HST Hurting British Columbians and the Economy

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Posted on 2010.10.1

HST Hurting British Columbians and the Economy

HARPER MUST ACT TO HELP BC ECONOMY OVER HST MESS: DAVIES
Harper should suspend the BC HST until Referendum

OTTAWA – New Democrat Deputy Leader Libby Davies (Vancouver East) is calling on Stephan Harper and Gordon Campbell to suspend the Harmonized Sales Tax until the referendum.

“The uncertainty surrounding the future of this tax is further harming B.C.’s economic recovery,” Davies said in the House of Common on Friday. “Will the government at least suspend the HST until the voters of B.C. can have their say in a referendum?”

This week, federal Finance Minister Jim Flaherty admitted that July’s drop in GDP—the first in a year—is partly due to the introduction of the HST. He also said that the HST will cause Canada’s deficit to balloon even further.

“We’re now seeing the consequences of the HST, but the government is refusing to do anything about it.” Davies said later. “The people of British Columbia can’t afford any more delays. Harper and Campbell proved they work together to bring in the HST now we need them to work together to help fix the damage.”

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Letter requesting improved access to health care in both official languages

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Posted on 2013.04.18

Letter requesting improved access to health care in both official languages

Dr. Brian Postl

Chairperson of the Board

Canadian Institute for Health Information

260 Brodie Centre

727 McDermot Ave.

Winnipeg MB  R3E 3P5

 

Mr. John Wright

President and CEO

Canadian Institute for Health Information

495 Richmond Road, Suite 600

Ottawa ON  K2A 4H6

Dear Sirs:

As Official Opposition Critics for Health and Official Languages, we recognize that the Canadian Institute for Health Information (CIHI) plays a key role in improving the health of Canadians. Like you, we believe that better information leads to better decision making.

As you may know, Canada passed the Official Languages Act in 1969 to ensure that the English and French languages enjoy equal status, and to promote the growth and vitality of official-language communities.

Many community stakeholders tell us how important it is to have access to health care in their official language.

Given its mandate, CIHI could play a tremendous role in supporting the vitality of official-language minority communities.

As we are sure you are aware, the lack of standardized and accessible linguistic data makes it extremely difficult to plan and provide Canadians with health care in their official language.

We therefore ask that you consider adding linguistic variables to the data you collect on human resources and the populations served by Canada’s health-care systems in consultation with the health-care agencies that support the development of official-language minority communities. We believe that adding these variables will tie in well with your strategic goals and your mandate.

We hope that CIHI will consider this suggestion in its ongoing efforts to improve Canadians’ health and the health-care system.

We look forward to hearing from you.

Sincerely,

Libby Davies

Official Opposition Health Critic

 

Yvon Godin

Official Opposition Official Languages Critic

 

Djaouida Sellah

Official Opposition Assistant Health Critic

 

Tyrone Benskin

Official Opposition Deputy Official Languages Critic

 

——————-

 

Dr Brian Postl

Président du conseil d’administration

Institut canadien d’information sur la santé

260 Centre Brodie

727, avenue McDermot

Winnipeg (Manitoba)  R3E 3P5

 

Monsieur John Wright

Président-directeur général

Institut canadien d’information sur la santé

495, rue Richmond, pièce 600

Ottawa (Ontario)  K2A 4H6

Messieurs,

À titre de porte-parole de l’Opposition officielle en matière de santé et de langues officielles, nous reconnaissons le rôle essentiel que joue l’Institut canadien d’information sur la santé (ICIS) pour des Canadiens en meilleure santé. Nous croyons, comme vous, que de meilleures données permettent une meilleure prise de décisions.

Vous savez peut-être que le Canada a adopté, en 1969, la Loi sur les langues officielles afin de faire progresser vers l’égalité de statut le français et l’anglais et d’assurer le développement et l’épanouissement des communautés de langue officielle.

Nombreux sont les intervenants communautaires qui nous disent à quel point la question de l’accès à des soins de santé dans sa langue officielle est importante.

L’ICIS, de par sa vocation, a un potentiel extraordinaire pour contribuer à l’épanouissement de nos communautés de langue officielle en situation minoritaire (CLOSM).

Vous êtes sûrement conscients qu’il y a un manque de données linguistiques et que celles-ci ne sont pas suffisamment harmonisées ou accessibles, ce qui représente un obstacle considérable en vue de planifier et d’offrir aux Canadiens des soins de santé dans leur langue officielle.

Ainsi, nous vous invitons à considérer d’ajouter des variables linguistiques dans les données que vous collectez sur les ressources humaines et les populations servies par les systèmes de soins de santé du Canada en consultation avec les organismes en santé œuvrant au développement des CLOSM. Nous croyons que ces ajouts correspondent parfaitement à vos orientations stratégiques et à votre mandat.

Nous espérons que l’ICIS prendra le temps de réfléchir à cette proposition en ayant toujours à l’esprit l’amélioration de la santé et des soins de santé.

Dans l’attente d’une réponse, nous vous prions de recevoir, Messieurs, nos plus chaleureuses salutations.

Libby Davies

Porte-parole de l’Opposition officielle en matière de santé

 

 

Yvon Godin

Porte-parole de l’Opposition officielle en matière de langues officielles

 

 

Djaouida Sellah

Porte-parole adjointe de l’Opposition officielle en matière de santé

 

 

Tyrone Benskin

Porte-parole adjoint de l’Opposition officielle en matière de langues officielles

A Coalition for Change

Posted on

Posted on 2008.12.3

A Coalition for Change

It has been a raucous week in Parliament, and now we have a Prime Minister who is desperately clinging to power at any cost.

I’ve had emails from many people – across the country and of course, from East Van. A few have been vicious, regrettably – but many people seemed to be encouraged by the idea of a new coalition, focussed on real change and help for people, especially given the economic recession and lack of action from Harper’s government.

In Vancouver, even before the election, many people raised the possibility of a progressive coalition to defeat Harper’s agenda. The opportunity arose last Thursday, when the Finance Minister delivered a Economic and Fiscal Update that was completely unsupportable for the NDP and the two other opposition parties.

I want to see an economic package to help local communities and people facing job loss. We desperately need housing and an end to homelessness. We need public transit, a new green economy, and good jobs. Childcare is badly needed, and also reform to EI so people can access support when they need it.

In these exceptional circumstances, we need leadership that is willing to rise above partisanship and name- calling. So to me, it is responsible and legitimate, within our Parliamentary system, to seek to work with other parties to find strong common ground for the broader public interest.

I know not everyone agrees with that, and certainly Harper’s desperation means he is striking out to create fear and panic that the “separatists” are taking over etc. Of course we are used to Harper’s politics of fear – he relies on it. To be clear, the BQ are not part of the proposed coalition – though they are willing to support it, on the basis of a common program to help people.

It’s ironic that Harper himself has relied on the Bloc to support two of his budgets in the past. It was ok then, but now that it’s going the other way – it’s suddenly an “evil” thing!

All in all, I try to keep my focus on what needs to be done to help people in the community, who are facing hardship and uncertainty. Sometimes that means forging new coalitions to prevent something bad from happening.

It has certainly been an intense week – and it’s not even finished yet! Thank you for all the feedback – all points of view, respected.

Libby

Action Needed on Missing Women

Posted on

Posted on 2004.10.4

Action Needed on Missing Women

OTTAWA – With this week’s news that 8 more names been added to the list of women missing from the Downtown Eastside, I want to express my deep sympathy for the families and loved ones of those who continue to look for answers in this horrific case.

The tragedy of the 69 missing women case is felt by many. The community in the Downtown Eastside continues to be marked by a sense of loss and grief. For too many years there was little action taken on the increasing number of unsolved murders and frustration mounted. Countless others from across the country have written me in deep distress over the situation. They want to see an end to the continued violence, often targeted at sex trade workers.

It is with great sorrow that again we must call on all three levels of government to act. Families and loved ones need answers and women still face dangerous and precarious situations

I am calling on the Federal Minister of Justice, Hon. Irwin Cotler, who has publicly stated that he sees the need for legal reform in this area, to encourage his colleagues to re-strike the Sub-Committee on Solicitation Laws. This Committee needs to start meeting and set a course of work which I hope will also include a travel budget to allow Members of Parliament to hear from sex-trade workers and the wider community. If he chooses instead to put forward draft legislation with amendments to the Criminal Code I encourage him do so without delay. This issue can no longer be put on the back-burner or avoided.

Further to my letter of September 22nd, I again implore Minister Cotler to take urgent action and work with law enforcement agencies to place a moratorium on enforcement of the communicating laws under the Criminal Code. The current criminalization of sex trade workers under these sections of the Code discourages or prevents women from contacting the police when their safety is in jeopardy.

As well, I continue to call on the Mayor, as Chair of the Vancouver Police Board, to conduct an inquiry into police investigation of the missing women case to determine what happened.

Violence against women, particularly of Aboriginal women, has been highlighted this week by Amnesty International in a report titled Stolen Sisters: A Human Rights Response to Discrimination and Violence Against Indigenous Women in Canada. I support the recommendations in this report urge action to address the ongoing social and economic marginalization of indigenous women and to ensure the police and justice systems adequately protect these women.

The tragedy of the 69 missing women raises many questions about how our society can continue to expose these women to violence, exploitation and death and why so little is done to protect them. The time for action is now.

Left-of-centre politicians considering strategic voting in next Vancouver municipal election

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