Mark Eyking

[Financial Literacy Leader Act, October 31st, 2012]

Mr. Speaker, I commend the new member from Quebec for her speech. This is not a bad bill that the Conservatives have put forward, but it just does not do enough.

She mentioned food banks. Cape Breton has a lot of food banks and the uptake is increasing, especially over the last few years. It is unbelievable the number of people going to food banks.

Could she expand a bit on what she said about the food banks in her region and that the cause may be some of the policies of the government which have led to an increase of food banks in her region and other places in Quebec?

[Jobs and Growth, 2012, October 30th, 2012]

Mr. Speaker, we previously heard from some of my colleagues from Atlantic Canada that the previous Conservative budgets are killing their area. In Cape Breton, we see what they have done, with more than 300 jobs being cut, and now we will see it with the seasonal help.

In this budget, in the previous budget and in budgets to come, do the Conservatives have a bit of a plan of privatizing rural Canada, of taking services out of rural Canada, whether it is Parks Canada, the EI changes, what they are doing to fisheries and what they did with the Wheat Board? Is there some sort of agenda here to privatize rural Canada? Can my colleague answer that question?

[Sydney Tar Ponds, October 24th, 2012]

Mr. Speaker, Sydney started producing steel in the early 1900s and became the second largest producer in Canada. After a century of production, it closed, leaving the largest toxic site in North America.

On May 12, 2004, the Paul Martin government and the John Hamm government of Nova Scotia announced $400 million to clean up the site.

Thanks to the community's patience, the liaison committee's dedication, various departments, contractors' work and the Cape Breton Regional Municipality's co-operation, the Sydney tar ponds and coke ovens site cleanup is on budget and on time.

Just recently, the tar ponds agency received a very prestigious award for its success. The Brownie award is given to the best cleanup project of a brownfield site in Canada. The people of Sydney are now planning future uses for the completed site. Walking trails, sport facilities, offices and recreation centres are proposed.

I stand in the House today to thank all those involved in the cleanup. It is with honour that we as Cape Bretoners can finally say that the Sydney tar ponds are no more.

[Foreign Affairs, October 19th, 2012]

Mr. Speaker, the government's record at the UN is a disaster. It claims that we failed to win a seat at the Security Council because of a principled foreign policy.

We have found out, now, that Rwanda has won a seat. Rwanda's government has been accused of supporting and arming rebels in eastern Congo.

How did Canada vote at the General Assembly? Did it use its principled foreign policy to register Canada's disapproval? Did Canada vote for Rwanda, yes or no?

[Employment Insurance, October 17th, 2012]

Mr. Speaker, yesterday, the human resources minister accused northern Cape Bretoners of being criminals. Crystal MacKinnon is a widow from Bay St. Lawrence, with two small children. She has been working hard for 20 years on her uncle's boat. They are cutting her EI and many others', because they work for a relative. It is right here in these letters.

The minister accuses me of scoring political points. It is my job to fight for the people I represent and I will continue to fight against these attacks on the good people of northern Cape Breton.

Minister, what Atlantic fishing community is next on your hit list?

[Business of Supply, October 16th, 2012]

Mr. Speaker, think about what will come through the new omnibus bill and how much went through the last one. Think about how much legislation has gone through the House in the last 100 and some years and the work that has been done. All of a sudden, with one stroke of the pen, the Conservatives threw it all away with what happened in the last omnibus bill. We have seen what happened with the seniors and the seasonal workers.

When we go through omnibus bills like this, the impact it has on individuals across the country is immense. Would he comment on how wrong it is to put a bill like this through that would have such an impact on all the constituents we all represent without it really having seen the light of day?

[Business of Supply, October 1st, 2012]

Mr. Speaker, I just cannot understand what the member is talking about when he says that people want to work. Of course, people want to work. If someone is working on a potato farm one day a week for five months of the year packing potatoes, that is the only work that person has in that rural community.

The member says that he is a promoter of natural resources. However, people in these communities only have one day of work a week. I do not know how he thinks that these people will find jobs for the other four days because those jobs are not in these rural areas. For a part-time snowplow operator, if there is only one snowstorm a week, what are they going to do the other four days?

The work is not there. If the work was there these people would be working.

[Helping Families in Need Act, September 27th, 2012]

Mr. Speaker, this is a good bill in a way but it is only a baby step.

The minister said that the Conservative government was listening to groups and to people. However, I previously introduced a bill in the House that dealt with individuals with cancer and changing the weeks for EI from 15 weeks to 50 weeks. Many times it takes that long for an individual on chemotherapy to be cured.

If the government had been listening to these groups, whether it is the Canadian Cancer Society, Heart and Stroke Foundation or the Diabetes Association, it would know that these people need more than 15 weeks. We need to give them 50 weeks. Time and time again it has been shown in other countries that if we help people through that bridge, they become more productive citizens and do not fall through the cracks.

I would like the minister to comment on my bill. If she is listening to these groups of people, is she hearing what I am hearing?

[Petitions, September 26th, 2012]

Mr. Speaker, I would like to present a petition which supports Motion No. 312. The petition contains about 150 signatures from the people of Sydney—Victoria and visitors to my area.

The petitioners call upon the House of Commons to affirm that every human being is recognized by Canadian law as a human being by amending section 223 of our Criminal Code.

[Business of Supply, September 25th, 2012]

Mr. Speaker, we talk about EI, but the EI system is more than just employment insurance. The member mentioned that it might help people with MS or other illnesses, or people on maternity leave. Any country in the OECD that has any kind of good track record helps people when they go through troubled times.

The Conservatives probably want to get rid of EI altogether. They can change its name and call it “helping people get through”. They can call it what they want, but as a country we have a responsibility to these people. If we are not going to help them when they have MS, cancer or are on maternity leave, then what are we here for? Are we here to let the rich survive and give them more? Even the United States is starting to rethink the way it is doing things and we are going the opposite way here.

My previous bill in the House, which people called the cancer bill, was not just about cancer. It was about people who were facing major illnesses. Whether it is in the EI system or not, we have to help people who are down and out, or going through troubled times, whether on maternity leave or they have cancer or MS.

The member is right that we need to have a system in place. If the Conservatives want to change the system, then change it. However, do not pick on the poor people or people who cannot help the conditions they are in. We should help them out.