Labour

From the Hamilton Spectator

U.S. Steel promised to "maintain employment levels" at the former Stelco in exchange for Ottawa's approval of its $1.9-billion takeover in 2007, The Spectator has learned.

The jobs commitment is part of the American company's formal agreement with Industry Canada under foreign-investment rules.

The deal also includes:

* A "national investment commitment" of $200 million in capital expenditures through 2012.

From the Hamilton Spectator

A "surprised" federal minister and an embattled Ontario premier faced harsh criticism yesterday as opposition politicians demanded a plan to address the massive layoffs at U.S. Steel Canada and other manufacturers.

A day after U.S. Steel said it will temporarily shut down the former Stelco, putting nearly 2,200 people out of work, federal Industry Minister Tony Clement acknowledged the move caught him off guard.

"We were, I would have to say, surprised by the announcement by U.S. Steel," Clement told reporters.

Ms. Chris Charlton (Hamilton Mountain, NDP):

Mr. Speaker, the government's failure to include a domestic preference provision in the stimulus package is aggravating the challenges to Canada's steel industry. There is no strategy to protect the jobs of today and no strategy to create the green collar jobs of tomorrow.

I know I speak for the workers in Hamilton and Nanticoke when I say that we need a buy-Canadian policy in line with NAFTA and WTO and we desperately need a strategy for the future.

Ms. Chris Charlton (Hamilton Mountain, NDP):

Mr. Speaker, Statistics Canada just released alarming facts about the increase in the number of Canadians accessing employment insurance. For example, in London, Ontario the number rose by over 75% and in Windsor the number rose by over 61%. Even more alarming is the fact that 6 out of 10 unemployed workers do not receive the EI benefits they so desperately need. That is simply unacceptable.

Ms. Chris Charlton (Hamilton Mountain, NDP):

Mr. Speaker, in its budget bill, the government launched an attack on pay equity, environmental assessments and the collective bargaining rights of public sector workers, including wage rollbacks to the RCMP and the Canadian Forces.

It now appears that workers at General Motors are next in the line of attack. GM is describing its pension liabilities as crippling but the Minister of Industry is refusing to protect workers and the pensions they have worked so hard to build.

Ms. Chris Charlton (Hamilton Mountain, NDP):

Mr. Speaker, my hometown of Hamilton is being hit by a tsunami of job losses, not just in steelmaking but in manufacturing, health care and just about every other sector of employment.

This is the time that workers need to draw on the employment insurance that they paid into all of their working lives, but instead of helping workers to access what is rightfully theirs, the minister responsible for the program hurls insults by saying, “We do not want to make it lucrative for them to stay at home and get paid for it”.

Ms. Chris Charlton (Hamilton Mountain, NDP):

Mr. Speaker, the Supreme Court of Canada recognizes the rights to free collective bargaining for public servants, yet the government will not.

It has unilaterally capped public service salaries instead of bargaining those salaries at the negotiating table. It has rolled back negotiated wage increases for the RCMP, and other government workers fear the same.

These workers are not fat in the system. They are essential to the safety and security of Canadians.

Ms. Chris Charlton (Hamilton Mountain, NDP):

Before I came to the House, there was this notion that the Canadian House of Commons was described as Disney on the Rideau. I was never sure what occasioned the first use of that moniker, but I am certainly starting to understand why it has persisted. There is something fantastical about what happens in this place, unfortunately not in the sense that the deliberations here are fantastic but, rather, that often they appear based in fantasy. I feel like I am part of such a debate now.

The Hamilton Spectator

Hamilton Mountain New Democrat MP Chris Charlton, her party's deputy finance critic, was disappointed the government did not provide an economic stimulus package, and moved to do away with the taxpayer subsidy for political parties.

"Every other leader in the world is taking this economic downturn seriously, ensuring that jobs are being created," she said last night. "Our leader, instead of attacking this recession, is attacking democracy."

Mountain MP calls on Finance Minister to address labour shortage in economic update

OTTAWA – In difficult economic times, it is incumbent upon legislators to do everything we can to help Canadians secure work. That is the message Hamilton Mountain MP Chris Charlton brought to Parliament as she re-introduced her bill to help reduce the costs faced by tradespersons who travel to temporary job away from their primary residences.