Lynne Yelich

[Employment Insurance Act, February 7th, 2007]

Mr. Speaker, it never ceases to amaze me how dramatic the member who introduced this bill can be. He has to consider our position here. He went on about the Liberals and the Conservatives agreeing. What he has not realized is he is a member of the third party in the House and he probably will never be in the position to make this decision.

I am pleased to join this debate on behalf of the new government. Let me begin by saying that Canada's new government is committed to ensuring that the EI program continues to serve Canadians in an effective and timely manner. The government knows how important EI is to unemployed Canadians and we want to make sure the program continues to operate in a way that meets their needs in a prudent and responsible manner.

We are not only prudent, we are caring. That party, which claims to be everything to everyone, has forgotten that we do care, but we temper it and we balance it, and we balance it with prudence. That is why any proposals for a change to the program must be looked at in the context of the overall Canadian labour market, as well as be consistent with the fundamental objectives of the EI program, something that was missing from the member's speech. Most important, they need to be supported by evidence.

Bill C-265 is asking the government to amend the Employment Insurance Act in the following ways: to reduce the entrance level requirements for the employment insurance program benefits to a flat 360 hours; to eliminate the variable entrance requirement; and to introduce a new best 12 weeks approach for determining benefit rates. Those would be significant changes. The question is, are they the right changes for these times? To answer that question, let us look at the environment in which they are being proposed. Let us look first at the current state of the labour market.

Canada's labour market is strong. Canada's labour market is performing well. Some would say it is performing exceptionally well. According to Statistics Canada, the national unemployment rate, which currently is about 6.1%, is the lowest it has been in some three decades and the share of the population that is employed today is at near record levels. This is good news. It means more Canadians are working and the demand for labour is strong. It also means that the opportunities to find and keep work are many.

We also know that many sectors are experiencing labour market shortages and many are looking for more workers.

We also know that even in this strong labour market, many Canadians will go through transitions and will continue to look to the employment insurance program for support and the employment insurance program will continue to help Canadian workers.

Employment insurance provides financial support during periods of temporary unemployment. It can help balance work and life responsibilities. It can provide assistance as unemployed workers adjust to the market changes and seek help to re-enter the labour market. These are all important functions of the program. Anyone interested in how well the program is delivering on them can consult the latest monitoring and assessment report which is prepared by the Employment Insurance Commission.

The latest report, for example, analyzes the operations, the impacts and the effectiveness of the employment insurance program for 2005. It demonstrates that the program is clearly meeting its objectives. When it comes to access to employment insurance benefits, we know that over 83% of unemployed workers who had paid premiums into the program and who had recent job separation, who qualified, were eligible to receive benefits. In other words, despite the member's claims to the contrary, the evidence shows that access to the existing employment insurance program is actually quite high.

There are those who claim that the number of hours needed to qualify for EI benefits should be reduced because they say that too few unemployed persons receive employment insurance benefits in some parts of Canada. However, they are often quoting a statistic known as the B/U, or beneficiary to unemployment ratio. That is a misleading statistic. It is not an accurate indication of actual access to the EI program.

This is because the statistic includes those who have not contributed to the employment insurance program by paying premiums.

[Child Care, February 2nd, 2007]

Mr. Speaker, the member knows quite well that we are working on that and it will be delivered in the spring.

[Child Care, February 2nd, 2007]

One thing, Mr. Speaker, that we will not plagiarize is their universal child care because our universal child care is exactly that. It is universal. It has provided dollars for each and every child under the age of six.

It should not be forgotten that the Liberals promised a national day care system. The kids who would benefit had kids of their own before the Liberals ever even got around to it.

[Canadian Forces, January 31st, 2007]

Mr. Speaker, recently I completed my sixth annual winter tour of my constituency. Over a three week period I met with constituents in coffee shops and town halls during which the worst blizzard in a half a century struck. As author Wallace Stegner, who knew Saskatchewan weather well, said, “you don't get out of the wind, but learn to lean against it”.

Although the mail did not go through, Blackstrap constituents did, braving the cold to meet me where they demonstrated the way they lean, in telling our soldiers how much they appreciate them by signing Blackstrap's banner in support of our troops. We filled six banners with names and places. These banners will go to our troops deployed in Afghanistan.

Blackstrap residents are sending a message to the Canadian armed forces thanking them for their commitment to world security and democratic development. Our troops' tireless efforts are helping Afghanistan to rebuild, one school at a time. Canada has reclaimed its place on the world stage.

[January 30th, 2007]

Mr. Speaker, as he heard, the money is starting to be delivered.

I was surprised to hear the member's opening remarks. It takes me back to Saskatchewan when he talks about people who have turned to crystal meth and drugs. We have that in our province but we also have an international group called Teen Challenge which has offered some of these people homes because many people who are on drugs are homelessness.

Does the member know what the response was from the NDP Saskatchewan government? Its response was in line with the remarks the member just made? Its response was that it would not support a Christian faith based initiative just because it is Christian based. It is against the Saskatchewan government's better judgment.

Where does that put Teen Challenge and all of these young people? They are coming to the federal government and the federal government this year gave Teen Challenge $50,000 for those homeless people because our provincial government refused to help Team Challenge because it was faith based. Some of these kids are indeed--

[January 30th, 2007]

Mr. Speaker, the new government understands the importance of housing and shelter for those who need it and particularly, as the member described, during bitter winter nights. That is why the government invested $526 million for two major initiatives that were announced on December 19 of last year. The first of these investments will help prevent homelessness and improve the quality of housing for 38,000 low income Canadians.

I note and thank the member's colleague from London—Fanshawe for her kind praise for our accomplishment that she expressed earlier today.

This includes the new homelessness partnering strategy funded at $270 million over two years beginning April 1, 2007. The strategy recognizes that the federal government has a role to play in dealing with homelessness across the country. Leadership, resources and support can come from Ottawa for local solutions created by those with local expertise.

Through partnerships with provinces, territories, other government departments and agencies, municipalities and community groups, we will make significant progress in moving vulnerable Canadians permanently out of homelessness and into homes.

for an example of how this new approach is working, I invite the member to talk to the member for Victoria. Just last week, residents of her riding saw the new government join with the province, the city, regional housing trusts and the Fernwood Neighbourhood Resource Group to open four 3-bedroom homes in a renovated 1909 heritage house.

The government is focusing on a housing first approach that recognizes that housing stability is essential to self-sufficiency and full participation in Canadian society. We are not only talking about people who live in major urban centres. We are also talking about aboriginal people and people in rural and northern communities.

We have listened and will continue to listen to Canadians and to respond to their concerns.

The second side of Canada's new government's strategy is a $256 million investment in a two year extension of Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation's renovation programs for low income households. These programs will help improve housing for low income people and those who may be at risk of homelessness, including seniors, persons with disabilities, victims of family violence and aboriginal people.

These investments are over and above a one time investment of $1.4 million that was in budget 2006 to help Canadians find safe, adequate, affordable housing through the establishment of housing trusts available to the provinces and territories.

In addition, the government provides approximately $2 billion a year in housing assistance across the country. This funding primarily supports approximately 633,000 lower income householders who live in assisted living projects across the country. Plus, we are creating affordable housing through the $1 billion affordable housing initiative in collaboration with our provincial and territorial partners.

Let me sum up the government's approach to homelessness in the following way. The government's total investment over the next two years will provide concrete, meaningful and lasting results for Canadians who need safe and adequate housing.

[Sales Tax Amendments Act, 2006, January 30th, 2007]

Mr. Speaker, when the member talks about how little the two cent cut was in GST, I would like him to come to Saskatchewan and tell our premier that. His gift to the taxpayers of Saskatchewan was to close hospitals and shut down schools, and the roads are turning into prairie trails. What did our premier do? He took two cents off the sales tax and never made investments back into our province.

While our population is declining and our producers are having a difficult time with some of the difficulties with our agriculture safety nets, our premier does nothing but take two cents off the PST, the provincial sales tax. How does that square up with the member's philosophy?

[Canada Pension Plan, January 30th, 2007]

Mr. Speaker, I am not sure how far back they want to go, but we do offer retroactivity. This has been done in a prudent manner and with the good guidance of the finance minister. Our department is doing what is prudent with retroactivity. The program is trying to duplicate what is done in other provinces. That is what retroactivity does. It is in the best interests of those who make the decisions on retroactivity.

When the member talked about retroactivity, I understood him to say that it would go back a long time. I do not think that would be possible. How far back would one want to start retroactive payments? We do that already. We are trying to look forward. We want to ensure this does not happen again. The positive parts of the bill will make it so this never happens again.

I invite the member to help us ensure it does not happen again by finding a way to reach those people who are not registered through the income tax system. If the member could help with some solutions--

[Canada Pension Plan, January 30th, 2007]

Mr. Speaker, I started to articulate earlier about some of the scenarios that had been put before us today on some of the conditions in which seniors live. Many of these conditions are the result of poor management on the part of provincial governments.

I just came off a three week tour of my riding of Blackstrap. I went through senior citizens homes in rural Saskatchewan. Hospitals are being closed. We are not being heard in rural Saskatchewan. Our province seems to be ignoring this. This is why I hope we can pass legislation like this to at least do what we can. The federal government can only do so much for these seniors. Some of the conditions seniors in Saskatchewan are living in today are the result of very high medical costs in the province. Some drugs are not covered. Some of our hospitals and senior residences are closing. Some people are being taken out of their communities.

One of the official opposition members said yesterday that sometimes seniors needed support. It is not all about money. Some of it means good community support. I would like to take every member of the New Democratic Party to Saskatchewan for a tour to see how some people live under the NDP government there. I am trying to put some stories together to show that it has ignored its seniors and its people.

The federal government is listening and we are--

[Canada Pension Plan, January 30th, 2007]

Mr. Speaker, I like to think that we are talking about prudence in our public coffers, how money is spent and how programs are delivered.

Our chief actuary estimates that the number of beneficiaries will double by 2030, I believe. The old age security program is not supported by contributions. It is supported by the public purse, by the general revenue. It is $28 billion per year, which is 14% of our total government expenditures.

Think of a program of taxpayers dollars coming out of general revenue. If we put that in perspective, I would think that we are doing this in the best interests of the people who are paying into that fund. To compare it to the government trying to collect taxes is a little different. Those taxes are being paid into that fund and those persons are getting out of paying into something that they rightfully owe, and that is their taxes to the general revenues.

I would hardly compare those two, but I would try to put in perspective what this costs us. It is quite generous to go back one year because the guaranteed income supplement is calculated in the current tax year. I would like the member to think about it before we talk about retroactivity any more. I would like him to think about what this would mean.

Why would we spend our resources and time trying to go back? How many years would we go back? How many of these people would still qualify or would have just qualified for one year? All the work that we would have and the resources to go into that would in fact be better spent by continually trying to find good programs and provisions in the act. Some of these changes are going to cost us some dollars and some tax money.

I hope he will understand this. We talk about old age security and guaranteed income supplement. When we talk about the general revenue, 14% of the general revenue is spent on old age security, or $28 billion a year.