior veterans and 600 younger veterans. Including family members, the Thunder Bay office has served about 3,000 people, all the way from the Manitoba border to past Sault Ste. Marie. A toll-free number, or referring veterans to a website, is not the service that those who have served our country deserve.
There have been 25 positions that were lost at Human Resources and Skills Development Canada in Thunder Bay, which will further devastate EI recipients. The Canada Revenue Agency in Thunder Bay has closed its service counter. The Department of Fisheries and Oceans has lost fisheries biologists, which will impact the protection of fish and their habitat. This is on top of the closure of the Experimental Lakes Area. Thunder Bay is losing 75 people at the Canadian Grain Commission. Having no more research and no more inward inspections will damage Canada's reputation.
Service Canada in my riding has seen over 20 jobs lost, impacting front-line service delivery to constituents. In total, over 130 people have been axed so far in Thunder Bay, and that number will soon grow to over 300 this year.
Let us turn to the problems of the budget that was tabled just a few days ago. There are a lot. There is a tax hike on credit unions. There are no substantial new tax reductions for small business, just a job-killing hike in payroll taxes, EI premiums. By contrast, the United Kingdom just reduced those to zero for small businesses, to stimulate jobs.
There is nothing in the budget to end the $1.3 billion in taxpayer subsidies for the greedy and profitable oil and gas sector and still no price on carbon. There are no new doctors and nurses in rural areas. The Conservatives are recycling old money for youth unemployment, when 13% of youth under 29 years of age are unemployed. There are no rules on exorbitant bank and credit card charges on consumers and small businesses, just voluntary codes. There is nothing to deal with the pensions crisis, just more talk. There is nothing but consultations on first nations education, when aboriginal students are funded at only half the level as other students in Ontario.
No budget is all bad or good; there are things in this one that I can support. However, for a change, will the Conservatives be open to considering some amendments to improve the budget this time?
Petitions March 21st, 2013
Mr. Speaker, petitions continue to pour in from across Canada on the Experimental Lakes Area. I have two batches of them this morning, one from the Montreal area, the other from the Winnipeg and Brandon area.
The petitioners are concerned that the government has made an ill-advised decision to close the Experimental Lakes Area. They are calling upon MPs to reverse the decision to close the ELA and to continue to provide staff and financial support for this important scientific institution.
Response to the Supreme Court of Canada Decision in R. v. Tse Act March 20th, 2013
Mr. Speaker, Thunder Bay—Superior North votes yes.
Interim Supply March 20th, 2013
Mr. Speaker, Thunder Bay—Superior North agrees and votes no.
Interim Supply March 20th, 2013
Mr. Speaker, Thunder Bay—Superior North agrees to apply and votes no.
Supplementary Estimates (C), 2012-2013 March 20th, 2013
Mr. Speaker, Thunder Bay—Superior North agrees to apply and will be voting no.
Supplementary Estimates (C), 2012-2013 March 20th, 2013
Mr. Speaker, Thunder Bay—Superior North agrees and will be voting no.
Supplementary Estimates (C), 2012-2013 March 20th, 2013
Mr. Speaker, Thunder Bay—Superior North will be voting no.