OTTAWA – The NDP is deeply saddened that funding for the National Council of Welfare has been eliminated in the federal budget, tabled yesterday. The government advisory body, the premier resource for information on poverty in Canada, saw all of its grants pulled as a result of cuts inflicted by the Conservative government to Human Resources and Skills Development Canada.
OTTAWA – Canada’s reputation as a compassionate country on the world stage took another hit today, according to MPs from Canada’s Official Opposition. They were reacting to the Conservative budget which slashes $377.7 million in international development funding aimed at reducing poverty overseas.
OTTAWA – Yesterday’s budget included no help for families and shows how Conservatives continue to take British Columbians for granted, according to NDP leader Thomas Mulcair.
OTTAWA —NDP Leader Thomas Mulcair today slammed Stephen Harper’s Conservatives for introducing a budget that recklessly cuts the vital services that Canadians rely on—such as Old Age Security and health care.
Families, older people and workers are once again the biggest losers in the Conservative budget, according to NDP leader Thomas Mulcair.
OTTAWA – With the federal budget being tabled tomorrow, economists aren’t the only ones worried about how the Conservatives might affect the future of our country. Canadian scientists and academics are also increasingly worried that the main outlet of public science, Canada’s National Research Council (NRC), might be the subject of radical restructuring.
OTTAWA – A string of documents show the Conservative government received a slew of warnings of a looming nation-wide drug shortage but repeatedly dismissed expert advice.
Thomas Mulcair was selected new leader of the Official Opposition today by thousands of New Democrats gathered in Toronto and tens of thousands more who voted online or in advance.
OTTAWA – It is with a bit of sadness—but great confidence in the future of her party—that New Democrat interim leader Nycole Turmel will return full-time to her work as the MP for Hull-Aylmer, after passing the torch to the new NDP leader on Saturday.
Today, I’d like to acknowledge the International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination, which was adopted by the General Assembly of the United Nations in 1966.
On behalf of the New Democratic Party of Canada, I wish you and your family a happy Persian New Year, and a year filled with health and well-being.
OTTAWA – New Democrats are calling for protections for Canadian farmers in light of today’s announcement that Viterra’s Canadian assets will be sold off to Glencore, Agrium and Richardson. This unprecedented takeover would drastically reduce farmers’ choices for marketing, processing and handling their grains.
TROIS-RIVIÈRES — Today marks International Day of La Francophonie, and NDP MP Robert Aubin (Trois-Rivières) hopes that we celebrate and are inspired by French - a language that looks toward the future. This year, the theme of the festivities is "French is an Opportunity." This opportunity is ours in Canada.
OTTAWA — New Democrat Leader Nycole Turmel today congratulated Craig Scott for his resounding by-election victory in Toronto-Danforth, saying he will be a strong voice for his community and will strengthen the New Democrat opposition to Stephen Harper.
On behalf of New Democrats, I wish to express my deepest condolences to the Coptic community and to all Egyptians on the death of Pope Shenouda III, the patriarch of the Coptic Orthodox Church.
I am appalled by the deaths of four people, including three children, at a Jewish school in Toulouse, France.
PETERBOROUGH – New Democrats Megan Leslie (Halifax) and Matthew Dubé (Chambly—Borduas) are visiting Peterborough today to hold a forum on the recent allegations of voter suppression and dirty tricks swirling around the Conservatives.
This evening, New Democrats got results for Canadian families and took a step in the right direction to put an end to the country’s current drug shortage.
OTTAWA – The ecoENERGY Retrofit – Homes program was so popular with Canadians—reducing heating bills, helping the environment, and creating clean energy jobs—that the NDP wants Parliament to review its cancellation by the Conservative government.
OTTAWA – The NDP is calling on the Conservatives to adopt a concrete plan to manage the current drug shortage and adopt a national strategy to prevent this type of situation from happening again, as proposed by an NDP motion to be voted on tonight.
OTTAWA - Today in Question Period, NDP Fisheries and Oceans critic Fin Donnelly questioned the Minister on plans to make sweeping changes to section 35 of the Fisheries Act, essentially stripping habitat protection out of the legislation.
OTTAWA — By refusing to amend Bill C-11 to reform the Copyright Act, the Conservatives are threatening Quebec and Canadian culture by directly attacking artists’ sources of income, New Democrats said today.
OTTAWA – Today, New Democrats slammed the Standing Committee on the Environment and Sustainable Development’s report on the seven-year review of the Canadian Environmental Assessment Act (CEAA), tabled this morning in the House of Commons. The NDP has written a dissenting report, outlining their concerns.
Tonight, your New Democrat team was very clear. We take allegations of electoral fraud and voter suppression extremely seriously.
It was with great sadness that I learned of the death of Quebec unionist and feminist, Madeleine Parent, who passed away last night after a long illness, at the age of 93.
As we mark the first anniversary of the earthquake in Japan and Tsunami in the Pacific, I cannot help but recall the heart-breaking images and stories in the news. Such devastation moved us all.
OTTAWA – On this International Women’s Day, New Democrat MPs tabled two private members’ bills to advance women’s equality in Canada.
OTTAWA – The New Democratic Party of Canada says one way to avoid new scandals like the ‘in and out’ and fraudulent calls is to reinforce the powers of Elections Canada by allowing the Chief Electoral Officer to request all documents necessary for his investigations.
Today I’m taking the time to highlight the exceptional contribution of Canadian women in the long march towards equality of the sexes in Canada.
New Democrats are concerned that the endorsement of a voluntary ‘code of conduct’ by the President of Afghanistan is a step backwards for Afghan women. The code of conduct, issued by a religious advisory council, allows husbands to beat their wives under certain circumstances and encourages the separation of the sexes.
On Sunday, February 26, 2012, I appeared as a guest on the CTV Question Period program. In the course of that broadcast, I made certain comments dealing with the allegations of voter tampering at the 41st federal general election of May 2, 2011, that seem to have been misunderstood by the corporate officers in charge of Campaign Research Inc, an Ottawa-based company. Today, I would like to clarify my remarks.
Once again, New Democrats are showing leadership on issues that matter to Canadians, especially for our veterans.
OTTAWA – New Democrats today blasted the Conservatives for dragging their feet on rail safety after the Transportation Safety Board (TSB) echoed calls by independent experts for concrete steps to ensure the safety of Canadian rail travellers.
OTTAWA – This morning in the House of Commons, NDP Immigration and Citizenship critic, Don Davies (Vancouver-Kingsway), introduced two bills to make Canada’s visitor visa system fairer and more transparent.
OTTAWA – Our health care system is not for sale and under no circumstances should Canada sign a free trade agreement at the expense of our public system. This is the main conclusion of the first of a series of NDP roundtables on the potential impacts of the Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement with the European Union. The goal of this series of discussions is to make up for the lack of debate in the House of Commons on this agreement that will affect the public services Canadians depend on.
OTTAWA – New Democrats today urged the Conservatives to shield Veterans Affairs Canada from their budget chopping block. In a motion to be voted tomorrow evening, New Democrats are calling for all-party support to ensure that programs and services to all military and RCMP veterans are protected.
The Prime Minister’s Parliamentary Secretary, Dean Del Mastro, is having a very hard time with the facts this week.
New Democrats welcome the investigation by Elections Canada into the tens of thousands of complaints they received about election suppression activities during the last federal election.
OTTAWA – As Conservative Associate Minister of Defence Julian Fantino meets with F-35 purchasing partners in Washington, the NDP is pressing the Conservatives to adopt a plan B. New Democrats are demanding an open and transparent tender process so the air force can obtain aircraft that meet Canada’s needs.
The election for the leader of the Official Opposition is now open. Voting packages are now being received by members in the mail and at 2:00pm this afternoon New Democrats across the country are able to start casting their ballots online.
OTTAWA – Railway incidents and loss of life like the tragic VIA Rail derailment continue to take place in Canada due to the lack of mandatory modern safety systems, New Democrats said today. Conservative inaction is costing Canadian lives while other countries like the United States have made effective measures like Positive Train Control compulsory.