House of Commons photoWon his last election, in 2015, with 56% of the vote.
The Economy June 4th, 2015
Mr. Speaker, economists hardly ever predict recessions, but when, as is the case today, they downgrade their GDP forecast to a miserable 1.5%, that is economist shorthand that recession and deficits may well be looming.
When the facts change, responsible governments change their policies. Will the government confront this new reality, bring in a new fiscal update before this session ends, and most important, come up with a real plan for jobs and growth?
Citizenship and Immigration June 2nd, 2015
Mr. Speaker, nine years later it has nothing to do with the Liberals. We have had a decade of Conservatives' failure on refugees, an attack on refugee health care, no due process, foot-dragging on Syria, a decade of Conservatives' failure on citizenship, quadrupling of fees, doubling of wait times and unnecessary new barriers to citizenship. It has nothing to do with the Liberals. Why have Canadians had to endure a decade of Conservatives' failure on family unification, a decade of Conservatives' failure on refugees and—
Citizenship and Immigration June 2nd, 2015
Mr. Speaker, in the time that this government has been in power, Canadians have witnessed a decade of Conservative failures on immigration. Under the Conservative government, processing times for applications have increased by 70% for children and spouses and by 500% for parents and grandparents.
What have Canadians done to deserve a decade of Conservative failure on family reunification?
Pensions June 1st, 2015
Mr. Speaker, that is nonsense. In 2010, the minister's predecessor, Jim Flaherty, said the following: “...we should consider a modest, phased-in and fully funded enhancement to defined benefits under the CPP...”
Now, there is a good idea.
Why is the current finance minister ignoring the advice of his predecessor, and, in the words of the Ottawa Citizen, offering “nothing more than a naked attempt to siphon votes from parties that are offering a thought-through alternative”? Can the government not do any better than that?
Pensions June 1st, 2015
Mr. Speaker, the numbers are clear: almost 75% of private sector workers do not have an employer-sponsored pension plan.
This government introduced voluntary savings plans, but Canadians still do not have enough money for their retirement.
When will this government listen to what Ted Menzies said and admit that the voluntary plans alone are inadequate for creating a viable retirement system?
Employment May 29th, 2015
Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister should know that the Reuters' reporter himself confirmed that the finance minister's comments were not related to Greece.
We learned this morning that the Canadian economy shrank during the first quarter of this year. The Minister of Finance is in Europe, and he is saying that we need to cut jobs in order to grow the economy.
My question is simple. How many jobs does the minister think we need to cut in order to grow our economy?
Zero Tolerance for Barbaric Cultural Practices Act May 28th, 2015
Mr. Speaker, the minister has drunk so much Kool-Aid, and there is such an air of almost total unreality to every word he says, that it is almost impossible to know where to begin.
However, the good news is that the new Canadians I see in these communities agree with me. They know from their own experience that the system is broken, and they reject the argument that it is somehow a nine-year transition period and that everything that is wrong today is because of what happened under the Liberals 10 years ago. The most elementary logic suggests that this makes zero sense.
I would like to ask the minister about two examples. Perhaps the most egregious example was in answer to my colleague in question period when he complained about the denial rate for caregivers being 97% under the new Conservative program from January to March of 2015. Somehow this was the fault of the Liberals. A program the Conservatives had just brought in in 2014-15, with a denial rate of 97%, was the fault of the Liberals.
We can also look at the processing times in 2007. They went up, up, up and dramatically up in 2011, when the Conservatives cut funding. That is the fault of the Liberals. How can the minister sustain such an entirely illogical narrative and expect anyone to believe it?
Zero Tolerance for Barbaric Cultural Practices Act May 28th, 2015
Mr. Speaker, we could say that the victims are criminalized to some degree, and we could debate that. However, I have confidence in our justice system. We have special proceedings for youth, for those under 18 years of age. In that case, the system can act judiciously.
For example, take the case of a young man who is 17, and thus a minor, who participates in the forced marriage of his sister. Perhaps he should be treated as a criminal. It seems to me that we could debate the issues raised by the member. Nevertheless, we want to vote for this bill.
Zero Tolerance for Barbaric Cultural Practices Act May 28th, 2015
Mr. Speaker, notwithstanding some reservations.
I think perhaps where I differ most acutely is on this word “cultural”, because I see it as being offensive to communities and because we do not gain anything by its inclusion.
If we look at the groups who are offending society in areas of polygamy and other bad things, we see they are not just Muslims. There were Jewish groups in the news for that. There were fundamentalist Christian groups based in British Columbia. There are a number of different religious groups or sects, or whatever we want to call them, that are guilty of these crimes, but only certain groups take offence to the use of the word “culture”, thinking that it is directed at them.
From a practical point of view, if the word offends some people but does not add anything to the final product, why put it in? I would say to take it out.
Zero Tolerance for Barbaric Cultural Practices Act May 28th, 2015
Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague for her comment. I also commend her for her eloquent S. O. 31 statement on the occasion of her impending departure—not too soon, but at some point. She showed that we can fit a lot of content into 60 seconds. It was a very excellent statement.
I also like the first part of her comment, when she said that some of the things that I said were reasonable—