Health  Mr. Speaker, on September 26, I asked the Minister of Health to explain why the federal government intended to move ahead with the $36 billion in cuts imposed by Stephen Harper. Two days later, on September 28, the Minister of Health officially announced that the health transfer

Canada Pension Plan  Mr. Speaker, at the end of his speech, my colleague praised what the Conservatives did. However, the creation of pooled registered pension plans did not lead to the expected outcome of Canadians saving more for retirement. I am very concerned. When the member is in his riding, I

Questions on the Order Paper  With regard to the government’s claims that the new Canada Child Benefit will lift 60 000 Quebec children out of poverty: (a) what specific methods and projections did the government use to make that claim; (b) how many children in Quebec were living in poverty as of (i) January

Budget Implementation Act, 2016, No. 2  Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague for his speech. Since we work together on a committee that studies poverty, my question will not surprise him. I want to ask him about the indexing of the Canada child benefit, or rather the fact that it will not be indexed until 2020. That decr

Poverty  Mr. Speaker, Canada's food banks are telling us that in March alone close to one million people turned to food banks to feed themselves. Their report recommends that the government establish a poverty reduction strategy before October 1, 2017, in order to help these people. We h

Petitions  Mr. Speaker, we continue to receive petitions supporting Bill C-245, which I introduced to develop a poverty reduction strategy. I am therefore very proud again today to present more petitions in support of Bill C-245, which we will be voting on at second reading at the end of th

Pensions  Mr. Speaker, I find it hard to believe that the minister will not commit to fixing this problem. Women's Canada pension plan benefits are 30% lower on average. This is unacceptable and will get worse if the bill is not amended. In addition to costing women hundreds of dollars a

Instruction to the Standing Committee on Health  Madam Speaker, I will start by saying that I was a little surprised when I read this motion. New Democrats will support Motion No. 47, but I do have some comments to share with the sponsor. I really had to wonder why the member chose to present this kind of motion to the House.

Instruction to the Standing Committee on Health  Madam Speaker, I thank my colleague for raising this important issue because increasingly easy access is a menace. My question is along the same lines as my colleague's. This issue needs to be looked at in committee. As an action-oriented person who wants results fast, I wond

Canada Pension Plan  Mr. Speaker, when I meet with people in my riding, I realize that there are fewer and fewer workers who have access to an employer-sponsored retirement plan. These workers do not have the means to save for retirement. The Standing Committee on Human Resources, Skills and Social

Questions Passed as Orders for Returns  With regard to the Canada 150 Community Infrastructure Program: (a) how much has been invested in the federal ridings represented by (i) a minister, (ii) a parliamentary secretary, (iii) a member of the Liberal Party who is not a minister or parliamentary secretary, (iv) a member

Freedom of the Press  Mr. Speaker, for several days now, the NDP has been asking exactly how many journalists the RCMP and CSIS are spying on. When questioned about the Federal Court's decision on the collection of personal information, the director of CSIS said that he could not comment on operatio

Freedom of the Press  Mr. Speaker, the only acceptable answer is “zero”. However, neither the minister nor the Prime Minister can tell the people that no journalists are being spied on. When questioned about this, both the Minister of Public Safety and the Prime Minister replied that safeguards to pr

Saint-Hyacinthe—Bagot  Mr. Speaker, I am so proud to represent a riding that is home to dynamic small and medium-sized businesses that are constantly innovating. According to the Canadian Federation of Independent Business’s ranking of Canada's top entrepreneurial cities, Saint-Hyacinthe is the sixth

Budget Implementation Act, 2016, No. 2  Mr. Speaker, I said it before and I will say it again, poverty is not a partisan issue. In the time that I have been working with poor families and low-income individuals, I have relied on facts. The fact is that the benefit these families have been receiving since July will not