The Economy  Mr. Speaker, it seems that the deputy minister is the only one who has not read today's papers. The government needs to eliminate wasteful spending and mismanagement but instead we read in the papers that there will be legacies for these wonderful ministers of the crown. How ca

Employment Insurance  Mr. Speaker, the government does not want to deal with the question. It is very simple. We have a $40 billion surplus in that account. The chief actuary says that we only need $15 billion. It is obvious the government does not trust its own numbers. Since the minister must be u

Employment Insurance  Mr. Speaker, this question is for the finance minister. The chief actuary has said that a $15 billion EI surplus that exists is enough for the worst recession, but by March 2002, the EI account should be more than $40 billion. Premiums can be cut by 50 cents, yet all Canadians h

Employment Insurance  Mr. Speaker, perhaps the member did not realize that I did not ask about taxpayers' dollars. I spoke about Canadian workers' premiums. That is the problem. The government simply does not get it. The chief actuary has said that EI premiums could be cut to $1.75 and the EI system

Employment Insurance  Mr. Speaker, on November 30, EI premiums were cut by a measly nickel. This will save Canadian workers $19.50 a year. In January CPP premiums will go up by $172. This means that Canadian workers will pay an extra $150 a year in premiums. How, then, can the Minister of Finance cla

Employment Insurance  Mr. Speaker, in October, 26,000 full time jobs were lost and the unemployment rate increased to 7.3%. In this difficult economic time, job creation must be encouraged. The Minister of Finance said that payroll taxes are a cancer on job creation. Does the Minister of Human Resou

Employment Insurance  Mr. Speaker, the minister has some $40 billion surplus in the EI account. Our own chief actuary said that only $15 billion is needed for even the worst recession. The minister said that she will not cut premiums but there is more than enough money in the EI account. The ministe

Toronto  Mr. Speaker, it is a great pleasure for me to rise today to pay tribute to the little paper that grew on its 30th anniversary. Thirty years ago today the Toronto Sun was born. The vision of Douglas Creighton and Peter Worthington led a small bunch of reporters, editors, producti

Employee Benefits  Mr. Speaker, I am speechless. The parliamentary secretary has put forth a position with which I, unfortunately, have to agree. The motion put forth by my colleague is a very well intentioned motion. The intent is there to protect workers and ensure that all Canadians, of whatever

Housing  Mr. Speaker, on Tuesday, October 9, I held a town hall meeting in my riding of Richmond. The topic was the leaky condo crisis and more than 120 people attended. I have been listening, as have my colleagues from the lower mainland, but unfortunately the government has not. This w

Human Resources  Mr. Speaker, we on this side of the House would be co-operating with the government if we had something concrete with which to co-operate. The auditor general says there is a flagrant abuse of social insurance numbers across Canada. Yet HRDC is still considering offering social

Human Resources  Mr. Speaker, obviously that is not the case. An audit on HRDC's Internet development completed in May said the following: There is uncertainty around the protection of data, personal information, secure channel, privacy and access. The minister must know it is absurd to allow a

Quebec/New York, A Show for Life  Mr. Speaker, last Friday 12,000 people attended an event at Montreal's Molson Centre, to express the solidarity of Quebecers with those who lost loved ones in the September 11 attacks on the United States. The $20 entrance fee went to the Red Cross for the victims' families. The

Taxpayers' Bill Of Rights  moved for leave to introduce Bill C-390, an act to confirm the rights of taxpayers and establish the Office for Taxpayer Protection. Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to introduce this taxpayer bill of rights in the House today. The bill creates an office for taxpayer protection, headed

Taxation  Mr. Speaker, when the price of gas goes up the government's gas tax revenues go up as well because of the 7% GST that is on top of the cost of gas and the other excise taxes. We are going into a long, hot summer of rising gasoline prices. The federal government does not need the