TheBulletin.ca Journal of Downtown Toronto
Dear neighbours,
Today is World AIDS Day. Every day 11,000 people lose their lives to AIDS. The Government has the power to help, yet as I write this update of what is happening in the House of Commons, Mr. Harper continues to neglect Canada’s responsibility. I know from speaking to so many of you that this government inaction and neglect does not reflect our basic beliefs and values. That is why I want you to know what we have been attempting to achieve in Parliament recently on your behalf.
Let me know your opinions and your ideas – chowo@parl.gc.ca or 416 533-2710 – please also let me know if any of your friends or neighbours would like to receive our email updates.
My wish for the holidays is one of peace, joy and hope – peace in the world, the joy of celebrating together with family and friends, and hope that we can achieve more in the year ahead for our country and each other. A Happy New Year to all.
Most sincerely,
Olivia Chow, MP Trinity-Spadina=============================================================
In this edition:
1. Fighting Aids and poverty
2. Standing up for Equality: Reopening the equal marriage debate
3. Olivia’s green tour, clean air act
4. Health Care Wait Times
5. Student Debt
6. Fighting for child care and Women’s programs
7. Upcoming events
1. Fighting AIDS and poverty
Two days ago, Jack Layton was in the House of Commons pushing the Prime Minister to take action against AIDS. Here is what Jack said:
“Three years ago in this House, we passed legislation to send medical aid, to send drugs, and yet not one single pill has been sent. It is absolutely shameful. I am ashamed of the inaction of our government on this issue as people are losing their lives.
While there was no response by the government in the House, today they made a small announcement – still not nearly what is required to combat this terrible disease. Download a petition to call on the government to take serious action http://www.ndp.ca/ndp-drupal/files/WorldAIDSDay-Petition-EN.pdf
2. Standing up for Equal Marriage
Next week, Parliament will debate whether the equal marriage law for gay and lesbian couples should be re-opened for discussion and a new vote. The NDP is firmly united in our support for equal marriage, which has been established time and again in the courts as a basic human right, and which was approved in the last Parliament. Unlike the other parties, every member of the NDP is united in saying no to reopening this divisive debate.
During the vote to extend equal marriage rights to all Canadians last year, twenty-six percent of the Liberal caucus or 32 Liberal MPs voted with the Harper Conservatives against equality, and many of these were MPs from the Greater Toronto Area. The bill was approved by the House in a close vote last term, so it is important that you tell your friends who live elsewhere in Toronto to ensure that their MP votes in favour of equality.
Ask them to sign the petition: <http://www.equal-marriage.ca/endorse.php>http://www.equal-marriage.ca/endorse.php
Send an email the Prime Minister: <http://www.equal-marriage.ca/election.php>http://www.equal-marriage.ca/election.php
I’ll be speaking up in Parliament on Thursday next week in favour of equality and respect for all Canadians. Please send me any thoughts you have on how to convince all wavering MPs in other parties that they should encourage and support loving couples who choose to marry.
3. Clean Air Act and Climate Change
While our air quality has steadily declined for the last decade, global warming has increased because of inaction by the Liberals and now the Conservatives. That is why Jack Layton has secured an agreement to freely amend the Conservatives Clean Air Act so a real green action plan can be approved in the House of Commons. The vote to send the Act to a committee for amendments is coming up next week.
While we seek legislative changes, we are also encouraging individual actions – there are things all of us can do to help. Check out my video that documents how Jack and I decided to retrofit our house so it is energy efficient — and saves money on hydro bills. Link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mtqn_-YbCqA
4. Working to reduce Health Care wait times
The Conservatives promised a patient wait times guarantee during the last election as one of their five key commitments. In the months following the election, they made no progress in this area — and tried to quietly drop the commitment over the summer.
I addressed some potential solutions in Parliament this week. We need to create more training spaces for health care providers and expand the pools of skilled professionals to shorten wait times for patients. We need to offer real dignity for seniors, provide free dental care and drug coverage, and long term care so we can free up hospital beds.
We need to have real innovations. We have to control drug costs and phase in a national prescription drug strategy to help families afford the medications they need.
In order to lower wait times, the key is to forge a new deal with the provinces that would link reliable federal health transfers to a commitment that such funds would not subsidize for-profit health care. Our unwavering commitment is to public healthcare, accessible to all.
The Canadian Health Coalition is organizing a cross-country tour to defend public health care. Check out http://www.healthcoalition.ca/ for details.
5. Student Debt
Tuition is growing beyond the reach of even middle-income Canadians, and debt levels are beginning to accelerate upwards again. Debt burdens are overwhelming Canadian graduates just as they begin their careers. Everywhere I go in our community – where so many students live and study, I hear about crippling student debt — and about young people who cannot afford to complete their education.
The NDP has proposed three concrete steps to tackle Student Debt:
1. Create a federal needs-based grant system to offset loans in every year of study by cancelling two current federal programs that disproportionately benefit wealthier Canadian families — the Canada Education Savings Program and the Textbook Tax Credit. Our proposed grant fund would double the current amount of various federal student grant programs, offer a new grant averaging $1,500 to every Canada Student Loan borrower, and reduce student debt by 25% in four years.
2. Substantially increase federal transfers for post-secondary education, so that every province can freeze or roll back tuition, as well as re-invest in areas to enhance quality (hiring faculty, equipment, resources, infrastructure) according to its particular needs and the needs of its students.
3. Overhaul the Canada student loan system to be more flexible, fair, and responsive to the needs of student borrowers.
6. Fighting for child care and Women’s centres!
Against the odds last week, we made progress towards our long cherished dream of public child care for Canada, by winning a crucial second-reading vote in Parliament on November 22, the NDP’s Early Learning and Child Care Act.
The evidence is clear: Early learning is a smart investment that boosts kids’ development and helps parents who work or study. Now Canada is one vote away from moving forward on national child care—after years of setbacks under both Liberal and Conservative governments.
As you know, this is very close to my heart as a long-time advocate for children and youth, and I have been working on this legislation since I was elected as your MP this year. The Conservatives’ simplistic dollars-for-daycare scheme is out of touch with ordinary Canadian families. $100 taxable dollars per month barely covers diaper costs, and it does nothing to address the stark shortage of child care spaces in this country.
Child care legislation is the step the Liberals neglected, the Conservatives oppose, and New Democrats made happen. Passing the Early Learning and Child Care Act can offer working families hope for child care spaces they can afford—with the options and hours today’s parents need.
Petitions and more information about how you can get involved can be found at www.oliviachow.ca
While we seek progress on child care, we see a further step backward by the Harper Conservatives. Conservative cabinet minister Bev Oda announced this week that she will be closing twelve of its regional Status of Women offices, including offices in St. John’s, Halifax, Charlottetown, London, Hamilton, Thunder Bay, Winnipeg, Saskatoon, Vancouver, and several others.
Those decisions clearly demonstrate that the Conservative Government has no commitment to promoting women’s equality. These closures will not improve women’s status in Canada, nor will it make Status of Women more efficient. This is part of a wider assault on today’s families and will result in numerous job losses.
NDP MP and Women’s issues critic Irene Mathyssen (London, Ontario), has twice called for Minister Oda’s resignation said this Minister is not fulfilling her mandate! She is not protecting Canadian women, nor is she pushing for their equality. Rather, she is abandoning them altogether!
7. Upcoming events
Boycott the Island Airport
Every Friday from 5-7pm at the corner of Bathurst and Queen’s Quay.
www.communityair.org
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To read more, please go to my website <http://www.oliviachow.ca/>www.oliviachow.ca
