Kellie Leitch

[February 16th, 2012]

Madam Speaker, I will point out to the member opposite, as I mentioned, before that work on Lake Superior continues through a number of initiatives, including the binational lakewide management plan, which is co-operatively restoring and protecting the ecosystem of this Great Lake.

Negotiations on a new Great Lakes water quality agreement are progressing. They will ensure meaningful opportunities for public participation in restoration and protection of the Great Lakes.

As we look to the future and the implementation of the Great Lakes water quality agreement, the Government of Canada will explore mechanisms to enhance engagement and support the restoration and protection of all the Great Lakes.

[February 16th, 2012]

Madam Speaker, our government is firmly committed to the environmental stewardship of the Great Lakes, like Lake Huron in my riding of Simcoe--Grey. Our government continues to work with our U.S. partners in order to achieve shared objectives toward the protection and restoration of the Great Lakes.

Each year, Environment Canada receives a tremendous number of excellent proposals seeking support for a range of activities which contribute to the protection of environmental quality. As stewards of taxpayers' money, we institute a rigorous process to evaluate these proposals and to ensure that our funds were allocated to the highest quality proposals supporting our top priorities.

The Lake Superior binational forum did not receive funding this fiscal year in that review process. However, work on Lake Superior continues through a number of initiatives, including the binational lakewide management plan, which is co-operatively restoring and protecting the ecosystem of the Great Lakes.

As well, on January 23 of this year the Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of the Environment joined the member for York—Simcoe to announce an additional $215,000 to restore the shoreline at Elmhurst Beach, part of the government's initiative under the Lake Simcoe clean up fund.

The Government of Canada continues to invest resources in addressing high priority issues in the Great Lakes. Budget 2011 provided new funding to address the recurrence of toxic and nuisance algae in the Great Lakes. Budget 2010 provided $8 million per year for remediation of areas of concern in the Great Lakes.

The governments of Canada and the United States are currently engaged in the negotiation of amendments to the Great Lakes water quality agreement to ensure that it remains relevant and effective in addressing current and future challenges. This is the keystone agreement that ensures that Canada and the United States work together to address environmental problems and protect the waters of the Great Lakes.

The amended Great Lakes water quality agreement will continue the work on each of the Great Lakes, areas of concern in the Great Lakes and issues of concern. Through the amended Great Lakes water quality agreement, the Great Lakes community will be provided with meaningful opportunities to participate in activities that support the restoration and protection of the Great Lakes.

[Business of Supply, February 16th, 2012]

Mr. Speaker, coming from a rural riding myself, Simcoe—Grey, I can appreciate the intent of this motion.

Our government has moved forward with seven tripartite educational partnerships across Canada, whether that be in New Brunswick, Manitoba, Alberta or Prince Edward Island, as well as many subagreements, even in Saskatoon. It really is about partnerships in order to aid these younger people to fully reach their potential.

I would like to ask the member opposite for his thoughts with regard to those partnerships and how those partnerships will benefit aboriginal Canadian children.

[Employment Insurance, February 13th, 2012]

Mr. Speaker, I want to reassure my colleague opposite that Canadians who lose their jobs through no fault of their own and who cannot find work will have the support of employment insurance. That means getting EI benefits to them as quickly as possible. Right now we are dealing with higher volumes of claims because of economic uncertainty, which is putting a significant amount of pressure on the system.

To improve services, we have reassigned staff from non-core areas to core areas for processing.

With the increased automation, Service Canada will be able to better respond to Canadians in a more timely and cost-effective manner.

[Employment Insurance, February 13th, 2012]

Mr. Speaker, I am happy to respond to the question raised by my colleague from Bonavista—Gander—Grand Falls—Windsor with respect to modernization and the actual wait times for EI processing.

The speed of service standard for claimants who receive first EI payments and notification of non-payments is within 28 days 80% of the time. However, we are experiencing challenges with seasonal fluctuations as individuals apply through Service Canada for their EI benefits.

Canada has recovered reasonably well from the economic downturn reported by most countries and compared to most countries. However, we continue to be affected by events in the global economy. The short-term outlook is uncertain and our economic recovery remains fragile.

It is important to keep in mind that these are difficult times. Even so, I want to underline that we have taken action to ensure that citizens get the benefits they need as fast as possible.

As of December 1, additional temporary staff have been assigned to processing high volume EI claims. Currently, there are over 400 additional staff helping process claims. We are shifting part-time workers to full-time worker status for additional support. We are also taking steps to reassign staff from non-core functions within Service Canada business lines to assist in claims processing during these big seasons.

I assure my colleague that we are not sitting with our arms folded waiting for things to happen. Canadians have told us that they want responsible government and that means reducing spending, balancing the budget and improving services we deliver. Those services can best be delivered by improvements in automation.

We are particularly proud of the advances we have made in the submission of records of employment. As more employers sign up online, there will be less cumbersome paperwork and this will lead to faster or more cost-efficient processing of EI claims. Increasing the number of employers who submit ROEs electronically will free up additional work staff to focus on the priorities in EI processing. Automation is helping the way we do business.

We remain determined to ensure that EI benefits are delivered efficiently and in the best interests of those Canadians who need temporary assistance while they are making this transition in their lives.

[Service Canada, February 13th, 2012]

Mr. Speaker, the hon. member seems to have forgotten all the progress that has been made over the past few years to improve service to Canadians. She has focused on a temporary situation caused by high call volumes. She is also ignoring the fact that the telephone is only one channel to obtain service from Service Canada. Clients have access through many channels: in person, by fax, by mail or courier, and through the Internet at servicecanada.gc.ca, in addition to contacting specialized call centres.

We are currently taking steps to ensure that Canadians receive the EI they deserve. We have reassigned staff from non-core areas of the EI business lines to EI processing in order to address the current peak demands. We have hired additional temporary staff to support EI processing. We are shifting part-time employees to full-time status.

Modernizing our services will mean changes in the way we currently do business, but ultimately we will be doing it better, faster and more cost-effectively for Canadians. With increased automation, Service Canada will be better able to serve Canadians in a timely and cost-effective manner.

[Service Canada, February 13th, 2012]

Mr. Speaker, I am happy to reply to the hon. member for Nanaimo—Cowichan on the subject of Service Canada's modernization of employment insurance services.

While Canada leads the G8 in job recovery and growth, we still face the reality of a fragile economic time. Despite creating over 610,000 net new jobs, EI claims were higher than expected.

To address this increase in claims, we have added and redeployed over 400 staff resources within Service Canada to assist in processing. We are shifting part-time employees to full-time status to provide additional support. We are also taking steps to reassign staff to assist with claims processing during peak periods.

In time, we are optimistic that we can improve services to Canadians with our 13-year modernization exercise.

We are taking action to ensure those Canadians in need of EI receive the benefits to which they are entitled, and we are doing this through our three year EI modernization initiative.

Automation is speeding up the processing of EI claims. Our goal is to increase the automation level from 44% to 70% over the next three years. We still have work to do, but we are making significant progress.

In the meantime, we have taken measures to assist with current high volumes of EI claims. We are working hard on behalf of Canadians to improve the services we deliver. This is government worker smarter.

[February 6th, 2012]

Mr. Speaker, as I mentioned earlier, our government has implemented a number of measures to help families with low incomes families and their children. I will offer just one example and that is housing, which is one of the most important challenges these families have to confront.

As we know, there is a continuing need for affordable housing and a broader range of housing choices for low income Canadians. More affordable housing also helps to promote economic growth. I am proud to say that we have invested more money in housing and homelessness initiatives than any other government in Canadian history. Our government invests $134.8 million annually in the homelessness partnering strategy. This is a community-based program that helps people who are homeless or at risk of homelessness achieve self-sufficiency.

The affordable housing framework is another federal, provincial and territorial initiative that addresses the diversity of affordable housing needs across the country.

In addition, budget 2010 allocated $7.7 billion to stimulate the housing sector and improve social housing. Improving access to good quality, affordable housing is just one of the ways that we are helping families in need across the country.

[February 6th, 2012]

Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to respond to the member for Nanaimo—Cowichan on the state of Canadian families.

As I have said here before, every action the government takes to help Canadians and their families is to help them become self-sufficient. Our approach to reducing poverty focuses on helping Canadians gain the skills to access opportunities which provide targeted supports against the barriers they face. There is concrete evidence of improvement and meaningful progress from our action plan.

Our government recognizes the family as the foundation of society. That is why we give families the right to choose the child care they want for their child. That is why we backed up this commitment by investing more than $14 billion this year in benefits for children and families. These include the Canadian child tax benefit, the national child benefit supplement, the universal child care benefit and the child tax credit, which all serve to help Canadian children get the best start in life as possible.

About 3.3 million families with 5.8 million children receive Canada's child tax benefit. That represents more children than the entire population of the greater Toronto area. Included in this number is the fact that over 1.5 million families with 2.7 million children receive the national child benefit supplement.

The national child benefit supplement provides tax free monthly benefits for children under the age of 18. The national child benefit supplement has been successful in reducing the incidence of families with children living in low income. It also reduces the severity of low income for those families who continue to live below the low income threshold.

Budget 2007 introduced the child tax credit which provided personal income tax relief of up to $320 in 2011 for each child under the age of 18.

Budgets 2009 and 2010 included additional investments in Canadian families, including improvements to child benefits. For example, budget 2010 improved the taxation of the universal child care benefit to ensure that single parent families received tax treatment comparable to two parent families. It also allowed parents with joint custody to split benefits equally throughout the year when a child lives in both households. It enhanced the registered disability savings plan and doubled the working income tax benefit to $1.1 billion this year, which helps ensure that low income families are financially better off as a result of getting a job.

Because of the actions this government has taken since 2006, an average family of four saves over $3,000 a year in taxes.

Our government is working very hard to ensure that Canadian families can get what they need to take advantage of all the opportunities they have before them.

Every action our government has taken to help Canadians and their families become independent allows them to contribute to the economy and to their local communities.

[Financial System Review Act, February 3rd, 2012]

Madam Speaker, as we know, the financial institutions in our country have been the rock bed ensuring that Canada has a sound, stable economy, especially through these tough economic times.

Could my colleague from Etobicoke—Lakeshore expand on his previous comments on the need for this bill to be brought forward at this point in time, both its mandatory component and its timing implications?