Irene Mathyssen

[Petitions, May 3rd, 2018]

Mr. Speaker, I have two petitions to present today.

The first petition is from Canadians who believe that VIA Rail should have a management strategy. It does not have a long-term plan and direction approved by government; thus, it can unilaterally end service on any given route that affects thousands of Canadians. If we have a management strategy, VIA can increase rail travel and reduce environmental and financial costs.

The petitioners are asking the Government of Canada to support my bill, Bill C-370, to establish a clear mandate for VIA Rail.

[Petitions, May 1st, 2018]

Mr. Speaker, the second petition is from a group of Canadians who are very sad that the Canadian volunteer medal has ceased to exist. They are petitioning the government to create and issue a new Canadian military volunteer service medal to be designated the Canadian military volunteer service medal for volunteer service by Canadians in the regular forces, the reserves, the cadet corps, and support staff who have completed 365 days of uninterrupted honourable duty for Canada.

[Petitions, May 1st, 2018]

Mr. Speaker, I have two petitions. The first is from a group of Canadians in support of postal banking. We know that nearly two million Canadians desperately need an alternative to payday lenders, because these predators are preying upon people with crippling lending rates that affect the poor, marginalized, rural, and indigenous communities the most.

We have 3,800 Canada Post outlets already in rural areas where there are few or no banks. Canada Post has the infrastructure to make a rapid transition that would include postal banking. Therefore, the petitioners are asking the Government of Canada to enact my motion, Motion No. 166, and create a committee to study and propose a plan for postal banking under the Canada Post Corporation.

[Petitions, April 30th, 2018]

Mr. Speaker, the second petition is from petitioners who support postal banking in Canada. Nearly two million Canadians desperately need an alternative to payday lenders. We have seen the impact of these heartless and terrible people who practise payday lending in our communities. They are crippling those who are poor and marginalized. There are 3,800 Canada Post outlets that already exist in rural areas, and they could help with postal banking. We hope that this Parliament will see fit to do that.

[Petitions, April 30th, 2018]

Mr. Speaker, I have two petitions. The first is a petition calling on the Government of Canada to keep its promise on electoral reform. The petitioners believe Canadians deserve a fair voting system, where every vote counts and their voices are heard. There were two-thirds of Canadians who voted for parties promising electoral reform in the last election, and nearly 90% of experts and public testimony at Parliament's consultations called for a proportional voting system. Therefore, these petitioners ask the Government of Canada to once again keep its promise and bring forward an electoral reform that is not first past the post, as it promised in 2015.

[Canada Post, April 30th, 2018]

Mr. Speaker, on August 24, the Toronto–Dominion Bank plans to close the last remaining bank branch in Old East Village in London, leaving payday lenders free to prey on residents. My appeal to the minister when TD closed its Hamilton Road branch got a pathetic response.

The government stands by and does nothing when the big banks abandon our communities, but New Democrats and Canadians know the solution is postal banking. Will the government support my Motion No. 166 to study and implement postal banking?

[Petitions, April 27th, 2018]

Madam Speaker, the second petition is in regard to postal banking. Nearly two million Canadians desperately need an alternative to payday loan lenders. These are people who are crippling the poor and marginalized with usurious interest rates.

There are 3,800 Canada Post outlets that already exist in rural and remote areas where there are no banks or credit unions. Canada Post already has the infrastructure and the ability to bring forward postal banking. These petitioners are calling on the Government of Canada to enact my motion, Motion No. 166, to create a committee to study and propose a plan so we can indeed have postal banking for Canadians in all communities.

[Petitions, April 27th, 2018]

Madam Speaker, I have two petitions today. The first is from a number of Canadians who wish to draw the attention of this House to the fact that there used to be a Canadian Volunteer Service Medal. It was presented to Canadians who served voluntarily in the Canadian Forces. This honourable and noteworthy acknowledgement of volunteerism by our veterans and troops stopped abruptly in March of 1947.

Veterans Affairs Canada considers any former member of the Canadian Armed Forces who releases with an honourable discharge a veteran. Therefore, the petitioners are asking the Government of Canada to recognize, by means of the creation and issuance of a new Canadian military volunteer service medal, to be designated the Canadian Military Volunteer Service Medal, those who have volunteered for service in the regular forces, reserve forces, and the cadet corps, as a way of showing our appreciation to those who have served.

[Canada Post, April 27th, 2018]

Madam Speaker, U.S. Senator Kirsten Gillibrand announced that she would introduce a bill to reinstate postal banking services in all 30,000 post offices in the United States. Here in Canada, hundreds of municipalities and organizations support postal banking, because they know it is not only viable and profitable, but essential for smaller and remote communities abandoned by big banks. Because postal banking would also support local economic development, it is a real and positive step.

Will the government support Motion No. 166 and consider postal banking for Canada Post?

[Petitions, April 23rd, 2018]

Mr. Speaker, in the past, the Conservative government stripped environmental protection regulations covered in the Navigable Waters Protection Act. I have many petitioners who are very concerned about that. They encourage the Liberal government to keep its promise to reinstate those environmental protections. The North Thames, Middle Thames, and Thames River, in my riding of London—Fanshawe, is a jewel. It is an incredible and historic river. The petitioners ask Parliament to support my bill, Bill C-355, which commits the government to prioritizing the protection of the Thames River and all the bodies of water that should be protected by Parliament.