Wayne Easter

[Protecting Canada's Immigration System Act, March 15th, 2012]

Mr. Speaker, I am smiling because the member said that the bill allows for taking into consideration of human hardship and compassionate grounds. Compassion from that party? I do not think so.

The member also mentioned that there are safeguards in place surrounding the ultimate power of the minister. Would he care to list those safeguards? I do not find the safeguards in the bill to be very strong. Could he outline to me what they are?

[Protecting Canada's Immigration System Act, March 15th, 2012]

Mr. Speaker, I did not intend to get up, but the member never answered the question he was asked. It was a very serious question.

I know the member. I have been in his riding. There are a lot of new Canadians in that riding, and they came in under our current system.

What we are worried about is abuse of the system, unnecessary detention. If the Minister of Citizenship, Immigration and Multiculturalism is to be the sole decision-maker on what is a “safe country of origin”, I do not believe, given the record of the Conservative government, there would be proper accountability. It dangerously politicizes the refugee system. We know of so many other areas where the government has really been unaccountable.

How can the member stand in his place and say that he has confidence in this new system when he knows that his own government would politicize the system for the government's own reasons?

[Air Service Operations Legislation, March 13th, 2012]

Mr. Speaker, the member said in his remarks that the government must “act for Canadian businesses”. A lot of business actually depends on working people having money in their pockets to purchase goods and services from small Canadian businesses. They must have decent wages, too. Part of the problem with the airlines is the excessive wages taken by executives or management while workers have taken cuts. Look at it this way. When former CEO Robert Milton took about $100 million out of this country while the workers took cuts, what did that do for Canadian business?

When the government talks about the economy, is the government really using the economy as a fig leaf while it beats up on trade unions, especially national ones? We have seen it with Canada Post, we are seeing it with the airlines and we are seeing it with public sector unions. Is the government using the economy as a fig leaf instead of trying to find the balance between—

[Air Service Operations Legislation, March 13th, 2012]

Mr. Speaker, I can see that the government members are glued to their chairs. They do not dare ask the member a question because what he would tell them would be the facts.

It is great to listen to the member for Winnipeg Centre. Winnipeg is where a lot of the labour movement got its start in this country. What surprised me is that he said in his remarks that it makes one wonder whose side the government is on. I think the member for Winnipeg Centre would agree that it is obvious. The Conservatives clearly are on the side of establishment and big business. There are other examples as well since the Conservatives have come to power.

I fought side by side with the member for Winnipeg Centre in trying to retain the Canadian Wheat Board. We said at the time that the big Canadian grain companies would be bought out by the Americans. In fact it looks like that will happen. As well, we fought side by side against the railways. The government has failed to implement a service review to protect farmers.

Is it not obvious and true that the government is undermining the rights of workers and attacking the people who are not in a position of power? The Conservatives continually take the side of the corporation in almost every argument we have seen before the House since they have become the government.

[Air Service Operations Legislation, March 13th, 2012]

Mr. Speaker, I enjoyed the member's remarks. She talked a lot about the process of collective bargaining and how important that is. I would agree that many of the benefits and rights and wages that all working people have, union and non-union, are really a result of the fair and open collective bargaining process that is allowed to work. That has been prevented in this case.

I have to say the following, as the Parliamentary Secretary to the Prime Minister and to the Minister of Intergovernmental Affairs was just up. This is a government that does not care about process. The parliamentary secretary's answers every day in this House on the election process, through the cover-up that he is instituting, just show the disdain of the members opposite for the election process.

The parliamentary secretary knows there is only one party charged with a search warrant, and that is the Conservative Party. He knows that as a result of the in and out scandal, the Conservative Party just paid a $230,000 fine because it was caught in election fraud.

On this particular issue, the actions of the Minister of Labour are showing disdain for the collective bargaining process as well, so the government does not care about process. Would the member agree?

[Air Service Operations Legislation, March 13th, 2012]

Mr. Speaker, I find it almost unbelievable listening to this member of the governing party, in terms of the excuses. It is as if any excuse will do when taking away the rights of workers to allow the collective bargaining process to work. That is what the government has done. The member tries to justify it by saying it is a fragile economy. What about the workers?

Earlier my colleague talked about what Air Canada workers did in the restructuring. They have never regained the ground they lost from that point in time.

How much did Robert Milton take out of the economy when he left? Was it $100 million. What about the executive salaries at Air Canada that have gone up excessively, around 400% and more, into the millions of dollars while workers have still not returned to where they were in the Air Canada restructuring, and it was the workers who gave their all to save the airline?

Now the member sits there and uses the fragile economy as an excuse when it is all about destroying the collective bargaining process. That is the pattern they have set.

How does that member account for himself in taking that position in a free and democratic society?

[Air Service Operations Legislation, March 13th, 2012]

Mr. Speaker, I hope the House was listening closely to the hon. member's remarks, because he made a lot of good points.

The fact is our aviation industry is not as competitive because of the costs the government imposes on it, everything from airport fees to taxes. He made a valid point in that the labour costs to the airline only account for 17%.

In the debate thus far, the government has been blaming the unions for not being able to get their membership to agree. I am of the view that, yes, the labour unions did the negotiations. They thought they had a deal. They know how the government operates by trying to impose its will. The government's policy is always to use back to work legislation. There is a certain amount of fear.

The union membership, which is democracy in and of itself, said no. The union members see the consequences on their families and communities in what the government is constantly doing by taking the side of management.

Does the member see that this is just more of the same old process? The government has signalled to labour unions and workers everywhere that it is coming down on the side of management, it is imposing its will and its fear on Canadians, and as a result, we are seeing these kinds of labour disputes and legislation to force them back to work.

[Points of Order, March 13th, 2012]

Mr. Speaker, on the point of the order that the parliamentary secretary raised, the fact of the matter is that the—

[Agricultural Safety Week, March 13th, 2012]

Mr. Speaker, I stand today to recognize Agricultural Safety Week. As a farmer, I understand very well the risk and the danger to operators and employees of many of the farm jobs we do. I am sure every farmer in the House would have a story to tell on the close calls or worse that have happened on their farms.

This year, Agricultural Safety Week is focusing on the assessment, improvement and further development of safety systems. The Canadian Agricultural Safety Association, in order to help farmers build a written farm safety plan, has developed a new tool called the Canada Farm Safe Plan.

It says that “This resource is flexible enough to be used by any sector in any province and can easily be customized to each producer's specific operation”. I encourage producers to use it.

In conclusion, I thank all farmers for the hard work they do all year round to ensure Canadians and people around the world have access to food of the utmost quality. I wish them good health as they accept the risks of life on the farm.

[Business of Supply, March 8th, 2012]

Mr. Speaker, I enjoyed the remarks by the member for Louis-Saint-Laurent. We certainly welcome the motion.

However, is it not part of the problem and one reason that we need stronger enforcement of Election Canada's rules that we cannot get answers in the House? In the current episode of Conservative election fraud, we are getting the same kinds of lines from the current Parliamentary Secretary to the Prime Minister as we did in the in and out scandal from the previous Parliamentary Secretary to the Prime Minister, the member for Nepean—Carleton.

I do not know whether the member was here, Mr. Speaker, but you will remember that was the case when we raised questions about the in and out scandal. The parliamentary secretary would get up and say “$5,000 in, $5,000 out”, in and out, and all of them over there on the Conservative backbench would all smile and clap and cheer. Well, they are not smiling today, because they have dropped their appeal to the Supreme Court and paid a $230,000 fine because they are guilty as charged in the in and out election scandal.

However, we are getting the same kinds of answers this time from the current parliamentary secretary to the prime minister, and so there is something seriously wrong with the government's holding itself to account on these election issues.

My question to the member is this. Even though the Prime Minister is saying he is in favour of this motion, how are we going to ensure that it will actually be enforced, because we know the government would do anything to cover up its election fraud?