Version française ci-dessous Last week I attended a rally on the steps of Parliament organized by veterans suffering from the long-lasting effects of the anti-malarial drug Mefloquinne. It struck me that this is becoming the new normal as veterans are forced to take their struggles with Veterans [Read more]
Version française ci-dessous If you scratch the surface of any community across Canada you are sure to expose the work of volunteers in the process. From the toughest downtown neighbourhoods to the most pastoral small towns, volunteers are a constant presence and their work usually makes a big [Read more]
A Supreme Court decision forced Parliament to act on the issue of medical assistance in dying, but the government has chosen to make this a more fractured discussion on a number of fronts that could have been avoided, or at the very least tempered with a little foresight and planning. The right [Read more]
Young Canadians today are on a razor’s edge when it comes to employment. They are often forced into precarious work and are more likely to take unpaid internships and part-time, casual, or temporary work. Just under half of Canadians between the ages of 15 and 29 are forced to accept this kind [Read more]
A tax plan that offers no relief to more than half the country and only benefits those who are already wealthy would have seen Stephen Harper pilloried in the press and coffee shops across the nation, but will Justin Trudeau be given a free ride for doing just that? It’s a question we are about [Read more]
By now we have grown accustomed to the compelling arguments in favour of re-investing in Canada’s crumbling infrastructure, but what are we to make of the damage to the bridge over the Nipigon River which is new and not even fully constructed? In case you missed the story, the bridge failed [Read more]
GREENSTONE, ON – Andrew Foulds took his campaign to Greenstone last week. He visited Beardmore, Geraldton, Nakina and Longlac. “The issues raised by constituents have become all too familiar as I knock on doors across this large riding. The economy and lack of good paying jobs was voiced [Read more]
Will we toss aside our agricultural producers the same way we did our manufacturing sector? The push is on to finalize negotiations on the Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP) trade deal and the implications of a rushed deal could harm the growing agricultural sector in Northern Ontario. While we [Read more]
With Iraqi children freezing to death in Turkish refugee camps, Canada has to ask itself if committing to military action that inspires militants and contributes to regional instability is the right course of action for our country. It isn’t a matter of if we can do the job or how much people [Read more]
I saw an interesting editorial cartoon where workmen are dismantling a house to build a fence. The fence is labelled security and the house is labelled privacy. It cuts to the heart of the debate on new anti-terrorism legislation that is being rushed through parliament as the Conservatives [Read more]
We are often told not to put all our eggs in one basket and not to count our chickens until they hatch. Someone should have reminded the federal government about those poultry related maxims as they set out to spend a surplus based on assumptions which included oil trading at a high price. Now [Read more]
Manitoulin Family Resources is set to open their newly constructed food bank this month. While I am saddened that I will be in Ottawa and unable to join their celebrations for this achievement, I am more than a little frustrated that in a country as rich as ours the number of Canadians who rely [Read more]
As the Finance Minister worked his way through the budget speech last Thursday it became obvious that the advance press was true and we were receiving a do nothing budget. I had to wonder if we are living in the same country since the Canada I experience in my role as MP is defined by [Read more]
This week I met with representatives from ALS Canada who explained they were concerned about the impact the conservative budget is having on their organization. They are looking to have parliament reinstate the funding they were receiving up until 2012 that had been cut in last year’s omnibus, [Read more]
We hear a lot about the disappearing middle class these days and we should be hearing as much, or perhaps even more, about the plight of seniors mired in poverty. Whether it is because of pensions that underperform or vanish altogether, more seniors are requiring assistance from the [Read more]
