OTTAWA REPORT

December 4, 2013 · 0 Comments

By Lois Brown, MP
Newmarket-Aurora

Employers invited to apply to Canada Summer Jobs
Employers can now apply for Canada Summer Jobs 2014 funding, which each year helps students gain the skills and experience they need while earning money for the upcoming school year. The employer application period for Canada Summer Jobs has changed. Applications are now available at servicecanada.gc.ca/csj and must be submitted by January 31, 2014.
These new timelines mean successful employers will be notified sooner and have more time to recruit students. Funding will be available to not-for-profit organizations, public-sector employers and small businesses. Young people aged 15 to 30, who are full-time students and intend to return to school in the fall, can qualify for these job opportunities.
Nearly 100 students were assisted in Newmarket-Aurora this past summer through Canada Summer Jobs.

Putting Victims First
Our Conservative Government has reinstated the Not Criminally Responsible Reform Act to ensure that public safety is paramount when dealing with persons found to be Not Criminally Responsible on Account of Mental Disorder (NCR).
Under current law, offenders found NCR can be released in a few years; free to live in any community, even where their victims or families reside. There is no warning or protection under current law to keep victims and other law-abiding Canadians safe. This is a gap in the justice system that must be addressed. The Not Criminally Responsible Reform Act will solve this by:
Putting public safety first by giving it paramount consideration in the decision-making process relating to accused persons found to be NCR. Such individuals would not be entitled to unescorted passes, and could only obtain an escorted pass in narrow circumstances, subject to sufficient conditions to protect public safety.
Creating a high-risk designation which means that a designated high-risk NCR individual will be held in custody until their designation is revoked by a court.
Enhancing victim’s rights by ensuring their concerns are considered when decisions are made about accused persons found NCR. Victims will be notified when an NCR accused is discharged and where they intend to reside, and non-communications orders between an NCR accused and the victim will be allowed.
This legislation is another step towards ensuring that offenders are held accountable for their actions, and that victim’s rights are put first.

Parliamentary Guide Recruitment Underway
From Victoria Day to Labour Day, the Parliamentary Guide Recruitment program offers university students the unique opportunity of working on Parliament Hill while acquiring new skills and ensuring that thousands of visitors have access to guided tours of Parliament.
Candidates must be Canadian citizens or permanent residents, attend university, speak fluently in both official languages and be available for full time employment from April 27 to September 1, 2014. For more information, visit www.parl.gc.ca/guides. Deadline to apply to the Parliamentary Guide Program is January 15, 2014.

On track for balanced budgets
Standard and Poor’s has once again confirmed the federal government’s triple-A credit rating. Its report highlighted our stable and credible policymaking and highly resilient economy, even in the face of a fragile global economy, as factors behind this success. With over one million net new jobs created since the worst of the recession in 2009, Canada has the best job creation and lowest debt levels of all G-7 countries.
As the Canadian economy continues its recovery, we turn our heads to the next step in the process – transitioning back to long-term balanced budgets starting in 2015. As confirmed in the government’s Annual Financial Report, the deficit last year fell by $7.4 billion from the year before. We remain on track to balance the budget in 2015, with an expected surplus of $3.7 billion in 2015–16.
Importantly, we are doing this without raising taxes or cutting transfer payments to the provinces – in fact – we have nearly doubled transfer payments to Ontario since we took office and cut taxes over 160 times. We’ve also identified and rooted out wasteful spending and introduced
common sense efficiencies to improve the way government does business.
The effect of these actions is that government revenue as a percentage of GDP is at its lowest level in over 50 years. When government is more efficient and effective instead of large and bloated, more money is left in the pockets of Canadian families and business – where it belongs.
Direct government program spending has fallen by over five billion dollars over the past three straight years. This is a first for any government in Canada – never in our history has direct program spending fallen for three consecutive years.
If you would like to contact me on any issue, please call 905-953-7515 or visit my website at www.loisbrown.ca. I look forward to hearing from you.