Olivia Chow

[Natural Resources, October 1st, 2009]

Mr. Speaker, a fundraiser for the natural resources minister was organized from the president's office of the Toronto Port Authority, and the minister's former executive assistant sent out invitations and collected the names, all on the taxpayer's dime.

Using a public agency for a political fundraiser is an abuse of the public trust. Has Janet MacDonald performed other political activities in the past and does the minister know of this abuse, or is this a standard Conservative fundraising practice?

[Poverty, September 17th, 2009]

Mr. Speaker, the report focuses on how poorly the children are doing in Canada. Too many of them go to bed hungry and have no access to child care.

Provinces want to end child poverty but they do not have the money.

Here is where the money can come from: the billions spent by the Conservatives, supported by the Liberals, in promoting the HST tax grab.

Instead of blowing $6 billion on the HST, will the minister invest in the children of Canada and provide them with hope, prosperity and child care?

[Questions Passed as Orders for Returns, September 14th, 2009]

With regard to the $4 billion Infrastructure Stimulus Fund, the $1 billion Green Infrastructure Fund, and the Building Canada Fund, respectively, since the 2009 fiscal year: (a) what percentage of applications are for public transit; (b) what is the total dollar amount that these public transit applications represent; (c) how many of these public transit projects have been approved and rejected; (d) what is the approval and rejection rate percentages for public transit project applications versus the average; (e) what dollar amounts have been approved and rejected in each of these three funds for public transit projects; (f) how many projects and how much funding have been spent through the $2 billion Gas Tax Fund, and the $1.3 billion Public Transit Capital Trust; and (g) what percentage of the $20 billion in currently unmet requirements for Canadian transit systems (according to the Canadian Urban Transit Association) do these funds address?

[Questions Passed as Orders for Returns, September 14th, 2009]

With regard to temporary resident visa applications, broken down by each visa office what is: (a) the number of cases handled in each visa category (such as visitors, students etc); (b) the percentage of applications turned down in each visa category; (c) the background explanation on the rationale for refusal in each visa category; (d) the number of re-applications and the associated refusal and acceptance rates; (e) the number of applications approved by the Minister's discretionary power on humanitarian ground; (f) the number of cases subsequently being reviewed by a federal appeals court, and its associated refusal and approval rate; (g) the number of refused and approved male and female applicants; (h) the number of refused and approved applicants by the following age groups 18-24, 25-34, 35-54, 55+; (i) the number of officers who process temporary resident visa applications; (j) the average wait time to obtain a decision from the date of application; and (k) the level of security clearance for all staff handling applications?

[Questions on the Order Paper, September 14th, 2009]

With respect to the Toronto Port Authority (TPA), will the government: (a) conduct an internal and external audit, as requested in a letter to the Minister of Transport outlined by four directors of the TPA, on the management of the Port Authority by the former Chief Executive Officer (CEO) during 2008; (b) disclose the legal advice to the Board of Directors of the TPA, as obtained by the former CEO in 2008; (c) order the minutes of TPA meetings from 2008 be released from abeyance; (d) provide a justification of the $80,000 in hospital and travel expenses in 2007 and part of 2008, incurred by the CEO, while operating a deficit; (e) provide a justification for changing the constitution of the TPA by expanding two extra members onto the Board; and (f) ensure no board member has a conflict of interest, and that all board members act in an ethical manner?

[Employment Insurance Act, September 14th, 2009]

Mr. Speaker, throughout the summer I came across a lot of people who said they were in a desperate situation. They have been laid off. Some of them have worked for many years in a job, they are in their fifties and they cannot find another job.

On top of that, they have to use up all their severance pay before they can get employment insurance. As the House knows, the New Democrats have said that should not be the case and that they should be able to get employment insurance immediately. I know the Bloc supported this. Unfortunately, many Liberal members did not.

In the case of extending employment insurance five to twenty weeks, I know the private member's bill supports that. Is that an area that the Bloc understands must happen? It is an area that many unemployed people desperately want, because they do not want to go on welfare and become destitute.

[Public Transit, June 18th, 2009]

Mr. Speaker, the two-headed monster is actually his Leader of the Opposition and the Prime Minister.

The last time Toronto got real funding for public transit, it was the leader of the New Democratic Party who got funding for the subways, streetcars and buses that are being built right now. Would the minister enlighten Canadians if, during the last two days of negotiations, his Leader of the Opposition even bothered to raise the issue of public funding of these streetcars and public transit?

[Public Transit, June 18th, 2009]

Mr. Speaker, funding Toronto's streetcars generates 20,000 jobs in Ontario, Manitoba and Quebec, on this continent. It generates millions of tax dollars for the government. Tomorrow, the Ontario premier and the mayor of Toronto are announcing support for this project, which is very important to this country.

Why is the Minister of Transport, Infrastructure and Communities not joining his premier in this important announcement? Does he want to drop the “f“ bomb on Toronto again?

[Questions on the Order Paper, June 18th, 2009]

What is the number of live-in caregivers who have not been able to successfully become landed immigrants in Canada due to: (a) mistreatment and exploitation by their employers; (b) cases of reported involvement of unscrupulous consultants, lawyers and recruiters; (c) the loss of employment due to reported cruel, unfair, and unjust employment demands and conditions set by the employer; and (d) an inability to obtain alternate employment opportunities within the time frame stipulated by the Immigration and Refugees Protection Act?

[Grandparents Day Act, June 18th, 2009]

moved for leave to introduce Bill C-427, An Act respecting Grandparents Day.

Mr. Speaker, it is an absolute joy and wonder to be a grandparent. It gives me great pleasure to move, seconded by the member for Sudbury, the introduction of a bill that would make the second Sunday of September each year grandparents day.

As working parents are spending five more weeks working every year, grandparents are playing an increasingly nurturing role in family life and are a valuable link between generations.

This House passed a unanimous motion a few years ago but it has never adopted a bill or an act respecting grandparents day. We know that September is a busy period. Children go back to school and parents go back to work. So, it is a good time to pause and celebrate this intergenerational linkage, nurturing and learning.

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