House of Commons photoLost his last election, in 2015, with 24% of the vote.
Taxation March 22nd, 2013
Mr. Speaker, it is just a big shell game with them. In another shocking reversal of policy, Conservatives killed a four-decade-old policy and added a brand new tax on Canada's credit unions. They did it without consultation and without warning.
Credit unions are vital participants in their communities. They are owned by Canadians, not by Bay Street, and they provide invaluable banking options for Canadians. Why are they attacking Canada's credit unions with new taxes?
Small Businesses March 22nd, 2013
Mr. Speaker, the Conservatives give with one hand and take back more with the other. Changing the dividend tax credit in the budget will hurt small businesses everywhere across the country, especially since there are no measures in the budget to completely offset this. Small businesses represent 48% of private sector jobs in our country. If we want them to create jobs and grow we should not be stifling their efforts.
Can the Conservatives explain how they expect small businesses to create jobs when they take $2.3 billion out of their pockets?
The Economy March 21st, 2013
Mr. Speaker, this Minister of Finance is great. He is great at ushering in an era of skyrocketing household debt, great at ballooning our debt by over $120 billion, great at allowing credit card and mortgage debt to go through the roof, and great at building the largest deficit in the history of Canada. To top off that legacy of shame, he is now meddling in the private affairs of individual companies, pressuring them to increase mortgage rates.
Even the Conservative Minister of State for Small Business understands that this is wrong. He gave his Minister of Finance a tongue-lashing yesterday, saying, “I would not dictate to businesses what prices to decide”. We agree, and Canadians deserve better.
Thankfully for the member for Beauce and for all Canadians, there is the NDP. We will fight reckless Conservative interference and in 2015 we will form an NDP government and finally bring sound public administration to Ottawa.
Nuclear Terrorism Act March 7th, 2013
Mr. Speaker, the nuclear power plant in Pickering is not far from the member's riding nor mine. We can see it from the lake front in my riding. It is an issue of concern that something could potentially happen down the road. I am happy we are finally moving forward with the bill.
As the member said, the legislation has been many years in the making. I wonder if he has a hypothesis or maybe he might know why it has taken so long for the government to bring this forward. Perhaps he could also elaborate on why it came from the other place, that place of unelected, unaccountable, unapologetic and under investigation senators rather than from the elected members in the House. Perhaps he could comment on that.
Nuclear Terrorism Act March 7th, 2013
Mr. Speaker, I thank the member for answering the second part of my question earlier.
However, with regard to the Pickering nuclear power plant, and certainly Ontario generates a lot of its power from nuclear, what role has the Ontario government played in the production of the bill? What role has it played, and how has it been consulted with regard to adoption of this treaty? Has the Province of Ontario been negotiated with regarding this?
Nuclear Terrorism Act March 7th, 2013
Mr. Speaker, I was surprised a minute ago when the parliamentary secretary for defence did not make reference to the Pickering nuclear power plant, which is very close to his riding. It is within sight of my riding of Scarborough Southwest as well. That does bring up the provincial issue, again, because the nuclear power plants are provincially run.
Hearing about the negotiations that happened with the Province of Ontario, certainly not details which must remain secure, I wanted to ask in what way the government is evaluating the progress accomplished on the international scene with regard to the questions linked to nuclear terrorism.
Ethics March 1st, 2013
Mr. Speaker, seven years of delaying Senate reform, over a year since the bill was even debated and the Prime Minister's promise of change broken 58 times and counting.
A week ago, Mike Duffy returned housing money to taxpayers, a clear admission of guilt. The Senate now claims that Mike Duffy and all others have cleared residency requirements. The proof? A signed piece of paper that does not even confirm residency.
Canadians are not buying it. When will the government bring in an independent authority to pierce the black hole of accountability that is the Senate?
Business of Supply February 26th, 2013
Mr. Speaker, I illustrated some of the downfalls of not doing it when I talked about gridlock and other issues. Subsea cables, whether we are talking about electrical cables or fibre optic cables, are an important part of our long-term infrastructure program.
I had the opportunity several years ago to visit the wind turbine test sights at North Cape. It was phenomenal to see the different types of wind turbines being tested there as part of the sustainable energy development that we need in the future.
The fact that the program was cut when the Conservatives came to power was a sad day, but it is not the only program the Conservative government cut. There was the national child care program, which is a different form of investment in our future. Certainly the cancellation of that program had a wide impact all across the country. It affected the ability for parents to get adequate child care so they could go to work and contribute to our economy.
Business of Supply February 26th, 2013
Mr. Speaker, like any other piece of legislation or proposal that is made, I will read it before deciding whether I will vote for or against it. Of course, if the government decides to wrap it up in a whole bunch of other things in the budget, such as cuts to EI, front-line services, food safety and other programs, I would find it very hard to vote for it. However, if they were to split it off and have it as an independent bill, that might make it far easier to do.
The member raised the issue of GO Transit. There have been lots of upgrades, but unfortunately they do not help the residents of Scarborough Southwest because during rush hour the trains bypass all the stations in Scarborough. They do not actually service Scarborough. In fact, if the member wants to see more improvements, then that would be one I would like to see.
Business of Supply February 26th, 2013
Mr. Speaker, every summer in my riding of Scarborough Southwest there are some very familiar sights. Many are beautiful, images of the Scarborough Bluffs, beautiful gardens like Rosetta McClain, parks like Warden Woods and the wonderful murals along Kingston Road, to name a few. These sights are traditional and enduring.
However, in Scarborough Southwest we now have a new sight that we associate with summer: the dumpster in front of the house. These dumpsters are not there because people are doing renovations to their homes; they are there because residents are cleaning up their flooded basements after rainstorms. The reason they are having to clean up is because of faulty and decaying infrastructure in Scarborough.
Every summer in Scarborough, far too many people experience flooding due to inadequate and decaying infrastructure. For many, this means raw sewage and stormwater spurting out through their toilets, sinks, shower heads and floor drains. In the past two years, over 1,000 homeowners in Scarborough Southwest have been victims of basement flooding due to inadequate infrastructure.
The impact is not limited to homeowners. In June 2011, less than two months after my election, the basement of my constituency office flooded. That cleanup cost the city thousands of dollars to remediate the damages.
More importantly, in talking about infrastructure today, Variety Village is an exceptional facility in my riding that serves people of diverse needs. Many of Canada's Paralympians train there. People from all across the city make use of the facilities at Variety Village. It is largely funded through private donors, memberships and the generosity of citizens and volunteer labour.
Variety Village made an application to receive some infrastructure funds. Sadly, it was turned down. Then, this past summer during the rainstorms, its roof collapsed. It cost $250,000, which it had to raise. It had to make insurance claims and go through all of that hassle. Rather than focusing on servicing the needs of its members, people with disabilities and people from all over Scarborough, it had to focus and dedicate its efforts toward fundraising for the money to repair the roof.
That is why the current infrastructure funding and plans do not add up. There is not enough there. It is not stable. It is not long term, and of course the build Canada fund is going to be expiring in 2014.
Having said that, my area of Toronto is not even designated as a chronic basement flooding area, like many other parts of Toronto. Most of the homeowners I spoke about must trash their belongings, make insurance claims and spend thousands of dollars fixing their basements. Many ask, how did this happen? Why us?
The answer is that much of our infrastructure is reaching the end of its lifespan. Some sewers in Toronto are 100 years old. In fact, the investment needed to maintain and replace our decaying infrastructure nationwide has ballooned to a stunning $171 billion. That has only grown in the last seven years under the leadership, or lack thereof, of the government.
Current federal infrastructure funding is too little and too beholden to partisan interests and backroom deals. The ad hoc budget-to-budget funding model favoured by the Conservative government is much better suited to photo ops than it is to resolving this serious national crisis. For five years now, the NDP has been calling for a permanent infrastructure program. The federal government needs to get serious and step up to the plate, dedicating significant resources to tackle Canada's serious infrastructure program.
People in Scarborough Southwest, and indeed across Canada, are counting on the federal government to act on this issue and to act now. There is simply no more time to waste. Our cities face debilitating gridlock. Our water and sewer systems are failing at an alarming rate. Our roads continue to deteriorate, and our bridges are literally falling apart around us.
Canadians are counting on the government to act, and to act quickly. The time to act, as I said, is now. The NDP is simply asking the federal government to commit in its budget of 2013 to a long-term, predictable and accountable federal infrastructure plan. We ask that this plan be in partnership with other levels of government, as recommended by the Federation of Canadian Municipalities and the Canadian Chamber of Commerce.
Developing a plan that would start to relieve the enormous infrastructure crisis facing all Canadians requires a government with political will. Playing politics with the fate of our infrastructure, and ultimately the fate of Canadians' quality of life, is offensive, objectionable and dangerous. What we need in budget 2013 is a long-term infrastructure plan. This plan needs to be developed through continuous consultation with the provinces, territories, municipalities and first nations communities. It should span a period of at least 20 years, allowing for better long-term planning and support for long-term projects. The plan should set clear funding criteria and program targets, as well as use transparent, accountable and non-political allocation mechanisms to facilitate the submission process.
The New Democrats would like to see a plan that encourages the use of innovative technologies that allow better efficiency and sustainability. The plan should also provide dedicated transit funds in order to reduce commuter times. In the GTA and around the city of Toronto, we are facing a loss of productivity that adds up to over $6 billion per year because of the gridlock caused by inadequate transportation infrastructure. Such a plan should contain provisions for regular, frequent and transparent progress reports to Parliament.
It is interesting to note that business groups, such as Canada West Foundation and the Canadian Chamber of Commerce, agree that public infrastructure investment is the missing link to correct Canada's sluggish productivity and that those investments must be strategic not political. These groups also highlight the fact that gridlock is a major threat to economic prosperity in metropolitan regions. This is why reducing commute times is a critical component of any long-term infrastructure plan. Instead of one-off funding through an application process that is beholden to partisan interests, clear-cut funding formulas like per capita allocations would ensure reliable, predictable funding for provinces, territories and municipalities.
The federal government must commit to an infrastructure funding plan with a long-term horizon. A budget-to-budget approach is structured so that longer-term funding projects like transit do not qualify for funding. Regular reviews are needed to ensure targets are being met and investment volumes adjusted. During times of economic hardship, a dedicated infrastructure bank can be used to make strategic investments that will stimulate our economy, lower unemployment levels and make use of lower interest rates. A federal long-term infrastructure bank can give municipalities access to federal low-interest rates, keeping costs low and saving taxpayers money.
That is right. It is us on this side of the House who want to see taxpayers' money spent wisely and not wasted on things like the Senate.
The time for the federal government to act, as I said, is now. With the Building Canada fund set to expire in 2014, Canada's municipalities need immediate funding support to avoid missing a vital construction season. With 11,000 jobs being created for every $1 billion in infrastructure investment, job growth and economic productivity hinge on federal infrastructure funding. It is a crucial opportunity that Canada cannot afford to waste.
Going back to my riding of Scarborough Southwest, we have been around for well over 100 years. Where Scarborough was built up over time, much of our infrastructure was built around Canada's centennial, 1967, with many projects happening during that time. One such project was a large water tower that was built at Warden and Eglinton. A few years ago, that tower was in disrepair. It was having all kinds of problems and the water quality for local residents was put at risk. The City of Toronto made the remediation. It put well over $1 million in scaffolding around this water tower in order to make the corrections and fix the problems. Now that the investment has been made and those jobs created, the water supply for residents in Scarborough Southwest is secure for another 50 years. This is the kind of investment we need to see in areas like Scarborough, and indeed all across the country, in order to ensure we maintain a safe and prosperous society for the future.
As my colleague from Terrebonne—Blainville was talking about, we need to look into the future for new technologies and new forms of investment. However, we also have to look at new areas that are being developed and their needs down the road, and perhaps one of my colleagues will give me the opportunity to talk about that later on.