In the News

If you missed Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s visit to Hamilton today, you were not alone.

Even though Mr. Harper was making his second visit to the Niagara region in just over a month, he failed to hold a public event in Hamilton again.

On Friday, Mr. Harper became the first sitting prime minister to attend Niagara College’s Welland campus, helping to break ground on a $40-million Niagara Applied Health Institute.

He then travelled to Hamilton to sit for a live television interview, but did not speak to any other media.

Harper says he won't hike taxes

Prime Minister Stephen Harper insists he won't hike taxes or cut spending to deal with the country's ballooning debt.

But critics say he can't be trusted to keep his word - and the NDP says he's already broken it.

Harper told a news conference in Welland Friday he still believes he can balance the federal budget by 2016 simply by limiting spending increases as the economy grows.

Ms. Chris Charlton (Hamilton Mountain, NDP):

Mr. Speaker,

I am pleased to participate in the first day of debate on Bill C-51, An Act to implement certain provisions of the budget tabled in Parliament on January 27, 2009 and to implement other measures.

It won’t surprise anyone in this House that NDP Members will be voting in favour of this bill. The entire first part of the bill implements the Ways and Means motion that we supported in this House just last month.

Ms. Chris Charlton (Hamilton Mountain, NDP):

Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to table yet another petition today signed by hundreds of people from all over Quebec urging Parliament to immediately pass Bill C-378 to allow hard-working families to access their maternity, parental, sickness and compassionate care benefits without worrying that if they lose their jobs in the meantime they will lose their EI.

Ms. Chris Charlton (Hamilton Mountain, NDP):

Mr. Speaker, it is my pleasure to table a petition in the House of Commons on behalf of a large number of people who are concerned about gasoline prices and the fact that the government is doing nothing to help ordinary working families who are getting hosed at the pumps.

Ms. Chris Charlton (Hamilton Mountain, NDP): Ms. Chris Charlton (Hamilton Mountain, NDP): Mr. Speaker, it is my pleasure to table a petition in the House of Commons on behalf of a large number of people who are concerned about gasoline prices and the fact that the government is doing nothing to help ordinary working families who are getting hosed at the pumps.

September 28th, 2009 2nd Session, 40th Parliament:

Ms. Chris Charlton (Hamilton Mountain, NDP):

Mr. Speaker, workers at the U.S. Steel plant in Nanticoke are currently in a labour dispute, but at the same plant there were layoffs before that dispute was ever started. ROEs clearly show that these layoffs predate the dispute and yet EI claims are being held up for an average of six to eight weeks. This cannot be news to the Minister of Human Resources. The Nanticoke plant is in her own riding and it is her constituents who are losing their homes.

OTTAWA – Despite publicly opposing the Conservative’s HST plan, Michael Ignatieff is now endorsing it. Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty confirmed today that Ignatieff has guaranteed that the federal Liberals will follow through with the highly unpopular plan should they form the next government.

Ignatieff flip-flops while Ontarians brace for higher taxes

OTTAWA – Ontarians are facing an eight percent increase in the cost of everything from funerals to car repairs, airline tickets, vitamins, movie tickets, summer camps and home heating because of a deal the Harper Conservatives have struck with the McGuinty Liberals, warn New Democrats.

By Chris Charlton, Member of Parliament

As a huge fan of Colwyn Beynon's columns in this newspaper, and the work of the Hamilton Historical Board and the Hamilton Mountain Heritage Society in general, I thought my summer column might be a good time to add a historical note to a current event.

Without a doubt, the biggest news story this spring was the possibility that an NHL team might come to Hamilton. Whether it merited such dominance at a time when thousands of workers are losing their jobs and food banks are faced with record demand is a matter for editorial debate.