Chris Charlton

[The Budget, September 17th, 2012]

Mr. Speaker, as usual there are lots of excuses but Canadians get few answers.

Last week another 1,700 workers were told they would likely soon be out of a job. These are hard-working federal employees who provide services the public relies on every single day.

Conservatives can find billions for corporate tax giveaways but have nothing left to help people with their employment insurance, old age security or CPP claims. In these shaky economic times, will the Conservatives now reconsider their reckless cuts?

[Enhancing Royal Canadian Mounted Police Accountability Act, September 17th, 2012]

Mr. Speaker, we in the House are lucky to have the benefit of significant advice when it comes to matters like debating Bill C-42.

I want to draw members' attention to the 2006 report of Justice O'Connor's inquiry into the actions of Canadian officials in relation to Maher Arar. That report called on Parliament to create an RCMP watchdog along the lines of the security and intelligence review committee which monitors CSIS. It would have the right to audit all RCMP files and activities and the power to subpoena related documents and compel testimony from any federal, provincial, municipal or private sector person or entity.

The present RCMP Public Complaints Commission “does not have review powers to ensure systematically that the RCMP’s national security activities are conducted in accordance with the law and with respect for rights and freedoms”. That speaks to the fact that the government must take the next step. It must allow binding recommendations and full civilian investigation of the RCMP through a truly independent watchdog panel that will report directly to Parliament.

Would the member opposite be supportive of creating an agency that actually had teeth and, if that were the case, would he then support that when the bill goes to committee?

[Enhancing Royal Canadian Mounted Police Accountability Act, September 17th, 2012]

Mr. Speaker, more than 200 women have now come forward in a class action lawsuit regarding sexual harassment in the RCMP. As members know, we on this side of the House have been pushing the minister for months now to prioritize the issue of sexual harassment in the RCMP.

One of the things Bill C-42 does not directly address is the systemic issues in the culture of the RCMP. The bill by itself would not change the current climate in the RCMP. In fact, for me, there is one glaring omission in the bill.

Nowhere in the bill, or anywhere else for that matter, has the minister mandated the adoption of a clear anti-harassment policy in the RCMP, one that contains specific standards for behaviour and specific criteria for evaluating the performance of all employees. It is obvious to me that such a policy is needed to serve as a basis for a fair and disciplined process.

I was interested in the member's remarks on the topic of sexual harassment in the RCMP, but I note that when the Liberals were in government they did not create such a policy. I wonder whether he would indicate to me now whether he would be supportive of adopting a sexual harassment policy in the RCMP.

[Petitions, June 20th, 2012]

Mr. Speaker, it is a pleasure to present a petition today from people all over the Golden Horseshoe who are concerned that Canada is abandoning its mandate to study, preserve and protect aquatic ecosystems by closing the Experimental Lakes Area research station.

The petitioners point out that the ELA is a unique world-renowned facility for freshwater research and education. Since 1968, it has been a global leader in conducting whole ecosystem experiments which have been critical in shaping environmental policy and understanding human impacts on lakes and fish.

It is for those reasons that the petitioners call upon the government to continue to staff and provide--

[International Year of Cooperatives, June 18th, 2012]

Mr. Speaker, 2012 is the UN's International Year of Cooperatives. This is a global acknowledgement that co-operatives drive the economy, respond to social change, are resilient to global economic crisis and are serious, successful businesses creating jobs in all sectors.

The reason for their success is that they are fundamentally different from other businesses. Co-ops and credit unions use the one member, one vote system, not the one-vote-per-share system used by corporations. As a result, co-ops and credits unions serve the common need of their members, as opposed to just the need of their largest shareholders. People, not capital, control the organization.

This model has ensured that co-ops succeed at a higher rate than the private sector, without relocating jobs offshore. There is indeed much to celebrate when it comes to Canadian co-operatives.

That is especially true in my riding of Hamilton Mountain, where the Halam Park Housing Co-op just received the Co-operative Housing Federation of Canada's inaugural Award for Co-operative Achievement. Halam Park is adding much-needed units to Hamilton's housing stock. In doing so, it is providing more than the just the bricks and mortar of shelter; it is offering stability, security and dignity to even more Hamiltonians.

Congratulations, Halam Park, for proving the UN right: co-operative enterprises build a better world.

[Corrections and Conditional Release Act, June 13th, 2012]

Mr. Speaker, I understand from the member for Trinity—Spadina that there have been discussions and there is unanimous agreement for the following motion: that notwithstanding any Standing Order or usual practice of the House the hour for private members' business today be cancelled and the order for the resumption at second reading of Bill C-305, an act to establish a national public transit strategy, be dropped to the bottom of the order of precedence on the order paper.

[Jobs, Growth and Long-term Prosperity Act, June 12th, 2012]

Madam Speaker, it is a pleasure to rise in the House today, although I have to say I rise more in sadness than anger and not on my own behalf. It is not about silencing members in the House, it is about not allowing us to give expression to the legitimate concerns of people in our ridings about this budget bill.

This is a bill with 753 sections and 425 pages. People in my community are concerned about this bill. One-third of it deals with gutting environmental regulations. It would fundamentally change the EI system which the government does not pay for, but that people have paid for through their wages. It would change old age security and attack the wages of construction workers. People in communities across the country are mobilizing against this budget.

If the government is so certain that this bill is great for all Canadians, I am surprised. It is not usually shy about self-promotion. Why would it not allow public consultations from coast to coast to coast to allow Canadians to voice their concerns, instead of, for the 26th time in a row, shutting down debate prematurely, when it knows that Canadians are fundamentally concerned about the direction of the government and that they deserve to be heard?

[Petitions, June 12th, 2012]

Mr. Speaker, the second petition is from people from right across the country who are really concerned that child care is often not accessible or affordable for Canadian families and is often of uncertain quality for children.

The petitioners call on the Government of Canada to legislate the right to universal access to child care, and to provide multi-year funding to provincial and territorial governments to build a national system of affordable, high quality, public and not-for-profit early childhood education and child care, accessible to all children.

[Petitions, June 12th, 2012]

Mr. Speaker, I too have two petitions to present this morning.

The first one is a set of petitions that keep pouring into my riding of Hamilton Mountain.

The petitioners call on the government to take action on the price of gasoline by adopting my Bill C-336.

Statistics Canada keeps underlining that rising gasoline prices are the biggest trigger in raising our rate of annual inflation, so the petitioners know that they are getting hosed at the pumps. Unfortunately, as it stands now, they can only complain to each other because there is no official avenue through which they can seek redress.

That is why the petitioners are calling for the speedy passage of my Bill C-336, which would establish the oil and gas ombudsman. The ombudsman would be charged with providing strong and effective consumer protection to make sure that no big business could swindle, cheat or rip off hard-working Canadians.

[Employment Insurance, June 11th, 2012]

Mr. Speaker, the minister sure seems proud of an embarrassing record. However, she forgets two key facts. One, we will always vote against Conservative budgets that do not get the job done. Two, EI belongs to the workers who paid into it, not to that minister.

The minister refuses to meet with Canadians, listen to their representatives or hold any consultations outside the PMO. Will the minister stop using the budget bill to give herself new powers to undermine EI?