Liberal

Don’t let Harper steal your retirement benefits

Judy Sgro

As Canadians, we work hard. We pay our taxes, and save for retirement. But now Stephen Harper wants to take that away from us – unless you stop him.

Retired Canadians and those approaching retirement have every reason to be worried after Stephen Harper attacked Old Age Security (OAS) benefits during a speech in Europe.

He’s prepared to raise the age Canadians qualify for Old Age Security and the Guaranteed Income Supplement from 65 to 67. If you’re approaching 65 that means you could miss out on as much as $30,000 of payments that you were counting on.

Liberals know the best way to make sure income tested benefits likes OAS and the Guaranteed Income Supplement are affordable is by ensuring Canadians have access to strong pension plans so they won’t need the extra benefits. That is the path to sustainable prosperity for all Canadians.

Let’s stop Stephen Harper’s money grab now, before he puts it in the budget. Let’s not let him build more jails on the back of our retirement savings.

Please sign our petition and share it on Facebook and Twitter.

http://lpc.ca/pension

Thank you.

Judy Sgro

Liberal Seniors and Pensions critic

Critic’s Journal: After the Crown–First Nations Gathering: Unfulfilled expectations and missed opportunities

In Attawapiskat last December, Carolyn Bennett presents Chief Theresa Spence with donated winter clothing items collected at her St. Paul's constituency office in Toronto.

As I listened to the opening speeches at yesterday’s Crown-First Nations Gathering, it was clear that Prime Minister Stephen Harper and Assembly of First Nations National Chief Shawn Atleo had a radically different view about the way forward. On how to move beyond the colonial and paternalistic Indian Act – the key barrier to the economic, human and social development of First Nations for the past 136 years – the imagery was evocative.

Prime Minister Harper called the Indian Act a tree with deep roots, and that “blowing up the stump would leave a big hole.” For Atleo, the Indian Act was like a boulder: “Like a rock that sits in the middle of the road, a boulder that locks the path of collaboration, remains the Indian Act – along with the age-old structures and policies that administer it and steadfastly resist change.”

The Prime Minister has never shared the sense of urgency of First Nations leaders who looked to the meeting for transformative change. With too many First Nations languishing under paternalistic legislation and policies that perpetuate poverty, illiteracy, sickness and lack of economic opportunities, the Prime Minister’s “incremental” approach simply isn’t appropriate. As Shawn Atleo has made his mantra, it’s time to smash the status quo.

The outcomes of yesterday’s meeting speak not only to a lack of urgency, but also a refusal on the part of the Prime Minister to tackle the interrelated problems confronting First Nations in a comprehensive way. The decision to establish working groups on issues that have already been studied to exhaustion by Parliamentary committees, independent panels and First Nations themselves, falls short of the mark.

What was missing from yesterday’s agenda spoke loudly too.  Chiefs from all regions asked for resource revenue sharing to become an important component of a new relationship; the government refused. Many female chiefs told me that violence against Aboriginal women and girls – which has been marginalized in Parliament by Conservative MPs – needed far more attention. And from others, there were calls for sweeping reform of the government’s housing policy.

The government’s insistence on unilateral action over meaningful consultation and cooperation, the failure to discuss issues like resource sharing, violence against Aboriginal women and housing, and the refusal to put forward a meaningful process to replace the Indian Act, have dampened the hopes for a reset in the relationship between the Crown and First Nations.

I will be looking to the upcoming budget to see whether even the status quo is maintained. The government’s refusal to commit to protecting essential social transfers to First Nations is a worrying sign. With discriminatory underfunding in education, child welfare, healthcare and housing, now is the time for more investment in the potential of First Nations youth, not less.

Expectations for the Crown-First Nations Gathering were exceedingly low. After the Gathering, it is hard to see how much has changed.

- Carolyn Bennett

Aboriginal Affairs Critic

Skills and Trades: Why they matter

I’m travelling across Canada for the next two weeks because Liberals have a story to share with Canadians about the role that skills training and education has to play in the creation of a sustainable economy.

That story started Monday at Ottawa’s Algonquin Centre for Construction Excellence. Some students I met were preparing to enter the work force. Others re-training so they could jump back in.

Tuesday it was onto Kingston’s St. Lawrence College with Kingston and the Islands MP Ted Hsu. We toured several skilled trades labs that are training young men and women to work directly and hands on in the environmental sector, including on wind turbines, solar installations and with geothermal power. We also visited carpentry, plumbing and electrical labs, and enjoyed a delicious lunch prepared by the culinary students.

During an informal question and answer session, students and staff asked about issues specific to their College diplomas and courses, such as accreditation across the country, student loans and employment insurance delays. They also asked more generally about federal Liberal policy on matters such as climate change, incentive programs and a national role in the support of student education.

I want to thank St. Lawrence College President Chris Whitaker, Senior VP for Student and External Affairs Gord MacDougall, and the Dean of Applied Science, Don Young, for making Ted and I feel so welcome. It was a fascinating and very informative morning.

What are your ideas for building Canada’s future prosperity through skills training and trades? Share your views in the comments below.

- Bob Rae

Keynote speeches – Ottawa 2012

Rethinking Government, Democracy and Politics for the Age of Networked Intelligence by Don Tapscott, Best Selling Author, Adjunct Professor, Rotman School of Management, University of Toronto

The Importance of Evidence Based Decision Making by Munir A. Sheikh, former Chief Statistician, Statistics Canada, Distinguished Fellow, Queen’s University, Visiting Scholar, Carleton University

Share your views: How can we fix health care in Canada?

Dr. Hedy Fry

The Council of the Federation wrapped up its meeting in Victoria yesterday, with the Premiers agreeing to collectively take on the leadership role so disappointingly abandoned by the federal government.

The Premiers condemned the unilateral decision by Mr. Harper to cut health transfers. They called it unprecedented; indeed it was.

In essence the Prime Minister has said they can take what he imposes, and like it or leave it.

Last week, the Parliamentary Budget Officer made it clear that the Prime Minister’s plan will succeed only in downloading more costs to the provinces, which is neither fair nor responsible, and will force them to cut services and raise taxes to pay for these costs.

The Premiers also know that the sustainability of healthcare is not only about funding, it is also about collaborating on transformative change to improve health and access to care, while lowering costs.

This is the approach recommended by countless stakeholders, all of which counsel cooperation, and common vision towards implementing necessary health innovations.

This was the formula of the 2004 Health Accord, which linked federal funding to mutual goals, and was critical in reducing wait times for the five priority wait times.

In effect the federal government by these actions has walked away from a presence in Medicare. They have chosen to be a cheque writer and no more, despite all evidence that this old fashioned way of delivering on Medicare has not worked over the last two decades and that these actions will surely lead to the dissolution of Medicare and unequal access to services for Canadians, depending on where they live.

Why should we be surprised? Stephen Harper’s health care agenda has always been clear. In his 2001 letter to premier Ralph Klein, he wrote “. each Province should raise its own revenue for health care…”.

Since forming government, he has refused to meet with the Premiers to discuss healthcare. And he reneged on the agreement in the 2004 Accord to collaborate with provinces and territories to expand pharmacare, homecare and health human resources.

Now that he has a majority government, he can make good on his objective to dismantle Medicare.

And with no federal partner, and no cooperative new Health Accord, Premiers have no choice now, but to rescue healthcare themselves.

What do you think? How should the federal government be approaching Canada’s health care challenges? Share your views in the comments below.

- Dr. Hedy Fry

Liberal Health Critic

Ottawa 2012 – Closing Ceremonies

Video: Bob Rae's closing speech and Mike Crawley's acceptance speech

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What passed and what was defeated at Ottawa 2012

With some 3200 delegates now home safe and sound, we know many of you are keen to take stock of what we achieved together at Ottawa 2012 – Liberal Biennial Convention. In particular we’re hearing a lot of requests for a list of what constitutional amendments and policy resolutions passed or were defeated at the policy plenary. So without further ado, here it is.

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Convention Update: Meet your new executive team!

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Convention Update: A new way to choose our Leader!

The Liberal Party of Canada has thrown open its doors to all Canadians. Tonight 75 percent of delegates voted in favour of creating a “supporter” category [...]

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Convention Update: Watch Liberals make history today

Today’s the day delegates debate and vote on constitutional amendments and the “Sense of the Convention” resolutions.  The votes cast on these proposals will shape how [...]

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