Erin Weir

[Canada Labour Code, February 3rd, 2016]

Madam Speaker, I would like to thank the member for Kenora for his good words about the role of unions and on extending defined benefit pension coverage. Another way of extending defined benefit pension coverage would be by expanding the Canada pension plan.

It took three ghosts to scare and convince Ebenezer Scrooge, but just before Christmas, the Minister of Finance met with the provinces, and he was scared away by only two ghosts: Brad Wall and Christy Clark.

I wonder if the member for Kenora could perhaps talk some sense to the Minister of Finance and convince him to proceed with an expansion of the Canadian pension plan.

[Employment Insurance, February 1st, 2016]

Mr. Speaker, thousands of resource workers have been laid off. The latest Statistics Canada report indicates that the monthly percentage jump in employment insurance claims was far higher in Saskatchewan than in other provinces.

Resource workers and their families need real assistance now. However, after years of Conservative attacks, our employment insurance system is broken.

What concrete changes will the Minister of Employment make to improve the accessibility level and duration of employment insurance benefits?

[Resumption of Debate on Address in Reply, January 25th, 2016]

Mr. Speaker, I congratulate the member for Central Nova on his speech. One of the points he made was to suggest that the so-called middle-class tax cut would benefit those who needed it most and would lift children out of poverty. I wonder if the member for Central Nova would acknowledge that this measure would actually provide no benefit at all to those earning less than $45,000 per year, and that a much better way to help those who need it most would in fact be to reduce the first tax bracket, as the NDP has proposed.

[Regina—Lewvan, December 10th, 2015]

Mr. Speaker, it's a great honour to be one of the first New Democratic MPs elected from Saskatchewan in over a decade. Far be it for me to stand up and declare, “Canada's back”, but I am pleased to report that the birthplace of Canadian social democracy is back.

Saskatchewan's new MPs have enjoyed our first week in this House. Tomorrow, I will go to Rideau Hall for the presentation of a Meritorious Service Medal to one of my constituents. Kim Sutherland founded Street Culture Kidz in 1997 to provide housing, education programming, and work experience to at-risk youth in Regina.

We thank Kim for his service to our community.

[Business of Supply, December 10th, 2015]

Mr. Speaker, I would like to congratulate the hon. member for Thornhill for a very eloquent speech. I wonder if the members adjacent might have spoken with equal eloquence in favour of the 2003 invasion of Iraq.

Now, after a decade of bombing Iraq, I wonder if they would acknowledge that it has not actually led to peace and, in fact, has created and contributed to the conditions that have allowed ISIS to thrive.

[Resumption of Debate on Address in Reply, December 8th, 2015]

Mr. Speaker, I would like to congratulate my hon. colleague, the member for Desnethé—Missinippi—Churchill River, for her excellent speech.

Members across the way were asking about the importance of the middle-class tax cut. I would ask my colleague to clarify how many residents of her riding would benefit from a tax cut on incomes over $45,000 a year and whether there might be a way to reconfigure that to actually provide some assistance to her constituents.

[Resumption of Debate on Address in Reply, December 8th, 2015]

Madam Speaker, I would like to thank the people of Regina—Lewvan for electing me and also congratulate the member for Davenport on her election. I thank her for her speech.

The speech suggested that the government's so-called middle-class tax cut would benefit working and middle-class constituents in Davenport, but the member also mentioned that the median income per household in her riding is about $56,000. I hate to break it to her, but the only way such a household would benefit from this tax cut would be if all of that income were earned by a single member of that household. For people in households earning anything up to $45,000, there would be no benefit at all from the government's so-called middle-class tax cut.

I am wondering if the member for Davenport would acknowledge that her constituents would actually benefit more from the NDP's proposal to reduce the first tax bracket than from the government's proposal to reduce the tax bracket over $45,000.