Ralph Goodale

[Pensions, December 2nd, 2010]

Mr. Speaker, the Liberal government increased funding for health care by $43 billion.

The Conservatives broke their promise never to tax income trusts, but they did that in their first budget, thus swiping $25 billion from the retirement savings of two million innocent seniors. They have delivered nothing to fix the public pension system, so two-thirds of Canadians still have no significant retirement savings.

However, Conservatives spend 30% more on a bloated Prime Minister's Office and some ministers are bloating themselves with 200% increases in expenditures. Why so self-indulgent?

[Pensions, December 2nd, 2010]

Mr. Speaker, under the Conservative government, poverty among senior citizens has jumped by 25%. Veterans are forced to hold protest rallies to fight for their pensions. Conservative senators right now are killing the pensions of Nortel workers who suffer from Parkinson's disease and other long-term disabilities, and those members over there laugh. In 30 days those pensioners will be destitute.

Why such carnage wreaked on the elderly and disabled, while Conservatives lavish billions of dollars on the richest corporations and stealth aircraft?

[Pensions, December 2nd, 2010]

Mr. Speaker, in October the Minister of Human Resources and Skills Development wrote a long memo promoting her cuts to the guaranteed income supplement. When the Liberal MP for Humber—St. Barbe—Baie Verte blew the whistle, the minister put her cuts under review. However, yesterday the Prime Minister contradicted the minister. In full damage control, he claimed GIS cuts were cancelled.

Is there any review? Have all GIS cuts been fully cancelled, retroactively? Why was the minister still promoting her hare-brained scheme just a few days ago?

[Pensions, November 29th, 2010]

Mr. Speaker, “stealth” means sneaking up on the enemy, not sneaking up on taxpayers or needy Canadians.

On the government's watch, the poverty rate among senior citizens has exploded by 25%. On the government's watch, hundreds of long-term disability pensioners from Nortel will lose all their benefits. In just 32 days they will be out on the street and Conservatives will not lift a finger.

Why does the government choose multi-billion dollar corporate giveaways, jails and jets ahead of pensions for needy Canadians?

[National Defence, November 29th, 2010]

Mr. Speaker, the big, risky Conservative stealth scheme is such a dud the government had to send out a travelling road show to try to peddle it to Canadians. Meanwhile, the Pentagon, the U.S. Senate, the British, the Dutch, Denmark, Norway are all having serious doubts and now this additional angst from our own defence department about big, new costs, unaccounted for costs, for extra infrastructure, maintenance and security.

Why does the government not accept the Auditor General's warning that its stealth project is at risk of overruns of 100%?

[National Defence, November 29th, 2010]

Mr. Speaker, the full story is dribbling out about the big, risky Conservative scheme to buy stealth fighter jets with no competition, no transparency, no accountability. The Auditor General calls it high risk and today there is news about more risk, very expensive extra costs for maintenance, infrastructure and security, all in addition to the all-time record $16 billion already admitted.

Where will it end? Does the government have any limit for this big, risky Conservative scheme?

[Finance, November 24th, 2010]

Mr. Speaker, look at the Minister of Finance's sorry record in Ontario.

While the federal government of that day moved transfers to provinces up and up to the highest level in Canadian history, including $43 billion for health care, the minister's Conservative government in Ontario borrowed billions for unaffordable tax cuts. The Conservatives drove up the deficit, left massive debt, closed 23 hospitals, fired 8,000 nurses, fired food inspectors and wrought the deadly Conservative disaster of Walkerton.

How can Canadians trust such an awful record?

[Finance, November 24th, 2010]

Mr. Speaker, the member's flag is made of Cellophane. The emperor has no clothes.

He rails against big, risky spending schemes, but what about a $1 billion for fake lakes, glow sticks and a wasted weekend on the G20? What about $16 billion for stealth fighters, $10 billion for jails and $6 billion every year for extra tax breaks for the wealthy?

Why are these big, risky Conservative schemes exempt from austerity?

[Finance, November 24th, 2010]

Mr. Speaker, the finance minister wraps himself in the flag of austerity, but it is made of Cellophane.

[Taxation, November 22nd, 2010]

Mr. Speaker, the government says that helping families care for sick loved ones is reckless, fixing long-term disability pensions for desperate Nortel workers is risky, helping students get to university is risky, but somehow it is not risky or reckless to borrow another $6 billion to give an extra tax break to big corporations.

Those corporations already had their taxes cut by 35%. They already have the second lowest rate in the G7 and a 10-point tax advantage over the U.S.

Why is helping families reckless, but $6 billion for the richest corporations is not?