Charlie Angus

[Supply, November 17th, 2005]

Mr. Speaker, I have a question relating to this culture of entitlement. In my riding, the widow of a man who fought in the second world war was just given a pension for $3.26 a month and was told by the federal government that she would not receive any support for shovelling snow. Let us talk about a culture of entitlement when a former Liberal cabinet minister charges more for his Tim Hortons coffee in the morning than this widow of a second world war veteran will get.

Why does the hon. member think the government holds the common people of Canada in such contempt with our money?

[Supply, November 17th, 2005]

Mr. Speaker, I found the speech of the hon. member very enlightening. We seem to be seeing some strange spectacles with the Liberal Party in its dying days of government.

Last month we saw the first results of the Gomery report, which was one of the low days in parliamentary history. The Prime Minister came out, with obvious relief on his face, and said that it was a great vindication for the government. Yes, people were caught stealing money, yes, they had taxpayer money, but he said that they would give it back. They had been caught. What an absolutely appallingly low standard of ethics.

Now the Prime Minister is challenging the other parties that are trying to work on compromise and trying to work together. He is double daring us to have a Christmas election. Our party has made it clear that we do not want a Christmas election. We believe we should be moving to January, yet one party is insisting on defying the will of Parliament. It is hanging the thread of a Christmas election over the people of Canada.

Does the hon. member feel that the Liberal tactic is based on a contempt for the people of Canada or a fear of facing the people of Canada?

[Supply, November 17th, 2005]

Madam Speaker, considering the climate we are in here, I found the member's comments surprising when he talked about the need to work together and get majority support if we are going to work in a minority Parliament. We came to this minority Parliament fully believing that election talk would be put to the side so that we could get down to pragmatic compromise positions and move forward with legislation for Canadians.

I would say that in my region there are two issues that are paramount. One is how we stop the ongoing system of patronage, corruption and cronyism that has been exemplified by this government and which created this minority situation in the first place. People were fed up with it. Our party came forward with very clear proposals brought forward by probably one of the most eminent parliamentarians in the last generation. He came forward with proposals so that we could work together as a Parliament in order to end the system of patronage and corruption, but that was just blown off by the Liberal Party. The Liberals did not want to hear that.

The second issue that is very important for us is health care. Canadians identify it as their number one issue. We went to the government and said, “Let us work together. We will try to bring forward some very clear, simple proposals to protect public health care”. Again we were blown off.

I would ask the hon. member how he thinks there has even been a discussion about working with Parliament to move forward when his party continually refuses to compromise and work with the other parties.

[Natural Resources, November 16th, 2005]

Mr. Speaker, there is nothing for northern Ontario in the Liberal's election budget, nothing for forestry, nothing for agriculture and nothing for the mining exploration community.

The government had the chance to extend the super flow through program for mining exploration, but instead, it once again walked away on northern industries.

All across Canada our mineral reserves are being depleted. Restoring those reserves is very important for our economy but it is a high risk game with long shot odds. In a global competitive market, we need every player at the table.

I have written to the finance minister and have asked him to work with the mining industry. Instead, he has done nothing. Once again, the resource communities of northern Ontario are being written off the political and economic map of Canada.

For far too long in northern Ontario we relied on backbenchers to tell us what Ottawa wants. The time has come to send some hard-working New Democrats to tell Ottawa what we need, fight for northern communities, fight for northern industries and fight for our northern way of life.

[Energy Costs Assistance Measures Act, November 1st, 2005]

Mr. Speaker, it is pretty clear that we need a long term plan to deal with the energy crisis, but also the need to reposition Canada. Given our natural wealth here and the fact that we are in a northern climate, we are very far behind and not going in any kind of reasonable direction. We need a long term systemic plan to achieve this.

Unfortunately, there are a number of elements missing from this bill. One of the key elements is the fact that we do need to provide accountability to our consumers, to our people back home. They need the assurance that they are paying a fair price at the pumps. From listening to the member, it seemed to me by listening between the lines that I was hearing the blandest whitewash and some of the most outrageous profiteering that I have heard in a decade.

Is it reasonable to expect that Canadians would be paying 40¢ extra on a litre of gasoline the day after hurricane Katrina? Then when there is an outrage of response, the price is slightly lowered. Is it fair to assume that every weekend people in my riding in Englehart, Kirkland Lake and Cochrane will have to pay an extra 5¢ or 10¢ because it is Friday night and then come Monday the prices will drop again?

Our people know they are being ripped off. They are undergoing constant profiteering. The government continually tries to bland over and make the issue go away. The fact is people are being ripped off. We need to put some teeth into serious legislation to ensure that if we are paying the price that we are paying that it is fair and accountable, and people are not being ripped off.

I would like to ask the member a question. When is the government going to take that issue seriously?

[Energy Costs Assistance Measures Act, November 1st, 2005]

Mr. Speaker, in our region there has been a great deal of concern about where we are going in terms of energy policy.

People who leave Toronto, fill up their gas tanks, drive six hours up the road to Englehart and pay 20¢ to 30¢ more and then when they go into towns like Kirkland Lake and Iroquois Falls they pay even more. They have a sense that they are being ripped off.

We have families and widows on fixed incomes who do not believe they will be able to actually heat their houses this winter. Where are the teeth in any government policy to ensure that the oil companies are not ripping the public off and gouging the public continually? Every time we turn around it seems that our working families in the north and our farming families are paying through the nose while these companies profiteer off their backs.

It is well and good to give a rebate but where is the commitment from the government to actually hold these companies to account so they stop ripping off our people?

[Aboriginal Affairs, October 27th, 2005]

Mr. Speaker, I have just been in touch with the evacuees trying to get out of Kashechewan. The situation is chaotic. People are frightened, tired and have no idea where they are going or what they will be going back to. As well, the water is still not safe to drink.

We have heard a lot of huffing and puffing about Kashechewan today but I have not heard the one phrase I need to hear. I need to hear the Prime Minister of Canada stand and say simply that he will do what is necessary to rebuild this community with proper houses, adequate sewage and proper medical treatment that is worthy of the dignity of the Mushkegowuk community.

[Aboriginal Affairs, October 26th, 2005]

Mr. Speaker, after 13 days of silence from the federal government, the province has had to step in and take command of the Kashechewan crisis.

I have been in Kashechewan and I will say in this House on the record that Health Canada officials and Indian Affairs officials gambled recklessly with the lives of the people of the James Bay coast.

I am asking a simple question. I do not want BS. I do not want spin. I want the minister to stand up today and tell the people of Kashechewan that they are going to get a new community, 50 units per year until a new community is born, and if he cannot do that, then he can just sit down and let the province do the work.

[Health, October 25th, 2005]

Mr. Speaker, I have just returned from Kashechewan where a humanitarian tragedy is unfolding. Health Canada did nothing to protect this community from eight years of contaminated water. Health Canada did nothing to help federal nurses who had to haul river water in buckets to their clinic. And now, in the aftermath of the E. coli outbreak, this defenceless community is facing threats from hepatitis A and hepatitis B.

My question is for the health minister. What will it take to have him stand in the House and finally say that yes, there is an emergency on the James Bay coast?

[Health, October 17th, 2005]

Mr. Speaker, the people of Kashechewan First Nation have been under a boil water advisory for eight years. This past weekend an E. coli outbreak hit the community. The school is closed, the health centre is closed and a Health Canada official told the people that it was perfectly safe to bathe their children in E. coli contaminated bathwater. That is like telling those Cree people to bathe their children in toilet water.

Would the health minister or any of his staff be willing to come up to Kashechewan and bathe their children in this kind of water?