In the News

Chris Charlton, MP (Hamilton Mountain, NDP) Mr. Speaker, I spoke to the Conservative government’s Budget when it was first tabled in this House and, unfortunately, I won’t have the opportunity today to go into detail again about what a profoundly negative impact it will have on seniors and hard-working Canadians.

Let me just re-iterate some of the key points that I raised last month.

Blond ambition is well roasted NDP leadership costs covered

Daniel Nolan
The Hamilton Spectator

Andrea Horwath took it in the neck -- or more aptly the hair -- as she was the subject of a roast and toast staged to wipe out the debt of her successful 2009 bid for the leadership of the Ontario New Democratic Party.

Her blond, unmovable locks were the focus of a few jibes by roasters facing more than 300 people at the event Thursday night at the Hamilton Convention Centre, in the same room where Horwath won the leadership last March.

Ms. Chris Charlton (Hamilton Mountain, NDP): Mr. Speaker, workers in Hamilton are still reeling after the abrupt announcement by Siemens that it will be closing its doors, putting 550 people out of work.

The province lost a “competitive process” to Charlotte, North Carolina, a state that will not only get our current jobs, but $130 million expansion as well.

REALITY CHECK: How much thought went into the Liberal’s “Thinkers Conference”?

Welcome to Montreal, where for the small price of $700, “ordinary” and “progressive” Canadians can have the rare privilege of pitching their best and brightest ideas directly to world renowned academic and Liberal Leader Michael Ignatieff.

Unlike the last “thinkers conference”—which spawned the Liberal Party’s infamous 1993 Red Book—there is already proof that Mr. Ignatieff is ready to not only borrow the best ideas as his own, but to actually put some of them into action.

Steelworkers need government help now

Chris Charlton, MP
Hamilton Mountain

Published in the Mountain News

Two and a half years ago, US Steel took over Stelco, and signed an agreement with the Government of Canada to meet employment and production requirements under the Investment Canada Act.

At the Lake Erie plant, US Steel laid off over 800 workers last March, and locked-out the remaining workers just a few months later. Zero jobs and zero production.

Workers rally for jobs at Siemens

By Kevin Werner
Hamilton Mountain News

Standing on the same site where a Siemens-Westinghouse time capsule is housed, union leaders and politicians raged Friday against both levels of government that are allowing the Munich-based company to close its doors and move south of the border.
“This is ridiculous,” said Ken Lewenza, Canadian Auto Workers union president. “I’m pissed. Capitalism has to be regulated. To allow Siemens to have the right to move workers around, it’s ridiculous.”

Ms. Chris Charlton (Hamilton Mountain, NDP): Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to table a petition today calling on the government to restore its funding to KAIROS.

The petitioners point out that KAIROS is a Canadian ecumenical justice initiatives group that promotes sustainable development, human rights and peace through education, advocacy and cooperative programs linking more than 21 organizations in Asia, Latin America, the Middle East and Africa.

Ms. Chris Charlton (Hamilton Mountain, NDP): Mr. Speaker, Steel slabs made in Hamilton by U.S. Steel are being shipped to the U.S., rolled into coils there and then returned to Hamilton for customers like Honda Canada. U.S. Steel is moving Canadian product 1,500 kilometres for processing in the U.S. when Lake Erie Works, a top-notch Canadian facility in Nanticoke, is left sitting idle.

Ms. Chris Charlton (Hamilton Mountain, NDP): Mr. Speaker, there is a major disconnect between what Canada's businesses need to be successful and the fiscal policies of the government.

Yesterday Bank of Canada governor Mark Carney blamed business leaders for Canada's “abysmal” productivity record.

Despite years of across-the-board corporate tax giveaways worth billions of dollars, Canadian corporations just are not investing and not improving their operations.