Peggy Nash

[Consumer Protection, February 3rd, 2014]

Mr. Speaker, Canadian families are finding it difficult to make ends meet.

Middle-class Canadian workers are poorer today than they were 35 years ago, and they are being crushed by debt. They need action in the upcoming budget, not just promises, as in the throne speech.

Will the Conservatives support the NDP motion to limit ATM fees and include this policy in the budget?

[Financial Administration Act, February 3rd, 2014]

Mr. Speaker, I notice there is a group who might be very enthusiastic about this New Democrat private member's bill. I hope that is the case for their comments.

The bill seeks to improve the representation of women on the boards of crown corporations. It does not, at this point, seek to change any representation of companies, corporate entities, financial institutions, or publicly trade companies, but we do believe that this is one important step toward gender parity in our public institutions.

Why is that important? It is important because more than half of our population is women, and these are public institutions that are paid for with our tax dollars and deserve to have the input and the representation in a balanced fashion.

My colleagues opposite may say they do not want anything that interferes with the merit principle, but I would argue that the current lack of representation of women on our boards of crown corporations, which is less than 30% today, is ignoring the merit of more than half of the population, which is women and ought to be represented in these public institutions. That is what the bill is seeking to do.

Diversity on boards of directors is vital to the good governance of organizations. It allows a more holistic view of the environment and better representation of those who are clients, shareholders, and so on. The bill aims to achieve balanced representation among women and men in the management of public finances over a reasonable time horizon and to position Canada as a world leader in gender representation on boards and boards of directors of crown corporations.

Women are still underrepresented within our country's decision-making authorities, and the NDP is the only party suggesting concrete action to promote the equality of women and men, which includes equal representation in managing our public affairs. That may well be because we are the first party to achieve 40% representation among our members of caucus here in the House.

Diversity within corporate boards enables organizations to seek out women with exceptional expertise or specific skills. Boards of directors can gain access to vital, complementary competencies, allowing women to contribute to their full potential.

As the member of Parliament for Parkdale—High Park, I live in a riding in Toronto where we have an incredible diversity of talent, women and men. I note that there are many artists, professionals, and leaders of community organizations. Of the two city councillors, one MP, one MPP, and one school trustee in our community, all but one are women; so we have an incredibly talented base of people in our riding. The fact that they are not equally represented in our public institutions, in the House, nor in our crown corporations, is an incredible waste of talent.

At the United Nations Fourth World Conference on Women, held in Beijing in 1995, the participants concluded that only equal participation of women and men at all levels of the decision-making process could allow us to achieve the balance needed for democracy to work and grow stronger. The most recent data indicate that there are 2,000 Canadians who hold positions in more than 200 crown corporations, agencies, boards of directors and commissions across the country, but women are under-represented on boards of directors, where they currently hold only 27% of positions. According to the list of heads of crown corporations drawn up by the Library of Parliament, in Canada's 84 crown corporations, 6 of the 84 presidents are women, which translates to only 19%.

Quebec is the only province to have passed legislation aimed at achieving gender parity. In 2006, Quebec passed Bill 53, An Act respecting the governance of state-owned enterprises and amending various legislative provisions, with a view to achieving gender parity on boards of directors of crown corporations by 2011. That legislation required that the boards of directors of all such corporations include an equal number of women and men as of December 14, 2011.

In December 2011, which marked the end of the five-year period by which crown corporations were to have achieved gender equality, 141 women and 128 men held positions on the boards of directors of 20 Quebec crown corporations. Women therefore made up the majority, or 52.4%. What a success.

I know my time is rapidly winding up, but I just want to affirm that countries that have legislative quotas have made tremendous progress. Even those that only require mandatory reporting and transparency have shown tremendous progress; they are well in front of Canada. It shows the talent is there. If we want to use it, we need to allow women to fully participate in our crown corporations.

I want to close with a rather, I think, indicative statement from the former head of the Conference Board of Canada, Anne Golden. At a 2010 Senate committee she said that, at the current rate of women's representation on boards and agencies, it would take 151 years before women are represented on boards to the same degree as men. This is unacceptable. That is why I am urging all my colleagues to support the bill today.

[Financial Administration Act, February 3rd, 2014]

Thank you, Mr. Speaker, I meant to refer to the member for London—Fanshawe. Thank you for that reminder.

Mr. Speaker, the bill is an important measure about gender equity, and specifically it proposes that the representation on the boards of crown corporations achieve gender parity within six years, and I will be more specific in terms of what it is proposing.

The bill would seek to increase the representation of women to 30% after two years of coming into force and 40% after four years; six years after the bill comes into force, 50% of the board members be women. The bill does not suggest that—

[Financial Administration Act, February 3rd, 2014]

Mr. Speaker, I am very pleased to be able to speak on Bill C-473, An Act to amend the Financial Administration Act (balanced representation), which concerns balanced representation on the boards of crown corporations.

We are at second reading, which is the point at which this House determines if a bill has the merit to be sent to a committee for further study.

I want to thank my colleague who submitted this bill, the member of Parliament for Charlesbourg—Haute-Saint-Charles, and also her predecessor, Irene Mathyssen, who did a lot of work on this issue as well. I thank them—

[Employment, January 30th, 2014]

Mr. Speaker, there is lots of boasting but there is nothing to vote for: the highest unemployment and lowest job creation since the great recession. They are not doing enough.

Times are tough for all Canadians, but our youth who are trying to get a start in life are being hit hardest of all. Over 21,000 full-time youth jobs disappeared in December. Youth unemployment is double the national average. Will the government help young Canadians? Will it help them get back to work by adopting the NDP's youth tax hiring credit?

[Employment, January 30th, 2014]

Mr. Speaker, Canadian families are struggling. In December alone, 67,000 more Canadians became unemployed because of this government's inaction. Despite that, it looks like there will be nothing very concrete in this budget. This is outrageous, because we know that 1.4 million Canadians are unemployed. Why is the government refusing to help Canadians find employment?

[Business of Supply, January 30th, 2014]

Mr. Speaker, in my riding of Parkdale—High Park, we have two branches of the Legion. They are both very active, especially around Remembrance Day. They are active throughout the year and are a home for veterans in our community, both young and old.

My dad served on a minesweeper in the North Atlantic. He signed up at one of those branches, in fact, way back when. Fortunately he came back from the war and lived a long and productive life. He remained active in the Legion and was always immensely proud of the service he had given and indeed the service of all Canadian veterans.

I know that, were he still alive today, he would be absolutely heartbroken that the federal government would sacrifice benefits to veterans, those who have sacrificed so much for this country, especially for a political deadline to balance the books before the next election.

I have no doubt about the sincerity of the member who just spoke. She spoke very eloquently. I do note that both in 1995 and in 2005, the Liberals also cut veterans' services. I ask the member if that is still the approach of the Liberal Party today, or would it maintain funding for veterans' services?

[Consumer Protection, January 28th, 2014]

Sadly, Mr. Speaker, after eight years the Conservatives have simply failed to deliver for Canadian consumers.

Many families are struggling to make ends meet. Wages are stagnant, household debt is growing and costs are skyrocketing. The Conservatives have failed to act and they have failed to protect consumers. They have cut infrastructure spending, and they simply have no plan to create good quality jobs.

With this year's budget, will the finance minister change direction and finally provide real help for consumers to make life more affordable?

[Consumer Protection, January 28th, 2014]

Mr. Speaker, the Conservatives could choose to take action in order to make life more affordable for Canadian families. They could cap ATM transaction fees and prohibit major corporations from charging a fee for paper billing.

Will the Minister of Finance commit to including the NDP's practical solutions for making life more affordable for the middle class in the upcoming budget?

[Ukraine, January 27th, 2014]

In a word, Mr. Speaker, yes. That is what our critic for foreign affairs called for last week, which I was proud to report on at the rally yesterday in Toronto.

Yes, Canada has a special role to play because of our unique relationship with Ukraine. The number of Ukrainian Canadians is quite large. Canada has played a special role in terms of being the first country to recognize Ukraine as an independent country. A number of election observers, including some of us in this Chamber, have helped to preserve democracy in Ukraine. Canada has a special role.

Yes, we have called for Yanukovych and his family to be held to account with targeted sanctions and for assisting those who are being persecuted and may need special assistance to leave that country to come to Canada. The New Democratic Party has already called for this. Our foreign affairs critic has been out in front of other parties in calling for this.

I hope tonight, with this debate, that we can all come together and say that this makes sense. Canada does have a special role to play. Let us work together. Let us get past just calling for it. Let us make it happen.