Harold Albrecht

[Employment Insurance Act, November 3rd, 2009]

Mr. Speaker, the previous speaker has talked about squandering the surplus. Only a Liberal could talk about paying down debt as squandering the surplus. We paid down $37 billion in debt, and he continually refuses to acknowledge that.

How can he vote against these measures, which would definitely help people who have paid into EI for 20 or 30 years and who actually deserve these benefits if they are now looking for jobs? He knows that in this environment it takes longer to find a job, so adding these extra weeks is certainly going to help them.

I would like the member to respond to that.

[Employment Insurance Act, November 3rd, 2009]

Mr. Speaker, it has been over an hour since we heard the speech from the member, but if one could judge from the volume of her speech it is certainly obvious that she is very passionate about this issue.

It is important to remind Canadians that Bill C-50 proposes to add an extension of between 5 to 20 extra weeks to help long-tenured workers access employment insurance benefits.

All Canadians would agree that the best way to help unemployed Canadians is to help them get back to work. We have initiated a number of plans: $500 million for training long-tenured workers, $1.5 billion for those on EI who would not normally qualify, and many others.

How can the member opposite look into the eyes of those in her province who are unemployed, who have in some cases worked for many years, some decades, who would qualify for employment benefits under this bill and say, “I'm sorry. You don't qualify because I voted against the measure?”

I would like her answer to that.

[Employment Insurance Act, November 3rd, 2009]

Mr. Speaker, I want to thank the parliamentary secretary for outlining the great list of initiatives our government has embarked upon to help unemployed people.

Recently I had the privilege of touring Conestoga College in my riding. There was a middle-aged gentleman who was taking advantage of the retraining opportunities that are available to him. He was really excited and enthusiastic about the possibilities this will give him.

I am wondering if the parliamentary secretary could expand for Canadians who are watching this, on the amazing opportunities that are available for retraining, which in fact is really the course we need to embark upon if we are going to provide long-term solutions for the unemployment problem.

[Petitions, November 3rd, 2009]

Mr. Speaker, I have the honour today to present a petition signed by hundreds of people from the Waterloo region. They remind government that the veterans of Canada's armed forces have demonstrated a willingness to sacrifice their lives in the service of our country and that currently there exists a chronic shortage of medical and convalescent facilities for veterans across Canada. They call on government to expand the range and scope of medical and convalescent facilities available to Canada's veterans and to commit publicly to expanding the number of beds in rest homes available for veterans. They ask government to initiate a re-evaluation of medical services provided to our veterans, specifically those in their senior years, to ensure that adequate resources and attention are being paid to those who have served our country.

[November 2nd, 2009]

Madam Speaker, I listened intently to some of the comments the member opposite made. At one point she said that our government promised to solve this problem in one fell swoop.

I have been in the chamber many times during question period when our Minister of Health has been very clear that Canadians could expect the rollout of this vaccine in the first week of November. In fact, we were earlier than that. The other thing that I think Canadians need to be reminded of is that Canada has more vaccine available per capita than any other country in the world.

Granted, there are many more to be vaccinated, but does the member honestly feel that it would be possible to vaccinate 33 million Canadians in the first week of the rollout of this campaign?

[Petitions, November 2nd, 2009]

Mr. Speaker, I have the honour today to present a petition that is signed by over 2,300 Canadians from New Brunswick, Quebec, Ontario, Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Alberta and British Columbia.

These petitioners are calling upon Parliament to enable prosecution of those who encourage or counsel someone to commit suicide by updating Canada's Criminal Code to reflect the new realities of 21st century broadband access and to fund education programs that will empower vulnerable youth to protect themselves from online predators and find appropriate community resources.

[Support Measures for Adoptive Parents, October 30th, 2009]

Mr. Speaker, I am sure that as we listened to my colleague from Essex's very informative speech, we could all reflect on our own childhoods and perhaps we were even thinking about our children and grandchildren.

The member for Essex did point out the very high success rate in terms of adoptive parent-child relationships, but he was also very clear in pointing out many of the obstacles. I think it is more than appropriate that this issue be referred to the HUMA committee.

We have talked about the tax credit that is available a number of times during this interchange. I wonder if the member could clarify what the current regime is in terms of the tax credit available for adoptive parents.

[Petitions, October 28th, 2009]

Mr. Speaker, I have the honour today to present a petition signed by around 1,000 people from Prince Edward Island, Ontario and British Columbia.

The petitioners call upon the House of Commons to enable prosecution of those who encourage or counsel someone to commit suicide by updating the Canadian Criminal Code to reflect the new realities of 21st century broadband access, and to fund education programs that would empower Canada's vulnerable youth to protect themselves from online predators.

[Petitions, October 26th, 2009]

The second petition, Mr. Speaker, also calls on Canada to pass legislation for the protection of human life from the time of conception until natural death.

[Petitions, October 26th, 2009]

Mr. Speaker, I have the honour to present two petitions today as well.

The first petition is signed by a number of people calling on the government to support a universal declaration on animal welfare.