Questions and Statements

Ms. Chris Charlton (Hamilton Mountain, NDP): Mr. Speaker, thousands of Canadian who opened a tax-free savings account have now found out that these accounts are anything but tax free. In fact they have become tax-grab savings accounts.

People are facing huge penalties for over-contributing because the rules are neither clear nor sensible. People who are simply replacing money they had withdrawn are now having their contributions double-counted, and they are hit with massive penalties.

Ms. Chris Charlton (Hamilton Mountain, NDP): Mr. Speaker, tax cuts do not help seniors in poverty. Those seniors are not paying taxes. Canadian workers and failing or bankrupt companies like Nortel and many others need action to protect their pensions. Just last year the underfunded pension plan for CHTV employees in Hamilton wound up with an $8 million shortfall. This, while the executives at CanWest were given $41 million to top up their underfunded pension plan before entering CCAA protection.

Ms. Chris Charlton (Hamilton Mountain, NDP): Mr. Speaker, a year ago the House unanimously adopted an NDP motion calling for the government to allow Canadians to increase their CPP contributions. The government finally appears to have gotten the message, but what is missing from its plans is any effort to lift seniors out of poverty by increasing the guaranteed income supplement. The finance minister does not need the provinces to do that.

Chris Charlton (Hamilton Mountain, NDP): Mr. Speaker, I want to commend the Social Planning & Research Council of Hamilton for continuing its important work of tracking and reporting on the basic indicators for women's progress.

The council's most recent report confirms that women in Hamilton still earn significantly less than men. In fact, they only make 73% of men's total income.

Ms. Chris Charlton (Hamilton Mountain, NDP): , Mr. Speaker, the Conservatives’ so-called patient wait times guarantee is failing Canadians.

Just last week, in my hometown of Hamilton we learned that cancer care is failing to meet key targets. Waits for treatment are too long, too few people get radiation therapy, the number of patients in clinical trials is shockingly low, too many die in hospital, and not enough are screened for early detection of cancer.

Ms. Chris Charlton (Hamilton Mountain, NDP): Mr. Speaker, victims and families of the hepatitis C tainted blood catastrophe are being told that their approved compensation claims cannot be paid because the settlement pool of funds has run dry. These people have been through enough, but the minister is just throwing up her hands and saying it is not her problem. She is trying to shift the blame to the fund's administrator, but she knows that they cannot do anything until the government either allows the transfer of funds or ponies up more cash.

Ms. Chris Charlton (Hamilton Mountain, NDP): Mr. Speaker, the Conservative everything-but-the-kitchen-sink budget is yet another giant step away from the promise of transparency that these supposed reformists rode in on.

This Trojan horse is stuffed with all sorts of measures the government does not have the courage to present to Canadians as stand-alone bills. It is an abuse of power taken straight from the Liberal playbook, and it is an abuse of the trust of Canadians.

If the government has nothing to hide, why is it burying so many nefarious initiatives in one omnibus bill?

Ms. Chris Charlton (Hamilton Mountain, NDP): Madam Speaker, I listened with great interest to the member speak on the bill. I have had the privilege of speaking before in the House of Commons to that bill. I have also paid attention to the testimony that we got before committee on the bill.

I would like to start into a long speech, but let me just limit my comments today about what I think are false claims that the member is making with respect to the liability standards that exist in other countries.

Ms. Chris Charlton (Hamilton Mountain, NDP): Mr. Speaker, we can all agree that the victims of Canada's hepatitis C tainted blood disaster deserve, at the very least, to be treated with respect and to be given their court-ordered compensation as quickly as possible. But now we are hearing that payments are being cut and in some cases stopped altogether. These are claims that are approved, not claims that are pending.

What is the government doing to ensure that victims receive the compensation they are owed as quickly as possible?

Ms. Chris Charlton (Hamilton Mountain, NDP): Mr. Speaker, I want to take a moment to congratulate Canada’s Building and Construction Trades on another hugely successful Policy Conference in Ottawa this week.

I want to thank them in particular for supporting my Bill C-227, which would give tax deductions to workers for travel and accommodation expenses when they go to job sites away from their homes.

But I also hope that the government paid close attention to the Building Trades’ call for action on apprenticeship and training programs.