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Results: 1 - 9 of 9
View Paulina Ayala Profile
NDP (QC)
Mr. Speaker, I listened with interest to my colleague’s speech.
One point struck me as very sensitive. It is all very well to draft all kinds of magnificent bills for society, but without the means to apply them, they never amount to anything. That worries me and my colleagues, because in the end, the municipal police end up footing the bill. This restricts the amount of field work they can do.
I would like the member to go into expand on this and talk more about the fact that a bill can be drafted and passed, but in the end remain ineffective unless the means are available to apply it.
There is also the fact that the federal government enacts laws that the provinces or municipalities must pay for. They already have to pay for too many things, and cuts are being made to social programs. It seems to me that this is a contradiction. We want to protect people, and that is fine because we want justice, but the resources needed to take action must be provided too.
I would like the member to talk more about this.
View Francis Scarpaleggia Profile
Lib. (QC)
Mr. Speaker, in fact, those are two separate questions, because when a bill is introduced, there is no budget attached to it. The question of financial resources is a separate one. That does not mean that it is not an important question, but it is a separate question to be addressed when dealing with budgetary matters.
The bill is a good one. It makes administrative improvements. However, particularly in the case of small police forces, it is possible that a shortage of resources would discourage them from making full use of this witness protection tool. I do not believe that it would really be a problem for a police force the size of Montreal’s. The police service in Montreal is rather large. If the bill helps it to successfully conduct an investigation, then it will find the money and arrange to protect the witness.
Discussion of financial resources is necessary, but it should not prevent the passage of this bill, which is nevertheless a rather good one.
View Ryan Leef Profile
CPC (YT)
View Ryan Leef Profile
2013-05-21 22:23 [p.16781]
Mr. Chair, I am pleased to rise tonight to speak during this debate. It is 10:30 p.m. here in Ottawa but it is only 7:30 back in Yukon so I hold out hope that a number of my constituents will be tuning in to watch this and it will not just be my mother. All of them will be watching, not just my mom.
I am pleased to participate in this committee of the whole debate and would like to start my comments specifically with our government's most recent budget, economic action plan 2013.
Canada has a well-earned reputation for excellence in economic and financial management and we intend to return to balanced budgets by 2015. Economic action plan 2013 builds on our economic record by taking concrete steps to position Canada for success in the 21st century global economy. Specifically, it would help Canadians obtain the skills and qualifications they need to get jobs in high demand fields; it would help manufacturers and businesses succeed in the global economy by enhancing the conditions for creating and growing business; it introduces a new building Canada plan that would lead to better roads, bridges and public transit in cities and communities all across our great nation; and it would invest in world-class research and innovation to help ensure that new ideas are developed and transferred from the lab to the marketplace.
Of course our nation does have challenges to welcome. Despite the fact that Canadian workers are among the highest educated and the best trained in the world, Canada is facing shortages of skilled labour for the coming years. For example, the Canadian Chamber of Commerce has identified Canada's skill shortages as the number one issue facing its membership. Canada's resource industries are also facing the same problem with skilled labour and trades.
To help address these issues, economic action plan 2013 sets out a practical three-point plan.
First, to ensure that Canadians are acquiring the skills that employers are seeking, the plan introduces the new Canada jobs grant that would provide $15,000 more per person, including a maximum federal contribution of $5,000 to be matched by provincial and territorial governments and employers. Just this past week I was pleased to host an open house consultation in my riding to speak about the jobs grant and how employers and governments can partner and shape this plan into our future so that it works to meet the needs of industry in those skill shortages.
Second, the plan would create opportunities for apprentices by working with the provinces and territories and by introducing measures that would support the use of apprentices through federal construction and maintenance contracts.
Finally, economic action plan 2013 would provide support to groups that are under-represented in the job market, such as persons with disabilities, youth, aboriginal peoples and newcomers to our country.
These groups were well represented during the consultations that took place in Yukon. They had valuable input and feedback that we are looking forward to receiving and reviewing as we move forward.
Members of the House well know that Canada's abundant natural resources are pillars of our economic strength. When we take the direct and indirect impact into account, the natural resource sector represents about 20% of Canada's GDP and employs 1.6 million Canadians. The resource sector also pays more than $30 billion per year to government coffers through taxes and royalties, which helps pay for health care, education, pensions and other critical social programs.
In the case of the energy sector, many analysts say that it has become the new engine of Canada's economy. The oil sands alone are responsible for some 275,000 direct and indirect jobs in skilled trades, manufacturing, high technology and financial services in every single region of Canada. According to the Canadian Energy Research Institute, projected increases in oil sands production could support close to 630,000 jobs on average between now and 2035. The institute also forecasts that the oil sands could contribute more than $2.8 trillion to Canada's GDP, an annual average of $113 billion during that same period.
This is great news for all Canadian workers and their families, but while our resources are great and many, unless we can ensure that they will reach foreign markets and obtain world prices, we will not meet our full potential as a nation.
Those who think that pipelines are an Alberta issue should think again. Getting pipelines built west, south and east to send our oil and natural gas to the United States, to Asia and to other world markets is a national priority for this government. Few countries are generating natural resource products on the scale or pace of Canada. As many as 600 major resource projects worth more than $650 billion are under way or planned over the next decade, with the potential to create enormous prosperity for Canada, realizing the potential of our natural resources industries is critical to our government's goals of jobs, growth and long-term prosperity. That is why our government is so focused on creating the right conditions for success.
Through our plan for responsible resource development, we have set firm beginning to end timelines for project reviews. We are also eliminating duplication in the review process where provincial reviews meet our stringent environmental standards.
In Yukon, natural resources development projects have seen the benefit of regulatory reform through devolution. The 2003 Yukon Northern Affairs program devolution agreement brought management and the administration of all the lands and resources under the control of the government of the Yukon. The Hon. Michael Miltenberger referred to Yukon as a prime example of how timelines and the responsiveness of project reviews improved because of this important regulatory reform.
In addition, the former president of the Yukon Chamber of Commerce, Sandy Babcock, had reported to the Natural Resources committee that Yukon's cap of $3 million in resource revenue sharing needed to be increased so the territorial government received a greater share of its resource royalties.
The Government of Canada listened. Last summer, during the northern tour, the Prime Minister announced a new resource revenue sharing agreement, doubling the cap to $6 million. Recently, the premier of Yukon, Darrell Pasloski, outlined that this made for an additional sharing of $2.7 million to the territory.
However, our plan is not just about developing resources efficiently; it is about developing them responsibly. Our government is committed to developing our natural resources in a responsible way, which includes strengthening environmental protection. We reject the notion that we cannot do both at the same time. Through our actions, including tough new fines for companies that break our environmental laws and new measures to ensure world-class pipeline and marine safety regimes, we are proving we can.
Our government is also making every effort to ensure that aboriginal people and first nations people can share in the tremendous benefits that natural resources development offers in the years ahead. Earlier this month, Natural Resources Canada funded $500,000 to a consortium led by the Champagne and Aishihik First Nations to pursue the study of a potential power generation plant fed by biomass in Haines Junction. This project was included among 56 new innovative clean energy projects announced by the Prime Minister, representing an investment of $86 million through the Government of Canada's eco-energy innovation initiative. This program was created to invest in new clean energy technologies that would create jobs, generate economic opportunities and help protect the environment.
I was certainly pleased to be in Yukon to make that very important funding announcement and I can assure members that it was exceptionally well received by the people of the territory and the first nation of the Champagne and Aishihik in that community.
The significance of the resource sector's economic impact cannot be understated. In 2012, 32,000 aboriginal people, or 8.3% of the working aboriginal population, were employed in the natural resources industries of forestry, energy and mining. Aboriginal people make up 7.5% of the workforce in Canada's mining sector.
However, the minerals and metal sector is not the only sector offering opportunities for aboriginal people. Ten per cent of the oil sands workforce is aboriginal. Many aboriginal companies are also thriving in Alberta's oil patch. The Canadian Council for Aboriginal Business estimates that oil sand companies do $1.3 billion worth of business each year, with a wide range of aboriginal companies, including parts suppliers, mechanical contractors and camp caterers.
Given the scope of aboriginal business activities and employment, the council has named the oil sands as the largest single non-governmental source of aboriginal income in Canada. This degree of participation in Canada's resource economy is a substantial achievement and one that our government wishes to expand on across the country.
To that end, we are committed to working in concert with aboriginal communities to ensure they continue to share the rewards of natural resources development in Canada.
The committee on natural resources recommended this past year that the Government of Canada increase its support to mining training initiatives for first nation and Inuit communities in order to help develop the labour force required to support mining projects in northern Canada. Their contributions are vital to the mining sector, and these recommendations seek to further their impact. As members know, economic growth, job creation and prosperity for all Canadians is our government's top priority.
In conclusion, our government has designed and implemented policies aimed at driving the economy to its full potential for the benefit of all Canadians. Together the initiatives in economic action plan 2013 build on previous government actions to reinforce the fundamental strengths of the Canadian economy. By staying the course, the Government of Canada will continue to promote economic growth, job creation and long-term prosperity for all Canadians.
I would now like to ask the minister, along the vein of much of my discussion today, about the benefits for aboriginal and first nation communities in resource development, specifically in my riding of Yukon. Because we know that northerners, including our aboriginal people, first nations and Inuit, are an integral part of resource development in the north, I would like to ask what our government is doing to ensure that they are able to benefit from the opportunities that resource development provides.
View Mark Eyking Profile
Lib. (NS)
View Mark Eyking Profile
2013-05-10 11:58 [p.16657]
Mr. Speaker, now that the build Canada fund's true infrastructure numbers have been crunched, municipalities are concerned, because $1.5 billion has been cut. The Cape Breton Regional Municipality is faced with a huge obligation for waste water and other infrastructure needs.
Mayor Clarke and council have come up with their money on the table. The province is on side with its portion. When will the Conservatives come to the table with their share of infrastructure money for CBRM?
View Pierre Poilievre Profile
CPC (ON)
View Pierre Poilievre Profile
2013-05-10 11:58 [p.16657]
Mr. Speaker, when the Liberal Party was in office, the average piece of infrastructure in this country had reached a record age of 17 years. It was older and more decrepit than ever. Under us, that has come down to 14 years, which means it is newer than it has been in three decades.
We have now provided a plan that will allow Canada to build up its infrastructure with private sector investment and deliver more infrastructure for existing dollars. This is about results and delivering for the Canadian people, not just fattened union contracts, as the opposition would wish.
View Paulina Ayala Profile
NDP (QC)
View Paulina Ayala Profile
2013-03-20 15:07 [p.14969]
Mr. Speaker, local elected officials, individuals and businesses in my riding all want to move forward with the Montreal metro blue line extension. It is an infrastructure project that has strong support and is good for the local economy, but it will be hard to undertake without support from the federal government.
Despite the difficulty that the Minister of Transport is having agreeing with Quebec on funding for public transit on the Champlain Bridge, can he tell us if he is currently in discussions with Quebec and Montreal about the metro project?
View Denis Lebel Profile
CPC (QC)
Mr. Speaker, to begin, there was a statement in that question that is completely untrue. The Quebec government was very clear on the federal government's role in the new bridge over the St. Lawrence and in its choice about public transit. Envelopes were given to the provinces, and the provinces made their own decisions.
Similarly, the metro is the responsibility of the City of Montreal and the Province of Quebec. Once again, the member wants us to manage their day-to-day work and make decisions for them. The federal government will continue to partner with the provinces and municipalities, but we will not replace them.
View Brad Butt Profile
CPC (ON)
View Brad Butt Profile
2012-03-28 18:49 [p.6650]
Madam Speaker, I am pleased today to speak to Motion No. 331 and to indicate our party's support for this motion.
I thank the hon. member for bringing this matter before the House. It gives me the opportunity to talk about the unprecedented investments our government has made to improve access to affordable housing and to address the issue of homelessness in communities across the country.
I hope the member across the way is aware that our economic action plan invested record amounts in social housing, creating hundreds of thousands of jobs in over 10,000 projects. This is in addition to the extension through 2014 of the homelessness partnering strategy, where we are working with communities, both urban and rural, to prevent and reduce homelessness.
Through these investments, we are helping to expand the stock of affordable rental housing across Canada, while creating jobs and stimulating demand for Canadian made building products and services.
I do not believe there is a person in this chamber who does not recognize the importance of housing. We can all agree that everyone in Canada deserves a stable, safe and affordable place to call home.
Prior to coming to this place, I was the president of the Greater Toronto Apartment Association and spent close to 20 years in the property management and rental housing sectors. I have seen federal housing programs first-hand and can tell the House that no other government in that time has done more, provided more local flexibility and maintained stability in programs like this government.
Having access to stable affordable housing is a foundation for healthy living and a building block for success in so many other areas such as education, the labour market, personal relationships and community engagement. This is why we have a range of policies and programs in place to support Canadians from all walks of life and in all parts of the country in accessing housing that meets their needs. This includes providing housing assistance for those whose housing needs cannot be met in the marketplace, including low-income families, seniors, people with disabilities and first nations people on reserve.
In fact, our government has made unprecedented investments in housing over the past number of years. Since 2006, we have invested an estimated $12.5 billion in housing programs. These investments have improved living conditions for tens of thousands of Canadians, helped build stronger communities and created thousands of jobs across Canada.
Sadly, these investments were opposed at every opportunity by the opposition parties. The official opposition and the third party stood against budget measure after budget measure that funded these projects. However, our unprecedented investment in housing programs happened in spite of the opposition.
Even though his party voted against the money, I am sure the hon. member across the way will be pleased to know that we continue to invest heavily in housing. This year, through CMHC, the Government of Canada will invest approximately $2 billion in housing. Of this amount, $1.7 billion will be spent in support of almost 615,000 households living in existing social housing to ensure they can continue to afford their homes.
I recently visited two federally funded co-operative housing complexes in my riding of Mississauga—Streetsville, and I can report to the House the very successful operations at Tecumseh and Meadows Co-ops and what these projects mean to the people who live there.
We will also spend more than $250 million this year to continue to reduce the number of Canadians in housing need. This is part of a commitment we made in 2008 to invest $1.9 billion over five years in housing and homelessness programs.
As a first step in delivering on this commitment, the affordable housing initiative and the federal renovation programs for low-income households were extended for two years. In July 2011, federal and provincial housing ministers announced the investment in affordable housing 2011-2014 framework agreement to guide the deliver of federal investments in affordable housing off reserve over the final three years of this five year commitment.
The overall objective of the framework is to reduce the number of Canadians in housing need by improving access to affordable housing that is sound, suitable and sustainable. It is being implemented through bilateral agreements with each province and territory that are best positioned to design and deliver programs to address housing needs and priorities in their respective jurisdiction.
Under these arrangements, federal funding will be matched by the provinces and territories. When these contributions are included, the new framework provides for a combined investment of $1.4 billion over three years toward reducing the number of Canadians in housing need.
Over and above these investments, our government will spend about $407 million this year to address housing needs on reserve. This funding is used to subsidize existing rental housing, build new homes and renovate existing houses that are in need of repair.
The homelessness partnering strategy was renewed at $134.8 million per year until March 2014. So far this money has supported over 2,900 projects across Canada. I have seen, first-hand, in Toronto how successful the HPS is through its funding of the internationally recognized streets to homes program.
In his motion, the hon. member also calls on the government to expand the stock of affordable rental housing. Again, he will be pleased to hear that our government offers strong support for this housing option. The federal investments I have already mentioned go a long way in helping to make affordable rental housing available to Canadians.
For example, an estimated 5,000 new affordable housing units were created through the two year extension of the affordable housing initiative. More than 50,000 units have been created since this initiative was established, and we expect that that thousands more will be created under the new investment in affordable housing framework agreement.
Renovation assistance is also available from CMHC for repairs to rental properties occupied by low-income tenants, including rooming houses. CMHC also supports the conversion of non-residential properties into affordable self-contained rental housing units or bed units, and provides financial assistance to assist in the repair of existing shelter housing and the creation of new shelters for victims of family violence.
CMHC's Affordable Housing Centre also facilitates the development of affordable housing solutions that do not require ongoing support from government. In addition to providing guidance and expertise to project proponents, the centre offers seed and proposal development funding to help get projects started. In 2010 the centre facilitated the creation of close to 2,900 new affordable housing units and projects across Canada.
Our government provides other support for rental housing. For example, CMHC is the only mortgage loan insurer for large, multi-unit rental properties, nursing and retirement homes. Mortgage loan insurance from CMHC is critical to ensuring these housing options continue to be available to Canadians. Without it, many large rental housing projects simply would not get the financing they need to be affordable.
The motion currently before the House also calls on the government to ensure that federal housing programs provide economic benefits to local housing construction businesses. Our government recognizes that housing is an important source of job creation in Canada. That is why investments in social housing were a key element of Canada's economic action plan.
As hon. members will recall, the stimulus phase of our economic action plan included an additional $2 billion over two years to renovate existing and build new social housing. This funding has supported more than 14,000 social housing and first nations housing projects across Canada. If I had the time I would point out some of the great things about these 14,000 projects.
In conclusion, our government is proud of its housing record. We will be supporting the hon. member's motion.
View Kevin Lamoureux Profile
Lib. (MB)
View Kevin Lamoureux Profile
2012-03-28 19:00 [p.6651]
Madam Speaker, it is with pleasure that I address the motion before us. Affordable housing has been an issue for a long time.
The member referred to CMHC which is one of the cornerstones in terms of providing affordable housing for all Canadians. It was created shortly after World War II. As soldiers returned and started families, the need for additional housing was recognized. CMHC in essence set the groundwork. Nothing has changed. Whether it was after World War II or today, there has always been a very high demand for housing.
With respect to this motion, most people would recognize that we need to support the housing industry in a very direct way. I would like to provide a different perspective. I was housing critic for the Liberal Party a number of years ago. I have some fairly hard thoughts and opinions about our housing situation. In some provinces there is virtually a housing crisis. In some corners of Canada there are housing crises, and they vary. On many of the first nations reserves there is a huge demand not only for houses but for houses to be fixed. In municipalities of varying sizes it becomes an issue of affordability because of the cost of housing, especially in some of the larger cities, where there is a need for the government to get directly involved.
There are many different ways in which the government could help with housing. Shelter allowance programs have always intrigued me. They were initially talked about by Lloyd Axworthy in the late 1970s. He advocated for the establishment of shelter allowances for renters. He focused on seniors and families. There is a strong need today to support programs of that nature. It is one of the ways government could work with the private sector to ensure there are more affordable housing units. That would go a long way toward addressing the needs of many, whether they are homeless or individuals who are living in other situations who are trying to find a place they can call their own.
There are many different organizations. What I like about Winnipeg North is that it spans the spectrum. There are the wartime houses that were built, and just a few weeks ago I was talking to members from St. Mary The Protectress Villa, a wonderful Ukraine-run community housing facility. It was created because of the Ukrainian community in Winnipeg. It has provided homes, apartments with balconies, for a number of people in Winnipeg North. Its members have done incredible work in providing alternative housing for seniors who live in the north end. Not only did the members build the facility, but today they are looking at expanding it. They are looking for some support from the government, federal, provincial or municipal, to enable them to do that.
That is the type of housing we should be looking at. We should be looking for organizations that are prepared to get involved with the communities, whether it is being involved in the expansion of a project or developing new projects or something of that nature. What I especially like about St. Mary The Protectress Villa is that it is managed by individuals primarily from the Ukrainian community. They have provided shelter for a good number of years.
I could talk about Ivan Franko Manor, St. Josaphat Selo-Villa, or the Canadian Polish Manor on Selkirk Avenue. These are wonderful housing facilities, many of which rely on the Government of Canada to subsidize the units.
When we talk about the $1 billion-plus that has already been spent on housing, that is not new money. We have been spending billions of dollars annually to subsidize literally tens of thousands apartments and housing units across the country. This is an ongoing expense.
Quite often there are agreements between provincial jurisdictions where the federal government subsidy is somewhere in the neighbourhood of 80%, and I suspect it varies at times maybe even between provinces. In reality, individuals who live in such a community are obligated to spend somewhere around 30% of their household income on rent and the government covers the rest. This way individuals are able to have shelter. They can establish homes for their families and hopefully become more engaged in the economy. They might eventually be able to search for a permanent home and afford to buy a house.
It is more than just the issue of money. We need to look at many of the tens of thousands of units. Why are we not investigating ideas such as converting some of that housing stock where the government is the landlord and citizens are the tenants to ones that are tenant managed or housing co-ops? I would love to see the government play a leadership role and look at ways in which that could take place. There are so many units and it would be wonderful to look at the possibility of converting them into housing co-ops.
There are other ways in which government could directly get involved. We have seen in the past things such as infill housing. The housing stock has a profound and dramatic impact on an entire community. Two or three houses that are boarded up on one block have a negative impact on the whole block. Quite often a boarded-up house will catch fire or be torn down. This is where the government can play a role and provide the incentives, where possible, for infill housing. New houses pop up in some of the older communities which have a great deal of heritage and character. To do things of that nature would do wonders.
When we talk about providing more housing for our population and supporting low-income renters, we have to take a broader look and develop an overall strategy that takes into consideration things such as direct subsidies. This is a non-profit housing complex in which government provides the money to housing co-ops, to 55-plus lease programs, to the idea of infill housing. Also, there is the idea of shelter allowances, where the government would provide dollars for individual renters to look to the private sector for housing.
In conclusion, there are many different options. We need to see strong leadership from the national government and a sense of commitment that goes beyond the status quo in fulfilling what it is already obligated to fulfill. That is the money that has been spent to date. That is the status quo.
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