Malcolm Allen

[Employment Insurance, May 18th, 2012]

Mr. Speaker, the government's jobs plan actually increased the unemployment rate in the last two months, so I am not too sure it is a great plan.

The government keeps pretending that employment insurance belongs to it, but we all know that it does not. EI belongs to the workers. It belongs to the people who have put in the time and the sweat, and it is their money that goes into this program, not the Minister of HRSD's, who has some distorted view of being unemployed.

The Conservatives seem to think that being unemployed is an all-inclusive vacation. Seasonal workers are, from coast to coast to coast, the backbones of many communities, so why the attacks? When will the government realize that EI does not belong to it, it belongs to the workers who paid for it?

[Employment Insurance, May 18th, 2012]

Mr. Speaker, the government is stepping up its attack on Canadian workers. Today, Conservatives are targeting seasonal and contract workers with the new EI changes.

Contract workers are the backbone of many Canadian industries. These people work hard from seed to harvest in order to keep our farms and orchards putting locally produced food on Canadian dinner plates, yet the Conservatives want to target these workers and compel them to earn less than other EI recipients.

When will the Conservative government stop targeting Canadian workers and start respecting them?

[Rose Festival, May 18th, 2012]

Mr. Speaker, this coming June, the city of Welland will host its 51st annual Rose Festival.

Every year, Welland, aptly named the rose city of Canada, hosts this festival to encourage community spirit, involvement and pride through many free events and activities.

I wish to recognize this event, as it is important to the citizens who live throughout the entire Niagara area. I encourage all members of the community to take part in the wide range of events, including the popular run for the roses and the rose parade.

I also wish to recognize the organizers and coordinators who help to make this event possible, including the president, Jeff Ward; the parade chair, Larry LaRose; the coronation chair, Diane Freeman; and the art show chair, Sam Adams. These outstanding individuals are unpaid volunteers who truly make the festival an exciting and worthwhile experience for all. Their level of devotion to preserving cultural heritage and natural beauty is appreciated by all members of the Welland community.

I invite all members of this House to join me in recognizing the hundreds of community festivals happening right across the country and all of the hard-working volunteers who make them happen.

[Pooled Registered Pension Plans Act, May 17th, 2012]

Madam Speaker, I want to thank my colleague from London—Fanshawe for articulating what really is wrong with pooled registered pension plans.

When clearly there is unlimited room in an RRSP for most folks, why does the government want to duplicate it? It is just the same plan all over again, only with a different fee structure; it looks fancy and has a nice name. It would let workers think that somehow magic will happen.

The reality is that if people do not have money for an RRSP, they will not have money for a pooled registered pension plan. The government would argue that it can come off at source and therefore the tax is lower, but people can do the same thing with an RRSP.

Does my colleague from London—Fanshawe think the government is headed in the wrong direction and is really handing out a fairy tale to workers across this country that somehow this plan would help them in their retirement years?

[Agriculture and Agri-Food, May 15th, 2012]

Mr. Speaker, that is not reassuring for Canadian families.

It gets worse. Hundreds of employees with the CFIA, including front-line food inspectors and indeed veterinarians, are on the chopping block. How does the government expect a smaller number of CFIA inspectors and veterinarians to do more with less resources?

CFIA is meeting with USFDA today to actually look at food regulations. Instead of consult first, regulate later, the government is putting the industry at risk with our largest trading partner.

Why is the government potentially putting Canadian industry and our health at risk with its risky new meat regulations?

[Agriculture and Agri-Food, May 15th, 2012]

Mr. Speaker, proposed Conservative changes to federally regulated slaughterhouses would mean already-dead animals could be butchered and sold to Canadian consumers. These regulations exist as a direct result of the rotten meat scandal that plagued the industry in the 1970s. However, now Conservatives want to turn back the clock and allow animals previously unfit for human consumption to end up on the family dinner plate.

Will meat from dead stock be clearly marked in our grocery stores?

[Agriculture and Agri-Food, May 14th, 2012]

Mr. Speaker, farmers will be paying attention to whether that money arrives on time or not.

Ontario farmers are poised to lose tens of millions of dollars. Jobs will be lost and local businesses will suffer. Programs exist to deal with minor losses. Single farmers in a bad season, for instance, will get coverage. However, when an entire sector is hit, like it is now in Ontario, special measures should be taken to ensure its future is not put at risk.

What additional support will the government commit to the apple and tender fruit sector to help it through this major crisis?

[Agriculture and Agri-Food, May 14th, 2012]

Mr. Speaker, Ontario apple and tender fruit farmers have been heavily hit by a spring frost that is expected to devastate the industry this year. Apple farmers alone are expected to lose a staggering 80% of this year's crop.

Ontario farmers are major producers of Canada's apple crop. This impact will be felt widely.

What will the government do to assure farmers that they will receive timely support from the government to help them through what is a major crisis in tender fruit in Ontario?

[Agriculture and Agri-Food, May 9th, 2012]

Mr. Speaker, access to safe food is something Canadians expect and deserve, but if the Conservatives have their way, food safety in the future will be a roll of the dice, with fewer regulations, fewer inspections, and massive cuts to food inspectors. No wonder the Conservatives refused to meet with the UN food rapporteur.

Why are the Conservatives cutting the Canadian Food Inspection Agency and gambling with the health of Canadians?

[Jobs, Growth and Long-Term Prosperity Act, May 3rd, 2012]

Mr. Speaker, I did not realize I had gone that far down the list that I needed to be redeemed. If I need redemption, I hope my hon. colleague will help me find it. It is probably a horse running in the fourth, but then again Fort Erie is closing the slots and that may actually do away with the raceway, so there may not be any horses there anymore.

It is abundantly clear, and this parliamentary secretary knows it, that this one-term funding that has been dropped in for this one budget year will disappear. He knows it and so does the minister. It will disappear. The budget will decrease, along with the agriculture budget, which got hit by 10%.

If anybody needs to redeem themselves, I would suggest it is my hon. colleague across the way and the minister who allowed the agriculture budget not to be trimmed but to have a meat cleaver taken to it. It had its arm chopped off to the tune of 10%-plus.

That is where redemption ought to be for farmers. It ought to be for that minister and that parliamentary secretary to stand up for farmers and fight to get that money back to make sure that farmers across this country are looked after, protected and well maintained. That did not happen through this minister and parliamentary secretary.