House of Commons photoWon her last election, in 2015, with 82% of the vote.
Questions on the Order Paper June 19th, 2009
With respect to Veterans Affairs Canada Health Benefits: (a) what is the rationale behind the application of a deduction, in most cases of $5, from the repayment of taxi fares for veterans seeking treatment or diagnosis from doctors, hospitals, or health care facilities; (b) what is the total amount Veterans Affairs Canada deducted from all repayment of taxi fares in the 2007-2008 fiscal year; and (c) has a review of this policy been undertaken by Veterans Affairs Canada?
Petitions June 19th, 2009
Madam Speaker, I stand today to represent again 850 fishers from Newfoundland and Labrador who have been treated unfairly by Revenue Canada. They were charged 100% tax on the proceeds that they received from the retirement of their licence when they should have only been charged 25%. They have proof that 150 fishers were charged 25%.
The petitioners ask the Government of Canada to recognize this unfairness and to correct this injustice.
Loran Award June 19th, 2009
Mr. Speaker, I rise today to extend congratulations to a young woman from my riding who is excelling in the academic world.
Two years ago Juliette Dupre from St. Lawrence was awarded a scholarship to attend Lester B. Pearson College in Victoria, B.C. As she prepares to leave this prestigious college, Juliette has been selected as one of 30 students to receive the Loran Award. The Loran Award provides funding of up to $75,000 for four years of post-secondary study.
Juliette has decided to enter the field of medicine and hopes to somebody work with Doctors without Borders. I am sure she will bring the same enthusiasm and determination to this latest endeavour as she has brought to other initiatives, whether it was running marathons, volunteering as a firefighter, working with the Boys and Girls Club or teaching dance to a special needs class.
Juliette is the daughter of Guy and Rosalie Dupre and is a prime example of the confidence and energy that can be found in so many of our youth. Her family, her community and her province are rightly proud of this young woman.
I ask my colleagues in the House to join me in congratulating Juliette Dupre.
Health Care Professionals June 16th, 2009
Mr. Speaker, it is an honour for me to stand in the House today to salute an individual from my riding of Random—Burin—St. George's in Newfoundland and Labrador. Ambrose Penton, from Marystown on the Burin Peninsula, has been a nurse for the past 26 years.
He was recently named Canada's first ever “no-nonsense nurse”. Mr. Penton was chosen because of his compassion for his patients. Like so many nurses everywhere, but particularly in rural communities, Mr. Penton goes above and beyond the call of duty in fulfilling his responsibilities as a nurse.
Mr. Penton's prize for this recognition was not something for himself, but a $5,000 donation to Daffodil Place in St. John's, a facility built to serve as a hospice for cancer patients and their families in the province.
I ask my colleagues to join me in congratulating Mr. Penton on being recognized in this manner, and thank him and the hundreds of other health care professionals in the country who dedicate their lives to ensuring quality health care is available for their fellow citizens.
Business of Supply June 11th, 2009
Mr. Speaker, I listened with great interest to my colleague speak about the dire situation in which seniors find themselves today. I am sure we can all relate to horrific stories that we hear from our constituents, especially our seniors who are finding it very hard to make ends meet, whether it is to put oil in their furnaces, food on their tables, to pay for their medications, or having to decide which one in fact they are going to spend their money on.
I ask my colleague what recommendations he would make and what kinds of programs he thinks we should institute to try to help our seniors through these very difficult times.
Madam Speaker, once again I listened to my colleague speak about the different programs the Conservatives have invested in, but he still fails to recognize that the issue is that people are not able to obtain employment insurance in a timely manner.
He said that the government has invested $60 million in bringing in additional resources so that there will be more people to respond to the need, in terms of people being able to access EI. My understanding is that is money that comes out of the employment insurance program. In fact, the President of the Treasury Board told us that in a recent committee meeting. It is in fact money that Canadians themselves put into the employment insurance program.
All we are asking the government to do is take a little more of that money and increase the number of people who are responding to the needs. In that way maybe more people will be able to obtain employment insurance much quicker.
Madam Speaker, I rise again tonight to speak to an issue of great importance to people, not only in my riding of Random—Burin—St. George's, but in the country as a whole, particularly people who are trying to obtain employment insurance and cannot do so because the government has not taken sufficient measures to enable them to access employment insurance on a timely basis.
We are dealing with individuals throughout the country who have lost their jobs through no fault of their own and find themselves in a position where in many cases they cannot pay their mortgage, buy medication, put food on the table for their families, buy clothing for their family or themselves, they cannot put gas in their vehicles, all because they do not have any income. They do not have an income because they have lost their job. Just as importantly, they are not able to access a system that should be there to ensure they can do all these things just as they could when they were working.
I have listened to the government tell the story that it put in additional resources. If that is the case, why is it that people still have to wait 50, 60, 70 days to get a response to their employment insurance claim? This is money that individuals across this country put into this program. This is not the government's money. This is money that is owned by the individuals throughout the country who paid into an employment insurance program for emergencies. When people lose their jobs it is just that, an emergency.
If the government has indeed put in additional resources and hired additional people to try to speed up the claim process because of the hundreds of thousands of Canadians who have lost jobs in the recent number of months, then why is it we are not able to deal with it more efficiently? Why is it that we are not able to get these claims moving a lot quicker than they are at present?
If in fact we are not able to respond, or not responding in a timely manner to this dire situation that people find themselves in, why are we not putting more money into the program? Why are we not taking more measures to move things quickly? I am told that the money going into doing that comes from the employment insurance program itself. It is not as if the government has to take responsibility for paying additional people. That comes out of the employment insurance program itself. If that is the case, why is the government not doing more? Why is it not moving quicker and hiring more people to make sure the process works much quicker?
We have people who are losing their jobs through no fault of their own, and they are being victimized again because they are not able to access an employment insurance program. Why is this necessary? Why did the government not foresee that this was going to be a problem, knowing we were in a recession, knowing that companies were laying off people by the hundreds of thousands? Why is it the government did not take the measures necessary to make sure we had an employment insurance program that could respond readily to the emergency that many individuals across the country find themselves in?
Madam Speaker, that is a case in point of a government that has lost touch with the people. Clearly, we have a colleague across the way who will go on ad nauseam about investments the government has made without recognizing that the issue here is not about whether the government has put money into this or that program. The issue here is that there are people out there who are entitled to receive EI and it is not happening. They are having to wait as long as 70 days and that is a serious issue.
The member stands and talks about the money the government puts in and plays politics with this very important issue and takes exception to something the Liberal Party is proposing, but I want to talk about the individual Canadian. I want to talk about the people who cannot make ends meet. I am here to talk about the fact that there are Canadians out there who are going hungry, who cannot buy medication and who really need the government to acknowledge that this is a serious issue.
Mr. Speaker, being able to access EI in a timely fashion has become a serious issue in this country.
It does not matter how often we raise the issue with the government. Twenty-eight days is the timeline in which the government is supposed to respond to inquiries in terms of accessing EI, but that is no longer applicable and is causing a very serious problem throughout the country. In my riding of Random—Burin—St. George's there are constituents who wait as long as 70 days just to get a response to their inquiry.
A lot of people lose their jobs through no fault of their own. It would appear that in having to wait such a long time they are being victimized yet again. Losing a job is hard enough for those who have to provide for a family, buy medication and keep a household going, but people are having to wait for an extended period of time to get money from a fund they have paid into. The EI fund is not something the government has put in place. It is a fund that has been paid into by people throughout this country.
People want to be able to avail themselves of those funds on an emergency basis. When people lose their jobs, it is indeed an emergency. We are trying to get the government to recognize that it needs to take this issue seriously. It needs to adhere to its timeframe of 28 days.
We have talked about trying to reform the EI system. We have talked about doing away with the two-week waiting period. A lot of people think that people only wait 28 days when in reality they have to wait a month and a half. That two-week waiting period is just to determine whether or not they are eligible for EI and how much they will get. Then they have to wait a month and a half for a cheque. For those who think that the two-week waiting period or the 28 days is it, they are wrong.
We are trying to make the government realize how important it is that it holds to the 28-day period in terms of responding to people who are eligible for EI, who need those funds to provide for their families, who need to pay for medication, and who need to live a life that is comfortable, one where they are able to put food on the table.
That has not been the case for a lot of constituents in Random—Burin—St. George's. I have no reason to believe that it is any different for people throughout the country, people who are without employment, who really need to be able to access these resources. The minister has said from time to time that the government has hired additional people to deal with this issue because such an incredible number of people have now lost their jobs in this country. There are so many people who are unemployed, so many people who do not know where to turn, and they must resort to the EI system to provide for their families.
We are calling on the government to please acknowledge this and to do whatever it can to make sure that people can access the fund that they paid into instead of having to wait such an inordinate length of time.
Petitions June 3rd, 2009
Mr. Speaker, I am here today to present a petition on behalf of many people in Newfoundland and Labrador and from the riding of Random—Burin—St. George's that I represent.
It is a petition that calls on the government to acknowledge that we are in fact in a crisis in this country. The petitioners are looking for some measures that will see EI become much more accessible for those people who are losing their jobs.
The problem we have is that the country is in a recession. We are in a crisis. It is time that the government acknowledged that we really need to do something, especially when we have companies that are laying people off, sometimes through no fault of their own. We are finding a lot of people without employment. They need to be able to turn to EI.
This is a program that they have paid into. It is their money. They are asking to make that program much more available to them and for the government to recognize that this is a serious situation.
We all know that it should take 28 days to be able to access EI, once one has been laid off and had a two week waiting period. That is not happening.
In fact, in my riding we have people waiting as long as 70 days to access EI. In some cases, they then get a letter telling them that it is going to take even longer.
Then the government is telling us that it is putting in measures to try to make sure that this speeds up. That is not happening.
What we are asking for is the 360 hours to qualify and for eligibility to be standard in all regions of the country. We want to increase the benefit duration to at least 50 weeks in all regions. We want to eliminate the two week waiting period. We want to provide benefits that are at least 60% of normal earnings, use the worker's 12 best weeks, and suspend the allocation of severance pay.
The other thing that the signatories to this petition are asking is that there be more flexible, innovative use of EI work-sharing to keep people at work.