Lisa Raitt

[Employment Insurance, March 8th, 2013]

Mr. Speaker, that is a ludicrous comment coming from the NDP.

Our government is making common-sense changes. The reality is employment insurance will be there for those who need it, when they need it most, which is when they lose their jobs as a result of something that is unforeseen and not in their control.

However, turning to the other side of it too, the unemployment rate in this country is 7%, which is the best it has been in many, many years. We are very proud of the number of net new jobs we have created: 950,000. We are getting the job done.

[Employment Insurance, March 8th, 2013]

Mr. Speaker, I would point out that we, on our side, do empathize with the plight of this individual, but that being said, there are eligibility requirements for all people who take part in the EI program. An individual simply must have the required number of hours in order to establish a claim.

As always, employment insurance will continue to be there for people who have accumulated enough hours to qualify for the benefits.

[Employment Insurance, March 8th, 2013]

Mr. Speaker, in the spirit of International Women's Day, I would like to remind my counterpart on the other side that calling ministers names that do not correspond with their positions does not help decorum in this House whatsoever. Quite frankly, those members should know better.

What we are doing with respect to employment insurance is just making some common sense changes. The context of the program is not changing whatsoever. We want to connect Canadians with available jobs, available jobs that we have created since 2009, 950,000 net new jobs. We want to provide them with information to get them back to work.

[Status of Women, March 8th, 2013]

Mr. Speaker, the accusations made by the member are completely ludicrous. The reality is that our government is focused on jobs, on economic growth and on long-term prosperity, which I believe is incredibly important to me as a woman.

We have created 950,000 net new jobs. Our unemployment is 7%. These are all positive factors that help us all, including my gender. However, more specifically, I am very proud of the work we have been doing with employment insurance to ensure that the product is there for people when they need it most, when they lose their jobs through circumstances no fault of their own.

[Status of women, March 8th, 2013]

Mr. Speaker, I am puzzled by the member's question because we know in our government that seniors have done so much to contribute to our country and build our country, which is exactly why we have done more for seniors than any other government, including the one he led.

We have created the position of Minister of State for Seniors, an independent ministerial position to look after our seniors and their issues. Our government has made sure we have one of the lowest poverty rates among seniors in the world, lower than it ever was under the Liberals.

I have to say, he is completely wrong—

[Human Resources, February 28th, 2013]

Mr. Speaker, it would be my great honour and pleasure to answer the question from the hard-working member for Mississauga—Streetsville.

Today the Minister of Human Resources and Skills Development outlined that there is a skills mismatch in Canada. She stated that it is actually becoming Canada's most significant socio-economic challenge that in too many cases, Canadian workers do not have the skills that employers seek. Our government is committed to better helping Canadians, particularly young Canadians, to get the skills and the training they need for that labour market. We are going to work with our partners, and we are going to encourage employers to step up to the plate for training.

[Workplace Safety, January 29th, 2013]

Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank my colleague from Brant for bringing up a very timely question.

Indeed, employers and employees all have to work together to ensure that they protect themselves particularly during this winter season. However, we are becoming more aware, because I am very pleased to report that the rate of disabling injuries in federally regulated workplaces dropped 33% between 2000 and 2010 and again is trending downward for 2011. These are positive results and everybody involved should be very well proud of them.

The Government of Canada is committed to preventing accidents and injuries in the workplace.

[Questions on the Order Paper, January 28th, 2013]

Mr. Speaker, based on a survey of labour organizations with 50 or more covered members, the number of unions in Canada for 2011 is 778 with 14,557 locals. There is no breakdown by province available. The 2011 survey of labour organizations, published in the document entitled “Union coverage in Canada 2011”, is available at the following link: http://www.hrsdc.gc.ca/eng/labour/labour_relations/info_analysis/union_membership/2011/tableofcontents.shtml.

[Labour, December 12th, 2012]

Mr. Speaker, with respect to the letter I received from my colleague in Quebec, of course I will be speaking with and meeting with her in the new year on a whole bunch of different matters. We have lots to discuss.

I do appreciate receiving her views, but as we know, this evening we will be voting on a private member's bill and we have made our intentions clear.

[Workplace Safety, November 21st, 2012]

Mr. Speaker, I want to thank the member for the question on health and safety in our country because it is indeed a very important matter, which we take very seriously, both here in the government and governments across the country.

Although we only have a small portion of the total employees in Canada, we lead the way in terms of making sure it is of utmost concern that the people who work in the federal jurisdiction are protected through health and safety measures. We actually bring boundaries to ourselves, in terms of making sure we are the first to deal with violence in the workplace regulations. Those are the kinds of things that are forward looking, and those are the things I will continue to do.