Nicole Demers

[Status of Women, May 6th, 2010]

Mr. Speaker, this terrible decision to cut funding for women's groups was made arbitrarily and based on ideology. The government is pursuing its path and cutting funding for anyone who does not think like it does.

Will the government admit that the lack of warning from bureaucrats to justify these cuts demonstrates that the party's religious base, and that alone, is what has guided its decisions?

[Status of Women, May 6th, 2010]

Mr. Speaker, according to the director of MATCH International, bureaucrats were telling women's groups right up until the last minute that they would get their funding. Now the government claims that the funding was cut because of administrative deficiencies. In fact, this decision, which was made by the minister's office, smacks of ideological revenge, given that the bureaucrats were satisfied with the work of the organizations.

Is the government's decision not more readily explained by its desire to advance its religious and ideological agenda at the expense of women?

[Maternal and Child Health, May 5th, 2010]

Mr. Speaker, while the Prime Minister was cutting funding to a dozen women's groups that oppose his views on abortion, the only Quebec member of cabinet, the Minister for La Francophonie, who is supposedly pro-choice, was covering the government's actions by saying that she was unaware of these hypocritical and ideological cuts.

To paraphrase a Conservative senator, are we to believe that, henceforth, the government's policy on women is to “shut the females up”?

[Maternal and Child Health, May 5th, 2010]

Mr. Speaker, the executive director of MATCH, Kim Bulger, is saying that the cuts to women's groups are ideologically motivated and retaliatory because it is the Minister of International Cooperation who has blocked the funding. Rather than defending the legitimate work done by these organizations, the minister carried out the dirty work for the Prime Minister, who cannot stand criticism.

Since we obviously cannot count on the Minister of International Cooperation, will the Minister for Status of Women perhaps tell us what she has done to avoid needlessly penalizing these women's groups?

[Maternal and Child Health, May 4th, 2010]

Mr. Speaker, a Conservative senator has implied that the Conservative government could do away with women's right to abortion in Canada. This scenario is especially plausible because the Conservative government is refusing to fund such measures abroad. The best way the government can guarantee that women here will not lose the right to abortion is to restore funding for NGOs that give women in developing countries freedom of choice.

Will the government act?

[Maternal and Child Health, May 4th, 2010]

Mr. Speaker, the government's strategy on abortion is the same as its strategy on the gun registry. It is hypocritically using backbenchers to promote its Conservative ideology. We are not fools. Dismantling the gun registry and challenging the right to abortion are part of Conservative Party policy. The proof is that the Conservative members vote en masse in favour of these bills.

Why is the government stubbornly trying to impose its Conservative ideology on Quebec?

[International Co-operation, April 29th, 2010]

Mr. Speaker, the Conservatives' decision to cut off funding for organizations that give women in developing countries access to abortion is indicative of what they dare not do here in Canada. Because they are a minority government, they are using private members' bills to reopen the abortion debate.

Why will the government not just say that, when it comes to abortion, its backward Conservative ideology supersedes women's rights?

[Petitions, April 26th, 2010]

Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to present a petition signed by several hundred people from about 40 different organizations calling on the Government of Canada to develop an administrative agreement with the Government of Quebec giving all pregnant women in Quebec the right to access the preventive withdrawal program offered by Quebec's occupational health and safety commission.

[Status of Women, April 26th, 2010]

Mr. Speaker, April 25 was the 70th anniversary of women's suffrage in Quebec. This event should prompt us to reflect on true gender equality.

We have indeed come a long way, but we still have work to do to ensure gender equality in society and politics. Currently, women occupy only 29% of the seats in the National Assembly, 14% of elected positions at the municipal level and 20% of the seats in the House. The mission spearheaded by women like Marie Gérin-Lajoie, Thérèse Casgrain and Claire Kirkland is still in progress.

I urge all women and men to reject the stereotype that women are not interested in politics. We must accept that they have a place here and that they do things differently. To carry out the mission started by these pioneering female politicians, we should nominate women for seats that they have a good chance of winning.

As Élaine Hémond of Groupe Femmes, Politique et Démocratie said, we have to look beyond reassuring projections—

[Balanced Refugee Reform Act, April 26th, 2010]

Madam Speaker, once again, I thank my colleague.

We know that there is a corrupt system of agents who, on the pretext of helping people applying for refugee status, fleece them of every last penny of their savings.

It would be best that some kind of board be established to ensure that applicants are given good reasons, that they are asked the right questions and that they receive the proper support. Based on what is currently happening, as we have seen in televised documentaries, a large majority of the individuals do not meet the conditions and, furthermore, take advantage of, use and usurp a great deal of the rights and money of the people they are supposed to represent.