Yvon Godin

[Petitions, October 31st, 2013]

Mr. Speaker, I have a petition here from my constituency. The petitioners call upon the Government of Canada to immediately reverse the funding cuts to VIA Rail, secure the future of passenger rail services through federal legislation and long-term funding for VIA Rail, and invest in a high-speed network to get Canadians to the 21st century in transportation that they deserve.

[Post-secondary Education, October 29th, 2013]

Mr. Speaker, last week, I had the opportunity to meet with representatives of the Canadian Federation of Students to discuss the impact of high tuition and student debt on the future of our young people.

I would like to reaffirm my support for our Canadian youth and for access to high-quality, affordable post-secondary education for everyone. To that end, it is important to reduce the level of student debt by investing directly in post-secondary education and increasing the number and the amount of non-refundable bursaries.

The future of our country and our economy rests with our young people. We have to put in place measures to give them a good start in adult life by making post-secondary education as accessible as possible for all youth who want it.

[Economic Action Plan 2013 Act No. 2, October 29th, 2013]

Mr. Speaker, I listened to my colleague on the other side of the House say that her government wants to protect workers. At the same time, that same government is fighting very hard through the backbench members of Parliament putting bills in the House and the Senate to almost get rid of unions.

I worked underground. Within 18 months, six of my colleagues were killed underground. I remember Westray Mine when 26 guys were killed underground. The law has to be very strong when it comes to the workplace and the workers. The only ones that could save the workers and the workplace, I really believe, is the unions. If people do not have unions, they do not have the right to speak. They know they will lose their jobs.

I went through all of that. I know what I am talking about and I am sure the hon. member knows what I am talking about. I am wondering why the government would not send it to the right committee, to labour, and bring the right people in to speak to that bill, instead of sending it to the finance committee, which has nothing to do with it.

[Economic Action Plan 2013 Act No. 2, October 29th, 2013]

Mr. Speaker, the training program was established in 1997. I remember clearly that it was first introduced in New Brunswick. It involved the transfer of EI Part II benefits for training in the provinces, and that was a provincial responsibility. The government agreed that this was under provincial jurisdiction and at the same time, it was an opportunity to provide training for jobs in small and medium-sized businesses. The problem with the new federal government program is that small and medium-sized businesses do not get that money.

Does my colleague agree that what the federal government has actually done is to transfer training funds to the large companies that already have money and are responsible for the training of their workforce? This does not help economic development in rural areas, as the old program did.

[Petitions, October 21st, 2013]

Mr. Speaker, I have a list of petitioners who call upon the Government of Canada to ensure that Canada Post supports the local economy by preserving local jobs and maintaining mail processing at post offices in local cities, towns and communities throughout New Brunswick and that prior to making any change to their mail processing and transportation network, Canada Post conduct a true and in-depth study into the service and economic impact on local communities.

The petitioners call for an open and transparent consultation with the local communities that will be impacted by the change and that Canada Post reveal its long-term operational plan to Parliament and to the Canadian public.

[Canadian Economy, October 17th, 2013]

Mr. Speaker, I listened very closely to the Liberal leader's speech. I remember that in 1994 the Liberals made huge cuts to health care. In the 1980s, the federal government transferred 50% of health care costs to the provinces and, under the Liberals, that dropped to 17%. In 1994, the Liberals slashed money for our lone public radio station, the CBC, by $400 million.

In addition to all that, in 1996, the Liberals made cuts to employment insurance. The Liberal leader spoke about the suffering of middle-class families, but I remember that the Liberals made cuts of not just $57 million, but $57 billion that affected men and women who had lost their jobs.

I want to ask the Liberal leader why, in his speech, he did not talk about employment insurance and the cuts the Conservatives continued to make following the Liberals?

[Not Criminally Responsible Reform Act, June 18th, 2013]

Mr. Speaker, on a point of order, I remember Brian Mulroney not paying his taxes on $250,000, and he was the Prime Minister of this country.

[Government Appointments, June 18th, 2013]

gmailMr. Speaker, the Office of the Public Sector Integrity Commissioner is probing the Conservatives' mismanagement of the Enterprise Cape Breton Corporation.

Chief executive officer John Lynn is under investigation for hiring four employees with ties to the Minister of National Defence and the Conservative Party.

The bilingualism requirement was removed and the positions were not even posted. Why is the Minister of Defence using the Enterprise Cape Breton Corporation to find jobs for his friends?

[Questions Passed as Orders for Returns, June 17th, 2013]

With regard to the Centre of Excellence for Evaluation (CEE) of the Treasury Board Secretariat: (a) why is the 2012 Annual Report on the Health of the Evaluation Function not available online; (b) why are official languages not included in the 2011 Annual Report on the Health of the Evaluation Function; (c) how are official languages integrated into the work of the CEE; (d) does the CEE work closely with the Official Languages Centre of Excellence and, if so, how; (e) how are official languages integrated into the evaluation function as regards expenditure management in the public service as a whole; (f) why are official languages not included in the Leadership Competencies for Federal Heads of Evaluation; (g) why are official languages not included in the Policy on Evaluation; (h) how does the CEE ensure that federal institutions have access to external evaluators with official languages experience when necessary; (i) how many CEE employees work on files with an official languages component; (j) does the Framework for Professional Development for Evaluators have an official languages component and, if so, what is it; (k) why has the Audit and Evaluation Database been offline for a number of weeks, and when will it be working again; and (l) how does the CEE ensure that the tools it provides on its website take into account its official languages obligations?

[Labour, June 17th, 2013]

Mr. Speaker, with Bill C-377, the Conservatives are going after unions the same way the IRS went after the Tea Party in the United States. The Canada Revenue Agency is trying to squeeze $72 million out of unions.

The Minister of National Revenue continues to claim that she has not put a figure to the penalties, but an internal document from her agency proves the opposite. Why?