Irene Mathyssen

[Pay Equity, October 27th, 2010]

Mr. Speaker, federally regulated women employees have been waiting too long for proactive pay equity legislation.

The previous government stalled on introducing pay equity legislation and the current government, with the support of the official opposition, introduced regressive legislation that has turned back the clock on women's equality.

Human rights do not belong on the bargaining table. Collective bargaining is a process of negotiating and compromising. Human rights are non-negotiable and there must never be a compromise. Women's rights are not a bargaining chip.

The Bilson report unanimously recommended that the best process to achieve pay equity is to separate it from collective bargaining. The report states that using the collective bargaining process to achieve pay equity will not only reinforce the gendered nature of the report, it will undermine pay equity, which is at the heart of our purpose.

New Democrats are furious that the Public Sector Equitable Compensation Act will be implemented in the new year and that women in Canada will once again be denied equality in the workplace.

[October 26th, 2010]

Mr. Speaker, again we hear the word “soon”. I would remind the member opposite that the budget is far from recent. It was months ago.

Aboriginal women in Canada have been waiting long enough. The government needs to announce its plan now. Funding needed to be rolled out yesterday.

The issue of violence against aboriginal women is multifaceted and complex, and it will not go away overnight. Experts have advocated for investment in direct service providers to help address this issue.

The Standing Committee on the Status of Women heard that funding in communities is piecemeal. There is limited ability to intervene with prevention programs, because the financial supports are not present. Access to educational opportunities with an emphasis on new life skills and healthier life choices is unavailable. We have been told repeatedly that funding needs to be available to grassroots organizations that provide the services necessary.

When will the government finally take this issue seriously? It has announced the $10 million. When will it flow?

[October 26th, 2010]

Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank the parliamentary secretary for taking time to respond to questions on the very important matter of funding decisions regarding the $10 million promised in budget 2010 to address the issue of violence against aboriginal women.

On June 8, 2010, I asked the Minister of Justice to tell the House when we could expect to see a plan put in place for the investment of the $10 million promised in the budget. Again, not surprisingly, I was told the government would reveal its plan in due time.

It has been seven months since this funding was announced and still no plan has been revealed. Since budget 2010 announced this $10 million in funding, I have asked the government to reveal its plan no fewer than four times. Every time I stand in the House and ask this question, the government has the same answer, “Soon”.

Soon is not good enough. Recent research from the Sisters in Spirit initiative shows that 582 aboriginal women have gone missing or have been murdered, 582 women. It is unspeakable that this tragedy has occurred and inexplicable that the government is doing nothing to address this and prevent such injustice from continuing.

Per capita, 582 missing and murdered aboriginal women is the equivalent of more than 19,000 non-aboriginal women going missing or being murdered. Would the government continue to procrastinate and refuse to set out a plan in that situation?

What is worse is that organizations on the ground have the solutions necessary to start to address the issue of violence committed against aboriginal women, and all that is missing is the funding and the political will to stop the overwhelming violence being experienced.

I must say with genuine regret and some exasperation that this is all too typical of the current government. The experts on the ground have the answers, but the party in power seems determined to remain idle until it is too late to get the funding in place so that it can be used for programming before the money disappears in March 2012.

Groups across the country are afraid that this is exactly what will happen with the funding promised. We all know this funding must be spent by the end of fiscal year 2011-12. That leaves only 17 months to make the announcement, roll out the funding and allow organizations to create the infrastructure to support the funds. It is just not enough time.

The Standing Committee on the Status of Women has begun a study on the issue of violence against aboriginal women. We began last spring, and what we are hearing time and time again is that funding to address this issue is inadequate. Certainly, funding is needed to help women flee violence and to catch perpetrators, but there is also a need to invest in prevention.

We need to fund groups on the ground that will help combat the systemic causes of violence against aboriginal women. Many of these groups are small and they need more than 17 months to prepare their projects and spend the investment promised in budget 2010. They are desperate to know now where this money is going and how the government intends to proceed.

I ask my question again. What is the government's plan of action regarding the $10 million promised in budget 2010 to address violence against aboriginal women, and when will this plan be announced and the funding rolled out?

Aboriginal women in Canada cannot afford to wait any longer.

[Hazardous Products Act, October 25th, 2010]

moved for leave to introduce Bill C-584, An Act to amend the Hazardous Products Act (plastic bags).

Mr. Speaker, today it is my privilege to table a bill that is the product of a contest, “Create Your Canada”, that I sponsored to engage our young people in the political process. I want to thank all those who entered. I also want to thank the five judges from across our community and to VIA Rail for providing transportation to Ottawa for the students.

This bill would ban single use, non-biodegradable plastic bags in Canada. The authors of this private member's bill, students Hannah DeBoer and Miranda Van Rooyen, have joined me today in the House of Commons.

Research done by these students revealed that single use plastic bags harm or kill 100 million sea animals annually, use up non-renewable petroleum resources and clog our landfill sites. Less than 1% of the 55 million single use bags distributed in Canada every week are recycled.

These students believe that Canada needs a law to prevent the harm caused by single use plastic bags. I would sincerely hope that the members of this House and the community will listen and make the effort to hear and respectfully consider ideas from young Canadians.

I am very proud of Hannah and Miranda. They have decided to be active participants in our political process. They are not only the leaders of tomorrow but the leaders of today.

(Motions deemed adopted, bill read the first time and printed)

[Canada-Panama Free Trade Act, October 20th, 2010]

Madam Speaker, I wonder if my colleague could comment on this: I remember a time when the argument for NAFTA, the North American Free Trade Agreement, was that it would lift people in the developing country out of poverty. Contrary to that, what we saw was an exploitation of these same people. Young men and women worked in factories, manufacturing clothing or car parts, and they were paid so little that they could not afford to buy the very clothing they were making. They were compelled to send their own children to work at an age that would make most of us very concerned.

What occurred was child labour and taking advantage of young people: many of the people subject to this kind of exploitation were young women. These free trade agreements did not help the people who were struggling. I wonder if my colleague would comment on the young people, the workers of Panama.

[Canada-Panama Free Trade Act, October 20th, 2010]

Madam Speaker, the discussion in regard to the fact that money is not being collected leads me to a question that pertains more to Canada's reality. My esteemed colleague has indicated he has questions for our government with regard to tax evasion here.

More specifically, I read in the paper today that the government has determined that $33 million is owed in terms of unpaid taxes and suspect it is far more, yet the government is laying off 500 civil servants, many of them at the Canada Revenue Agency. We know that for every $1 invested in a worker at CRA, $5 is recouped in terms of revenue. I wonder if my colleague would comment on that.

[Canada-Panama Free Trade Act, October 20th, 2010]

Madam Speaker, I wonder if my colleague could expand on his discussion in regard to the tax haven and the fact that companies and individuals are dumping money in tax havens.

I wonder if he could also address to what is happening to union workers on the ground. I note that in July there was a new wave of anti-union repression in Panama, resulting in several workers being killed. Over 100 were injured and 300 arrested, including the leaders of SUNTRACS and the CONATO trade union.

My colleague has a great interest in the rights of workers in Canada and abroad. I would like to hear his thoughts in regard to this kind of overt violence against men and women who are simply seeking fair compensation for their work or the ability, I think more accurately, to fend for themselves and their families.

[Canada-Panama Free Trade Act, October 20th, 2010]

Madam Speaker, I want to thank my colleague for his intervention in regard to this bill. We heard his comments in regard to the tax haven that Panama offers. Canadians are incensed by the fact that there are those who defraud the rest of us when they refuse to pay their taxes.

I wanted to ask him about the labour side deals. I have been looking at this agreement and there is, of course, a labour side deal. Unfortunately, it does not protect the men and women who work in this country or in Panama. Without real teeth in labour negotiations and deals, workers both here and in Panama are lost. They are going to be as victimized as the rest of Canadians who will never see those tax fraud artists brought to justice.

[Petitions, October 20th, 2010]

Mr. Speaker, I have a petition from citizens across many communities and from all walks of life who want Parliament to know that they genuinely support and value the contributions of our veterans and that they regard a veteran as a veteran regardless of which deployment or where an individual may have served.

The petitioners join the Veterans Ombudsman and General Walter Natynczyk in condemning the new Veterans Charter and the Department of Veterans Affairs for creating barriers to serving Canada's veterans.

The petitioners also demand that existing services, such as veterans hospitals, be mandated to serve modern day veterans, including the more than 200,000 members of the armed forces who have served in peacekeeping missions since the Korean War.

The petitioners want a full hearing in the House of Commons in response to the issues of pensions, special care, programs, services and the preservation of an independent Department of Veterans Affairs and that Parliament act to ensure veterans and their families receive the supports that they have been promised and to which they are entitled as members of the armed forces past, present and future.

[Fighting Internet and Wireless Spam Act, October 18th, 2010]

Mr. Speaker, my colleague enlightened a number of us in regard to this situation. I was quite taken with his discussion in regard to the democratic protest by the group protesting the tar sands. It reminded me of the government shutting down people like Pat Stogran, the ombudsman for veterans, and Richard Colvin who wanted justice and blew the whistle in regard to Afghan detainees.

I think about democracy and the peril that democracy has faced with the government. Could the member comment on the impact of those 4,500 legitimate websites that were closed down and what does that say about the state of our democracy?