Maria Minna

[Housing Awards, October 20th, 2004]

Mr. Speaker, I am proud to announce today that two of this year's housing award winners, Habitat for Humanity Toronto's “Volk Way” and Frontiers Foundation's “Project Amik” affordable housing in east Toronto, are from my riding of Beaches--East York.

The housing award was established by the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation eight years ago. This year's theme focused on best practices in affordable housing.

Project Amik is a terrific place with 75 units on a rent geared to income basis. Half of the units are rented to Canadian aboriginal people and 14 are dedicated for rental to people with physical disabilities. The Volk Way house saw 61 men, women and children move into 14 new homes where there was once a single bungalow.

The need for safe, affordable shelter is the foundation on which our communities are built. I have always supported affordable housing initiatives and am proud that our government was able to be involved in one of these projects. We have committed to doing more and I look forward to the opportunity to make more announcements like this one as we expand and enhance the affordable housing initiative.

It is an honour to represent organizations that are helping to provide better living conditions for all in need. I ask--

[Resumption of debate on Address in Reply, October 19th, 2004]

Mr. Speaker, the issue of child care is not child minding. It is about early development, early education and early learning. Surely the hon. member is not suggesting that elementary school is no longer acceptable and that we should now shut down the public school system?

All of the research shows that education must start early if we want to give children an equal opportunity in this country, all kids at all times. Early education is very fundamental to the development of the child.

We are the only western country that starts as late as we do. We call it early learning and care. It is combined. It deals with two things: first, the issue of early learning which is fundamental to the children of this country; and, second, it addresses the issue of parents who are working.

The hon. member says that we should give families tax cuts and a choice. With respect, a $1,000 tax cut for someone who is making a modest to medium income will not make one bit of difference.

My constituents of Beaches—East York made it very clear to me that they want early learning child care assistance. Many of them are paying $1,500 a month per child. That is tantamount to a large mortgage or more. There is a tremendous amount of stress on families. Many children have no access to child care and the parents are obliged to work.

Tax cuts provide no choice at all. First, they do not provide child care for the children who need it. Second, they provide no developmental early learning programs for all children, regardless of whether the parent is at home looking after the child or not. Early learning is fundamental for all children.

As I said, we are starting late as it is with elementary school. We should start earlier. In most western countries, three years of age is when children start early education programs full time. We are really sticking our heads in the sand. We are not addressing the real fundamental issues of early learning and care for children in our society, both in terms of assisting parents and in ensuring that every child has the best possible start in life.

I would like the hon. member to respond to that because his solution does not do it.

[The Environment, October 12th, 2004]

Mr. Speaker, I am proud to welcome here today Mr. Alex Winch, a constituent of Beaches—East York. Mr. Winch is the owner of the Beach Solar Laundromat and is this year's recipient of the prestigious international Bremen Partnership Award. This award recognizes profound environmental innovation achieved in partnership with a non-government organization and is under the patronage of the United Nations.

The Wash and Fold Partnership involves the Neighbourhood Link/Senior Link and New Comer program which is funded by the federal government as well as the Beach Solar Laundromat. It is also a terrific example of small business, community groups and the federal government working together to support sustainable development.

I was honoured to host a send-off reception for Mr. Winch a week before the award ceremony in Germany. It was terrific to see him return to Canada a winner. I ask the House to join me in congratulating Mr. Winch for this fantastic achievement.

[Children, April 27th, 2004]

Mr. Speaker, during the last 10 years I have worked hard to alleviate poverty for mothers and children in this country. Today the Liberal government's commitment to Canada's children is more than $13 billion a year.

That commitment includes: assistance for over three million families through the Canada child tax benefit; the early childhood development agreement to help improve and expand early childhood development programs and services; maternity and parental benefits through employment insurance; the child care expense deduction for parents who work or study; and the new child disability benefit for low income and modest income families.

Children who grow up in poverty are at great risk of not being able to fulfill their potential. We must do everything in our power to ensure that Canadian children have every chance for a healthy, secure and happy life.

[Volunteer Award, April 20th, 2004]

Mr. Speaker, I am proud to welcome here today, Ms. Margaret Norquay, a constituent of Beaches—East York and one of this year's recipients of the Therese Casgrain Volunteer Award.

She has been an active and dedicated volunteer for more than 50 years. An advocate for women, children, immigrants and seniors, Margaret Norquay has spent her life working to create a more just and equitable society. I rise today to applaud Margaret Norquay for her invaluable contributions to our community and to the advancement of social justice.

This award is presented every year to two individuals from across the country whose pioneering spirit, social commitment and persistent endeavours have contributed significantly to advancing a cause and the well-being of their fellow citizens.

I ask the House to join me in thanking Margaret Norquay for her contribution.

[The Budget, March 25th, 2004]

Mr. Speaker, I think the hon. member already mentioned the funds to Telefilm Canada which were announced in the budget. That is a commitment to culture.

The commitment to the funding for the CBC, which I have supported 100% and continue to push for continued sustainable funding for CBC, is not being diminished. The CBC has access also to the Telefilm fund and other funds as well. The budget continues to support culture in this country and I continue to fight for it as well.

Some people in the House do not support public broadcasting. In my view, public broadcasting is fundamental to our country to maintain and sustain the CBC because that is the only way we can reflect our nation back to ourselves.

[The Budget, March 25th, 2004]

Mr. Speaker, it is quite clear that the health accord is being respected. As we said, part of the accord was the $2 billion to which the government has kept its commitment.

I did not say that home care and catastrophic drugs were in the budget. What I said was that these are things, especially home care and the reform of primary care, which are important. The hon. member misses that. It is very expensive and it needs to be dealt with.

Part of the accord was to look at the reform of primary care as well, but that still has not happened in most cases. Reform does not always need cash, but what is needed is reform. What the hon. member does take into account is what I said very clearly, that the discussions will deal with home care and catastrophic care, but the reform of primary care means that within the provinces there needs to be some agreement between the provinces and the doctors.

For instance in Ontario, there was supposed to be a reform of the primary care system. The example I gave, which is in my own riding, is an excellent one of how it works in small numbers, but the Ontario Medical Association impressed on the government to use a different system altogether, which is much more expensive and not really a major reform at all.

In essence, the new health networks or community health centres are not even starting as yet. We cannot bring down the cost of primary care unless there is real reform and real buy-in on the part of the doctors, on the part of the provinces, as well as the Government of Canada. These are areas that have to be addressed.

In the budget, however, there is a great deal of spending that deals with the public health system, for which the Government of Canada is taking total responsibility. There is also the appointment of a public health officer.

As I said before in other speeches in the House, I continue to support the Romanow report. I continue to push for the implementation of a catastrophic drug program, a proper home care program and the reform of the primary care health system. That has to be done in partnership with the provinces. It cannot just be done unilaterally by the Government of Canada.

[The Budget, March 25th, 2004]

Mr. Speaker, I wish to inform you that I will be splitting my time with the member for Abitibi—Baie-James—Nunavik.

The 2004 budget follows very nicely on the heels of the Speech from the Throne which was in my view a speech that addressed the needs of Canadians and social issues in our country. The budget does much the same thing. It addresses the issue of social justice, or the social deficit as I sometimes refer to it.

We have addressed the issue of deficit and economic deficit tax cuts, $100 million worth of tax cuts in the 2000 budget. I always felt that it was time that we needed to begin to address the issue of social deficit, as I call it, or social issues, because economic and social policies in this country to a great extent are one and the same.

This budget does that. It continues on investments that we have made in the past. It sets a road ahead that I think is very positive for us.

I will mention some of the areas that this budget addresses which are very positive. In the area of health, the budget flows $2 billion to the provinces as promised in the previous accord. That brings funding in health to $36.8 billion, which was provided in budget 2003.

It does not stop there. The Prime Minister will be attending a meeting with the premiers in the month of July. The ministers of finance are meeting to prepare for that meeting. They will be discussing the long term sustainability of our health care system.

Some critics have said that there is not enough cash provided right now. Even Roy Romanow said--and I have supported his report 100% and made representations to him when he was preparing his report--just recently that the system needs more than money. He said the system needs reform as well. We cannot make it sustainable without proper reform.

One example that I have given recently has been with respect to the issue of the reform of the primary care system in our country. I strongly believe that we cannot make our system sustainable without proper reform in the primary care area of our system.

I can give an example in my own riding of Beaches—East York. We have a good community health centre program which provides doctors. They do not have a fee for service. They are paid a good salary that I believe doctors should get.

At the same time, the doctors who are receiving the salary are on call 24 hours a day, seven days a week. There is also a nurse practitioner because not all patients have to see a doctor. There is also a nutritionist that deals with preventive health care and the importance of nutrition. We all know, based on recent discussions, about the problems of obesity and the need for physical activity. This is one area that needs major reform.

With the doctors being on call, it means that people are not going to hospitals and clogging up the emergency rooms. That saves the health care system a great deal of money.

It is important to reform the system to make it sustainable and to look at the issues of home care, supportive housing and long term care. That will help seniors who want to stay at home longer and will give them the dignity of being in their own homes. At the same time it will make sure that hospital beds are not taken up by the need for long term care. These are all areas that have to be addressed if we are to make our system sustainable, but the government has provided $2 billion.

We are not standing still. We are also looking at changes. The budget also establishes a new Canada public health agency as a focal point for disease control and emergency response and a new chief public health officer who will lead the agency. After the SARS situation which occurred primarily in Toronto but across the country, as well as West Nile and other preventive health care issues that we need to look at it, this is a very important step for the government.

The budget will immediately provide funds of $655 million in this fiscal year and over the next two years to improve Canada's readiness to deal with public health emergencies. This will include things such as increasing emergency response capacity, enhancing surveillance, establishing regional centres of excellence, expanding laboratory capacity and strengthening international coordination and collaboration. In addition, there will be $400 million flowing from the Department of Health into the public health system. It will be dealing with assisting the provinces and territories for the next three years in support of a national immunization strategy.

In addition, the budget provides improved tax fairness for Canadians with disabilities and for caregivers. Again it goes to addressing the broader need in the health care system. There will be increased funding of $30 million annually to support employment assistance programming delivered by provinces and territories for Canadians with disabilities. Again these are areas that address the broader issue of health. The government is taking some very bold steps in that direction.

Let me move to another topic, the area of learning, something which is very close to my heart. I have for some time worked hard and pushed for the establishment of an early learning program and child care in this country. In the year 2000 the government announced a children's agenda of $2.2 billion for early learning. In this budget the early learning and child care will receive an additional $75 million this year and an additional $75 million next year.

This is a continuing investment in children which is extremely important. The learning agenda goes from cradle to retirement. I call it lifelong learning. The budget addresses early learning from zero to six, but it also addresses post-secondary education, as well as learning for people who are employed but want to upgrade their skills or people who want to re-enter the labour force. It addresses those areas very well.

With respect to another program for children in the budget, the Canada learning bond will be provided at birth for children in families with incomes under $35,000. The government will contribute over time to a maximum of $2,000 per child.

The Canada education savings grant was introduced in 1998. It was created to help parents save for their children's education. Budget 2004 proposes the doubling of the matching rate provided by the federal government, to 40% for families with incomes under $35,000 and to 30% for families with incomes between $35,000 and $70,000. These enhanced rates will apply to the first $500 contributed.

A fair number of aboriginal people live in urban centres, in Beaches—East York and elsewhere in Toronto. The budget addresses that, as well as the needs for aboriginal people on reserves under the rubric of education. For first nations children living on reserves, the budget adds a further $10 million over four years for early learning and child care, bringing our government's total investment to $45 million.

We will also provide some 20,000 students from low income families with new grants worth up to $3,000 to cover a portion of their first year tuition. This is a very big step in the right direction, in my opinion. I have been pushing for some time to have a grants system for students who want to attend post-secondary education but cannot afford it.

A new upfront grant of up to $2,000 a year will be introduced for students with disabilities while maintaining the existing Canada study grant of up to $8,000 per year.

The parental contributions expected from middle income families will be reduced, providing more access to student loans for 40,000 students.

Budget 2004 proposes to set aside resources to ease the eligibility criteria for interest relief, for increasing the income threshold used by determining eligibility for interest relief by 5%.

Effective January 1, 2004, the budget proposes to allow students to claim the education tax credit for education related to current employment, when not reimbursed by the employer. This means up to $400 per month for full time students and $120 per month for part time students. This again goes to the lifelong learning that I mentioned.

Looking at the long term, we are developing a workplace strategy. As an immediate measure the budget proposes to put in place a pilot project to provide matching funds for union based training centres with funding of $15 million over the first two years. There is a great deal more in the area of education which I will not go into.

For cities and communities, the government has followed through on its commitment to forgive the GST. For cities, that means $7 billion over the next 10 years, $50 million a year for the city of Toronto alone. In addition there are infrastructure dollars of $1 billion which goes from 10 years down to five years.

In summary, there is so much in the budget. I believe it is a budget for the people.

[Supply, March 11th, 2004]

Mr. Speaker, the hon. member will recognize that on this side of the House we have many different views. We work together and come to the same thing at times; however, as the hon. member knows, when his party put forward the motion with respect to the Canada pension plan and ethical investments, I voted with him because I thought it made eminent sense.

A good many of my colleagues on this side of the House voted for that motion. That was a message we sent to the government, and to the Canada pension plan, that this was an issue that needed to be addressed.

I do not think that the member will get any argument from me on that one. When it comes to other issues like trans fats and whatever, I would ban the trans fats, quite frankly, if I could, never mind labelling them.

The hon. member will receive no argument from me with respect to public health and preventive health care. I was talking about that earlier and it is why we now have a minister responsible for those things.

[Supply, March 11th, 2004]

Mr. Speaker, first of all, I would hope that we are here today to support Canadian citizens who need health care, not necessarily the premiers or any other individual government structure. The people of Canada need to be supported and assured that they get quality universally accessible health care, including Quebeckers. That is number one.

Number two, yes, I have seen the ads from the premiers. Of course, they are everywhere. How could one possibly miss them? That does not mean to say that they are correct.

We had ads before from Ontario, specifically from Mr. Harris who had ads all the time. There are ads in Toronto, in case the hon. member has not noticed, from the board of trade which say to tape over everything that is broken and needs to be fixed in terms of infrastructure in Ontario because it is true, we have a major problem in areas such as transportation, affordable housing and so on.

We have lots of ads because we know there is a budget coming up and there is talk of an election. That does not mean that the ads are correct and it does not mean that the environment in which the premiers have chosen to negotiate with the Government of Canada is proper either.

As I said, the Prime Minister met twice with his provincial counterparts. There was an accord in 2003. It was agreed that an additional $2 billion would flow this year and it has. The Government of Canada has committed the $2 billion.

The other commitment made was for the premiers and the Prime Minister to meet to look at reforming the system. This would save additional dollars. In addition to that, I am sure that at that point there would be other money on the table.

Those kinds of things are happening as we speak and they should happen before we settle down to a long term allocation of funds, but at the same time we have not stood still. The Government of Canada has established a health council to look at accountability. There is a public health officer and so on, and a minister responsible for public health.

Again, preventive health is just as important. There is money being invested there.

When the hon. member tells me that the tax points have to do with other categories, with all due respect, that is not true. The tax points were part of the health and social transfers at the time for social services and health.

The provinces said that instead of all cash, they wanted the cash cut and more tax room. We have to count the tax points as part of the cash as well. Otherwise, if we keep making block transfers in tax points, as the provinces have already asked for in previous discussions, we will keep passing down the taxation powers but the provinces do not recognize the responsibility that comes with it.

They committed to spend their money on social programs and health care. They cannot have it both ways. The tax points and equalization dollars are block funded, and they are part of the equation.