Wayne Marston

[Taxation, June 14th, 2007]

Mr. Speaker, first the government destroyed public affordable child care. Then at tax time it clawed back its own $1,200 benefit. Now it is asking women to prove they are single after a change in marital status while withholding the child tax benefit.

Last week alone five women came to my constituency office asking why they had to go to food banks and crisis centres to survive. The government needs to do what is right by putting a woman's advocate in all government departments.

When will the government direct the Canada Revenue Agency to stop humiliating women and have their child tax benefits--

[Community Beach Ponds, June 11th, 2007]

Mr. Speaker, the Community Beach Ponds, also known as the Turtle Ponds, are one of the best remaining examples of diverse urban biospheres and are found in the Stoney Creek portion of my riding. Sadly, Turtle Ponds are at risk of being sold to housing developers.

The current land owners, our two school boards, cannot be faulted for wanting to sell and make money. We all know the shameful state of education financing in this country where the Conservative government and past Liberal governments have wiped their hands of providing adequate funding for our schools.

The government failed to take any steps to assist the other levels of government interested in protecting the Turtle Ponds.

There is historical proof of the presence of two turtles that are species at risk in this area, but no recent studies have been done to see if those at risk species are still present. A blue-spotted salamander species is present and is considered a rare and ecologically valuable wetland species.

The Conservative government needs to act now to help preserve this natural area and ensure that it is safe from development and remains a protected area of biodiversity for the community and future generations.

[Business of Supply, June 7th, 2007]

Mr. Speaker, the member's comments draw to mind the newspaper headline following the last election in Nova Scotia which stated that the NDP is a government in waiting. With the references to what that premier has been doing, now I am starting to understand why.

My question is very simple. I would never claim to be a mathematician, but if there is no exclusion, that is a billion dollar loss for Atlantic Canada. It should be that simple. When we have Premiers MacDonald and Williams and former premier John Hamm all saying that the government has betrayed them, again I say, who is next?

[Business of Supply, June 7th, 2007]

Mr. Speaker, I rise in my place today very troubled. We went through an election campaign where we were promised honest and accountable government with good stewardship. In Hamilton where we have lost 11,000 manufacturing jobs in the last year alone, we are facing a situation where there is no manufacturing strategy. We have had the softwood sellout. Now Premier MacDonald, Premier Williams and former premier Hamm are flatly saying that the government has betrayed people.

My question for the member opposite is, how low does he think they will go and who is next?

[Tiananmen Square, June 5th, 2007]

Mr. Speaker, yesterday, people around the world paused to remember the 18th anniversary of the massacre at Tiananmen Square in Beijing, China.

From April to June in 1989, pro-democracy and labour activists, intellectuals and students gathered in a series of protests in the Beijing square. Eighteen years ago yesterday, on June 4 the military cracked down on protesters and several hundred to several thousand were killed.

Recently I had the opportunity to travel to Beijing. For 10 minutes I stood in Tiananmen Square and paid homage to those who were killed, injured or imprisoned for something that we Canadians sometimes take for granted: freedom of speech.

It would be ideal if one could stand here today and say that there have been great improvements in respect for and promotion of human rights in China. Even as China prepares to open its doors to the world for the Beijing Olympics in the summer of 2008, its record is abysmal.

Falun Gong practitioners continue to be targeted and claims of organ harvesting are being investigated and corroborated by international investigators. Ethnic minorities, like the Uyghurs, continue to be persecuted. Canadian citizens, like Huseyin Celil, are kept in detention and denied their consular rights.

Before, during and after the Beijing games, the world will turn its attention on China in a way as never before. I would encourage the government to take every opportunity to engage in respectful dialogue with--

[Criminal Code, June 5th, 2007]

Mr. Speaker, most members understood during the last election campaign that the Canadian public wanted some changes, but Bill C-35, in my opinion, is simply codifying what the justices of our country are doing already. In fact, to some extent, it is window dressing.

One of my concerns is that it is easy to run on a law and order platform, but we cannot lose sight of the fact that rehabilitation is one of the most important avenues of protecting the public, because we know that convicted criminals will one day be back on our streets. I ask the member if he would support the fact that it is essential for our government to make sure that rehabilitation gets equal time in its law and order platform.

[Budget Implementation Act, 2007, June 4th, 2007]

Mr. Speaker, earlier the member for Saint John spoke about Bill C-45, which was a Liberal budget bill from the last Parliament. He talked about the transfers to cities for transit. It struck me how ironic that was because it was known in many circles as the NDP better balanced budget, after the member for Toronto—Danforth negotiated with the then prime minister, the member for LaSalle—Émard, to change from $4.5 billion of corporate tax breaks and have that money transferred to the municipalities.

Which way did the member support that bill, for the tax breaks for corporations or the transfers that we negotiated?

[Budget Implementation Act, 2007, June 4th, 2007]

Mr. Speaker, I find it quite astounding to listen to the government member talk about people in poverty being able to raise themselves up with education when they do not even have enough money to eat. It is hard to fathom. As I indicated before, there are 93,000 people in Hamilton living in poverty.

However, the member opposite talked about interprovincial trade barriers. I spoke against that in the 1980s and it is still there.

I agree with the early learning and child care. It is not often that I find myself agreeing with Liberals but on this occasion, as a former school board trustee, I was there when that program started and it was a vital program for our young people.

Would the member opposite agree that it is also time for a national drug program for Canadians throughout this country? When the government has $15 billion, why can it not do things like this?

[Budget Implementation Act, 2007, June 4th, 2007]

Mr. Speaker, on behalf of 93,000 Hamiltonians, many of them children, who live in poverty, I want to thank the member for Trinity—Spadina for reminding us of the failures of the government with this budget.

In fact, just yesterday I was at a walkathon, an annual charity fundraiser for Wesley Urban Ministries. The $85,000 that was raised is going to be applied to the needs of children in the east end of Hamilton.

It is very shameful from my perspective when so many people are hungry and are living on the streets of our country that the government would pay $15 billion down on a debt, but it could not spare $4 billion or $5 billion to address poverty in this country. To be quite clear, the Conservatives are just not getting this job done.

[Petitions, May 30th, 2007]

Mr. Speaker, today I rise to join other members of this House to present the wish of over 5,000 Canadians that this Parliament do what it can, be it through committee study or sending an official delegation to the United Nations, to end the political killings in the Philippines.

In just over five years, as members have heard, 750 people have been killed in politically motivated killings in the Philippines.

As parliamentarians, we must do all in our power to ensure that freedom of speech and democracy is respected in the Philippines as in all countries.