Peggy Nash

[Canadian Heritage, March 28th, 2007]

Mr. Speaker, today is the 50th anniversary of the Canada Council, but sadly there was little to celebrate in the government's budget when it comes to the arts.

In Toronto, the Royal Ontario Museum, the Art Gallery of Ontario, the Royal Conservatory, the National Ballet School, the Canadian Opera Company and the Gardiner Museum are all looking for funding from the federal government.

Will the heritage minister finally tell Toronto's cultural sector when it can expect the help it has been asking for?

[The Budget, March 27th, 2007]

Mr. Speaker, I note on page 98 of the budget document there is a page entitled--

[The Budget, March 27th, 2007]

Mr. Speaker, it is interesting to hear the hon. minister criticize the previous government, and I share that criticism, but it is sad that with the huge surpluses the government enjoys it has adopted a policy of ABC, and that is anything but child care.

First, it gives a taxable baby bonus to Canadians and it creates anything but child care. Then it had this scheme for giving tax credits to corporations on the belief that it would create child care spaces, but of course no child care spaces were created.

In my riding of Parkdale—High Park, the waiting list for child care centres is in the hundreds and parents are paying up to $1,480 a month for child care. Parents are desperate. They need to work. Housing prices are sky high. The government has brought in nothing for a national housing strategy.

How does the minister expect parents and kids to cope? Study after study shows that child care is the most important early intervention in a child's life for them to succeed. What is the government going to do to help kids across the country?

[The Budget, March 27th, 2007]

Mr. Speaker, I would like to ask the hon. member about the so-called national water strategy that is mentioned in the budget.

Curiously, it is not a strategy. It is individual little bits of money for various cleanup sites, but the largest amount of money is going to purchase six large vessels, four for the Coast Guard and two scientific vessels. I notice that the strategy includes no national water standards and no ban on bulk water exports.

I also notice that missing among the cleanup sites is anything around the city of Toronto. My riding is a waterfront riding. We have beautiful beaches there. I have pictures of my parents swimming there as young people, but today those beaches are polluted and unusable all summer long.

Why has Toronto been excluded from the Great Lakes cleanup and why is the so-called national water strategy not really a strategy at all?

[The Budget, March 27th, 2007]

Mr. Speaker, I also hate to interrupt the family discussion that has just taken place but I would like to ask a question that is important to constituents in my province, the province of Ontario, which is the manufacturing heartland of Canada.

I am very troubled that the budget contains no initiative toward an industrial strategy. Tax cuts that are not tied to investment and job creation are just a giveaway to corporations. Far too many people in this country are losing good paying, decent manufacturing jobs and are falling through the cracks because of manufacturing restructuring.

The government has done nothing to bring down the high dollar and the poor exchange rate. It is negotiating free trade deals with Korea where we already have a massive trade imbalance for manufactured goods. It is just giving away free money to companies and nothing is tied to job creation.

Could the hon. member explain how he will defend good paying manufacturing jobs here in Canada?

[The Budget, March 27th, 2007]

Mr. Speaker, I share the concerns of the hon. member opposite regarding the government elected yesterday in Quebec. I also agree with her on the fact that the budget does not correct the problem facing women, who still earn only 70% of what men earn. It changes nothing for the unemployed, employment insurance, immigrants, aboriginals, students and so on. That said, I still wonder how the Bloc can vote in favour of this budget, which claims to correct the fiscal imbalance, when that money will be used to lower taxes instead of being invested in social programs to improve the lives of Quebeckers.

[The Budget, March 27th, 2007]

Mr. Speaker, I would also like to ask the hon. member why the Bloc will vote in favour of this budget.

Some comments I heard indicated that, since the budget addresses the fiscal imbalance, Quebec will help Quebeckers resolve problems such as those seen in the manufacturing industry and problems regarding poverty, among others. I also heard the Quebec premier say that he will use that money to lower taxes in Quebec.

I would therefore like to ask the hon. member how simply lowering taxes will help people? How will Quebec be able to invest in social programs if there is no money, if the money from the fiscal imbalance is used to lower taxes?

[Petitions, March 26th, 2007]

Mr. Speaker, I am presenting today a petition on behalf of 183 residents of my riding of Parkdale--High Park and of the city of Toronto concerning my once in a lifetime bill, Bill C-394.

As I am sure the House knows, life is difficult for new Canadians. When they come here, it is a huge adjustment for them. Often they do not have close family and friends to help them adjust.

That is what the bill is designed to address. The family reunification aspect is a key part of immigration policy and the current rules are too restrictive. It means that many family members are not eligible for sponsorship.

The petitioners are calling for the Parliament of Canada to ensure that Canadian citizens and landed immigrants are given a once in a lifetime opportunity to sponsor a family member from outside the current family class as currently defined in the Immigration and Refugee Act as contained in my Bill C-394.

[Petitions, March 21st, 2007]

Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to present to the House a petition of 239 signatures from my riding of Parkdale—High Park in Toronto on the federal minimum wage. A poll released last week showed that three out of four Canadians believed the minimum wage should be at least $10 an hour.

The petitioners recognize that the federal minimum wage was eliminated in 1996 by the Liberal government, that a $10 an hour minimum wage just approaches the poverty level for a single worker and that the importance of a federal minimum wage would extend beyond the number of workers covered by it because it serves as a best practice for labour standards across the country.

They call upon the Parliament of Canada to ensure that workers in federal jurisdiction are paid a fair minimum wage by passing my Bill C-375 to re-establish a federal minimum wage and set it at $10 an hour.

[The Budget, March 20th, 2007]

Mr. Speaker, this budget does nothing to narrow the gap between the rich and poor in Canada. This budget completely neglects the poor.

We are in a period of restructuring in the manufacturing sector. Thousands and thousands of workers are losing their jobs. This government is not helping them. This budget does nothing to help the unemployed. It contains nothing to restructure and enhance employment insurance.

How can the Bloc Québécois vote in favour of this budget and thereby abandon the unemployed in Canada and Quebec?