Mr. Speaker, the second petition calls upon the government to stop the cuts to postal service, stop the high price for stamps, and restore the 8,000 jobs it intends to cut.
House of Commons photoWon her last election, in 2015, with 44% of the vote.
Petitions May 12th, 2014
Mr. Speaker, the second petition calls upon the government to stop the cuts to postal service, stop the high price for stamps, and restore the 8,000 jobs it intends to cut.
Petitions May 12th, 2014
Mr. Speaker, I have two petitions to present to the House, signed by Albertans.
The first petition calls upon parliamentarians to stand up for Canadian democracy, reject Bill C-23, and bring forward genuine electoral reform that would stop fraud and would ensure every Canadian could exercise the right to vote.
Business of Supply May 7th, 2014
Mr. Chair, in light of these increases in oil tanker traffic on the west coast, could the minister confirm that Transport Canada projects further cuts to funding for marine safety of nearly $6 million over the next two years?
Business of Supply May 7th, 2014
Mr. Chair, what measures did the minister take proactively to prevent the backlog?
Business of Supply May 7th, 2014
Mr. Chair, today I was talking to one of the minister's colleagues from Alberta. He has been unable to get his grain off to market. We can only hope for better next year, but we cannot be assured. We just hope that more and more of our farmers will not go belly-up.
My next question is this. If the minister thinks the changes in Bill C-30 to deal with the grain crisis are important, why do they all have sunset clauses?
Business of Supply May 7th, 2014
Mr. Chair, it is not very reassuring that the minister is simply saying she is assuming that it may or not be on the rail company's land. These are major facilities that are being built in my province, very close to the city of Edmonton. The municipalities are expressing concerns and I think it is time to step up and take a closer look at this. These are major activities that require environmental assessment.
When did the minister first know that there would be transportation bottlenecks in getting grain off the prairies and to market?
Business of Supply May 7th, 2014
Mr. Chair, I am absolutely stunned at the response. In the 21st century it is astounding to hear the minister say that was always the way it was and it can self-regulate. This is the second time this evening that we have heard that the government is proud to say that its activities are self-regulated.
It may be noted that the budget forecast for 2014-15, in the report on plans and priorities, will reduce spending on environmental stewardship of transportation within the next two years by $18,000.
Does the minister believe rail companies should be exempt from open public assessment of risk to human life or health, or the environment, to build and operate massive terminals for 24-hour loading of bitumen and other petroleum products into rail cars?
Business of Supply May 7th, 2014
Mr. Chair, in fact it has been constant 2012 to 2015, so despite these incredibly awful incidents we have had, there has not been an increase in the allocation.
The recent thousandfold increase in shipping of oil by rail has become known as the pipeline on rails, yet no environmental assessments are required for this activity, unlike pipelines. The government has said it considers rail shipping of petroleum more risky than pipelines. Why does the minister not require open, public, environmental assessments of these activities?
Business of Supply May 7th, 2014
Mr. Chair, I too would like to extend birthday wishes. It should have been happier circumstances. I too have spent birthdays in this place, so I wish the minister well after all of this is over.
I wish to advise that I will be sharing my time with the hon. member for Acadie—Bathurst. I am hoping to take just seven and a half minutes of the 15 minutes, if you could let me know, Mr. Chair, when I am close to a minute left.
Given the potential magnitude of increased risk to human life and the environment from the massively expanded rail transport of petroleum products the government is allowing, why has the federal budget for rail safety remained stagnant?
Business of Supply May 6th, 2014
Mr. Speaker, there is a lot I would like to comment on.
First of all, the Alberta Federation of Labour has documented hundreds of cases where temporary foreign workers are being paid less. In the case of the oil sands, the jobs were offered first to Canadians, but then they were displaced by temporary foreign workers.
We have been clear, on this side of the House, that we would prefer that these workers be brought to Canada as actual immigrants.
Yes, we should be looking to those temporary foreign workers who have been offered that path toward citizenship. A lot of them are expressing great distress right now, because they do not know the fate of their applications because of this blanket shutdown of their employment.