Rachael Thomas

[The Budget, April 14th, 2016]

Mr. Speaker, I will be sharing my time with the hon. member for Elgin—Middlesex—London.

While I was pleased to see some measures, such as a short-term extension of employment insurance benefits for oil and gas workers in my riding and some investments in social housing, I found that the budget borrowed heavily from future generations, without a plan for job creation and without any sort of thought toward returning to a balanced budget.

The budget borrows a lot of money. It will borrow $30 billion this year and over $100 billion over the next four. How can Canadians trust a government that has broken its promises right out of the gate? The government demonstrates an attitude of entitlement and an absolute disregard for the hard-working taxpayer.

The Prime Minister has said he wants to place emphasis on our young people, but the only thing he is doing for our nation's youth is simply saddling them with a horrendous debt and thereby making it extremely difficult for them to move ahead in life after graduating from school.

I have listened to union economists, Liberal politicians, and various pundits talk about how insignificant this deficit is, so let us talk about that.

The budget borrows $118 billion over six years from future generations. To put that in perspective, the Bow tower, which is the tallest skyscraper in Calgary, cost $1.2 billion to build. This means that our present budget could build 100 Bow towers. That is 50 skyscrapers more than the entire downtown core of Toronto.

The most worrisome part of the deficit is that there is absolutely no plan to eliminate it.

I would like to take a closer look at the budget and what it means for the hard-working people of Lethbridge that I represent.

First, let us look at jobs. I was saddened by the fact that there is no long-term vision to get Alberta's economy back on track. The budget confirms that the government is not interested in helping Alberta recover from a terrific downturn in the oil and gas industry and the loss of tens of thousands of jobs. The government's lackadaisical approach to job creation simply will not benefit anyone.

I am both proud of and confident in the entrepreneurial spirit and strong work ethic of the people of Lethbridge. I represent thousands of small business owners who are smart, willing to take calculated risks, and eager to give back to the community by creating jobs. Small businesses are the heartbeat of the Canadian economy. They drive our innovation and entrepreneurial effort as a nation and they employ more Canadians than any other sector.

During the campaign, the Liberals promised to lower taxes on small businesses. However, they have failed to come through. Our Prime Minister lied. This broken promise will cost small businesses across Canada a billion dollars a year, money that could have been reinvested to create jobs.

Let us talk about families.

Our previous Conservative government made families a priority. This was rooted in our belief that families are the fundamental building block of Canadian society. In order to pay for their new child benefit, the Liberals have eliminated the universal child care benefit, the children's fitness tax credit, and the children's art tax credit. Furthermore, the Liberals have also followed through on their threat to eliminate income splitting for Canadian families, an initiative that helped thousands of families in the Lethbridge region.

The government claims that families will get more money under its child benefit plan, but when we look at it closely, we see the big picture: the middle class actually loses out. Parents understand better than government what is in the best interests of their children, but the budget removes choice from parents, limits options for families, and ultimately puts more power into the hands of government instead of the hands of parents.

I was disappointed to note that the infrastructure spending proposed to trigger economic growth is already earmarked for big cities, in particular Toronto, Montreal, Ottawa, and Vancouver. This appears to be a big-city budget that would do very little for a small centre like Lethbridge.

Furthermore, there is little in the way of investing in rural areas. In my area, we have many roads and bridges in the county that have not been repaired or maintained since the 1950s. These roads and bridges are used each and every day to help get agricultural commodities to market, which is very important for Canada as a nation. Overall, the budget is in blatant disregard of our primary producers and ignores their needs, thereby ignoring the needs of Canada as a whole.

I would like to draw attention to two other areas that I am quite passionate about. Those are persons with disabilities and our nation's young people.

As in the Speech from the Throne, there is a glaring omission, and that is help for persons with disabilities. The only immediate item for people with disabilities is a small $2-million-a-year increase to the enabling accessibility fund, a $14-million fund that was created by the late Jim Flaherty.

This is in contrast to the Conservative budgets, which created new programs such as the registered disability savings plan and the Canada disability savings grant to help families save for the future of a child with a disability. As well, Jim Flaherty created the enabling accessibility fund in order to create access to public spaces by persons with a physical impediment. The Liberal government promised to introduce a national disabilities act, but this promise, like so many others, has not come to fruition in the 2016 budget.

It is my sincere hope that in the coming years, the new government will actually meet with representatives of the community of persons with disabilities in order to understand the significant challenges that they face each and every day. I have had the immense privilege of listening to many of their stories and I am encouraged and amazed by their perseverance, resilience, and hope. I believe the Liberal government can do better—in fact, must do better—to build an inclusive Canada.

The Liberal government describes itself as a champion of young people. The Prime Minister has expressed that he intends to prioritize Canada's youth, but the monetary lines in the budget simply do not match his rhetoric.

That said, there are a few good things in this budget that I can support—

[Situation in Indigenous Communities, April 12th, 2016]

Mr. Speaker, I do not believe there was a question there, but I will respond to the hon. member's comments.

I believe that money is a tool. It is not the answer. It is not the solution. It is simply a tool. It is something that we use, and if we use it correctly, it can perhaps create a solution or contribute to a solution.

In this case, as the Conservative government, we did believe in using money effectively as a tool. We would give it to bands and then we would ask for transparency. We would ask for accountability measures. Unfortunately, the Liberal government that is in place today just took all of that back. Now we are allowing band members to spend money as they will, with absolutely no transparency and no accountability. Unfortunately, at the end of the day this hurts the people on reserves. This hurts our children in the aboriginal communities. That is incredibly unfortunate.

[Situation in Indigenous Communities, April 12th, 2016]

Mr. Speaker, I may be misunderstanding the member, but my understanding of what was said was that government dollars would help structure—he used the word “structure”—and would perhaps solve the issue before us here today.

As I said in my speech, I am not convinced that this is about putting another government program in place. I believe that this is about creating hope, about facilitating hope in a generation of people, in a culture of people. I believe that one of the best ways we can do that is by empowering them to take ownership, to be free citizens, to live great lives, and to embrace their culture. I do not believe the best way to do that is by creating government programs flooded with bureaucracy and regulations that hinder people rather than empower them.

[Situation in Indigenous Communities, April 12th, 2016]

Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank the hon. member for his question.

I may be misunderstanding you, but it would appear that you are insinuating that perhaps government dollars—

[Situation in Indigenous Communities, April 12th, 2016]

Mr. Speaker, collectively as members of Parliament and as Canadians we were shocked to find out about the recent events in Attawapiskat.

As members of Parliament, we tend to be hopeful individuals. Though we may not agree on the method, I believe that all of us share a common goal and that common goal is to make Canada a better place. When a tragedy like this unfolds before us, it is absolutely shocking and very sad.

Sadly, this crisis is not something that is unique. Suicide and self-inflicted injuries are the leading cause of death for first nations youth and adults up to the age of 44. The suicide rate for first nations male youth ages 15 to 24 is 126 out of 100,000. It is only 24 out of every 100,000 for non-aboriginal youth. That is five times more. For females, the suicide rate is 35 out of 100,000 among aboriginals versus five out of 100,000 for non-aboriginals, a rate that is seven times higher than the national average.

These statistics, however, cannot convey the personal tragedy of a life lost to suicide. When we talk about these individuals, we are talking about daughters, sons, friends, brothers, and sisters. At the end of the day, we are talking about deeply loved individuals.

Suicide is clearly a symptom of something that goes much deeper, something that is deeper and faced within this community. The challenge we collectively face as parliamentarians and as a nation is how to create hope. None of us here has lived in Attawapiskat, and so none of us is able to speak with authority on what it is like to live here. We do not know the stories that the elders have to speak of or the personal tragedies that they have endured. We do not know what challenges the youth have faced or what they have overcome.

Nevertheless, I believe that there is an understanding and a hope to be found in the experience that is lived by other aboriginal communities in Canada.

I did a little research in preparation for today. The Centre for Suicide Prevention explains, “In communities where there is a strong sense of culture, community ownership, and other protective factors, it is believed that there are much lower rates of suicide and sometimes none at all.”

To further support this point, there was a recent study done by Dr. Chandler and Dr. Chris Lalonde in British Columbia. They found that more than 90% of youth suicides are concentrated in only 10% to 15% of first nations bands. While some communities suffer rates as much as 800 times the national average, more than half of the province's 200 first nations bands have not experienced a single suicide at all. Therefore, the tragedy of youth suicide is not endemic to all reserves. This is an important point to make, because it brings hope. It brings hope that youth suicide is not inherent to the aboriginal culture. Let us make no mistake. Also, it provides hope to communities that a solution is in fact possible.

To offer a paraphrase of the research that Chandler and Lalonde completed, they said that suicide becomes a serious option only when one's sense of connectedness to a hoped-for future is completely lost. According to their research, the common denominator among all aboriginal suicide victims is a lack of identity and purpose, particularly in light of significant life changes.

It is being able to understand why we are here and what our purpose is that provides us with the ability to imagine a better tomorrow and the pathway to achieve it. This sense of purpose and destiny is imparted by the community around us. The culture shapes our world view.

We all know that many factors have eroded the culture of our first nations people. The list of historic grievances is quite long. The intergenerational trauma of these events is largely to blame for the systemic challenges that we face today. I truly believe that regardless of partisan affiliation, every government has conducted itself with the best intentions in order to address the systemic problems that these historical events have in fact created.

If there is one thing that history has taught us, I believe it is that government-imposed solutions will not resolve the issue that we see before us today. Both the Liberal and the Conservative governments have funded national aboriginal youth suicide prevention strategies.

From 2006 to 2015, our previous Conservative government spent over $131 million on the Attawapiskat reserve, including the construction of 60 new renovated houses and a brand new school. This was to support a community of about 2,000 people. The previous Liberal and Conservative governments have provided resources, emergency supplies, and expert advisers to this community, yet we are still facing this crisis.

While suicide rates within aboriginal communities do fall slightly with increasing wealth, the correlation is proven to neither be statistically nor socially significant, so it is clear that a budget line will not resolve the deeper issue that is before us today.

There is no doubt that having greater access to education, mental health counsellors, and better community facilities could help in the short term. However, until this community feels a sense of ownership over its destiny, we will continue to see recurring crises such as this.

By ownership, I mean ownership of cultural destiny. That is the ability to connect with the best hopes of the past in order to fulfill and attain the dreams of the future. We know that this is possible because it is the lived experience of many other aboriginal cultures across Canada. Many have created a positive culture connected to the past that enables them to build for a hopeful future.

How we support such a future, as a matter of government policy, is difficult to prescribe, given that vastly different approaches are employed by band leaders across Canada. However, there are probably some principles that we could approach this with.

I believe the focus should be on empowering every member of a community, not just its leadership. I believe that transparency is fundamental to any democracy, including band councils. Without informed choice, ownership cannot be found.

I believe the rule of law matters and that many have lost faith in those who are supposed to protect them. The perceived impunity to crime on reserves undermines the hope for a better future. Equality before the law cannot be realized until the rule of law is properly enforced.

I believe that economic empowerment is key. Without the ability to see a way to provide for oneself and one's family, it is difficult to feel in control over one's future and to have hope.

This is where I would say the Conservative approach has perhaps differed from the Liberals. The Liberals have been very good at working with the chiefs, but the chiefs offer a very limited perspective on how to approach these issues. This is why the previous Conservative government worked on empowering individuals on reserve to enable them to contribute to a positive future for their community.

We passed matrimonial property rights to give women the same equality as men on property rights, something non-aboriginal women have had for over half a century in Canada. We created transparency in band finances, including transparency on the salary and benefits that band leadership received. We also invested significantly in job training and job creation so that community members could take ownership of their financial future. We signed new treaties in order to provide ownership for bands in British Columbia. As well, our government worked with all parties to issue a national apology for the residential schools program in order to fully and finally acknowledge the tragedy that took place.

I am sincerely grateful for the thoughtful approach that has been taken by the Liberal government in addressing this recent crisis. The solution to this crisis cannot be found in government programs. Instead, the solution is found in the connection of history to purpose to future.

This is something that has to be discovered. It cannot be administered through a program.

[Citizenship Act, March 10th, 2016]

Mr. Speaker, the hon. member pointed out that under Bill C-6, inhumane acts committed abroad can result in the revocation of citizenship. However, those same acts committed right here on Canadian territory could not result in someone's citizenship being revoked under Bill C-6.

I had the opportunity to sit down with a number of new citizens in my riding, who shared some of their concerns with regard to the legislation that is coming forward. Some of them commented that the reason they came to Canada to become members of the Canadian family was the heinous crimes committed in the countries they came from, huge atrocities committed against them and their families and also against governments.

All of that is to say they came here for the purposes of hope. With this change to Bill C-6, they are seeing very little of that. Could the member comment on that?

[Ethics, March 8th, 2016]

Mr. Speaker, the Liberal Party is using this trip and its position as government to fill party coffers in order to help out the friends of the Prime Minister.

At Christmastime, the Liberals were told that they had to stop this cash-for-access flow. This is exactly what they are doing now, however, only three short months later. They seem to be promising donors access to the Prime Minister and the ministers who are going with him. We have seen this all before with the Liberals.

My question is this: why do the Liberals continue to blur the lines between their party and their position as government?

[Employment, February 5th, 2016]

Mr. Speaker, January through March is the peak season in the oil patch, but instead of working hard to provide for their families, western Canadians are now contemplating what they are going to do when their EI benefits run out. Yesterday, the Prime Minister refused to commit to anything until his anti-energy budget comes down, but the crisis is now and action is needed immediately.

I have to ask, is the Prime Minister simply refusing to acknowledge there is a need or is he just absolutely unaware of it?

[Screamin Brothers, February 3rd, 2016]

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to celebrate the astounding achievement of two young men from my riding of Lethbridge, Alberta.

In the wake of the 2010 Haiti earthquake, J.R., at the age of 10, and Dawson, at the age of 9, wanted to find a way to help their newly adopted brother who was stranded in an orphanage in Haiti. The solution was the creation of a company called Screamin Brothers ice cream, which is a frozen treat made from fair-trade ingredients. It is also dairy and gluten free.

With sales of over half a million this year and a national distribution agreement, these young men are proven entrepreneurs. They literally had the investors from Dragon's Den throwing money at them asking them to partner.

Five years later, these brothers continue to give 5% of their profits back to charity on an ongoing basis.

I would like to congratulate J.R. and Dawson for being nominated for the young entrepreneur award in the 2016 Alberta business awards of distinction.

These young men remind us that, regardless of age, with a huge dream and determination, anything is possible.

[The Economy, January 27th, 2016]

Mr. Speaker, Alberta has not seen job losses as it does today since 1982. Over 100,000 jobs have disappeared.

Over the Christmas holiday I had the opportunity and the privilege to talk with many Albertans in my riding. It was made very clear to me that people are concerned about their present and their future.

National pipeline projects are stalled because the Liberal government does not believe in Canada's energy sector.

The Prime Minister promised Canadian young people a vibrant future and meaningful employment. However, as far as the government is concerned, right now we are seeing one of the worst layoffs this country has ever seen.

This is gutting the middle class, causing families to lose their homes, their livelihoods and hope for their future. Each day that these pipelines are delayed the Canadian economy loses out on $50 million.

On behalf of all Canadians, I urge the Prime Minister to put down his selfie stick and get to work building these pipelines.