News

Federal government can start restoring fiscal balance by reinvesting in post-secondary education

VICTORIA - As Premiers meet in Newfoundland this week in an attempt to reach a consensus on how to solve the fiscal imbalance, the federal NDP renews its pressure on the Conservative government to take action in response to the Premiers’ call for a $4.9-billion increase in transfers for post-secondary education.

“The Premiers could not have been clearer in February: the provinces desperately need core funding to be restored for post-secondary education,” stated Denise Savoie, Victoria MP and NDP Critic for Post-Secondary Education.

OTTAWA, ON– Brian Masse, MP, NDP Critic for Industry and Canada-U.S. Border Relations (Windsor West NDP) will be holding a press conference calling for a National Tourism Strategy to deal the proposed Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative (WHTI). The WHTI will have significant economic and social impacts on Canadian tourism, and Mr. Masse will be outlining why such measures are necessary.

Following last weeks “U.S. – Canada Mayors’ Summit” in Windsor, Ontario, where Canadian and American mayors agreed on resolutions adopted by both the Federation of Canadian Municipalities and the U.S. Conference of Mayors raising concerns about the proposed Initiative, Mr. Masse agrees that the Canadian government needs to work on this file now in order to ensure that Canadians are sufficiently prepared and educated for the 2007 implementation deadline. As of right now, there is no plan for the WHTI.

Mr. Brian Masse (Windsor West, NDP):
Mr. Speaker, it is my privilege to table a petition on behalf of the constituents of Windsor West with regard to the Government of Canada instructing Canada Post to maintain, expand and improve its network of public post offices.

It is important to note that while Windsor West is a predominantly urban riding, post offices in communities throughout this vast land help us overcome differences in distances and play a key role in our socio-economic life by providing the infrastructure. Healthy communities need to thrive and businesses need to grow.

Mr. Brian Masse (Windsor West, NDP)
moved for leave to introduce Bill C-349, An Act to amend the Patent Act.

He said: Mr. Speaker, this is the second time I have introduced this legislation into the House of Commons.

It deals with patent protection and also the issue of evergreening where legal loopholes extend the patent protection of certain drugs that then cost Canadians significant sums of money, not only to individuals but also in employment benefit plans as well as the organizations that actually provide that across the country.

This will lower drug costs, provide fairness, and make us more similar to the United States. The Americans actually have a more progressive generic drug industry because they have enacted legislation to stop the legal litigation. Most important, it will promote innovation.

Mr. Brian Masse (Windsor West, NDP)
moved for leave to introduce Bill C-349, An Act to amend the Patent Act.

He said: Mr. Speaker, this is the second time I have introduced this legislation into the House of Commons.

It deals with patent protection and also the issue of evergreening where legal loopholes extend the patent protection of certain drugs that then cost Canadians significant sums of money, not only to individuals but also in employment benefit plans as well as the organizations that actually provide that across the country.

This will lower drug costs, provide fairness, and make us more similar to the United States. The Americans actually have a more progressive generic drug industry because they have enacted legislation to stop the legal litigation. Most important, it will promote innovation.

Mr. Brian Masse (Windsor West, NDP):
Mr. Speaker, I agree with the parliamentary secretary that Bill C-3 is very important not only for Canada but also for those residents who live near border crossings across this country. There are 24 crossings which are international bridges or tunnels that are significant to this specific legislation.

I reside in a municipality where there is a concentration of border crossings. We have significant issues with regard to the process followed on Bill C-3. What we thought was going to happen was potentially a deal to accommodate some of the local concerns regarding problems experienced at the border. We also wanted to make this the best bill possible. That is important to note. The parliamentary secretary talked about the urgent nature of this bill as well as the suggestion of being neglectful if we do not pass this bill at this time.

Mr. Brian Masse (Windsor West, NDP):
Mr. Speaker, it is a pleasure to rise here this evening to speak to Bill C-2, this historic piece of legislation that is reaching its final moments in debate in this House of Commons in the 39th Parliament. It is a bill that I think is very important to Canadians, as confidence in government is so desperately needed with regard to a democracy. When that is undermined, we have a situation where Canadians lose faith in that democracy. They stop and they disengage from the political process.

It happens on two fronts. There are those individuals who no longer even belong to campaigns or parties, or who are independents, and who pull away in terms of being part of a process of electing individuals and parties. Second, there are Canadian voters who become disengaged with the process and no longer believe their ballot has worth. A significant element is necessary for people to feel engaged and, more important, to participate in meaningful way to make decisions about how civil society is run.

NDP Motion that passed in the House of Commons
Seniors Charter of Rights
June 20, 2006

That, in the opinion of the House The government should rectify decades of underfunding of seniors programs by (a) creating a Seniors Charter that recognizes older Canadians as creative, active and valued members of our society, and that this Charter shall enshrine the right of every senior living in Canada to the following: i) income security, through protected pensions and indexed public income support that provides a reasonable state of economic welfare; ii) housing, through secure accessible, and affordable housing; iii) wellness, through health promotion and preventative care; iv) health care, through secure, public, accessible, universal health care including primary care, dental care, homecare, palliative and geriatric care, and pharmacare; v) self-development, through lifelong access to affordable recreation, education and training; vi) government services, through timely access to all federal government services and programs, including family re-unification.

Mr. Brian Masse (Windsor West, NDP):
Mr. Speaker, it is a privilege to speak on this matter in the House of Commons and the amendments that have been proposed here tonight. I thank the parliamentary secretary for his work as well as members opposite. I enjoyed working on the transport committee and I thank those members too.

I am going to spend a few minutes correcting some misinformation. First of all, the notion of consulting municipalities and local governments was brought forth originally in a discussion in this chamber. We strongly objected to the fact that this was not part of the bill. Anyone can look up our objections in Hansard. This was raised continually in committee.