Peter Stoffer

[Veterans, June 5th, 2012]

Mr. Speaker, not only privacy issues are at stake at the Department of Veterans Affairs.

Surprisingly, Sarah Atwood, a 90-year-old World War II veteran was denied access to Camp Hill. Ted Shiner, a 91-year-old veteran in Bedford, Nova Scotia, was denied VIP services just like 87-year-old Harry Gulkin of Outremont and Art Humphreys, who unfortunately passed away before he was able to get a lift to help him go up and down his stairs.

All these World War II veterans were denied benefits, but surprisingly the government found $700,000 to give to well-paid executive managers at DVA.

How can the minister possibly justify $700,000 to well-paid public servants and deny World War II heroes—

[Health, June 5th, 2012]

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to congratulate Mr. Wayne Hanley, national president of the United Food and Commercial Workers Union Canada; Mr. Mark Dobson, regional director for Atlantic Canada; and Mr. Tim Hosford, as well as all members of the UFCW across the country.

Last year, they had another record-breaking fundraising year for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society, raising over $2 million. To date, UFCW Canada has raised over $23 million for leukemia and lymphoma research in Canada, making UFCW Canada the number one donator to this very important cause.

On behalf of the House of Commons on both sides, we congratulate UFCW Canada and all its membership for their fantastic work, one day hoping to find a cure for that terrible scourge of leukemia and lymphoma disease in this country. We congratulate UFCW Canada and thank its members for their continued efforts in this regard.

[Sixtieth Anniversary of the Reign of Her Majesty, Queen Elizabeth II, June 4th, 2012]

Mr. Speaker, I thank the hon. Minister of Citizenship and Immigration for his wonderful grace to our gracious queen, Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth.

It is indeed an honour for me to rise on behalf of Her Majesty's Loyal Opposition to give a few words in honour of this tremendous celebration of her 60 years on the throne as Queen of England, Queen of Canada and Queen of the Commonwealth.

When we look at the history of Queen Elizabeth and her family, it is truly an amazing history to be able to live in the time of her life and see what she has done from June 2, 1952, on to today and for the years to come. She has been a symbol of grace and a symbol of wondrous achievement in what she has done. With her respect for all peoples, all religions, all languages, the Commonwealth, family and, above all, her faith, she has been what I would call a beacon of light and a beacon of hope for all people, not just of the Commonwealth but of the world. She has truly lived her life in the service of her country and the Commonwealth. That is much to the chagrin of many people. People in the United States, for example, would love to have someone like Queen Elizabeth as their head of state, as she truly resembles tradition from long ago.

As someone who was liberated by the Canadian military and her allies, the Brits, the Poles and the Americans, I can say her undying support for the men and women who wear the uniform has been nothing short of absolutely fantastic. Her love and her respect for the men and women of the service and those who become veterans is truly an example that we can all take to understand that democracy is not free, that freedom is not free. It is those men and women who are willing to sacrifice all for king and country and queen and country, and why they do what they do is truly tremendous. Her respect for them is truly tremendous.

As a Canadian of 56 years old, living under Queen Elizabeth as the monarch of Canada has been truly a wondrous thing. Coming from the Netherlands, I gave up an oath to one queen to give a pledge of allegiance to another queen, and it is really quite something. I did it without hesitation. As we say, I am a Dutchman by birth, but a Canadian by choice. I am deeply honoured that Canada has retained the ties to the Crown, because it is the Crown that is the symbol of our history and of our direction. In fact, the chair you sit in, Mr. Speaker, comes from Westminster.

With our ties to England, our ties to France and our ties to other countries, we are indeed a commonwealth of nations. Her search for justice and for peace among all nations and all religions is truly tremendous.

Who can forget her speeches when she gives the Queen's address on Christmas and New Years? It truly is an amazing thing.

When we look at 1992, it was a terrible year for her, with the efforts of her children and that of Westminster, and she handled herself with grace and dignity. It truly was a very difficult year for our Queen, but she handled it with such grace. Upon the death of Princess Diana, who but the Queen could have handled that with such grace, dignity and respect? It was not just for Diana and her family and her son, Prince Charles, and the grandchildren but for all of England and all of the world that was suffering through that tragic death of our great Princess Diana. It was the Queen who showed the leadership. It was the Queen who showed the way forward.

Now that she celebrates her 60th year on the throne, it is we as Canadian subjects of the Queen who wish her the very best, long continued health and long continued success. It is we as Canadians who thank the Queen for her service, for she truly has done God's work on the throne of England and the throne of Canada and that of the Commonwealth. She truly has been a symbol of hope, truth, justice, charity and love.

On behalf of our leader and all New Democrats across the country and on behalf of Her Majesty's Loyal Opposition, we say God save our Queen and may she live a long and glorious life. God bless.

[Veterans Affairs, May 30th, 2012]

Mr. Speaker, yesterday was a red-letter day for 6,500 disabled veterans in this country. After a five and a half year legal challenge, Dennis Manuge and his legal team of Peter Driscoll and Dan Wallace of McInnes Cooper in Halifax finally won what was rightfully theirs.

In 2006, the NDP moved a motion to eliminate the SISIP clawback. Unfortunately, the Conservatives at the time voted against it and told these veterans to go to court. That is what they did. Thankfully, the government realized that it would not win that case and now these disabled veterans will get the money they so rightfully deserve.

I personally want to thank Dennis Manuge from my riding, the lead plaintiff in this, for being the hero for those veterans across the country. I also want to thank all of the individual members of Parliament who convinced the government not to challenge this decision. Sadly, it had to go to court in the first place. Hopefully, this will be a lesson to all members of Parliament, now and in the future, that disabled veterans should never have to go to court to get the benefits they so rightfully deserve.

[Veterans Affairs, May 17th, 2012]

Mr. Speaker, when Canadian military personnel serve their country, they do not get to make up their minds. They follow orders. Unfortunately, many of them become disabled. Over 6,500 disabled veterans and their leader Dennis Manuge are asking the government to stop the appeal of Justice Barnes' decision to end the SISIP clawback.

These are the heroes of our country. Unfortunately, they served their country and became disabled. Two different judges have ruled to stop the SISIP clawback. Will the government now serve these disabled people by stopping the legal proceedings, meet with Dennis Manuge's legal team and pay out the money they so rightfully deserve?

[Veterans Affairs, May 15th, 2012]

Mr. Speaker, arm's-length does not mean out of reach.

The Minister of Veterans Affairs signed off on this trip. The head of the Veterans Review and Appeal Board was just condemned by the Veterans ombudsman for denying so many people of the appeal board their rightful benefits by not applying the benefit of doubt. What does he do? He takes a junket over to England to visit with his wife, who just happens to be there, at a cost of over $7,000. That kind of money would help a lot of disabled veterans.

How does the minister allow that kind of abuse of taxpayer money to carry on? Why does he not remove the member of the Veterans Review and Appeal Board or, in fact, remove the entire--

[Veterans Affairs, May 9th, 2012]

Mr. Speaker, once services are taken away, it will be impossible for a veteran to actually speak to someone in person.

The government has this theory that veterans' mental health issues can be solved over the Internet or maybe with a long distance phone call which could be answered by a private company called Quantum, which answers the phone as Veterans Affairs Canada.

Why is the government privatizing veterans services to private companies? Why is it laying off so many front-line people who provide that invaluable service to the heroes of our country?

[Workplace Safety, May 9th, 2012]

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to commemorate the 20th anniversary of the Westray mine disaster in Plymouth, Nova Scotia, where 26 coal miners lost their lives in one of Canada's worst mining disasters. Our hearts go out to all the families and friends of the miners who lost their lives.

We also honour the entire community that mobilized to assist in a search and rescue following the explosion, especially the search and rescue teams and those brave draegermen. Justice Peter Richard of the Westray inquiry described Westray as “a story of incompetence, of mismanagement, of bureaucratic bungling, of deceit, of ruthlessness, of cover-up, of apathy, of expediency, and of cynical indifference”.

Former NDP leader Alexa McDonough kept her promise to the Westray families by pushing for changes to the Criminal Code. She laid the groundwork for the 2004 Westray bill that holds corporate managers and employers criminally responsible for endangering the lives of workers.

As our brothers and sisters of the United Steelworkers remind us, we must enforce the law to ensure that another Westray never happens again.

May God bless the memory of those 26 miners.

[Veterans Affairs, May 8th, 2012]

Mr. Speaker, now that two veterans ombudsmen have stated clearly that the Veterans Review and Appeal Board is not doing its job by applying the benefit of the doubt clause to veterans who apply before the board for their rightful benefits, how long will it take before we eliminate this useless political entity and allow the front line DVA people to make the decision on peer review of medical evidence? It should be very quick.

When the heroes of our country come to DVA asking for help, they should not be turned away by the politically appointed board.

When will the government eliminate that board--

[Veterans Affairs, May 8th, 2012]

--applying the benefit of the doubt clause when it comes to adjudicating--