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Crucial Fact

  • Her favourite word was help.

Last in Parliament May 2021, as Conservative MP for Haldimand—Norfolk (Ontario)

Won her last election, in 2019, with 47% of the vote.

Statements in the House

Employment Insurance April 20th, 2009

Mr. Speaker, we want to help as many Canadians who need our help and we want to do it in a prompt manner. That is why we have been taking on extra staff to deal with the burgeoning number of EI claims. That is why we have extended our call centre hours. That is why our Service Canada officials are trying to meet with every company possible that is facing layoffs so we can avoid them if possible with our work-sharing programs. If that is not possible, we will work with them to expedite the application process for employment insurance so Canadians who are suffering get the benefits they need as quickly as possible.

Infrastructure April 20th, 2009

Mr. Speaker, we consulted with municipalities right across the country. They said they have long-term plans to develop residential-based infrastructure in their communities to make it possible to build subdivisions. To do that they needed some help, though, because their plans were for the long term. Yesterday we made available the process, the application forms and all the details so that municipalities right across this country, large and small, can access $2 billion in low-cost direct loans to help them advance the infrastructure that will create local jobs and provide long-term benefits for their communities.

Employment Insurance April 20th, 2009

Mr. Speaker, we do recognize that these are very difficult times for all too many Canadians who are losing their jobs. That is why, in the earliest budget that a Canadian government has ever presented, we presented extensions to the EI system, an additional five weeks of regular benefits. We froze the EI premium rates to conserve jobs. We expanded dramatically the work-sharing program.

All these things are there to help vulnerable Canadians at the time they need it most, but the leader of the NDP and his entire party voted against every single one of those efforts to help Canadians.

Questions on the Order Paper March 30th, 2009

Mr. Speaker, HRSDC remains committed to ensuring that the data required to support disability-related policy development, program delivery and reporting are available. The feasibility of a 2011 PALS, as well as alternative options for disability data collection are being evaluated currently.

Employment Insurance March 27th, 2009

Mr. Speaker, we are trying to make sure and doing everything we can so that people do not have to make those choices. We do not want them to. We understand the difficult circumstances in which they find themselves. That is why we have brought on hundreds of people to help with EI processing. We just received authorization this week to hire hundreds more so that we can meet the challenges that are going on right now.

With the huge jump in the number of claims, we want to make sure that we are doing everything possible so that people who need EI get it just as quickly as possible.

Employment Insurance March 27th, 2009

Mr. Speaker, there is no question that there are a lot of people who are going through some really tough times right now, thanks to this global recession. That is why, to help them out, our EI services have been expanded. We are offering an extra five weeks of benefits on top of the regular benefits by extending the pilot project right across the country. To help people like Julie, we have extended the hours of our EI call centres to include evenings and Saturdays.

For any assistance, I suggest that Julie calls Service Canada. It is easier to get through on a Saturday, and if the hon. member has continued problems--

Employment Insurance March 27th, 2009

Mr. Speaker, we are making EI available to those who paid into it. We are also expanding it. We are expanding it to provide more benefit to Canadians who are unfortunate enough to lose their jobs by providing them with the training tools to give them the skills they need to get the jobs of the future so that they can look after their families going forward.

We are working on that to help Canadians grow and to keep our economy going.

Seniors March 26th, 2009

Mr. Speaker, seniors helped build this great country of ours and we believe that they deserve our respect and support.

While seniors may not be a priority for the Liberal Party and while the Liberals may dismiss the new horizons for seniors program, we support it. That includes providing over $24,000 in funding for the Caribbean seniors program in the Liberal-held riding of York West.

Employment Insurance March 26th, 2009

Mr. Speaker, the way the system works right now is best exemplified in Oshawa, which, unfortunately, has seen a lot of job losses in the last 12 months.

People in Oshawa right now can claim EI with two weeks less work time to qualify. They will get the benefits for four weeks longer, plus the five weeks that we have just added on through our economic action plan.

That system adjusted itself automatically to the worsening conditions. That is a good system. By the way, it was the Liberals who designed that system.

Employment Insurance March 26th, 2009

Mr. Speaker, I would have thought that the hon. member, given his years of experience here in the House, would understand the EI system by now. Eligibility is adjusted automatically every month, region by region, in 58 regions across the country.

As local economic conditions worsen, automatically every month the eligibility gets easier. People can claim EI benefits faster and for a longer period of time.

If we waited to do it through legislation or regulation, people would not get the benefits they are getting now.