Olivia Chow

[National Transit Strategy, June 21st, 2012]

Mr. Speaker, mayors and councillors want a national transit strategy, air travellers want safe, affordable services, and farmers want reliable rail delivery.

Did the Minister of Transport get the job done? No, he did not. There is still no national strategy for transit, air or rail. He has failed to heed the advice of the Transportation Safety Board on air safety. There are still no voice recorders and automatic braking systems to reduce train accidents. He has failed to protect pedestrians and cyclists by making side guards mandatory on trucks. He also has failed to protect rail customers.

What did the Minister of Transport get done? He is following a grand Conservative tradition of appointing insider friends. From Ted Flemming in Saint John to failed candidates in Quebec City and Prince Rupert, to fundraisers in Oshawa and Toronto port authorities, the minister excels in patronage appointments.

That is not Canadian leadership that will move Canada forward.

[Petitions, June 20th, 2012]

Mr. Speaker, it is my pleasure to present a petition from residents of Toronto who are calling on the Government of Canada to introduce a regulation to mandate the installation of side guards on heavy trucks, as recommended by the Ontario chief coroner's report on cyclist death, as side guards reduce cyclist death by 60% according to a British study.

[Rail Customer Protection Act, June 20th, 2012]

moved for leave to introduce Bill C-441, An Act to amend the Canada Transportation Act (shippers' protection).

Mr. Speaker, the rail customer protection act would give every rail customer the right to have service agreements with rail companies, including performance standards, consequence for non-performance including penalties, proper notification for service changes and a requirement to use the dispute resolution process in the event of a disagreement.

Rail transport is the backbone of the Canadian economy. More than 70% of all service goods in Canada are shipped by rail, but the service is unreliable, resulting in hundreds of millions of dollars in economic damages every year. With this rail customer protection act, rail customers would finally get reliable and predictable rail freight services that deliver products on time.

(Motions deemed adopted, bill read the first time and printed)

[Retirement Congratulations, June 20th, 2012]

Mr. Speaker, it is inspiring to observe grace and dignity in politics, because they are rare commodities.

Anne McGrath, the chief of staff to the late Jack Layton and to subsequent leaders of the official opposition, possesses such rare qualities.

Anne McGrath is tough, insightful and effective. Her determination and strong principles of social justice gave her the authority to be trusted by all sides, her insights and advice always sought and always respected.

Most of all, if we look around at the young people working on Parliament Hill, so many have learned their trade from her.

Anne McGrath is an excellent role model for all young women on the Hill, regardless of their political stripes.

Her patience, grace and dignity will be greatly missed.

This is Anne McGrath's last day on the Hill. We wish her well in all her future endeavours. We thank Anne on behalf of all New Democrats and the House.

[Jobs, Growth and Long-term Prosperity Act, June 14th, 2012]

The member for Yellowhead came in after the vote. I am not sure he voted.

[Petitions, June 13th, 2012]

Mr. Speaker, my second petition is from cyclists and pedestrians who are concerned about very large trucks in big cities. The petitioners are concerned that Canada does not have a requirement for side guards on large trucks and trailers. The coroner, in 1998, looking into the death of a Toronto cyclist, found that large vehicles were involved in 37% of collisions resulting in cyclist fatalities.

Therefore, the petitions recommend that Transport Canada look into the feasibility of mandating large trucks to have side guards—

[Petitions, June 13th, 2012]

Mr. Speaker, I have two petitions.

The first petition is from petitioners calling on the federal government to enact a national public transit strategy. Their reason behind this is because Canada is the only OECD country that does not have a national public transit strategy. It is estimated that over the next five years, there will be an $18 billion gap in transit infrastructure needs.

The petitioners are calling for a transit strategy that would provide a permanent investment plan to support public transit that is fast, reliable, accessible and affordable. They are calling for different levels of government to work together to provide sustainable, predictable, long-term and adequate funding for public transit. They also call for accountability measures to ensure that all governments work together to increase access to public transit.

[VIA Rail, June 13th, 2012]

Mr. Speaker, a Conservative leak has revealed that drastic cuts to VIA Rail will be coming later this month. Conservatives are waiting until Parliament's summer break before letting Canadians know the truth. Travel from Toronto to Vancouver will be cut to only two trains a week. There will be cuts to services in southern Ontario and cuts to service from Halifax to Montreal.

Will the Conservative government make these cuts public before we vote on their Trojan Horse job-killing budget bill?

[Jobs, Growth and Long-term Prosperity Act, June 12th, 2012]

Mr. Speaker, we are talking about the lives of more than 100,000 workers. This budget actually plans for unemployment to rise. It does nothing to train Canadians. It does little to create jobs. It is a job-cutting budget. It is a job-reduction budget. It is a job-loss budget. Who said more than 100,000 workers? Again, it was the Parliamentary Budget Officer on April 26.

If the Minister of Finance chooses not to listen, it is the same kind of behaviour as saying, “The F-35 is only $15 billion. Actually, it is $25 billion.” It is that same kind of math. This budget would lose 100,000 jobs. That is the problem with this budget.

[Jobs, Growth and Long-term Prosperity Act, June 12th, 2012]

The PBO's number points to the fact that this budget will create—