Olivia Chow

[Infrastructure, February 13th, 2012]

Mr. Speaker, the City of Oshawa and the mayor want control of their own port lands. They have never been consulted about this port authority. The Conservatives said no to their control and created a federal port authority. Who got the plum job of setting up this port authority? The Minister of Finance's riding association president.

Did the Conservatives create another patronage board just to reward the minister's friend, or did they do it so they could impose the refinery against the wishes of the people of Oshawa, or are they doing both?

[Infrastructure, February 13th, 2012]

Mr. Speaker, in his report to Transport Canada, David Crombie recommended that all Oshawa port lands be handed to the city council. The city wants a clean and green development, with bike trails and cultural facilities, not an ethanol plant.

Instead of clean and green and civic pride, the Conservatives have taken over these lands. Why is the Conservative government trying to impose an ethanol plant against the wishes of the good people of Oshawa?

[Employment Insurance Act, February 13th, 2012]

Exactly. My colleague is absolutely right. This has legalized the theft of the $54 billion of Canadians' hard-earned money in the EI fund, which they had contributed to every two weeks. As a result, people like Marie-Hélène Dubé are not allowed to get their EI money.

This is not just about her. On average, right now, as of today, we note that there are 328,770 claims for special benefits under the EI program. A third of them are for a serious illness requiring more than 15 weeks of treatment.

We are talking about over 100,000 Canadians who have their employment insurance benefits cut off just at a time they need these the most, at the time they are under stress and need the government to support them so they can get some of their money back. They are told, “No. Sorry, your benefits are gone”. As a result, they are disqualified or they run out of benefits and end up having to use their savings or to go into debt.

This is completely irresponsible behaviour because household debt in Canada has been going up tremendously. We know why: this is one of the reasons. We have all these Canadians who fall sick and really need help but have to go into debt, take out a line of credit or borrow money, or find other ways to make ends meet. Some them whom I know start paying rent with their credit cards and then pay 18% to 20% interest on that debt. They become more and more indebted.

We know that a third of Canadians are worried sick that they are one or two paycheques away from getting into trouble. They are getting into trouble precisely because the Conservative government, and the Liberal government before it, is out of touch with the reality of ordinary Canadians who desperately need help when they are sick.

Let us collectively approve this private member's bill and get it to committee so that it can become law and people who are sick and have cancer, like Marie-Hélène Dubé, will finally get the money they deserve.

[Employment Insurance Act, February 13th, 2012]

Mr. Speaker, here in Canada, according to the Canadian Cancer Society, one out of two Canadians will be or is at risk of developing cancer.

If one looks at the House of Commons, out of the over 300 members of parliament, half are at risk of developing cancer. All across this country there are thousands and thousands of cancer patients who have just been diagnosed. On average, they have to wait at least seven weeks, or almost two months, before treatment starts.

The treatment, on average, takes at least nine months. There are the CT scans for them to take and chemotherapy or an operation or radiation treatment. Yet, when they are going through this kind of surgery or treatment, they are told by the government, “Sorry, you cannot receive any employment insurance beyond 15 weeks.” That is less than four months.

Imagine, people are already going through a lot of stress, their bodies are stressed, their mental health is stressed and their families are under stress. Then on top of that they are told that the employment insurance they have contributed to every two weeks all of their lives to cover them when they fall sick will end not quite four months after they claim it. They are told they cannot get any more employment insurance.

Yet most of these Canadians, on average, are still going through treatment. According to the Cancer Society it takes at least nine months to receive treatment. This means that they are either going to have to remortgage their homes, go into debt or use up their savings in order to continue their cancer treatment.

This is exactly what happened to Marie-Hélène Dubé. She is a 40-year-old woman who has had cancer over and over again. She has collected thousands and thousands of signatures, in fact half a million. One would think this government would listen, but the Conservative government is out of touch with the reality of people in Canada. It is not listening. It is ignoring the desires of half a million Canadians who have signed a petition to say that we have to extend employment insurance benefits to at least 50 weeks.

The New Democrats have said so for many years. It was in our election platform of 2011. The member of Parliament for New Westminster—Coquitlam, sitting right behind me, our fisheries critic, introduced a private member's bill that would do exactly what the bill before us would do. Our past leader, Jack Layton, said many times that EI had to be extended to least 50 weeks, or close to a year, for people who have a serious illness.

Canadians should not have to go into debt or lose, on average, $12,000 per household, which is how much money they end up using because of their illness. They should not have to wait for two months. Surely there should be a benefit period that would last beyond 15 weeks.

In England it is 52 weeks; in France it is 12 to 36 months, depending upon the kind of illness; and in Germany it is 78 weeks. We are incredibly behind in the way we treat people suffering with a serious illness.

It is not just people who have cancer: there are a lot of illnesses that take a long time to recover from. For example, for people who have had a stroke or who have liver disease or some kind of heart problems, it takes them more than two or four months to recover from those serious illnesses.

It is not as if these Canadians are asking taxpayers for their money; this money belongs to them. If we look at the demographics, most of the people suffering from a longer lasting illness, by and large, are older Canadians. They have contributed to this EI fund for many years, for most of their lives.

One would think this is just natural. However, after all these years, why do we have a system like this?

When the Liberals were in government, they gutted the EI program. They changed the waiting period, they changed the criteria, they changed the benefit period and they took $54 billion out of the EI program, money that in fact belongs to Canadians who have contributed to the employment insurance fund.

What happened then? Because the Liberals gutted the program and used the surplus for their own purposes, the Conservatives said, “That's fine. We'll make it into a law”. They then established a separate body for the EI funds, and limited the separate EI fund to $2 billion.

[Petitions, February 8th, 2012]

Mr. Speaker, it is my honour to present a petition signed by many people in the city of Toronto.

If Canada had a national transit plan, the good citizens of Toronto would not have seen the absurd situation where a hole was dug in Eglinton for a subway, only to be filled in immediately after when the government cancelled the subway program. It is now 16 years later and the City of Toronto is debating whether it will dig a hole in Eglinton again.

Canada is the only OECD country that does not have a national public transit strategy. Over the next five years there will be an $18 billion gap in transit infrastructure needs. These petitioners are calling upon the Government of Canada to enact a national public transit strategy.

[Airline Industry, February 8th, 2012]

Mr. Speaker, we did not support years of consultation without any action.

Consumers in Toronto and across the country have been pushing for all-in-one pricing for years. What does the government do? It does nothing other than make a Christmas announcement that was actually a media stunt.

After years of foot-dragging and inaction the government did not get the job done. What is it waiting for?

[Airline Industry, February 8th, 2012]

Mr. Speaker, it has been almost five years since Parliament passed a truth in advertising law but the government is still failing Canadians, allowing airlines to hide their fees. Last week, the Conservatives voted against an NDP motion demanding immediate protection for our travellers. Today, making a mockery of the government's refusal to act, two Canadian airlines voluntarily moved to all-in-one pricing. When will the government act?

[Infrastructure, February 6th, 2012]

Mr. Speaker, Toronto cannot even find public money to house the pandas, never mind trying to find housing for the homeless.

After the Minister of Foreign Affairs pulled a Super Bowl size MIA in the city of Toronto, his government refused to fund street car purchases. Commuters have been left idling in traffic jams. Public transit is at a standstill. Chunks of the Gardiner Expressway are falling.

When it comes to Toronto, the government just does not get the job done. Where is the public transit strategy?

[James Thomas Lemon, February 6th, 2012]

Mr. Speaker, Jim Lemon loved Toronto and was known for his intellect and his deep knowledge of Toronto's urban history.

Professor Lemon was a highly respected scholar at the University of Toronto and a Guggenheim fellow. His bestselling book, Toronto Since 1918: An Illustrated History, brings the city to life. Jim chaired the Annex Residents Association and led the fight against the Spadina Expressway.

In addition to numerous articles, Jim Lemon wrote the award-winning book, The Best Poor Man's Country and Liberal Dreams and Nature's Limits: Great Cities of North America Since 1600.

As a life-long New Democrat, Jim was a Toronto school trustee and a candidate for the NDP. Throughout his life, he strove to improve the livability and the health of his neighbourhood, his city and his country.

Professor Emeritus James Thomas Lemon passed away on January 31. We will miss his passion, his intellect and his commitment to social justice. I extend our sincere condolences to his wife of 53 years, Carolyn Miller Lemon, and his children Margaret, Janet and Catherine.

[Infrastructure, January 31st, 2012]

Mr. Speaker, the Conservatives' failure on affordable housing is leaving people out in the cold and shortchanging cities. Across Canada bridges are crumbling, public transit is stalling and water systems are aging. The NDP's practical solution is up for a vote tomorrow.

Taking one cent from the existing gas tax would help cities, stimulate the economy and create jobs. Surely the government will help us move forward with this plan, give cities the support they need and put Canadians back to work.