Darrell Samson

[The Economy, November 1st, 2024]

Mr. Speaker, it is time for a history lesson for my colleague. Since 2015, our government has invested in Canadians, the Canadian economy, the business world and community organizations. When the Conservatives were in power in 2014, they made major budget cuts on the backs of the men and women who serve. Does everyone remember? They closed nine veterans offices right across the country, one of which was in Nova Scotia. However, there is good news: Yesterday was the eighth anniversary of the reopening of the veterans office in Nova Scotia.

[Interparliamentary Delegations, October 28th, 2024]

Mr. Speaker, pursuant to Standing Order 34(1), I have the honour to present to the House, in both official languages, the following reports from the Canadian branch of the Assemblée parlementaire de la Francophonie. The first report concerns its participation in the 44th Ministerial Conference of La Francophonie held in Yaoundé, Cameroon, on November 4 and 5, 2023, and the Good Offices Mission in Libreville, Gabon, on November 6 and 7, 2023. The second report concerns the meetings of the Education, Culture and Communication Committee and the Parliamentary Network on HIV/AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria held in Bucharest, Romania, from April 3 to 5, 2024. The next report concerns the meeting of the Commission on Economic, Social and Environmental Affairs held in Luang Prabang, Laos, on April 10 and 11, 2024. The final report concerns the meeting of the Parliamentary Affairs Committee held in Podgorica, Montenegro, from April 24 to 26, 2024.

[Canada Carbon Rebate, October 10th, 2024]

Mr. Speaker, my friends in Nova Scotia will receive their Canada carbon tax rebates in their bank accounts on October 15. A family in Nova Scotia will receive $206 through the Canada carbon rebate.

We have also made the Canada carbon rebate fairer for rural residents by doubling the top-up for rural and small communities, retroactive to April.

The Conservative leader is preoccupied with giving his friends in big oil a free pass and eliminating rebates for Canadians. His refusal to fight climate change and his anti-climate slogans will end up costing Canadians a lot more.

Our government will continue to reduce carbon emissions while improving the lives of Canadians.

[Offshore Renewable Energy Sector, October 8th, 2024]

Madam Speaker, our government is working to create hundreds of thousands of new jobs in the clean economy, especially in Nova Scotia. That is why we passed Bill C-49, which will enable the creation of offshore wind projects in Atlantic Canada for the very first time. This bill alone will attract billions in investments and create thousands of jobs for Atlantic Canadians.

That is why I was so deeply disturbed to see the Conservative Party turn its back on Nova Scotians once again by opposing this legislation in an attempt to stop these jobs, stop economic growth and stop renewable energy projects from coming home to Nova Scotia. Fortunately, the Conservatives failed, and we delivered.

This bill adds to our many investments in the clean economy, our technology tax credits and so on. Through these efforts, we will grow Canada's economy and fight climate change at the same time.

[Budget Implementation Act, 2024, No. 1, June 18th, 2024]

Madam Speaker, my colleague talked a lot about two issues that I am concerned about, which are affordability, of course, and housing. Our government has been focused, in the last number of years, on key issues for families and supporting Canadians. If the member is saying that we have an affordability problem, a housing crisis, etc., then why are the Conservatives voting against all the good programs that we are bringing forward? On the dental program, they voted against it. On pharmacare, they voted against it. On early learning and child care, they voted against it. On the Canada child benefit, again, they voted against it.

When the member talks about axing the tax, what he is actually saying to Canadians is that, if the Conservatives take power, they would axe all those programs. It is easy to understand because they are voting against them, which means they are not in favour of them. I would like the member to tell me, and tell Canadians, if he would axe all those good programs or not?

[Budget Implementation Act, 2024, No. 1, June 18th, 2024]

Madam Speaker, I would like to ask my colleague a very important question. We realize that since COVID it has been challenging out there. Affordability is a big issue. Our government has been focused on supporting Canadians through various programs. Two that I want to speak of are our Canada child benefit and the early years benefit, which are helping young families prior to children's entering school, and then afterward, helping them and supporting them. Those are two big programs in my riding.

I would like the member to share how people in his riding are responding and sharing some feedback on affordability when looking at some of the investments we have put in place to support families.

[Correctional Service of Canada, May 29th, 2024]

Madam Speaker, as stated, correctional interventions work to provide meaningful employment and employability program opportunities for offenders, increasing the likelihood of safe and successful reintegration. As part of this, CSC works with partners in the academic, private and not-for-profit sectors to access learning materials that mirror those available to the general public and to develop courses online with community employment standards.

These resulting vocational certificates are issued in most cases by a third party. This certificated work is to provide offenders with the support, referrals and services to address their employment needs and contribute to their ability to find and maintain employment. For Canadians, there are benefits to having safer communities: less repeated crime and additional workforce availability for inmates.

[Correctional Service of Canada, May 29th, 2024]

Madam Speaker, I really appreciate the opportunity to rise in the House this evening to speak about the positive benefits offered by the Correctional Service of Canada's employment and employability programming.

Employment programs and services help build essential services and skills related to employment while connecting offenders with resources to assist them in finding community employment after release. The benefits associated with correctional programming have long been demonstrated. In fact, going back a decade, research has noted a direct connection between employment and positive reintegration results upon release.

We know that those inmates who participate in CORCAN employment programs while incarcerated are more likely to be granted parole and get jobs in their communities. Also, offenders under community supervision are less likely to return to crime. Without the holistic approach of the CORCAN program, offenders would not be in a good position to find employment.

In addition, community programming works to save Canadians money. The daily cost of maintaining the inmates in prison amounts to six figures annually. When an inmate can be safely returned to their community and find employment, they are working to support themselves financially. They are required to pay taxes, and they no longer incur, of course, a six-figure cost to the Canadian public. This is why I am very happy to note that there has been a year-over-year increase in the opportunities for inmates to undertake Correctional Service Canada programming.

In the fiscal year 2022-23, employment coordinators, including staff and contractors, directly assisted offenders under community supervision to obtain over 2,000 community job placements, and it is estimated that job placement levels will be maintained in 2023-24.

In 2022-23, on-the-job training opportunities were provided for over 2,600 offenders within one of CORCAN's five business lines, and in 2023-24, another 2,600 offenders benefited from the on-the-job training. I am proud to note that a total of over 16,000 vocational training certificates were earned by inmates of all backgrounds in 2022-23, and in 2023-24, there was a significant increase in vocational training, representing over 22,000 certificates.

In the apprenticeship program, offenders have the opportunity to register, accumulate hours and take block training to become Red Seal journeymen in a specific trade. Since September 2020, a total of 147 offenders participated in apprenticeship programs, of which 64 have completed their certification, with many of them continuing on.

Correctional Service Canada has formed partnerships directly with indigenous communities to further increase project availability and to provide indigenous offenders with additional job training.

[Canada–Newfoundland and Labrador Atlantic Accord Implementation Act, May 27th, 2024]

Madam Speaker, the first thing that comes to mind is jealousy, but I guess that is too simple. The real answer is that the Leader of the Opposition does not care about Atlantic Canadians and does not care about us having good-paying sustainable jobs for Atlantic Canadians. That is what it is all about. People would come back to Nova Scotia. Many people have returned because of the shipyard contract. Many more will return now. These are opportunities for Nova Scotia, Newfoundland and Labrador, New Brunswick, P.E.I. and all of Canada. We are going to lead the world into this industry. The opposition should get out of the way and let us do our job.

[Canada–Newfoundland and Labrador Atlantic Accord Implementation Act, May 27th, 2024]

Madam Speaker, I thank my colleague, because he is 100% right. I said it from the beginning. The Harper government did not care about the Atlantic accord. It wanted to take the royalties away. Now the Conservatives have a chance to make it up. They are doing the same thing, because the Leader of the Opposition does not care about Atlantic Canadians.

To the member's point, the provincial minister of Nova Scotia said that this is probably the greatest opportunity in decades that Nova Scotia, Newfoundland and Labrador, New Brunswick and P.E.I. have. We must take advantage of it, and I want to see the people who moved away from Atlantic Canada, probably because of the 2007 decision by the Conservative government, come back home. It is time to come home. It is 2024, and we care about Atlantic Canada.