Geoff Regan

[The Budget, March 3rd, 2008]

Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to have the opportunity to rise in debate on this year's budget.

I am afraid it is another budget that fails to offer very much for Nova Scotians or for Atlantic Canadians in general, for my region, and it fails to offer very much to Canadians who might be concerned about the economy.

We are watching what is happening in the U.S. We see the lowest consumer confidence levels in many years. We see financial institutions not matching the lowering of the interest rates by the federal reserve bank in the U.S. Therefore, there is a tightening of credit with banks. Financial institutions are less willing to lend. Consumers are less able to get access to credit to buy homes or to buy cars. We can expect less spending on a variety of things. We should be concerned about that in Canada. The U.S. is our biggest customer, so to speak. It is our biggest market by far and the vast majority of our goods, our exports are sold to the United States.

Canadians are concerned about that, but they see so little in this budget that deals with it, largely because of the situation in which the actions of the past two years have left the government.

There is very little in the budget. It fails to offer very much for Canadians who are concerned about the environment and in so many other areas, as many other members have spoken of today.

The Halifax Chronicle Herald describes the 2008 budget as the most remarkable for the being the least memorable. It is a rather unremarkable budget in that regard. It has very little good news for our region. It is no wonder, given how much the government has squandered in the last two budgets.

At least this year's budget is a little better than the previous two, considering how bad they were. In 2006 the government destroyed the national child care program because it did not fit the right wing ideology of the Conservatives. It was the same thing in relation to the EnerGuide program, which they then resurrected under a new name, but it was a feeble imitation of it.

We see over and over again where the Conservatives do not like a program because it was started by the Liberal government. They may somehow recognize that there was validity to it and that it had benefits because they then come back with something similar, some shadow of that program afterwards, like they did with EnerGuide, as they have done now in relation to the millennium scholarship program. However, they are so ideologically driven that they cannot seem to accept that if it was done by a Liberal government, that it could be any good. That is entirely unreasonable.

In the 2007 budget things got much worse for Nova Scotia. I mentioned the 2006 budget, which was bad. The 2007 budget was considerably worse. In that budget, as Nova Scotians know, the Prime Minister betrayed Nova Scotians and he refused to honour his word to live up to the Atlantic accord, to fulfill the Atlantic accord. He killed it, as members well know.

Let us look at this year's budget, which I can only call lacklustre. Again we the anti-Atlantic bias of the government. Nova Scotia's Finance Minister Michael Baker, who is a Progressive Conservative, told reporters last week that he was relieved the federal budget did not appear to hurt the province the way last year's budget did. Imagine that coming from supposedly a fellow Conservative. Although in this case, as many Progressive Conservatives in Nova Scotia point out, they are Progressive Conservatives, not the same party as the government across the way.

We have heard from Danny Williams in Newfoundland. He makes the same point very clearly. He talks about the kinds of negative things the government has done for our country, for our social programs, et cetera.

Mr. Baker was relieved that this budget did not hurt the province as much as last year's did. However, he did note that it was not much help either. The budget is not doing very much to assist Nova Scotia, and he is concerned about that. Because of the situation the government has left itself in, he is concerned it is not doing very much to get the economy going at a time when we are likely to have possible slowdowns.

Many commentators pointed out, including the Halifax Chronicle Herald Steve Maher among others, that the regional development agency, ACOA, was not even mentioned in the budget. I suppose that is what we get when we have a part time minister for ACOA. The Prime Minister did not think that ACOA was important enough to have one minister whose attention would be focused on that job. I am sad to say that this says a lot about the Prime Minister and the government.

The news gets worse for ACOA, the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency, because there are also reports that ACOA will get less funding. The reports are based on the government's own spending estimates. The main estimates for 2008-09 show that ACOA's budget will be down 25% compared to the last Liberal budget.

Conservative spin doctors are already trying to explain away these cuts and to shift the blame away from themselves. If the government would invest as much in regional development as it does in its spin doctors and spin control, the region would be a lot better off.

[Gary Martin, February 14th, 2008]

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to pay tribute to an extraordinary resident of Halifax West.

Last Sunday, Halifax Regional Councillor Gary Martin passed away after a lengthy battle with cancer. He will be remembered as a loving father, a dedicated police officer, and an impassioned public servant.

Gary has been described by friends and colleagues as a fierce advocate for the people he so proudly served. He will be remembered as a true champion of Bedford where he lived his entire life.

On behalf of the people of Halifax West and all members of this House, I wish to express our heartfelt sympathy to his wife, Darlene, and his three daughters, and I am sure all colleagues would join me.

[Member for Cumberland—Colchester—Musquodoboit Valley, February 5th, 2008]

Last week, Mr. Speaker, one of our colleagues, the member for Cumberland—Colchester—Musquodoboit Valley, underwent surgery for prostate cancer.

According to media reports, the surgery was a success and the member was sending emails from his hospital bed a few hours later. As they say, it is hard to keep a good man down.

My Nova Scotia colleague has proven over and over again that he is fiercely independent and is a passionate defender of the interests of his province, no matter what the consequences.

I know that members from all parties in the House will want to join me in wishing my hon. colleague from Cumberland—Colchester—Musquodoboit Valley a full recovery and a speedy return to this place.

[Nora Bernard, January 28th, 2008]

Mr. Speaker, Canada experienced a deep loss in late December with the death of renowned Mi'kmaq activist Nora Bernard at her home near Millbrook First Nation, Nova Scotia.

Nora Bernard was a trusted leader in her community. She was highly respected by everyone who knew her and deeply loved by her family and friends.

She became a champion for her people when she launched a class action lawsuit on behalf of survivors of abuse at residential schools. Her efforts were instrumental in getting a national settlement for an estimated 79,000 survivors.

Survivors of the horrors of residential schools will never forget this courageous woman, and all of us will remember her determination and dedication to her community.

Mi'kmaq spiritual leader Noel Knockwood said that she made a tremendous contribution to Canada as a whole by standing up for liberty, justice and freedom.

All Canadians should be proud of her tremendous achievements in the face of overwhelming adversity.

[The Environment, December 13th, 2007]

Mr. Speaker, here is the kicker. Canada has received a record number of fossil awards for obstructing progress in Bali. The latest award was given when our environment minister walked out of a meeting of 40 international ministers so he could attend a social event.

Why did hard-working taxpayers cover the cost of sending the minister to Bali so he could wander around in flip-flops and go to cocktails? He could have just gone to Hy's.

[The Environment, December 13th, 2007]

Mr. Speaker, Canada is becoming the laughingstock of the international community in large part because of the shenanigans of the Minister of the Environment.

Why did the minister go halfway around the world to attend the United Nations Climate Change Conference if all he meant to do was attend cocktail parties?

[Violence Against Women, December 11th, 2007]

Mr. Speaker, in December 2005, residents of Halifax were shocked by the murder of teacher Paula Gallant.

As a result of this violent crime, our community lost a strong, intelligent woman and gifted artist. Her family lost a loving mother, sister and wife.

Last week, several hundred people reaffirmed their determination to find her killer and see justice done. They used a birthday memorial to launch a website devoted to Paula and the ongoing effort to end violence against women.

I recently met her sister Lynn, who is determined to make people aware of Paula's life and her unsolved murder. Lynn is an impressive advocate and dedicated sister.

I am sure the House will join me in commending her and others for their efforts on behalf of Paula and women everywhere who are victims of violence.

[Canadian Health Network, November 30th, 2007]

Mr. Speaker, I recently received a message from Nova Scotia's Cathy Leslie who said this neo-Conservative government's cuts to the Canadian Health Network reveals, “some of the stealth being used to dismantle our national social safety net”.

Ms. Leslie said that we must oppose the cuts and shed light on this quiet death.

The health network works with 26 organizations—departments, universities, hospitals, libraries and non-profit health care providers—who rely on 1,600 specialists in the country.

How can a government sitting on a $14 billion surplus explain why it will eliminate funding for this program at the end of the fiscal year? Is it oblivious to how destructive its policies are or does it just not care how many Canadians will be hurt by its actions?

[Income Tax Act, November 28th, 2007]

We do need more on this side. That is for sure.

Last year the human resources committee was looking at the issue of employability, which broadly includes the issue of the skills shortage and also the issue of people who are left behind, people who are unable to fully take part in our society and unable to benefit from our prosperity in the way they should because they do not have the skills they need or they might have disabilities or other kinds of social problems that affect them.

The challenge we face as a society is to find ways to ensure that everyone in our society has a chance to take part, that no one is left behind.

In the case of people with disabilities, for example, we heard at our committee that there are often times when an employer, with a few small adjustments in the workplace, can make it possible for a person with a disability to come in and work and make an enormous contribution. At committee, we had examples of employers who talked about the fantastic benefits they had from getting terrific people. They would not have had those people if they had not made a few adjustments to their workspace to make it possible for them to work there.

More and more, as employers have difficulty getting the people they need with the skills they need, they are going to have to look at various options, but also we as a society have to make sure that people are ready to take the jobs that are available now and in the future.

This is an enormously important challenge for us, because if we do not do that, we face a number of potential problems. One of those problems is inflation as there are fewer people available to do jobs. For instance, if we want renovations done to our house and we are looking to get--

[Income Tax Act, November 28th, 2007]

Mr. Speaker, some of my hon. colleagues across the way seem to be anxious. They seem to be interested in this concept, but I will not go any farther in that direction. I think I will stick to the topic at hand, that of youth and the economy and the clear importance of investing in education.

In my riding, I find that many families have a tough time affording a university or community college education, yet it is so important for individuals and young people to have the opportunity to go to university or a community college and gain from that experience. They end up with a much better opportunity and a much better chance not only of being employed full time for the rest of their lives, but also of having a higher level of income. In both respects, it is very important to have that background.

One of the problems we face is that lower income families in particular, but young people generally, when they look at the options before them, may say that if they go to university it is going to cost an awful lot, they will have to borrow money, and they will have a huge debt. They ask themselves if they will get a good job after university that will allow them to pay off that debt, or if they should go somewhere right away where they can get some other kind of job that may not be as good in the long run but gets them a decent salary right away and gets them into the workforce.

The problem is that too many young people will say that they do not want to take the risk of incurring that enormous debt. For so many students today, it is an enormous debt. It can be as much as $100,000 or more after four or more years of university. If a person takes more than one degree, for example, if he or she wants to become a professional such as a doctor, or for other reasons a second degree to become a lawyer, et cetera, that can be incredibly costly for young people.

Students look at that and some turn away. They say no, they cannot afford it, it is too much, they are not going that route and they are going into the workforce. The fact of the matter is that in the future we face shortages in a whole range of skill areas and a whole range of careers. We already have seen it starting in our country. There is no shortage of people running to be members of Parliament, but that is another issue.