Wayne Long

[Labour, June 17th, 2019]

Mr. Speaker, unions built the middle class in Saint John—Rothesay, and today, unions like IBEW, CUPW, CUPE, PSAC, ILA, Unifor, IAFF, and SJPA, and union leaders like Darlene Bembridge, Duane Squires, Craig Melvin, Erin Howell-Sharpe, Tammy Nadeau, Pat Riley, Kevin Suttie, and Jean Marc Ringuette are pillars of my community.

In 2015, the people of Saint John—Rothesay sent me here to stand up for them. One of the ways I have done just that since taking office is by standing up for my constituents' collective bargaining rights, both in this House and at HUMA, where I was tremendously proud to stand up for Bill C-4 and Bill C-62 to repeal of Conservative anti-union legislation in both places.

I will always stand up for the rights of workers in my riding, and I will always stand up for good middle-class jobs for the people of Saint John—Rothesay.

[Disability Awareness Week, May 29th, 2019]

Mr. Speaker, on Sunday I was honoured to help kick off Disability Awareness Week celebrations at key industries in Saint John.

Disability Awareness Week is a time for all of us to promote accessibility and inclusion, and to celebrate the incredible social and economic contributions that Canadians with disabilities make to our communities. It is also a time for us to redouble our commitment to the protection of the rights of persons with disabilities.

Our government is doing this by advancing Bill C-81, which represents the most significant advancement of rights of persons with disabilities in Canada since the advent of the charter. I was thrilled to be able to contribute to the strengthening of this historic legislation at committee, and I look forward to standing up for the rights of persons with disabilities by standing up for this legislation later this week.

I will always stand up for the rights of persons with disabilities in Saint John—Rothesay.

[Youth Employment, May 14th, 2019]

Mr. Speaker, young people in my great riding of Saint John—Rothesay are worried about finding well-paying jobs after they graduate. Thanks to our government's investment in the youth employment strategy, more young people in Saint John—Rothesay are getting the training and skills they need to reach their full potential.

Can the Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Employment please update this House on what our government is doing to help young people in my riding get ahead?

[The Environment, May 10th, 2019]

Madam Speaker, as residents of a coastal community, we live on the front lines of the battle against climate change in Saint John—Rothesay.

I would like the incredible young leaders from Saint John High School, St. Malachy’s Memorial High School, Harbour View High School, Simonds High School and Rothesay High School, who demonstrated last week to call upon their elected representatives to take concrete action to tackle climate change, to know this. I rise today on this “Fridays for Future” to stand in solidarity with them by standing in support of our federal government's plan to tackle climate change.

Our government's plan is the most ambitious federal government climate change plan in Canadian history. The incredible young leaders in Saint John—Rothesay, who took to the streets to demand climate action, deserve a member of Parliament who will stand up for them in this place by standing up for such ambitious climate action.

[Seniors, April 11th, 2019]

Mr. Speaker, seniors in Saint John—Rothesay deserve more support from their federal government. That is why I am pleased to rise today to talk about the historic investments our government is making in support for our seniors through budget 2019.

To help low-income working seniors keep more of what they earn, we are enhancing the GIS earnings exemption to provide a full or partial exemption on up to $15,000 of annual employment income. We are also investing an additional $100 million over five years for the new horizons seniors program.

Finally, we are working to ensure that all seniors have access to the prescription drugs they need, regardless of their means, by moving toward the full implementation of a national pharmacare program. We are doing this by establishing the Canadian drug agency, a national formulary and a national strategy for high-cost drugs for rare diseases. These investments will change the lives of thousands of seniors in my riding.

[Saint John—Rothesay, December 13th, 2018]

Mr. Speaker, the holiday season is a time to reflect upon the year that has passed and give a hand to those most in need in our communities. Today, I rise to reflect upon two ways our government is giving a hand to those most in need in Saint John—Rothesay.

This fall, I was thrilled to make an announcement of something that had been three years in the making: nearly $2.7 million in federal funding for the Saint John Human Development Council's UYES! project. This funding will help give 183 at-risk youth in our community the opportunity to acquire the job skills they need to find gainful employment.

I am also thrilled to announce that over 7,000 families in Saint John—Rothesay are benefiting from an average Canada child benefit payment of $670 a month. These investments in progressive social programs will help lift thousands of my constituents out of poverty and ensure that more families in our community have roofs over their heads and food on their tables at every passing Christmas.

[Business of Supply, December 4th, 2018]

Madam Speaker, one thing the member opposite did not mention was getting pipelines approved and built to tidewater.

I am from the riding of Saint John—Rothesay, where potentially at one point a pipeline may end. I am confused at times by the stance of the party opposite on pipelines. On the one hand, the Leader of the Opposition speaks about how he is going to approve pipelines, but on the other hand the leader is in the province of Quebec advocating for its jurisdictional rights over its decisions. In fact, he has a website called “Listening to Quebecers”.

Will the member stand and say he supports energy east and that he will be a champion for that pipeline with all his Quebec colleagues?

[Saint John Labourers' Benevolent Association, November 20th, 2018]

Mr. Speaker, last week, I was proud to attend the unveiling of a Parks Canada plaque commemorating the national historic importance of the founding of the Saint John Labourers' Benevolent Association in my riding of Saint John—Rothesay.

Saint John's ship labourers were among the earliest groups of day labourers, or casual workers, in British North America to organize when they formed the Saint John Labourers' Benevolent Association in 1849. After its merger with the International Longshoremen's Association in 1911, the strength of this union continued into the early 20th century, when its members helped to found the New Brunswick Federation of Labour and shape provincial legislation establishing a workmen's compensation system.

The founding of the union defied conventional views toward casual labourers, proving that it was indeed possible for casual labourers to successfully organize and lobby for their rights. Indeed, the precedent set by this union was instrumental in empowering workers across the Maritimes and across Canada.

[Standing Committee on Human Resources, Skills and Social Development and the Status of Persons with Disabilities, November 2nd, 2018]

Madam Speaker, I move:

That Motion No. 192 be amended to change the words “February 2019” with the words “May 16, 2019”.

[Record Suspension Program, October 24th, 2018]

Madam Speaker, I rise tonight with great pride on behalf of my beautiful riding of Saint John—Rothesay to cap off the second hour of debate on my private member's motion, Motion No. 161.

I can say as the member of Parliament for Saint John—Rothesay, a riding that is on the front lines of the war on poverty, that we need to do everything we can to advance polices that will help us tackle poverty reduction in my riding and across the country. It is my number one priority. That is why I used my opportunity to introduce Motion No. 161, a motion that will allow me to move us as close as I can as a member of the House to my goal of eradicating poverty and creating a more just society.

As I stated at the outset of this debate, we have all made mistakes in our lives. I believe in second chances when they are deserved. I would like to believe we live in a society that can forgive past transgressions when such forgiveness is shown to be merited.

Sometimes mistakes that happen early in life can lead to a criminal record. When a mistake is properly addressed, it is best for everyone, both the offender and society, to move on. As a society, we need to be able to give deserving citizens a second chance.

I know the vast majority of my colleagues across the aisle agree with me on this. Indeed, my colleague from Sherwood Park—Fort Saskatchewan asserted that they do when he said in the first hour of debate of this motion, “We recognize the important role that record suspension plays in allowing people to move on from that phase of their life if there is clear indication of rehabilitation”.

As we have heard over the course of this debate, it is unfortunately the case that the criminal justice system often fails to provide this second chance for many deserving Canadians, especially those in low-income situations.

Approximately 3.8 million Canadians have a criminal record, but very few eligible Canadians apply for a record suspension, and less than 11% of those convicted of crimes have been granted a pardon or record suspension.

In addition, over 17,000 fewer Canadians have been able to successfully reintegrate into society and join the workforce as a direct result of the changes made to the pardon system by the previous government, including the quadrupling of the application fee. This represents a 57% drop in applications since the previous government's changes came into effect. Is this fair? Does this show compassion? I think not. It also represents thousands of Canadians who are unable to secure employment and successfully reintegrate into society.

However, this is not only about giving those who have atoned for their past mistakes an opportunity to escape poverty; it is also about keeping our streets and communities safe. When those with criminal records are unable to secure employment because they are unable to overcome the barriers to securing a suspension of their record, they are far more likely to repeat the mistakes of their past than they would be if they were able to acquire gainful employment.

Breaking down these barriers to reintegration erected by the previous government is not just the right thing to do from a moral and public safety perspective, it is the right thing to do from an economic perspective. It costs taxpayers over $117,000 a year to incarcerate an individual, not to mention the hit our economy takes as a result of lost productivity.

In order to be tough on crime, we must be tough on poverty. In this sense, a vote in favour of this motion is a vote for addressing the root causes of poverty and crime. A vote against it represents nothing more than a partisan virtue signalling that does nothing to address poverty or crime.

It is time to put partisanship aside. We must all roll up our sleeves and work across the aisle to tackle the scourge of crime and poverty head-on.

I truly hope my colleagues across the way will vote with their conscience on this. If they truly care about getting tough on crime, they will.