House of Commons photoWon her last election, in 2011, with 63% of the vote.
Health June 22nd, 2011
Mr. Speaker, blaming the provinces is no answer. This is a joint responsibility. There is no question that the current system is costly and inefficient.
Our public health care system must move forward now to fit today's model of community care. We cannot wait until 2014. We need a long-term care strategy to free up hospital beds and support those with chronic health concerns.
How long do we have to wait before the government takes meaningful action to address these critical shortages?
Resumption and Continuation of Postal Services Legislation June 21st, 2011
Mr. Speaker, all of us certainly want people to go back to work at Canada Post, but we are very concerned about there being a fair collective agreement process. Unfortunately, this back-to-work legislation has completely nullified that.
After listening to the member, he has put forward some erroneous information. Canada Post is a very profitable organization. It has given back to the general revenue, to the people of Canada and the Government of Canada almost $2 billion over the last 15 years. I remember visiting with representatives from Canada Post just a few months ago and they showed me the slide that pointed out the revenue they produce. It is not a matter of the corporation not having the ability and capacity to deal with issues.
I want to correct the member. There is an issue about a two-tier wage system in which starting employees on the Canada Post side would get 18% less in wages. I want to ask him why he thinks that in any way is fair and why anyone in his riding or anywhere else would accept that?
Resumption and Continuation of Postal Services Legislation June 21st, 2011
Madam Speaker, this is a very important debate today. I have been sitting in the House listening very carefully.
I find it really disturbing that the Liberal members at the end of the House are not exactly heckling but are not listening at all to this debate. They are talking loudly, and so I would suggest that if they do not want to hear the debate, they should actually leave the room so those of us who want to hear the debate can actually do that.
I am not making it a point of order. I am just making a comment.
I really appreciate what the member for Acadie—Bathurst has said today, because I think he has really struck at the core of the problem with this legislation. The thing that I find most disturbing is that it was Canada Post that locked out its workers. The union actually wants to negotiate, but it has been locked out by the employer.
I find it very curious that the government, instead of talking to Canada Post and insisting that it goes back and negotiates, has done nothing in terms of the lockout and now, as the member has said, has brought forward legislation that does not include a single thing that will actually assist the workers in any way.
I remember our debating back to work legislation for Canada Post in 1997, after both of us were elected to this House, when it was a Liberal government that brought in legislation. I am sure the member will remember.
I would like to ask the member to comment on the lockout, what that has meant and why the government has not taken action in regard to the lockout.
Points of Order June 16th, 2011
Mr. Speaker, I have a point of order arising out of question period where the Minister of State (Finance) erroneously asserted that the federal Conservative government had nothing to do with the HST.
I would like to give the minister an opportunity to correct the information by pointing out Bill C-62, which was introduced December 2009 and brought in the HST by this federal government.
Labour Relations June 16th, 2011
Mr. Speaker, labour rights do exist in this country and the government's approach to the current labour disputes wreaks of hypocrisy. The government wants back-to-work legislation, denying workers the right to strike, and undermining their capacity to bargain fairly.
In the case of Canada Post, it is a government agency that locked them out. How is that fair negotiation? Why is the government getting in the middle of a labour dispute, and picking winners and losers?
Labour Relations June 16th, 2011
Mr. Speaker, back-to-work legislation is an unjustified interference with the rights of workers to free collective bargaining. The government's failure to address the pension crisis is what is really at stake here. The fact is that Conservatives are choosing a side. They are strengthening the position of large employers who want to dismantle defined benefit pension plans.
Why is the labour minister siding with the dismantlement of pensions?
Health June 15th, 2011
Mr. Speaker, I think the parliamentary secretary should get up to speed, because the Canadian Medical Association Journal certainly does not seem to think the government has addressed this issue in any adequate way. In both the U.S. and Europe, regulatory and legislative changes ensure drug testing and disclosure on the effects of medications on children, but Canada lags far behind.
Will the minister commit today to regulations that require full disclosure by drug companies so that children are not at risk when they are taking their medications?
Health June 15th, 2011
Mr. Speaker, the Minister of Health is well aware that children in Canada are at risk to the improper use of medications, because Health Canada does not require drug companies to disclose information on drug effects on children. It seems astounding that Health Canada would allow this to happen.
Drug safety is a huge public concern, so why is the minister not aggressively protecting the health of children and all Canadians with strict regulations for drug safety?
Libya June 14th, 2011
Mr. Speaker, the resolution was in the House on March 21 and now there is an additional motion before the House that has been amended by the NDP for a further three and a half month extension of our involvement in Libya.
I have heard a lot of concerns from constituents and from Canadians generally about the military aspect of this campaign. One important aspect would be to consider what the overall strategy is in terms of an exit strategy. I heard the minister of defence say quite clearly earlier that bombing in Libya is a strategy.
I would like to ask the member whether or not the government does have an exit strategy in terms of what is happening in the region as a whole? Obviously there are other areas where conflict is going on. Canada is now involved in this situation in Libya, but it is important that there be a response in terms of the exit strategy. This was a key question in our involvement in Afghanistan and it remains so today. I would like to ask the member to respond in terms of the overall strategy as it applies particularly to an exit strategy.
Petitions June 13th, 2011
Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to rise in the House today to present petitions on an issue that is of grave concern to residents of British Columbia, the protection of B.C.'s waters from an oil disaster.
The petition points out that the proposed Enbridge northern gateway pipeline would carry oil from the Alberta tar sands to the coast of Kitimat. This project would bring more than 225 supertankers the size of the Empire State Building to the north coast of B.C. each year.
The petitioners call on the Government of Canada to acknowledge the 1972 moratorium on oil tanker traffic off B.C.'s coast and strongly urge the Government of Canada to immediately legislate the moratorium on offshore drilling and oil tanker traffic on B.C.'s coast.