Michael Savage

[Prime Minister of Canada, December 2nd, 2008]

Mr. Speaker, the Conservative response to the economic crisis is a perfect example of the type of leadership of the Prime Minister. His is a “My way or the highway” approach to leading his government and his party. The Prime Minister will not tolerate dissent.

We just need to ask the member for Cumberland—Colchester—Musquodoboit Valley, a lifelong and loyal Progressive Conservative, who was kicked out of that party when he dared to tell the Prime Minister to live up to his word. Conservatives know and they will state that the Prime Minister has no one to blame but himself.

It is the present Prime Minister who chose to attack women and public servants instead of dealing with the economic crisis and who refuses to act like other responsible world leaders who are putting their people first.

Not too long ago, the Conservatives asked Canadians to stand up for Canada but the Prime Minister has failed to do that.

Canadians want a government that will stand up for them, particularly in difficult times, and put Canadians first. It is not that government and it is not that Prime Minister.

[The Economy, December 1st, 2008]

Mr. Speaker, in May 2005, the Prime Minister, then opposition leader, said, “The whole principle of our democracy is the government is supposed to be able to face the House of Commons any day on a vote”.

I guess that does not count today. The Prime Minister had the choice of acting like a minority Prime Minister and working in a non-partisan way to support our forestry sector. Instead, he launched an ideological attack on pay equity and the women of Canada.

The Prime Minister's character has now been fully revealed. Why in the world would Canadians put any trust in him now?

[The Economy, December 1st, 2008]

Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister had a choice with his economic update. He could have put Canadians first. He could have brought in real stimulus for our economy and concrete support for Canada's auto sector. Instead his partisan streak won, and he decided to launch an unprecedented attack on the fundamental rights of our public service.

After such a display of incompetence and bad judgment at a time of economic crisis, why would Canadians trust the Prime Minister now?

[Employment Insurance, November 27th, 2008]

Mr. Speaker, the Conservatives created an EI Crown corporation this year, saying that the economy was just fine and it only needed $2 billion in the fund. We told them that was not enough. A whole host of experts told them the same thing at the committee when the Liberal-led opposition forced hearings on EI.

Given that the Conservatives are doing absolutely nothing to protect Canadian jobs, why would anybody believe they will do anything to protect Canadian workers when they lose their jobs?

[Employment Insurance, November 27th, 2008]

Mr. Speaker, our indications point to huge job losses resulting from the emerging Conservative recession. The Conservatives are ignoring this reality, just like they have ignored everything else. While the world acts, they sit.

Employment insurance is an absolutely essential program for Canadians, and the Conservatives have done nothing to ensure it will be there for workers as job losses mount.

Given the Conservative government's inability to anticipate or deal with the crisis, what assurance can the minister give that EI will be available to those who need it, when they need it? When will somebody over there start standing up for Canadian workers?

[Resumption of Debate on Address in Reply, November 27th, 2008]

Madam Speaker, it is a delight to see you in the chair. I know you will do a wonderful job for the House.

My colleague and I have not had a chance to chat yet, but I am the critic for human resources for the Liberal Party and I know he is the Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Human Resources and Skills Development. I am sure we will get to know each other on committee.

I hope the first order of business that our committee will undertake will be a continuation of a study that we left off with when the last Parliament ended, which is a study of poverty in Canada. The government, as I am sure most people know, has an appalling record when it comes to dealing with poverty in Canada.

He talks about the universal child care benefit. Every serious poverty organization and advocacy group in Canada have said to turn that into a child tax benefit. The Association of Food Banks last week indicated that they had never had so many working people visiting food banks.

Will the government get serious? Will we have a poverty reduction strategy such as England, Ireland, the Scandinavian countries, Australia and like Newfoundland and Labrador, Ontario and even Nova Scotia? When is the government going to get serious about reducing poverty in our country?

[Resumption of Debate on Address in Reply, November 25th, 2008]

Mr. Speaker, I want to congratulate my colleague. We sat on the human resources committee and did some very important work there, including a study on poverty which we commenced in the spring. I know how committed he is to this issue.

A lot of places in the world have become serious about tackling poverty, not only in Canada. Even a province like Newfoundland and Labrador has produced testimonies of the significant work it has done. Recognizing poverty is a problem, putting down benchmarks and producing a plan that says we are going to do something about children and seniors living in poverty and the crushing problems of persons with disabilities who have so little assistance today is important.

I know the member has had the opportunity to travel to Ireland, whereas our parliamentary trip was unfortunately cancelled. I hope we get the chance to do that. If I am back on HR, I hope we have a chance to have a real look at some places that have already reduced poverty or have made a start on a good plan to reduce poverty.

Could the member talk about a couple of things that other countries have done and which he thinks Canada could easily adopt right now to help the crushing burden of poverty in our country?

[Poverty, November 24th, 2008]

Mr. Speaker, 16,000 children in my home province of Nova Scotia alone are living in poverty. The Conservatives are ignoring the problem of child and family poverty, just like they ignored the whole financial crisis. It is bad management and the most vulnerable Canadians are the victims.

Why do the Conservatives not have a poverty reduction strategy to ensure that Canadian families in need are not left behind by this ideologically-driven and neo-conservative government that Tom Flanagan is so proud of?

[Poverty, November 24th, 2008]

Mr. Speaker, in the report card on poverty released last Friday, Campaign 2000 said one in nine children in Canada is growing up in poverty. That is 760,000 children. As Canada slides into recession those figures are only going to increase. This report means the Conservatives cannot say they did not see it coming.

However, there is no plan. There is no poverty reduction strategy to ensure that more Canadian families in need do not fall further behind. Why not?

[National Child Day, November 20th, 2008]

Mr. Speaker, today is National Child Day, a day when Canadians acknowledge the 19th anniversary of the signing of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, which states:

In all actions concerning children, whether undertaken by public or private social welfare institutions, courts of law, administrative authorities or legislative bodies, the best interests of the child shall be a primary consideration.

One of those key interests for our children is quality accessible child care, such as the plan introduced by the previous Liberal government and shelved by the Conservative government, much to the disappointment of hundreds of thousands of Canadian families.

Today, we acknowledge the thousands of child care workers, people who work so hard to help children and their families, often for little compensation and little recognition.

Members of the Liberal caucus are wearing blue ribbons today, the symbol of child care in Canada. For the second year a not-for-profit child care organization in my riding, the Dartmouth Preschool, led by Pat Hogan, has prepared these ribbons in honour of National Child Day. We wish to thank her and all child care workers for their commitment to children in our country and throughout the world.