House of Commons photoLost his last election, in 2011, with 37% of the vote.
Petitions March 28th, 2007
Mr. Speaker, the second petition is from citizens of Dundas, Hamilton, London and Tavistock, Ontario who are asking the government to consider positively the private member's bill, Bill C-375, put forward by a member of our caucus to establish a federal minimum wage and set it at $10 an hour.
Petitions March 28th, 2007
Mr. Speaker, I have two petitions to present today. One is on behalf of some 300-plus citizens from the Kitchener, Waterloo, Cambridge area.
The petitioners are concerned with regard to the Employment Insurance Act in that given that time spent with children is important, employment insurance only kicks in once a child is born and does not recognize that some children must stay in the hospital for some time because they are either premature or sick.
The petition is calling for an amendment that would allow parents some provision to look after their sick or premature children while they are in hospital without their unemployment insurance kicking in.
Questions Passed as Orders for Returns March 21st, 2007
What funds, grants, loans and loan guarantees has FedNor issued and to what ridings since February 6, 2006, including the 2006-2007 Budget and up to today, and, in each case where applicable, please provide: (a) the program under which the payment was made; (b) the names of the recipients, if they were groups or organizations; (c) the monetary value of the payment made; and (d) the percentage of program funding covered by the payment received?
Passports March 1st, 2007
Mr. Speaker, this situation is going to get worse with the coming of the land crossing piece of the western hemisphere initiative next January. Northern, rural and remote Canada is being hit hardest as people drive 10 to 20 hours and pay for hotel rooms to access passport services.
Will the minister open up more passport offices? For example, there is no passport office in northeastern Ontario. He can open an office in Sault Ste. Marie, a border community with over a quarter of a million people within a three hour drive.
Passports are a government service and people are paying big bucks for that service. New passport offices would help clean up this mess.
Passports March 1st, 2007
Mr. Speaker, March break starts in a little over a week. Today I have three staff working exclusively on passports in my office, and it is not the only office. There is a crisis in passport service that has only become worse since early January.
We know that 500 new people have been hired and that Passport Canada staff are working flat out, but it is not improving the situation. Citizens are upset and angry. Our offices are not passport offices.
What is the minister doing to fix this?
Forestry Industry February 26th, 2007
Mr. Speaker, St. Marys Paper is an important employer in Sault Ste. Marie. Its 400 employees produce paper that is purchased primarily by magazines and large retail companies for high quality advertising flyers and catalogues. Bankruptcy protection means that St. Marys is part of a forestry sector in crises.
When the northern Ontario economy was in trouble before, the NDP government in Ontario stepped up and saved many mills and communities. Fifteen years later we need governments to step up.
It is good news that FedNor will commit to help with the technology upgrade that will make the company more competitive, but much more will be needed, including significant resources and a plan.
The federal government must return to its traditional role of helping to stabilize economies. Pensions must be protected. The government should immediately convene a summit of all stakeholders in the forestry sector to formulate a national recovery plan. This summit should look at trade and monetary policy, research and development, and manpower planning.
Working families are suffering. This crisis cannot be solved without governments doing their part.
Business of Supply February 20th, 2007
Mr. Speaker, I appreciate the member's comments and her participation in the debate today, and listening to all the good things the Conservatives have done since they came to power.
However, they are just not showing up on the street. I am out talking to people across the country and they are not telling me that life is any better. As a matter of fact, through information from an international study that was done on Canada, Armine Yalnizyan wrote an article recently indicating that poverty was rising among children and new immigrants; that the middle-class was finding it increasingly difficult to afford education and housing; and that 250,000 Canadians were living on the streets. Four hundred non-government organizations from 50 countries said this about our country. This is not a very good message to be sending, never mind the reality that exists on the streets.
How does the hon. member square that? How does she square the litany of accomplishments and achievements with what people are saying, as I travel the country, about the conditions in which they must live and the poverty that exists?
Business of Supply February 20th, 2007
Mr. Speaker, I want to say how disappointed I am. The road to hell is paved with good intentions: what kind of a statement is that? I came here full of hope. I came to the House in 2004 full of optimism that I could work with people of kindred spirit to change the circumstances for many of the people I served as a soup kitchen coordinator before I came here, so that we would make life better.
I have worked with a number of Bloc members on committee and have found them to be people of kindred spirit. I thought we could do something and make things better. Obviously this is a most important moment for me, in bringing forward a motion that would commit the federal government to an anti-poverty strategy, and now he says no. I do not--
Business of Supply February 20th, 2007
Mr. Speaker, from listening to some of the conversation today I have some hope that we might get to an anti-poverty strategy that might deal with some of the very difficult circumstances that many of our first nations people live with.
I was in Thunder Bay a little over a week ago and there the face of poverty is obviously aboriginal. Poverty is horrendous and terrible and should not exist in this country.
The United Nations has called on us, because we signed on to covenants, agreements, to address the human rights of all of our people, particularly our aboriginal people. The UN has been particularly scathing in its criticism of us. Today's motion flows from some of that international concern and the leadership that has been shown.
I am really disappointed that the Bloc has indicated that it is not going to support this motion. When the Bloc members get a chance to speak, I would like to ask them why it is that they cannot see that we have been called upon by the international community to live up to some of the covenants on human rights that we have signed. The conditions our aboriginal brothers and sisters live in need to be addressed by the federal government. We need an anti-poverty strategy to, at the very least, deal with that.
How would the member square the circle of the Bloc not supporting this very important motion that has at its very heart the righting of our relationship as a country with our first nations?
Business of Supply February 20th, 2007
Mr. Speaker, the member for St. Paul'ss made some valuable contribution to this debate, very constructive and positive recommendations. They could be part of an effective anti-poverty strategy rolling out of here today and tomorrow. It would send a message of hope and could be part of a vision for our country, one that would take us back to a time when we believed in a vision, where community mattered and people looked after each other.
I like the reference to health care because it needs to be part of this as well. Would the member and her party support a pharmacare program for all Canadians? Would she support a dental program, particularly for those most at risk and marginalized?