David Christopherson

[Business of Supply, February 25th, 2016]

Stolen.

[Canada Labour Code, February 16th, 2016]

Madam Speaker, I thank my hon. friend for his compliments. I appreciate that. If that is his style, I look forward to more of this back and forth.

I would remind the member that there are problems in democratic unions just like there are problems in Canada, in our own democracy. We even had an inquiry led by Judge Gomery which looked into people accused of stealing tens of millions of dollars. Did that mean that we said to heck with Canadian democracy and threw it out the window? No. We say we have a problem, but we have systems and checks and balances to take care of that problem and we will do it in an open and transparent way. That is exactly what the labour movement does with those sorts of things. The members are in charge, they pay the freight, and they are the ones calling the shots.

That was what was so obscene about the legislation. It left the impression that unions were full of big union bosses and the goons and the guns and the stealing and all the other nonsense. That was the impression my colleague's party left and it was the impression it wanted to leave. That was the impression the legislation left. It had the desired effect. That secret ballot lessened the number of successes that were there because of intimidation. Anyone who has studied this issue knows that this is a fact. This hiding behind the secret ballot as the only way to do it is not the issue at hand. What matters is fairness and equity, and the workplace is not a fair and equitable place. Different rules are needed for that kind of circumstance.

[Canada Labour Code, February 16th, 2016]

Madam Speaker, I thank my colleague from Hamilton East—Stoney Creek for his kind words and I congratulate him on his election to this place. I recognize the hon. member's role. We may have disagreements from time to time on different details of the labour movement, things that are important and the order of things, but any question of the major contribution that the labour movement makes to Canada I know my friend from Hamilton East shares that. I thank him for his voice over the years and for his continuing voice.

On that last point, team Hamilton was started by Mayor Fred Eisenberger. The whole idea of team Hamilton was wherever possible, MPs and MPPs from all parties would get together, not to fight or to put government members on the spot, to agree on common issues that were in the best interests of home town Hamilton. We would all agree to move forward. In my case, being in opposition, the most I could usually offer was a willingness to shut up and not stand in this place and make a big deal out of something when quietly we were trying to get something done. That can only be done with co-operation, respect, and leadership.

I look forward to continuing that, because I know one thing for sure, and that is that nobody else but a Hamiltonian would get up and ask “What can I do for Hamilton?” It has to be Hamiltonians. We need to stick together, so I am in.

[Canada Labour Code, February 16th, 2016]

Madam Speaker, you are right. I was assuming the former primer minister had stepped down from this place, but he did not, and I apologize. However, I can say Harris because he is not a member here and never was.

However, if we take a look at the studies that have been done, guess what happened? Fewer unions were organizing and fewer organizing drives were successful. Right now the Conservatives would be saying “yes” that this was the whole idea.

Therefore, we are pleased to stand in repealing this legislation. We would have a bill in front of this place too if we had won the election, because the current legislation is wrong.

Promises were made to the labour movement to give them back their rights, and the government of the day right now is honouring that commitment. We are proud to support the bill and to hold the Liberals to account for the promises they have made. When they do honour them, we will say so. When it is time to give them their due credit, we will do that. This is the right thing to do. It was a promise made, and it is important to get this done and cleaned out of the way.

It is high time we had a government in Canada and a House of Commons that actually saw the labour movement as the positive contribution to our nation that it is, rather than always assuming that when we hear “union” we hear a negative and anti-democratic, which is what the Conservative government tried to say all the time. It is not true. It will never be true. As someone who is a proud product of the Canadian labour movement, I am proud to stand here and list and enunciate the great things the labour movement has done to make Canada the greatest country in the world.

This is the right legislation, and we are pleased and proud to stand and support it.

[Canada Labour Code, February 16th, 2016]

Madam Speaker, I appreciate the opportunity to join the debate. It also happens to be my first appropriate opportunity to make a few acknowledgements. I hope, Madam Speaker, you will allow me that latitude.

First, congratulations, Madam Speaker, on your re-election to this great place and on your ascension to being one of our deputy Speakers. You are already doing a fantastic job and I know you will be dispatching fairness and justice on a regular basis for all of us.

Most important, and probably the most important words I will utter in this whole term, is to thank my constituents of Hamilton Centre for the honour of being returned to this place. This is my fifth term here, and after having been around for a while, I begin to think that at some point they will get tired of me. That day is coming. It may not be here yet. I am looking over and I see my friend from Flamborough—Glanbrook laughing, and he knows there is still a good chunk of people who wish I were not here. Nonetheless, I got enough to garner them together to get here. In all sincerity, though, there is no greater honour, as everyone knows, whether brand new here or having served here longer than I, than that feeling we have every time we walk in here and take our place in the House. It is such an honour and I thank my constituents of Hamilton Centre for that honour. I will do my best to make them feel proud of that decision.

To the matter at hand, I found the last speech quite interesting. It was quite the dance. There was no music, but a lot of dancing going on. It started in one place, moved to another place, and had the discussion go over here. When they are in opposition it is always said that, “It is not that we do not like unions, it is not that we are opposed to working people. We just have this particular problem here, here and here”. The next thing we know, they are bridging over and talking about some other darn thing.

I remember when these bills were brought in and how proud the now official opposition members were to go after the labour movement. At best, they believe that the labour movement has had its purpose, but that its purpose has now gone by and unions are no longer needed.

I would like to place on the record a 2002 study that was done of a thousand other studies on the effect of unions on national economies. In that report, it said that “high levels of unionization lead to higher income equality, lower unemployment and inflation, higher productivity and speedier adjustments to economic shocks.” One can only begin to imagine what kind of raving lefty would have come out with such socialistic discussions about the impact of unions on our society, and yet the author was the World Bank.

I heard the previous speaker talk about her concerns with unions. However, from my constituents in Hamilton, I know who was in the forefront of universal health care in Hamilton and Canada. It was the labour movement. I know who was in the forefront of fighting for CPP and who is in the forefront today fighting for CPP for people who do not have pensions, who do not have collective agreements. That is what the labour movement is doing. Who else is standing up for the poor in this country? Who else is standing up for the unemployed? Who else is on the front line of ensuring that we have decent minimum wage protection in this country? What about environmental protection? If members look at any demonstration, or any submission to a legislative body, they will always find the Canadian labour movement at the forefront of all the things that make this the greatest country in the world.

We are not the greatest country in the world because we have the lowest tax rate or because we have the weakest environmental protection. We are the greatest country in the world for the antithesis of that, which is that we have those protections. These do not just come about by themselves, no matter how good a government is. I will say that about NDP, Liberal, or Conservative governments, because it does not matter. There is only so much that they are going to get done, it will still require the labour movement to be there at the forefront fighting, first of all, for the rights of workers and then spending generations after that fighting to defend those rights.

However, with the last government, we saw an outright attack on the labour movement. It is interesting that the Conservatives were telling the labour movement that the unions forced dues and that their members got tax credits for their dues, therefore the public had the right to all this information. I remember the debate, and that was part of what they talked about.

It is interesting that the Conservatives said that was what they wanted to bring about, but in reality, they led an attack on the labour movement for the reasons I just said. However, interestingly, that same application could be made to the Canadian Medical Association, or the law societies, but the Conservatives did not include them.

It was supposedly about fairness for the average Canadian, the taxpayer. It was supposed to be about transparency and all this was the rightful demand of the public, so the former government said, because of tax implications. People were getting benefits from this. The unions were charging dues and members were allowed to have a tax deduction for those dues. For both of those reasons, the Conservatives said that there should be accountability. However, the legal and medical professions, although they may not call themselves unions, they de facto are. In fact, we have seen doctors go on strike in our country on quite a few occasions.

Therefore, the myth the previous government was putting forward was that this was all about the taxpayer, just like when the previous speaker said it was all about working people. All of that is a camouflage. The fact is that with Bill C-525, the Conservatives brought in the changes for certification.

By the way, I would mention the similarities between former Prime Minister Harper and former Ontario Premier Mike Harris. In addition to starting with the letter “H” and both having six letters, they even had the same chief of staff for a while—

[Public Works and Government Services, February 2nd, 2016]

Mr. Speaker, Canadians gave the previous government the boot for its many failures; now we want to know how the current government is going to undo the damage. For example, the previous government completely failed in the transition to Shared Services Canada: missing deadlines, failing to communicate with partners, data left unsecured, and millions misspent.

Exactly what concrete steps is the minister going to take to ensure that Shared Services actually works and that information is actually protected?

[Pensions, February 2nd, 2016]

It really is Groundhog Day all over again, Mr. Speaker. Another Auditor General report, another scathing indictment of the previous government.

Today the Auditor General reported on how that federal government made a complete mess of the CPP disability program: long wait times, a needlessly complicated 42-page application process, and no consistent standards for decisions.

The Conservatives may have been the ones to make this mess, but it is up to the Liberals to fix it. What exactly is the new government going to do to fix it?

[Black History Month, February 1st, 2016]

Mr. Speaker, today marks the beginning of Black History Month, and I am honoured to rise in this House to celebrate the many contributions that Canadians of African and Caribbean descent have made to our great country.

In my home town of Hamilton, the history of these distinguished Canadians runs deep. The Reverend John C. Holland, the son of runaway slaves, was one of Hamilton's most important leaders and the pastor of Stewart Memorial Church, which has its own significant history as part of the Underground Railway.

The Hon. Lincoln Alexander was Canada's first black member of Parliament, first black cabinet minister, and first black lieutenant-governor of Ontario.

The legacy of these two outstanding Hamiltonians continues today through the work of people like Evelyn Myrie, a driving force in building inclusivity in Hamilton, and Matthew Green, who became Hamilton's first black city councillor in 2014.

I encourage everyone to take the time to learn the stories of the many people in Hamilton and all across Canada who played an important role in our history and continue to work to create a more inclusive and a more equal Canada.

[Public Works and Government Services, June 19th, 2015]

Mr. Speaker, given the two protagonists who were just up, I am not sure which one you were speaking to, but I think we will both take it under advisement.

While Conservatives were using taxpayer funds to promote themselves, they have not done the job on important issues like military procurement. They bungled the F-35s, and the Sea Kings replacement, the Cyclone helicopters, due to be fully delivered by 2008, are now—wait for it—seven years late. Seven years late is bad enough, but now DND is questioning whether the engines are even strong enough to do the job.

Why have the Conservatives bungled yet another important military procurement?

[Government Advertising, June 19th, 2015]

Mr. Speaker, it is always good to hear now and then from the member for Medicine Hat.

Remember when Conservatives used to care about defending taxpayers' money? Not anymore. Since Conservatives came to power, they have spent a staggering $750 million of public money on Conservative advertising: TV ads, radio ads, polling, and even almost $2 million on Facebook ads, all paid for by Canadians. No wonder people are ready for change.

When exactly did these former Reformers forget what it means to be frugal when it comes to respecting taxpayer dollars?