Jim Maloway

[Jobs and Economic Growth Act, April 1st, 2010]

Mr. Speaker, the one point I will agree with the member on is that we certainly do not need, nor do we want, a majority Conservative government in this country because of what will more than likely happen if one ever comes about.

The corporate tax issue and the Liberals' position on it is certainly one that I am a bit confused about. Canada's corporate taxes were around 40% in the past. They dropped down to 18%. They are going to go down to 15% by 2012. That is about 12% lower than the American corporate taxes. It is totally unnecessary to be that low.

In fact, we are really not sure that it is that effective in producing economic growth. For example, business spending on machinery and equipment has declined as a share of GDP and total business investment spending has declined as a percentage of corporate cash flow. Statistics Canada and Finance Canada say that IT use by Canadian businesses is only half of that of the United States and despite Canadian corporate tax rates that are well below those of the United States, productivity growth is actually worse. There is the proof that these corporate tax reductions are not having the effect that they are supposed to have.

In addition, ordinary Canadians are going to be paying four times more in personal income tax than corporations will pay in corporate tax. I seem to recall maybe 20 years ago that those amounts were roughly equal in this country. So, now, ordinary Canadians will be paying four times more than corporations. Because his leader, this past weekend, seemed to change his position on the whole area of corporate taxes, I want to ask him, where is his leader and his party on this issue today?

[Jobs and Economic Growth Act, April 1st, 2010]

Madam Speaker, I found it very mysterious that the government dropped the home renovation tax credit program, a program that was advertised a lot last year. It said that the program was one of the huge successes of the government. Finally, just after the first year of success, it simply dropped it from the program.

Will we see that program announced in the upcoming election campaign?

[Jobs and Economic Growth Act, April 1st, 2010]

Madam Speaker, clearly, the government is looking for a way to get itself defeated and cause an election. We have an omnibus bill here, an 880-page bill that was dropped on our desks a couple of days ago. There are provisions in this bill that really have nothing to do with the budget.

For example, the government has taken the issue of post office remailers, which was before the House last year under two other bill numbers, and it has put it in this bill. It has also cut the heart out of the federal environmental assessment act, basically an oil company's dream.

Those are the types of measures the government has put into this document. It is trying to hide in this bill measures that it cannot get passed through the House on their own. To me it is nothing more than putting poison pills in this bill so the government can ensure there is an election and the Conservatives can say that they were not the ones who caused it, when in fact, it would be the Conservatives who caused it.

[Petitions, April 1st, 2010]

Mr. Speaker, the second petition, signed by dozens of Canadians, calls on the Canadian government to match funds personally donated by the citizens of Canada for the earthquake victims in Chile. As the House knows, on February 27 an 8.8 magnitude earthquake occurred in southern Chile. The Chilean-Canadian community has been mobilized in Winnipeg. They have put on two very successful fundraising events in the last few weeks.

When will the Prime Minister and the government give the same treatment to the earthquake victims in Chile as they did for the earthquake victims in Haiti and match funds personally donated by Canadians to help the earthquake victims in Chile?

[Petitions, April 1st, 2010]

Mr. Speaker, I have two petitions to present today. Thousands of Canadians are calling on Parliament to adopt Canada's first air passengers' bill of rights. Bill C-310 would compensate air passengers with all carriers, including charters, anywhere they fly in the world.

The bill provides compensation for overbooked flights, cancelled flights and long tarmac delays. It addresses issues such as late and misplaced bags. It requires all-inclusive pricing by airlines in all of their advertising. The airlines have to inform passengers of flight changes, either delays or cancellations. The new rules have to be posted at the airport and the airlines must inform passengers of their rights and the process to file for compensation.

This type of legislation has been in effect now in Europe for five years. Why should Air Canada passengers receive better treatment in Europe than they do flying in Canada? If the airlines follow the rules, it will cost them nothing. The petitioners call on the government to support Bill C-310, which would introduce Canada's first air passengers' bill of rights.

[Jobs and Economic Growth Act, March 31st, 2010]

Mr. Speaker, Manitoba has very successful credit union movement. We have the Steinbach Credit Union and the Assiniboine Credit Union. The member mentioned that the credit unions were interested in registering federally and, as such, providing an alternative to the national banks.

Who has asked for this legislation? What are his projections as to how many credit unions will take him up on this offer and expand it across the country to compete with the banks?

[Petitions, March 31st, 2010]

Mr. Speaker, the second petition is signed by dozens of Canadians calling on the Canadian government to match funds personally donated by the citizens of Canada for the earthquake victims in Chilean.

As the Speaker knows, the earthquake on February 27, 2010, was an 8.8 magnitude earthquake in southern Chile. The Chilean community in Winnipeg has certainly mobilized and has put on two very successful fundraising socials.

The petitioners want to know when the Prime Minister will give the same treatment to the earthquake victims in Chile as he did for the earthquake victims in Haiti and match funds personally donated by Canadians to help the earthquake victims in Chile?

[Petitions, March 31st, 2010]

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

Thousands of Canadians are calling upon Parliament to adopt Canada's first air passengers' bill of rights. Bill C-310 would compensate air passengers with all Canadian carriers, including charters, anywhere they fly in the world.

The bill provides compensation for overbooked flights, cancelled flights and long tarmac delays. It addresses issues, such as late and misplaced bags, and it requires all-inclusive pricing by airlines in all of their advertising.

The airlines would need to inform passengers of all flight changes, either delays or cancellations. The new rules would need to be posted at the airport, and airlines must inform the passengers of their rights and the process they have to follow for compensation.

If the airlines follow the rules, it will cost them nothing. This type of legislation has been in effect in Europe for five years, and the question is why should an Air Canada passenger be treated better in Europe than in Canada.

The petitioners call upon the government to support Bill C-310, which would introduce Canada's first air passengers' bill of rights.

[Aboriginal Healing Foundation, March 30th, 2010]

Mr. Speaker, there are 80,000 residential school survivors still alive today in Canada. Cutting the Aboriginal Healing Foundation goes against the spirit of the national apology made by the Prime Minister just two years ago, in 2008. As a matter of fact, the Aboriginal Healing Foundation is part of Canada's journey toward reconciliation.

The loss of the Aboriginal Healing Foundation means the loss of 134 projects across Canada. In fact, there are only 12 of them left, and those 12 are only around until March 2012. In fact, one of those remaining 12 is the Eyaa-Keen Centre Incorporated, 547 Notre Dame Avenue, in Winnipeg.

However, as the member indicated, these projects that have been around now for 10 years are all going to expire, basically, tomorrow. This is a drastic change from what people were hoping to see only two years ago. That is basically knocking us back several years in the process, and we are going to have to fight even harder to recover.

I ask the member if he would like to comment on those remarks.

[Aboriginal Healing Foundation, March 30th, 2010]

Mr. Speaker, I congratulate the member for Yukon for his speech tonight on the emergency debate moved by the member for Churchill.

In the supplementary estimates under the major specific initiatives it states:

The number of students claiming sexual and/or serious physical abuse and the severity of abuse has proved to be much higher than initially estimated, resulting in total projected payments in 2009-10 to exceed the $160 million annual allocation.

If the problem is actually larger than expected and this foundation is actually just beginning to show good results, it seems that the foundation should be getting more money, not less. Why the cuts? Is it, as the Minister said, he needs to “tackle the deficit”, the real reason for the cuts?