Marjolaine Boutin-Sweet

[Canada-Panama Economic Growth and Prosperity Act, November 6th, 2012]

Mr. Speaker, I gather from the Liberal member's speech that he did not think the agreement was perfect. He even talked about tax havens.

This makes me wonder why the Liberals not only did not propose any amendments in committee, but also rejected every one of the NDP's amendments.

He mentioned earlier that conducting another study would not have taken much time, but voting for these amendments would not have taken much time either, and I think some of them would have suited him, so I do not understand his reasoning.

[Canada-Panama Economic Growth and Prosperity Act, November 6th, 2012]

Mr. Speaker, in his speech, the member for Prince Albert said that through its free trade agreements Canada can support change and growth in the Americas.

A few years ago, I signed a petition concerning the free trade area of the Americas (FTAA), which was also signed by people from all across the Americas. Every single country signed the petition. It asked that we put a human face on trade and that human beings be just as important as economics in our trade relations. The petition was effective because we no longer hear about the FTAA today.

However, the Canadian government has started entering into bilateral agreements with countries, agreements that are similar to the FTAA and therefore do not include the human dimension that the people asked for in the petition.

Why enter into agreements that do not fundamentally help promote human rights in another country, such as Panama?

[Service Canada, November 5th, 2012]

Mr. Speaker, the Conservatives' changes are not working.

There are not enough staff to answer people's questions at peak periods. That is the problem. It is a perfect example of the Conservatives' mismanagement. The vast majority of calls about employment insurance and old age security are not being answered within the prescribed time limit.

When will the minister stop cutting services to the public and start providing the necessary resources to get the job done?

[Canada-Panama Economic Growth and Prosperity Act, November 2nd, 2012]

Mr. Speaker, earlier, a Conservative member admitted during his speech that the workers' rights situation in Panama is not ideal. He also said that as Panama works with Canada, it will start making improvements in that area. I think he is dreaming in Technicolor.

Does the hon. member see that accepting the NDP amendments in committee would have been a great opportunity to strengthen this agreement?

[Canada-Panama Economic Growth and Prosperity Act, November 2nd, 2012]

Mr. Speaker, almost 100 per cent of my Conservative colleague's speech was about the financial side of the agreement. He briefly mentioned Canadian workers but did not say anything about the rights of Panamanian workers or measures to protect Panama's environment. But that is what fair trade is all about.

Do the Conservatives not know what fair trade looks like? Or is it that they have no intention of going that route?

[Government Accountability, November 2nd, 2012]

Mr. Speaker, the Conservatives' futile fight with the Parliamentary Budget Officer is the umpteenth example of their obsession with secrecy and backroom decision-making with no transparency. Billions of dollars in services are being eliminated, but the Conservatives are refusing to provide information about the cuts.

What are they trying to hide: the dollar value of the looting, the number of jobs lost, the impact on services to Canadians?

Why are they hiding this information?

[Service Canada, November 1st, 2012]

Mr. Speaker, the Conservatives are wreaking havoc at Service Canada. And yet they promised that front-line services would not be compromised. Unemployed workers have to wait for increasingly long periods of time for their first employment insurance cheque. If Service Canada does not get more resources immediately, we are headed straight for disaster.

Will the minister acknowledge that these changes are not working? Will she rectify the situation and stop this slow and steady destruction of Service Canada?

[Service Canada, November 1st, 2012]

Mr. Speaker, Service Canada is also having difficulty handling employment insurance claims. One claimant in four must wait more than 28 days to obtain a reply from Service Canada. Bills continue to pile up and Canadians cannot just wait for the minister to solve problems at Service Canada before paying those bills. Time is of the essence.

Will the minister cancel the harmful cuts and give Service Canada the resources it needs?

[Poverty, October 30th, 2012]

Mr. Speaker, when it comes to poverty and food security, the HungerCount 2012 report clearly demonstrates the Conservatives' incompetence. A record number of Canadians had to turn to a food bank this year. Some families have to choose between paying their rent and buying groceries, because there is a shortage of affordable housing. Despite the federal government's disengagement, CMHC is still subsidizing co-operatives and social housing, but the agreements are about to expire.

Do the Conservatives realize that by privatizing CMHC, they are putting many of these agreements at risk?

[Questions Passed as Orders for Returns, October 30th, 2012]

With regard to the Homelessness Partnering Strategy, since April 1, 2007: (a) how many organizations have applied for funding, broken down by (i) year, (ii) province/region and (iii) electoral district; (b) how many organizations have received funding, broken down by (i) year, (ii) province/region and (iii) electoral district; (c) what is the average amount of funding received, broken down by (i) year and (ii) province/region; (d) what was the average length of time taken to notify organizations that their application had been rejected or accepted, broken down by (i) year and (ii) province/region; (e) how many organizations that have never before received funding have been granted funding for the 2012-2014 period and which organizations are they; (f) how many organizations that received funding before have been refused funding for the 2012-2014 period and which organizations are they; and (g) how many applications for funding have been refused by the Minister despite being recommended by the Joint Management Committee/Agences de santé et de services sociaux, broken down by year?