Madam Speaker, before I begin I would like to take a moment in this House to recognize an event that is being celebrated back home in Halifax and also across the country. The Canadian Naval Centennial is a celebration of the rich history of the Canadian navy from 1910 to 2010.
Appropriately, my colleagues are recognizing that right now as well.
The centennial is a momentous milestone for both our navy and our nation's history. Those of us in the House recognize the need to honour the past, celebrate the achievements, and recognize the navy's obligation to Canada, all of which has been succinctly captured in their naval centennial slogan, “Commemorate, Celebrate, Commit”. I am sure all the members of the House do join me in congratulating the Canadian navy on this milestone of service.
I am pleased to speak to this bill that would introduce a change to EI rules for military servicemen and servicewomen. It would allow our military personnel to take advantage of EI parental benefits upon the birth or adoption of a baby for an extended period of time, up to 104 weeks, if that parent was deployed when the baby arrived. This is a really simple change, but it is very meaningful.
I heard the minister state earlier that this would affect about 60 families per year, at a cost of about $600,000. Despite the small numbers and the low cost, it is a significant change to the EI rules. It gives proper respect to our military personnel. It also acknowledges the really quite unusual circumstances that military families find themselves in, owing to the fact that they are serving our country.
The Department of National Defence is one of the largest employers in my riding, if not the largest employer. Canadian Forces Base Halifax is Canada's east coast naval base and the home of the Atlantic fleet. It is the largest military base in Canada in terms of the number of posted personnel. It is formed from a variety of military properties around Halifax, including the Halifax harbour in Nova Scotia.
CFB Halifax provides construction, engineering, general and specific mandated safety, environmental management, logistics, harbour support, and emergency response services to Maritime Forces Atlantic and assigned lodger units.
I have had the distinct pleasure of attending numerous military and community events on the base, and of being a part of that rich community that is at the heart, quite literally, of my riding. One thing that has become clear to me during my time, interacting with the men and women posted to CFB Halifax, is that the military is not this monolithic thing that we can point to as being distinct from the community of Halifax. It is not a body we can point to and say, “That is them, the Canadian military, over there, distinct from me, distinct from us”.
The Canadian military is us. Yes, they are different, in that our servicemen and servicewomen are in the service of our country and they do not stop being a lieutenant or a petty officer at 5 p.m. when they punch out. They do not punch out at the end of the day. They serve. Service means that they are ready 24 hours a day. Service means that they dedicate their lives to their mission and to their country.
This does make them quite different than most Canadians and from many of us, but at the same time, they are us. They are our volunteer firefighters. They are our kids' soccer coaches. They are our PTA members and our film festival volunteers. They are our community. We are our communities together.
I have had the opportunity to get to know Rear Admiral Paul Maddison, who is the commander of Maritime Forces Atlantic, and to see him at work. He has worked long and hard during his tenure in Halifax to ensure that Halifax gets this, that Halifax continues to understand how the Maritime Forces are not just a cordoned-off area on the harbourfront, or that walled-off place in Stadacona.
Admiral Maddison and his team, including Base Commander Newton, have overseen innovative initiatives such as the community mess dinner, which brings together community members to Juno Tower to experience a traditional navy mess. They have brought beer and Beethoven to the base, a really exciting initiative by the Nova Scotia symphony that performs alongside the Stadacona band. The civilian community and members of the forces sit together on the base enjoying some beer, enjoying some Beethoven, and enjoying each other's company.
I would like to take a moment to recognize the Stadacona band, which has always called Halifax its home. This year it celebrates its 70th anniversary representing the navy, the Canadian Forces, and citizens of Canada at home and around the world. Congratulations to the Stadacona band for 70 years of service.
In my time living and working in the riding of Halifax, alongside those serving for Maritime Forces Atlantic, I have come to realize that our servicemen and servicewomen are completely woven into the fabric of the community of Halifax. I have also come to realize that they are our neighbours. They are our sons, daughters, friends and parents.
This bill seeks to recognize their role as parents, their lives as our community members, and their lives outside of service. It also recognizes that life can be pretty unpredictable for military parents. If they are deployed, they could actually miss the arrival of the newest member of their family. They could miss bringing that little boy or girl home, and they could miss seeing them for the first time.
With this bill, they could at least have the advantage of spending some time at home with this new edition when they return from their deployment. This is a really wonderful thing and the NDP will be supporting this bill for this reason.
However, my colleague from Acadie—Bathurst, who has been a longtime and tireless advocate for EI reform, has raised the possibility of making this bill better and stronger. The minister did indicate that she is open to the idea of amendments and she has asked members to bring their ideas forward.
This is actually in keeping with the development of this bill from the outset, as the subject of this bill was raised by the member for Nepean—Carleton. It is in the spirit of co-operation and collaboration that my colleague from Acadie—Bathurst has done a great thing and brought forward some ideas to make this bill better and stronger. He brought forward the idea to amend clause 3 by adding after line 5 on page 2 the following:
For the purposes of subsection (3.01), a member of a police force who is a Canadian citizen in the employ of Her Majesty in right of Canada or a Canadian citizen under contract with the Government of Canada, and who has been deployed as part of a mission outside Canada is considered to be a claimant.
What does that mean? It would expand the bill to include members of our police forces who are also occasionally deployed overseas to bring their expertise to other countries and regions around the world, as well as government workers who may find themselves in that situation. I think this is a fantastic amendment. I do not think it would broaden the numbers or costs substantially.
At this time, I would also like to take a moment to suggest to the minister that she consider extending it even further to aid workers. The international community relies on Canadian experience and expertise on a range of issues, whether it is asking our Oxfam workers to go to Haiti to deal with the aftermath of the earthquake, sending the Nova Scotia Gambia Association into the Gambia to help with rapid AIDS testing, or the work of Médecins Sans Frontières at the forefront of human life disasters.
Canada is so proud of the work that we do overseas to aid and support local initiatives that combat hunger, corruption, poverty and human rights atrocities. Would it not be wonderful if this bill would open its scope to include those aid workers, workers who are really showing Canada's capabilities to the world? I leave this to the minister to consider, but I urge her to consider that this would be a considerable recognition of all our Canadians who accept the challenge of serving overseas. That service does take place in many forms.
To summarize, this is a good bill and we will be supporting it, but I really think it could be great with the simple addition of other groups. It would recognize the incredible work that Canadians are doing overseas and around the world as stewards of our global village.
