Jinny Sims

[Pipeline Safety Act, March 9th, 2015]

Mr. Speaker, I will be voting for the bill at second reading so it can go to committee stage.

One of the major concerns I have with the bill is the discretionary power that would be handed over to either the National Energy Board or cabinet. We will bring in amendments along those lines.

The other concern I have is that even though this is a baby step toward polluter pays, the step is not large enough to cover the full cost. I am still worried about the huge cost the public would end up paying, while the profits would be reaped by the big oil companies.

[Pipeline Safety Act, March 9th, 2015]

Mr. Speaker, it is always a pleasure to rise in the House and speak on behalf of the constituents in Newton—North Delta. After spending a week in our ridings, we hear so much from our constituents. From my constituents I hear a great deal of concern with what is happening with our resource development.

Before I get into that, I want to acknowledge the work done by Kultarjit S. Thiara, the president of the Surrey-Newton Rotary Club. I was so impressed when the community raised $50,000 to build a school in the Philippines over this weekend. When we are in our ridings, it gives us so much pleasure when we go to events and people, despite all the economic challenges and being worried about their jobs, donate so generously and when local leaders are willing to play a part in making a difference around the world. I went to about 20 other events, but I will keep those for another time.

I am going to be supporting the bill at second reading so that we can send it to committee.

The bill is not perfect by any means. As a teacher, I like to give some credit when good work is done, and I believe this bill is a baby step in the right direction. I believe the regulations we have right now are just not adequate, but Bill C-46 does take a long-overdue first step toward a true polluter pay regime for pipelines in Canada. I say it is only a baby step because we know it does not go all the way. It is like going to the ocean to dip one's toes in it and then just waiting there. There is a lot more work to be done on the bill, and I can assure everyone that we will be doing the hard lifting at committee stage.

We are also very proud that our NDP leader has been a champion of polluter pay and has very practical plans to grow the economy while protecting the environment. There are those who will tell us we have to choose between the two, that it is either the environment or jobs. When I speak to the smart young people in my riding, I find that they know that is not a choice. In order to have jobs and development, we need to also make sure that we are protecting our planet and developing our resources in a sustainable way.

Over and over again, we have seen the government putting the interests of big oil companies ahead of the interests of hard-working Canadians who are struggling to make ends meet. Our middle class is feeling squeezed, and we are hearing through different studies that the quality of jobs and therefore the quality of life are being impacted.

Something else I hear in my riding is that hard-working middle-class people trust the NDP to be able to fix some of these challenges, because they know that over the decades of mismanagement and rubber-stamping by the Liberal Party and now the Conservatives' love-in with big oil companies, they have been squeezed out. Their children's future has been left out. There has not been due consideration.

We are one of the wealthiest countries in the world. We are truly blessed with not only amazing geography from coast to coast to coast but also with the richness of our resources. Once again, we absolutely have to get out of this mentality of rip-and-ship. I watch that in my province, where we see logs leaving the country on trucks, which is environmentally not that great, and then coming back as two-by-fours, which we then buy. In resource development, no matter which area we are looking at, we really need to take a look at those value-added jobs.

Once again, we need to start developing decent paying jobs for our kids and our middle class right here in Canada. I can tell members that the leader of the NDP has a very practical plan to add value to our natural resources, get away from the rip-and-ship mentality, and support family-sustaining jobs right here at home.

Let us look at what is in the bill. Often what we hear about when my colleagues across the way explain the bill is not what is actually buried in it.

There is an element of polluter pay, but what disturbs me about the bill is that it would vest all kinds of powers to the National Energy Board and the cabinet to make some of these decisions. I think that is the kind of policy-making that leads to confusion. We need to have very clear guidelines, and it should not be left up to the cabinet or cabinet ministers to decide which way it would go, and which parts would be implemented and which would not. It is very disturbing for us in the NDP.

I live in one of the most beautiful provinces. I am sure that every MP says that, and they would be absolutely right. However, we all know of British Columbia's pristine lakes and coastline. Its coastline not only provides an incredible amount of great seafood for local consumption, it is sold overseas, and it is also a great tourist attraction. We bring in billions of dollars through tourism, and we are very worried about the impact of an oil spill, be it from a pipeline or a tankard on our pristine coastline.

I have to give credit to one of the hardest-working members of Parliament in the House, the member of Parliament for Skeena—Bulkley Valley. He is our finance critic right now, but his passion and campaign to save our coast is truly inspirational. I have watched the audience, whether they are 90-year-olds or 14-year-olds, be absolutely inspired when he speaks from his heart about the importance of protecting our waterways, our beautiful coastline, and the kind of lifestyle we have out in B.C.

There is a linkage to this because as members know the northern gateway pipeline is a project that is going to be crossing over many of our key rivers. It will be going through some of our most pristine lakes, through vast territory, and will end up in the ocean through some very dangerous territory. Therefore, we are very worried. However, the linkage here is that the northern gateway is an Enbridge pipeline.

I will pause here for a moment to share with members what happened at the Kalamazoo River, in Michigan. On July 26, 2010, there was an oil spill, and 843,444 U.S. gallons of crude oil came out of a 30-inch pipeline into a prime wetland. That pipeline was owned by Enbridge. The cleanup for that spill alone, not taking account other damages or loss of non-use which has to be considered, came to $1.2 billion. However, here we would be setting a target of up to $1 billion. We can see that is inadequate, but it is without taking into consideration the non-use and all of that.

Therefore, we are very worried about any kind of leakage, whether from a pipeline or tankard into our ocean. We are absolutely committed to polluter pay, and we have to start making realistic legislation that considers the real cost of the cleanup and not leave it up to cabinet ministers or other bodies to do this at their discretion.

[Employment, March 9th, 2015]

Mr. Speaker, the Conservatives allowed many employers to abuse the temporary foreign worker program, increasing unemployment and driving down wages, while foreign workers were cheated and abused. However, now a Conservative MP makes the disgusting claim that the real problem here is that too many brown-skinned people are coming to our country. This comes on the heels of all the fearmongering and divisive politics we have seen from the Conservatives.

How could the Conservatives blame Canadians and the temporary foreign workers for a program that they have messed up so badly?

[Social Development, February 26th, 2015]

Mr. Speaker, what the minister still does not seem to realize is that Canadians are suffering because of his government's mismanagement.

For example, Peter McClure has been denied benefits even though he is dying of lung and rectal cancer. He was told his condition was not quite “severe and prolonged”. Then the tribunal refused to hear his appeal quickly, even though he has less than a year to live. Now he is spending his final days without income.

Where is the Conservative government's compassion for Canadians like Peter McClure?

[Social Development, February 26th, 2015]

Mr. Speaker, the Social Security Tribunal has been a disaster since the very start. The Conservatives failed to properly plan for the transition. They stuck the tribunal with patronage appointments. They watched as the backlog grew and wait times stretched to more than seven years. They denied faster hearings to people who were dying and financially broke. The Auditor General has now said that he is investigating the program

Does the minister understand that offering a few people settlements does not make up for years of epic mismanagement?

[Burnsview Secondary School, February 26th, 2015]

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to congratulate the students of Burnsview Secondary School in my riding of Newton—North Delta. Following a project about social change, these students wrote personal essays reflecting their lived experiences. They have published these essays in a book that will be on sale at their school next week. The proceeds will go toward a new playground for children living in a transition house in Surrey—Newton.

As a teacher, parent and grandparent, I make no secret of the fact that young people are my inspiration, and the efforts of these students demonstrate why.

To the students at Burnsview Secondary, I applaud their project. Their passion and commitment to a better future for their generation is commendable. They are leaders in our community and we adults are learning from their example.

I would also take this opportunity to recognize all the amazing teachers that do an awesome job every single day across this country from coast to coast to coast.

[Anti-terrorism Act, 2015, February 23rd, 2015]

Mr. Speaker, I want to thank my colleague for her thoughtful speech on the very serious issue of fighting terrorism.

First, let me say that nobody in the House supports terrorist activities. However, what I see happening in the House today is an absolute travesty and an attack on parliamentary democracy. I was elected by my constituents and was sent here to represent them, but there will only be two hours of debate on Bill C-51, which is major legislation. It needs to be examined very seriously. I heard the parliamentary secretary say just a few minutes ago that it is going to go through the parliamentary rigour of Parliament, yet many MPs' voices are not going to be heard because they cannot debate.

I would ask my colleague to comment on that.

[Employment, February 4th, 2015]

Mr. Speaker, as job losses mount in Alberta, the Conservatives are busy making it easier for employers to hire temporary foreign workers.

Today we learned that they secretly made a deal with Alberta to allow employers there to exceed the 30% cap. Just like they have so many times before, the Conservatives made a big splashy announcement about cracking down, and now they are quietly creating loopholes.

When are the Conservatives finally going to get serious about protecting Canadian jobs?

[Poverty, February 3rd, 2015]

Mr. Speaker, today Dignity for All released its national anti-poverty plan for Canada.

As members may well know, poverty affects one in seven Canadians. I repeat, one in seven. In a prosperous country like ours, the government must take action to address this startling number. Too many people are facing income insecurity. Too many people are working full-time jobs and are still not able to make ends meet. No one should be forced to play eeny meeny miney mo between bills and medications.

What we need to help individuals and families grow and thrive are more full-time, well-paying jobs, a strong public health care system, an enhanced federal minimum wage, and a national early childhood education program. We need an economy that works for all Canadians. Solving poverty requires a commitment to human dignity and justice.

From the bottom of my heart, I wish to thank all those who participated in assembling the national anti-poverty plan released this morning.

[Business of Supply, February 2nd, 2015]

Mr. Speaker, I want to thank my colleague for his very visual question. Being a teacher, I like those kinds of visual questions of seeing the shiny product. Newfoundland and Labrador was shown a shiny product, and then it was also told, “Along with that shiny product, you're going to have access to this fund”, but it now finds that it does not have access to that fund and the shiny product is not as shiny as it used to be.

This is a government that was so desperate to get a majority that it made all kinds of commitments. It committed to being more accountable and transparent. However, I have never seen a Parliament that is so stymied, a Parliament where debate is shut down so quickly and where, as a new parliamentarian, I feel I do not get the opportunity to express what is going on in my riding.