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Decentralized Democracy

House Hansard - 149

44th Parl. 1st Sess.
January 30, 2023 11:00AM
  • Jan/30/23 12:29:42 p.m.
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  • Re: Bill C-35 
Madam Speaker, I want to start by saying I agree with and appreciate the minister for bringing forward this legislation so early in this session, as well as how important this legislation is. I also appreciate her comments about the importance of investing in the workforce. As we have heard from our colleague from Winnipeg Centre, this is an ongoing concern. I will speak to the specifics in Ontario. The estimates are that we will need an additional 14,700 early childhood educators in Ontario by 2025-26. In the current agreement that the federal government signed with the Province of Ontario, the wage floor is $18 an hour, rising by one dollar per year until 2025. Recognizing the talented folks in this workforce and the need to not only retain but also to recruit at these numbers, and since it is not just the Province of Ontario but also the federal government that has a responsibility, can the minister comment on what more needs to be done to ensure we are investing in the workforce and getting wages lifted higher?
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  • Jan/30/23 3:24:57 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, it is an honour to rise this afternoon to present a petition on behalf of petitioners who note that Canada has had an electoral system since its inception called “first past the post” that allows a political party to win a majority of seats and all of the power while having less than half the popular vote. They point out that proportional representation is a really critical principle that calls for the percentage of seats in the House to equate to the percentage of votes received by that political party. If a party gets 40% of the popular vote, they say that it should get 40% of the seats. They also point out that countries around the world such as Germany, Italy, Ireland, New Zealand and many others have progressed from a first-past-the-post system to a proportional representation system already. The petitioners move for the Government of Canada to push toward a PR electoral system to bring credible representation to all Canadians.
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