- Member of Parliament
- Member of Parliament
- NDP
- Hamilton Centre
- Ontario
- Voting Attendance: 66%
- Expenses Last Quarter: $131,250.15
- Government Page
- Feb/27/24 2:55:10 p.m.
- Watch
Mr. Speaker, personal support workers are the backbone of our senior care system. They relieve young families worried about how they will take care of both their children and their parents. However, despite everything they do, many of these workers cannot retire with the dignity they deserve. For three years, the Liberal government has promised SEIU and other health care units help with building their retirement savings. It is a $50-million commitment, yet not a single dollar has flowed to these workers. New Democrats demand better for our care workers.
Will the Liberal government honour its commitment and release the funds these health care workers deserve before the fiscal year ends?
112 words
- Hear!
- Rabble!
- add
- star_border
- share
- Feb/16/24 1:48:08 p.m.
- Watch
Madam Speaker, I will take this opportunity to help the member understand my question. It is clear he did not. What I said was the legislation covered transit operators, and I wondered if he would take the consideration to all transit workers, which would include the people who are cleaning up in stations or anybody who is around the system. This gives him an opportunity perhaps to better understand my question and reflect on a more adequate answer.
78 words
- Hear!
- Rabble!
- add
- star_border
- share
- Feb/16/24 1:46:48 p.m.
- Watch
Madam Speaker, it is clear New Democrats always support the notion that all workers should be safe. The member from the Conservative caucus has gone on at length about this bill. I do not feel the need to recapitulate his arguments. I am not clear this will necessarily be a deterrent, but nevertheless here we are. We do have to make sure our first responders are adequately protected.
I believe all workers deserve to be protected. This House visited Bill C-46 back in 2015, and it was particular to transit operators. I am wondering if the hon. member would agree there needs to be a revisiting of that piece of legislation to include all transit workers in order to provide the same consideration for safety in the workplace for frontline workers, not just first responders.
136 words
- Hear!
- Rabble!
- add
- star_border
- share
- Feb/16/24 1:16:58 p.m.
- Watch
Mr. Speaker, I have heard the arguments from our Conservative counterparts, always talking about the state of women-owned businesses. What they seem to fail to recognize is that this sector of the care economy also depends on many female workers, yet this member of the Conservative Party talked about a wage spiral, as though inflating wages, increasing the wages of workers, is somehow a bad thing.
Is it his economic theory that this sector depends on the exploitation of women workers in order to provide affordable child care?
89 words
- Hear!
- Rabble!
- add
- star_border
- share
Madam Speaker, it is always a pleasure to hear from the hon. member for Elmwood—Transcona, who does a masterful job of highlighting the hypocrisies and contradictions of both Liberals and Conservatives. He raised a very important question today about workers.
He spoke about our responsibility to workers. I want to take a moment and highlight a recent visit we had to IBEW's training facility in Alberta, the 424 Union. It is doing a fantastic job training the next generation of workers in Alberta. We heard from it that our federal government had a responsibility.
When it comes to procurement, there are some construction and infrastructure contractors out there who do something called “double breasting”. They make applications with union workers and then they come through and make applications with another side of their company with non-union workers, essentially driving down the prevailing wage on the backs of not just the workers but taxpayer investments as well.
Could the hon. member, who I know is a proud member of IBEW, speak to the importance of a good prevailing wage and the procurement power of a federal government to ensure that workers get paid that union rate with good benefits and great pensions?
207 words
All Topics
- Hear!
- Rabble!
- add
- star_border
- share
Madam Speaker, I heard the hon. member talk about how Liberals believe in the middle class. I would like to believe in Santa Claus too, but at the end of the day, it is the workers who make the presents for the kids. If Liberals believed in the middle class like he says they did, why is it that, as members will recall, they abolished the ministry of the middle class and those working hard to join it? How insulting is it to the working class to suggest that its members are not working hard enough to make ends meet?
My question to the hon. member is this: Is it his assertion that working-class people are just not working hard enough to make it to the middle class?
129 words
All Topics
- Hear!
- Rabble!
- add
- star_border
- share
- May/16/23 2:51:39 p.m.
- Watch
Mr. Speaker, Windsor families are worried. There are 2,500 good-paying union jobs at risk at the new Stellantis plant, because this Liberal government cannot seem to get its act together. It is pointing fingers at the provinces instead of fighting for working-class Windsor families. This government cannot say that it stands with workers and they play political games with their livelihoods. They need real leadership now.
When will this government get back to the table, live up to its commitments and finally make Windsor workers a priority?
90 words
- Hear!
- Rabble!
- add
- star_border
- share
- Feb/8/23 3:12:17 p.m.
- Watch
Mr. Speaker, workers across Canada and Quebec continue to be left out in the cold on picket lines, while their bosses replace them with non-contract scab workers. New Democrats fought to end these union-busting tactics.
The member for Rosemont—La Petite-Patrie has already introduced anti-scab legislation. The minister just has to pass it. There is no need to delay things any longer.
Why is this minister delaying the rights for workers to have the ability to collectively bargain?
Why?
84 words
- Hear!
- Rabble!
- add
- star_border
- share
- Nov/2/22 4:42:21 p.m.
- Watch
Mr. Speaker, just to be clear, that rule only pertains to the members within this House. Given the premier is outside of this House, I will not withdraw my comment, because he is misleading Ontarians on the impact this will have on these workers.
This is serious and it is extortion. He is extorting these workers in order to negotiate in favour of the government. For these reasons and for that purpose, I think it is important for every worker across the country to pay close attention to the premier's use of the notwithstanding clause, because no doubt it will be used for workers in every province across the country unless we stand up for these workers here today.
120 words
All Topics
- Hear!
- Rabble!
- add
- star_border
- share
- Oct/20/22 2:14:25 p.m.
- Watch
Mr. Speaker, as a proud Hamiltonian, it is an honour to rise in the House and report that the “spirit of '46” is alive in the NDP caucus. We continue our fight for workers' rights to collectively bargain with their employers and, when necessary, withdraw their labour in order to push back against a tax on their wages, working conditions, pensions and benefits.
For decades, the New Democrats have introduced anti-scab legislation in the House to ensure that during labour disputes the use of scab replacement workers does not undermine the ability of workers to negotiate fairly or hurt labour relations. Scabs prolong strikes and lockouts and give employers little incentive to reach a fair deal. In the past, Liberals and Conservatives teamed up and voted against our anti-scab legislation.
Today, I am proud to also report that we have not stopped fighting for workers and have used our power in this Parliament to force the Liberals to include legislation to ban replacement workers. That includes not just strikes but lockouts as well. We will always fight for more democratic workplaces, democratic economies and to improve the material conditions of working-class people in our country.
200 words
- Hear!
- Rabble!
- add
- star_border
- share
- Sep/29/22 3:50:12 p.m.
- Watch
Mr. Speaker, we hear them heckling across the way, but does the hon. member not agree that the quickest, best and most sustainable way of putting money into the pockets of everyday workers is by improving their wages and not taking away their employer co-payments?
46 words
- Hear!
- Rabble!
- add
- star_border
- share
- Sep/29/22 3:49:33 p.m.
- Watch
Mr. Speaker, we heard the Conservatives go on and on and on about the cost of everything, but it is clear they know the value of nothing in this House. If they did, if they were really serious about workers, they would not be trying to attack pensions, employment contributions and in particular the co-pays. If they were truly concerned about putting money in the pockets of everyday people, they would be supporting our efforts to raise the actual wages.
81 words
- Hear!
- Rabble!
- add
- star_border
- share
- Apr/28/22 2:15:50 p.m.
- Watch
Mr. Speaker, today on the National Day of Mourning for workers killed or injured on the job, we mourn all workers who have lost their lives, and recommit to fight like hell for the living.
Just two days ago, a worker at Janco Steel in Stoney Creek died in an industrial accident. Our thoughts are with his family and everybody impacted by this horrible and preventable tragedy.
Working-class people continue to be sacrificed for the greed and profits of capitalism, and COVID has made things worse. Whether it is in long-term care homes, on construction or industrial sites or in meat-packing plants, far too many workers continue to be killed and injured on the job, yet corporate executives keep cashing in. All employers must be held accountable for their negligence. The Westray Law was introduced to hold companies criminally accountable for workers' safety, but only one person has ever gone to jail. This is appalling: if one kills a worker, one goes to jail.
We must continue to fight to improve the health and safety conditions for workers, because every worker deserves to get home safe at the end of the day.
195 words
- Hear!
- Rabble!
- add
- star_border
- share
- menumenu
- notificationsnotifications
- home
- mailmail
- searchsearch
