Raymonde Folco

[National Family Week, September 28th, 2001]

Mr. Speaker, today I would like to draw attention to National Family Week, which will be October 1 to 7 this year. It is a week that provides us with the opportunity to acknowledge the importance and vitality of families in our society.

This year's theme is “Volunteering is a family affair. Connect with Kindness”. This being the International Year of Volunteers, the two part theme lets us call attention to the remarkable work of contributing to family solidarity.

The family, the foundation of our society, represents the roots of all Canadians. The events surrounding National Family Week will emphasize just how important families are.

[Yom Kippur, September 26th, 2001]

Mr. Speaker, for Jews around the world, today's sunset marks the beginning of the celebrations of Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement.

Yom Kippur is a time for contemplation, reflection and meditation, and it is also one of the most important dates on the Hebraic calendar.

On this Yom Kippur, 2001, I extend my warmest wishes to all those Canadians celebrating a day of prayer.

It is at a time like this, following the tragic events in the United States, that Canadians can truly appreciate the need for reflection and renewal that is fundamental to the Yom Kippur celebrations.

[Terrorism, September 25th, 2001]

Mr. Speaker, this being my first day in the House since the beginning of the new session, I would like to take this opportunity to express my sorrow at the tragic events that took place in New York and Washington on September 11.

These events, where thousands of people, Americans, Canadians and citizens of a great many countries, lost their lives, brought out the best qualities in Canadians, our solidarity, our community spirit and our compassion. These events touched the very hearts of people around the world, and Canadians are no exception to this.

On behalf of the residents of Laval West, and on my own behalf, I extend sincere condolences to the families and friends of the victims and to the American people.

[Employment Insurance, September 24th, 2001]

Mr. Speaker, we have received the report by the House of Commons committee and are studying it. As agreed, we will be making a public response.

[Social Insurance Numbers, September 24th, 2001]

Mr. Speaker, as I said earlier, we have implemented many measures to protect the social insurance number, as the auditor general has recognized.

The member is referring to a business that provides a certain type of technology. But I believe that the use of such a system raises concerns about the protection of personal information.

We want to be sure we continue to detect fraud and abuse and to protect personal information.

[Social Insurance Numbers, September 24th, 2001]

Mr. Speaker, the government has acted in a number of significant ways to protect the integrity of the social insurance number. This has been recognized in the auditor general's report of December 2000. In the last two years we have conducted approximately 7,000 investigations per year, up from earlier levels of 2,500 investigations per year.

We have resources within the government and within the department that are specifically dedicated to protecting the SIN from abuse and we have specialized equipment to detect false identification documents.

[Access To Information, June 8th, 2001]

Mr. Speaker, as I said before, during the year 2000-01, HRDC replied to over 1,442 requests, representing a release of 130,000 pages. I add that this represents a 106% increase over the previous year.

I think the member of parliament opposite is using vastly overblown language because the ever increasing number and complexity of ATI requests over the past few years have often required the department to compile files from many places, both inside and outside the department.

[Access To Information, June 8th, 2001]

Mr. Speaker, the department is committed to transparency and to providing information contained in departmental records to Canadians in a timely manner.

I remind the hon. member that in 1999-2000, HRDC received an excellent rating from the Office of the Information Commissioner. During the 2000-01 fiscal year, HRDC responded to 1,442 ATI requests, representing a release of over 130,000 pages.

[Employment Insurance, June 8th, 2001]

Mr. Speaker, since the employment insurance reform, the system has covered all workers from their first hour of work and first dollar earned.

This is the legislation that allowed us to deliver programs more easily to Canadians. However, there are always situations in which workers cannot accumulate sufficient hours to be entitled to employment insurance, and we are looking at this problem now.

[Centre De La Nature De Laval, June 8th, 2001]

Mr. Speaker, on May 11, the Centre de la nature de Laval received the Kéroul award. This Prix du tourisme award is given to a tourist or cultural establishment which excels in its efforts to welcome or serve clients with limited physical ability.

In its desire to provide equitable service to all visitors, the centre has designed a unique play area accessible to all children, with or without a physical handicap.

This initiative makes the Centre de la nature de Laval a model of accessibility and gives persons with limited physical ability equitable access to the services offered.