House of Commons photoWon his last election, in 2021, with 54% of the vote.
Public Safety June 5th, 2006
Mr. Speaker, I will try another question.
We have seen some unfortunate incidents over the weekend where irrational and hateful actions have been directed at Muslim Canadians and their institutions. Aside from meeting with the cross-cultural round table, what concrete measures is the government taking about promoting calm, protecting minorities and cooperating with community stakeholders?
Public Safety June 5th, 2006
Mr. Speaker, community groups, such as the Canadian Arab Federation and CAIR Canada, have been calling on the government to work collaboratively with them for the benefit of all Canadians. Specifically, they are asking the government to have a serious discussion with them to identify the causes and minimize the effects of radicalization.
In light of this weekend's event, what plan does the government have to work with Muslim community groups to assure them that it takes their offer seriously?
Business of Supply May 11th, 2006
Mr. Speaker, I have a question for the minister but first, I would like to make a comment on what I see in the environmental plan of the government.
It gives me great concern to see the government take the initiative of downloading its responsibility for the environment on to businesses and organizations instead of taking a leading role in prevention and putting together a plan. Not only is the government risking our fiscal and financial longevity, but it is also risking the future of our environment in this country.
While I do hear what the government and the hon. minister are saying, my question is, does the government have any targeted plans? Do the Conservatives actually have a plan and targeted goals that they expect to achieve within their mandate?
Asian Heritage Month May 5th, 2006
Mr. Speaker, every year since 1993 Canadians have been celebrating the month of May as Asian Heritage Month. In 2001 the Senate passed a motion that confirmed its official recognition. This acknowledges the long and rich history of Asian Canadians and their contributions to Canada and the world.
Canada prides itself on being one of the most culturally diverse countries in the world. This diversity strengthens our country socially, politically and economically in unlimited ways. Asian Heritage Month is an ideal occasion for all Canadians to celebrate the beauty and wisdom of various Asian cultures.
Celebrations will be held in cities across Canada, including my city, the city of Mississauga. I invite all Canadians to take part in the festivities that commemorate the contributions and legacy of Asian Canadians, past and present.
I also call upon my colleagues in the House to join with me in congratulating all the volunteers and organizers who are working hard to ensure a successful celebration and in sending them our gratitude and appreciation.
Business of Supply May 4th, 2006
Mr. Speaker, the reality is, some people are trying to position this as a zero sum game. This is not a zero sum game. There are parents who stay at home and there are parents who want to send their kids to child care.
I take his word that people supported his plan. I support the plan of $1,200 to a family. Families will support that. However, has he asked them if they want child care spaces in that city? Has he asked them if they are having difficulty finding child care spaces? Those are the questions he should ask those parents. Those are the questions I asked. I know what the answers were, and the member knows--
Business of Supply May 4th, 2006
Mr. Speaker, I remind the member that the Liberal government was the one that signed 10 agreements with 10 provinces, which would have built a child care program. If it were not for the party opposite, this plan would have been implemented and built. Unfortunately, the funding for Ontario, and other provinces as well, is gone.
We had a vision for our working families. We had a vision for building child care spaces. We will continue to defend working families and advocate for building high-quality child care that is accessible to everybody across the country.
Business of Supply May 4th, 2006
Mr. Speaker, I am puzzled by the member's question.
First, I am curious to know how many doors he knocked on in his riding, especially since the council of the city of Edmonton passed a resolution supporting the establishment of national child care program, a federal and provincial child care program.
In the city of Mississauga, 1,100 children are on a waiting list. Trust me, I did not force the parents to sign the waiting list. Parents are looking for child care spaces. If the government looks the other way, parents will know what that government stands for. It is not listening to them.
Nobody is against the $1,200 a year. I am all for it. I think all families could use it. However, what will that do to create child care spaces? Parents, who work, earn money and pay taxes, expect their government to work for them and to work on their behalf.
Business of Supply May 4th, 2006
Mr. Speaker, I stand before you today to express my disappointment with the recent budget announcement. As a newly elected MP, who has been entrusted by the voters of Mississauga—Erindale, I came to the House with a sense of great responsibility and a determination to protect the interests of Canadians. Above all, I am committed to working positively with the members of the House for the collective good of our nation.
I will be honest. I was looking for reasons to celebrate the budget. It contains some reasonable proposals. We all welcome the idea of reducing taxes. The more I studied the budget, the more concerned I became. I felt like someone who has just been told that they won a fancy car, but after the excitement had faded and after reading the terms and conditions, I realized that I had to keep up the hefty monthly payments, which I cannot afford.
The Conservative government had the benefit of inheriting one of the strongest fiscal conditions in recent history. Instead of building on the best track record of the G-7 nations, it opted for a one-dimensional, short-sighted approach. If we believe that the federal government has a role to play in investing in the prosperity and unity of our country, we will find that the budget misses the mark. The Conservative budget will weaken our federal government, as it shows a disregard for its responsibilities to the public.
The budget has serious shortfalls. Raising income tax less than seven months after it had been reduced by the previous government is unacceptable. Reducing the GST should not be at the expense of increasing income taxes on the lowest income tax bracket. If the government truly believed that the GST cut would balance out this increase, why did it not opt to raise income tax on the highest bracket instead of the lowest?
Also of concern, the Conservative government is breaking a major election campaign promise. It committed to help new Canadians in accrediting their foreign credentials. The Conservatives committed no money and outlined no plan to deliver this promise. Taking steps toward the creation of an agency does not fulfill their promise, and it is just not good enough. I know I have the unfortunate task of breaking this news to thousands of new Canadians who live in my riding.
However, even more disheartening, is that early learning and childhood programs have been neglected and hundreds of thousands of child care spaces across Canada are at risk. Working families have been advocating for more choice in affordable and high quality child care. The government is ignoring their call and cancelling the agreements that were struck with the provinces. Despite what the government claims, this will take away the choice for most working families and set our country back more than 30 years.
In the Peel Region alone, the previous Liberal plan, which had already been negotiated and agreed upon with the province of Ontario, would have created about 2,100 new child care spaces. Now it is all gone because of a government that wants to take the choice away from working parents.
The hopes of many parents have been devastating and the plans of many child care facilities have been destroyed. There are 1,100 children on a waiting list right now for child care spaces in the city of Mississauga alone. Those families were not forced by the Liberal government to sign up for that waiting list. Now these children and their parents have to fend for themselves because the Conservative government does not care about them.
The proposed taxable $1,200 is a great child bonus that will be helpful to any family, but will it actually cover the cost of child care? The average cost of day care in Mississauga is about $800 to $900 a month. With that calculation, a parent requires $9,600 a year to cover child care expenses. That is far more than what the government is paying a family for the whole year under its plan and that is only if the parents are able to find a quality space for their children.
What is next? Will the government end funding public education and give parents money and say the choice is theirs?
In my riding there is a great disappointment that funding has been reduced and will come to an end. Waiting lists for fee subsidies and special needs resourcing exist now and are growing, but the Conservative plan will do nothing to help the situation. The notion that its proposal offers a choice is outrageous and must be exposed. It takes away their choice. Parents who work hard and contribute to our economy and prosperity will soon realize that they cannot afford nor find quality spaces for their children. This takes away any choice they have and may require one parent, who is often the mother, to stay at home with the child.
I would like to draw attention to a recent study conducted in Alberta. The study showed that given the lack of quality, affordable child care spaces in Alberta, the participation of women in the workforce has declined to one of the lowest in our country after being one of the highest. A government sponsored early childhood learning program not only ensures quality and accessible spaces, but it provides parents with a real choice. A parent can choose to stay at home with their child and possibly receive the child tax benefit, which could amount to thousands of dollars per year, or they could choose to use a high quality day care program and maintain a career of their choosing. It is a shame that the government does not realize that.
If one believes the government does not carry the burden of ensuring the collective good of its citizens and can afford to fend for themselves, then one would cheer the budget. However, like the majority of Canadians, I feel the government has the responsibility to invest in its citizens, in its future generations and to build for the prosperity of our nation.
I point out that the budget failed miserably to address the environment, education, multiculturalism, immigration, resource and development and aboriginal needs. We in Ontario have seen what a simplistic, short-sighted ideological government can do. Premier Mike Harris, who was here on Tuesday cheering on the architect of the horrendous financial and social failures in Ontario during the nineties, and who also happens to be the current spokesperson for this budget, has left deep wounds in Ontario from which we are still trying to recover.
If I did not care and if I were a cynic, I would have chosen to stand by the sideline and watch with interest how the government is digging a hole for itself and let it expose its incompetence on its own. However, my concern is the government will not damage its credibility, but irreversibly damage the fiscal and social foundation of our country.
The government has chosen to mortgage the future of our country and hide the fine print from Canadians. It has no plan and no vision.
On behalf of children, students, aboriginals, farmers, immigrants, environment, working families and all Canadians, I ask the government not to allow ideology to dictate its action. I ask them not to do it for me, not to do it for the people who voted for me, but do it for the people who voted for them expecting that they would treat them with respect.
Child Care April 11th, 2006
Mr. Speaker, clearly there is something in common between myself and the minister. We both have not come to grips with the fact that her party is in government.
The government now proposes to download the responsibility of creating quality child care spaces to businesses. The head of the Canadian Federation of Independent Business said that the Conservative proposal to lure businesses into child care would fail. The minister herself has even acknowledged that previous tax credits have failed to stimulate the expansion of day care spaces. Clearly the government does not have a plan.
Why is the government abandoning millions of children?
Child Care April 11th, 2006
Mr. Speaker, yesterday the Conservative member for Renfrew—Nipissing—Pembroke said that the Quebec model of child care, adopted by the former government, was a Soviet style child care.
Is that the position of the government or will the Prime Minister apologize for those remarks?