Olivia Chow

[Business of Supply, June 8th, 2006]

Mr. Speaker, there is a lot of empty rhetoric in the House this morning.

Tuition fees have almost tripled in the last 12 years and students now graduate with an average debt of at least $20,000. The former Liberal government had nothing in its budget. In fact, the only section that it had was to give student loan forgiveness to students who had died. That is a really amazing policy. The former Prime Minister, on national TV in the CBC debate in 2004, said that he would restore the billions cut in the 2004 budget. Of course, that did not happen.

The EI fund has been taken away. It has been ripped off of workers instead of going to apprenticeship programs and instead of being given back to the workers who need employment insurance. The new immigrant settlement fund has been cut. There are computer scientists and doctors driving taxis. They cannot find jobs they want.

I want to ask the hon. member the following question. Which part of the policy and practices of the former Liberal government does the hon. member not support? Certainly in the last 12 years we saw a lot of talk but not a lot of action in any of these areas that are in front of us today.

[Petitions, June 8th, 2006]

Mr. Speaker, I have a second petition consisting of seven pages concerning undocumented workers. Given that Canada has significant labour shortages, we need these workers. They are being exploited.

The petition calls on the government to stop deportations while a new immigration policy is being put in place and to establish an in Canada program allowing these workers to apply for landed immigrant status if they have been here a significant amount of time.

[Petitions, June 8th, 2006]

Mr. Speaker, it is my honour to present five pages of petitions regarding the Toronto Island airport, given that it is heavily subsidized by taxpayers and has been losing money for at least 15 years.

Operating the airport is contrary to the vision of a clean, green and vibrant waterfront. These petitions call on the government to abolish the federal port authority, close the airport, and return the waterfront to the people of Toronto.

[Chinese Canadians, June 7th, 2006]

Mr. Speaker, the minister must know that most of the original head tax payers have died waiting for justice. She must also know that many families faced the great pain of separation. In fact, some of the wives committed suicide because of loneliness and despair. Many children never got to know their fathers.

Will widows be treated the same as head tax payers? Will surviving family members see their fair compensation so healing can finally take place?

[Chinese Canadians, June 7th, 2006]

Mr. Speaker, Chinese Canadian workers helped build the railroad that united Canada. Their only reward was a racist head tax and the Chinese Exclusion Act. For decades families were separated. There was a lot of hardship and suffering.

In 1984 former MPs Margaret Mitchell and Dan Heap, New Democrats by the way, asked Parliament for an apology and redress.

Many head tax payers are old or have died since then. How much longer will surviving families have to wait for justice and reconciliation?

[Criminal Code, May 31st, 2006]

Mr. Speaker, I have a question regarding the cost. The hon. member probably would know that the average cost of keeping a person in jail is anywhere between $52,000 to $100,000 per year depending if there are programs added on. The minimum is about $51,454 per year.

If this bill becomes law, a very minimal conservative estimate of the operating costs would be approximately $250 million. As a former mayor the hon. member could probably tell us if we have that kind of funding to provide support for young people to provide preventive work so that we can keep people out of jail and so that we can provide community support. If we have the funding, what are some of the programs we can support to reduce crime?

[Petitions, May 31st, 2006]

Mr. Speaker, the second and third sets contain 56 pages of petitions, with hundreds of names of citizens across Canada.

Whether it is Chatham, Ridgetown, London, Belle River, Windsor, Duncan, B.C., Cobble Hill, Ladysmith, Tecumseh, Belleville, Toronto, et cetera, these parents ask the House of Commons to create affordable, high quality child care spaces, adopt a Canada child care act and ensure the Canada universal child tax benefit would not be taxable and have it delivered under the child tax benefit.

[Petitions, May 31st, 2006]

Mr. Speaker, I am honoured to present three sets of petitions.

The first set of petitions has five pages and is from many citizens from Toronto. Recently there have been several cyclist deaths involving big trucks. A coroner's report in 1998 into the death of a Toronto cyclist noted that 37% of the conditions resulting in cyclist deaths involved big trucks and that the U.K. and Europe all reduced injuries to cyclists and pedestrians by installing side guards in trucks.

The petitioners ask for an amendment to the Motor Vehicle Safety Act so there would be side guards installed on big trucks in Canada.

[Business of Supply, May 30th, 2006]

Mr. Speaker, public broadcasting in this country has been under assault after years of neglect by the Liberals and now by the Conservatives, and it is getting worse. The CBC has just announced plans to shut down the television design department, which is located in my riding of Trinity--Spadina. This will be a big loss for the film and theatre community in Toronto and it will take CBC out of the production business.

What does the hon. member think about the jobs that will be lost, this move by the CBC, and this risk to cultural expression in Canada?

[Petitions, May 17th, 2006]

Mr. Speaker, I have in front of me hundreds of signatures of citizens from Windsor, LaSalle, Tecumseh, London, Duncan, Wallaceburg, Kingsville and Leamington pleading with the House of Commons to have a high quality and accessible universal child care program. They urge the House to enshrine the child care act in legislation and that it be a cornerstone of Canada, as is the Canada Health Act.