Chris Charlton

[Economic Action Plan 2013 Act No. 2, October 25th, 2013]

Mr. Speaker, I note that the member who just spoke on Bill C-4 is wearing the poppy, like I am, and as all of us should be in these weeks before Remembrance Day.

I know the member, and I know he is sincere in wanting to honour the men and women who served our country with such courage and made such tremendous sacrifices on behalf of the Government of Canada and, more importantly, on behalf of all the people of Canada.

However, in Bill C-4, we have changes that adversely impact those very veterans we are honouring by wearing the poppy. Bill C-4 reduces the number of permanent members of the Veterans Review and Appeal Board, from 28 to 25. If we are going to be serious, we need to address the fundamental issues with respect to the board.

On this side of the House, my NDP colleagues and I, and in particular the member for Sackville—Eastern Shore, have been advocating for a very long time that we replace the politically appointed board with a medical, evidence-based, peer-reviewed process for making decisions on veterans' disability applications.

I want to ask the member a question. He, like us, is wearing the poppy in this House today. Will he not do the right thing, honour veterans and vote against this bill that takes away services from Canada's men and women in the armed forces?

[Industry, October 24th, 2013]

Mr. Speaker, the minister cannot fool all of the people all of the time. Canadians know they are paying more for less, and the Conservatives have not done a thing about it. The fact is that we are seeing more spectrum concentration and less competition. It means Canadians will continue to be gouged for their cellphones.

Why did the minister not stand up for consumers and create the conditions for startups like Public Mobile to succeed? Why did he roll over instead of standing up for Canadian consumers?

[Affordable Housing, October 23rd, 2013]

Mr. Speaker, winter is fast approaching. For women who are homeless, the impending freezing nights may well be fatal. Many are simply the victims of poverty or domestic violence.

On any given night, in my hometown of Hamilton, at least 10,000 women are at risk of becoming homeless. More than 300 are turned away from shelters every single month, and we have 5,450 households waiting for affordable housing, mostly women-led. More shelter beds are important, but they are not the answer. We need social and affordable housing. It is not just a key social investment; it makes economic sense, too. To keep a homeless person in a shelter costs almost $2,000 per month, whereas a subsidized housing unit costs $200 per month.

This year's budget promised $253 million for housing, but it still has not been allocated. Long-term housing agreements with the provinces are expiring, but nothing new is in the works. We have not had a national housing program since the Liberals axed them in 1995.

With close to 200,000 Canadians homeless, we need national action for this national crisis. November 22 is National Housing Day. Let us give meaning to the day and act on housing now.

[Science and Technology, October 22nd, 2013]

Mr. Speaker, a shocking new report has revealed the real impact of the Conservatives' muzzling of science. Ninety per cent of government scientists feel they cannot speak freely about their work to the media. Even worse, many think they would face retaliation if they blew the whistle and revealed information about harm to public health, public safety, or the environment.

Why are the Conservatives making it a higher priority to protect their reputation than to protect the public?

[Lincoln Alexander, October 17th, 2013]

Mr. Speaker, this Saturday marks the one year anniversary of the passing of one of the greatest Canadians and a proud Hamiltonian, Lincoln Alexander. Linc, as he was affectionately known by all whose lives he touched, was a trailblazer. As Sandra Martin wrote in the Globe, he was a man who had the capacity to turn rejections and despicable slurs into a personal challenge to excel, and excel he did.

In 1968, he was the first black Canadian to become an MP and later became the first black cabinet minister. He resigned in 1981 to chair the Ontario Worker's Compensation Board, then went on to serve as Lieutenant-Governor of Ontario and Chancellor of the University of Guelph. He was awarded the Order of Ontario and became a companion of the Order of Canada. Perhaps the biggest tribute is that he was loved by everyone who knew him, right across party lines.

I hope that love will again prevail when, at the request of his widow, I will in the days ahead ask all members of the House to agree to make Linc's birthday, January 21, a national day in his honour. I cannot think of a more fitting tribute for a man whose whole life reflected the highest ideals of service to our country.

[Intergovernmental Relations, June 18th, 2013]

Mr. Speaker, western premiers have joined Ontario and Quebec in criticizing the government's Canada jobs grant.

The Conservative plan cuts funding from training programs that are working well, programs now helping the most vulnerable find work. Experts are calling it a “deeply flawed public policy”. Premiers are saying “no.”

Will the minister now agree to stop wasting money on prematurely advertising this grant and instead sit down with the provinces and territories to develop a serious, pan-Canadian job training program?

[Public Service Cuts, June 18th, 2013]

Mr. Speaker, for the past four years the Conservatives have slashed public services and tried to get buy-in by calling them austerity-related cutbacks, but Canadians are not buying it because they know that the Conservative axe is slashing the very programs that we all hold most dear.

Let us have a look. Here are some of the biggest cuts as a proportion of the department's size.

Statistics Canada is losing one-third of its workforce, but then no one has ever accused the Conservatives of wanting to base their decisions on evidence and facts.

Next is HRSDC, where one-quarter of the workforce will be gone. These are the folks who deal with things like EI, pensions and housing. There is a staggering 62% cut to programs that support homelessness initiatives.

Next there is Veterans Affairs, where the largest proportional cuts are going to programs that support disability, death and financial benefits for veterans. This is how we give thanks to our troops.

The Canadian Food Inspection Agency is losing 1,400 positions, or 20% of the staff. The biggest cuts are in the programs that keep us safe from things such as mad cow disease.

These cuts affect us all, so let us push back together. Let us fight to protect our public services. After all, we paid for them.

[Labour, June 17th, 2013]

Mr. Speaker, we know the PMO likes to have its dirty work done by backbenchers, and now we have had it confirmed that this is exactly how the unconstitutional union disclosure bill came to be. An access to information request revealed that the government asked the Canada Revenue Agency to provide language for the bill, hardly a normal procedure for a private member's bill.

Will the Conservatives finally come clean and admit that this attack on workers came straight out of the PMO?

[Ethics, June 14th, 2013]

Mr. Speaker, the real question is about the criminal investigation in the Prime Minister's Office.

Last night, Senator Wallin said in an interview that she always kept Nigel Wright in the loop about problems in the Senate.

Who else in the PMO was kept in the loop, and did Nigel Wright ever speak with the Prime Minister about his conversations with Senator Wallin?

[Ethics, June 14th, 2013]

Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister's Office is under criminal investigation. Canadians are taking that very seriously, and the minister should too. It is time to answer questions.

When was the Prime Minister informed of the criminal investigation, and did the Prime Minister or his office proactively contact the police about the possible criminal wrongdoing in his office?