Irene Mathyssen

[Petitions, May 6th, 2015]

Mr. Speaker, I have a petition from hundreds of Canadians who ask Parliament to reverse the plan to axe our long-treasured postal services because it will kill jobs, eliminate door-to-door delivery, close post offices and has drastically increased postal rates. There are 6,000 to 8,000 workers who will lose their jobs and 5 million households will lose door-to-door delivery over the next five years, which will hurt seniors and disabled Canadians in particular.

The petitioners call upon the Government of Canada to reverse the cuts to service announced by Canada Post and to look to things like postal banking to augment our postal service.

[Interparliamentary Delegations, May 6th, 2015]

Mr. Speaker, pursuant to Standing Order 34(1) I have the honour to present, in both official languages, the report of the Canadian delegation of the Canadian Group of the Inter-Parliamentary Union, respecting its participation at the 59th session of the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women, held in New York on March 11.

[Seniors, May 6th, 2015]

Mr. Speaker, today many parliamentarians are fasting to raise awareness about hunger in Canada as part of Food Banks Canada's Every Plate Full campaign.

Seven per cent of seniors in Canada depend on food banks. Even though they receive pension benefits, they just do not have enough to make ends meet. No one, and certainly no senior, should ever go hungry.

Why are the Conservatives refusing to implement a national seniors strategy that would allow our seniors to retire in dignity?

[National Defence, May 5th, 2015]

Mr. Speaker, last month, the Minister of National Defence committed to considering the proposal from the Duchess of Kent Legion, in London, to move into the officers' mess at Wolseley Barracks. Like so many branches of the Legion across Canada that care for and reach out to our veterans, the contribution of this Legion to the London community and our veterans is immeasurable. However, time is running out.

Has the minister made a decision on the proposal? If not, when can the Legion and the community expect an answer?

[Petitions, May 1st, 2015]

Mr. Speaker, the second petition is with respect to Canadians who have paid into the EI fund their entire working lives and do not benefit. EI was designed to strengthen our workforce but instead, now, 6 of 10 workers are already disqualified from EI because of government restrictions.

With the latest change to EI, the petitioners believe the government is hurting Canadian families, damaging regional economies and driving down wages. They call upon the Government of Canada to reverse the devastating changes it has to made to EI and to restore fair access to decent benefits.

[Petitions, May 1st, 2015]

Mr. Speaker, I have two petitions. The first petition is from residents of the London and Woodstock areas.

While the petitioners agree that terrorism is a real threat and we must confront it, they are very concerned about Bill C-51. They believe that instead of making Canadians safer, the Conservatives are playing politics with this bill, which is dangerous, vague and, mostly like, ineffective. It could threaten our rights and freedoms, and would give CSIS sweeping new surveillance powers without proper oversight.

The petitioners are very concerned about the possibility of abuse. They call upon the House of Commons to listen to the NDP's principled stand, stop the attack on our civil liberties and vote down Bill C-51.

[Manufacturing Industry, May 1st, 2015]

Mr. Speaker, Conservatives have utterly failed the auto sector, failed the manufacturing sector, and failed the 1.3 million Canadians who are out of work.

Canadians are working harder and falling further and further behind, but instead of helping to create jobs in Canada, the Conservatives loaned Volkswagen $526 million to create jobs in Mexico, and now there is another budget with no manufacturing strategy.

Why are Conservatives abandoning the middle class, working families, and the manufacturing sector?

[Manufacturing Industry, May 1st, 2015]

Mr. Speaker, yesterday GM announced that another 1,000 jobs will be cut in Oshawa this year.

More than 400,000 manufacturing jobs have been lost under the Conservative government. Now it has introduced another budget that fails the middle class and working families. The Minister of Finance did not even bother to try to figure out if his budget would create any jobs.

Why are the Conservatives giving billions to the wealthy, while middle-class working families and future generations pay the price?

[Privilege, April 30th, 2015]

Mr. Speaker, I would like to add my voice to the concerns expressed by the member for Skeena—Bulkley Valley.

I was indeed on the same parliamentary bus trying to make my way to the House of Commons for a very important vote. I am sure you can imagine, Mr. Speaker, how upsetting it was to be stranded in the middle of Wellington Street, unable to disembark, prevented from moving to the security area and denied access to the House of Commons.

I wish to remind the members present that I, like every member here, have an obligation to my constituents, the people of London—Fanshawe, to uphold their right to expression through my vote. My parliamentary privileges were jeopardized, because my access to the House was denied, and consequently the rights of my constituents were not respected. This obstruction is absolutely unacceptable.

I wish to underscore the concerns of my colleague for Skeena—Bulkley Valley in reminding you, Mr. Speaker, that we in this Parliament have been put in this situation, not by negotiations agreed to by all parties, but by a simple motion written by the government, without consultation with other parties, and rammed through by a vote of the Conservative majority.

This is clearly yet another example of the tyranny of the current Conservative majority. It is not democratic. It is not acceptable.

Therefore, I ask, Mr. Speaker, that you ensure the free movement of members of Parliament within the Parliamentary Precinct. It is absolutely essential if we are to have any semblance of democracy in this place again.

[Seniors, April 30th, 2015]

Mr. Speaker, a new report from HSBC shows that 60% of Canadian seniors will only semi-retire or never retire at all.

The reality is that more and more Canadians cannot afford to retire. They have faced decades of income inequality and are consequently saddled with record levels of debt.

When will the Conservatives listen to our calls for a national seniors strategy and adopt the NDP's plan so all seniors, the people who built our country, can retire with dignity?