Dear Constituents,

I hope you and your family had a safe and enjoyable summer season. As usual, it seemed to pass too quickly but it was a good time for me to catch up with family and friends as well as to take care of the many chores that I had put off. I also attended a number of community events and was kept very busy attending to the needs of constituents. On reflection, it was a very productive and constructive summer for me.

On the cover, I am pictured with Cathy Toperczer and Peel Regional Police Chief Michael Metcalf at a fundraising walk for Mothers Against Drunk Driving. Cathy, whose husband was tragically killed by an impaired driver, is a member of the Halton/ Peel Chapter of MADD and was the Chair of the event. More information about the risks associated with alcohol misuse and MADD is included in this issue.

As a past president of the Canada Taiwan Parliamentary Association, I have been asked to lead an all party delegation of MPs to Taiwan in September. Canada has a trade deficit with Taiwan and exploring trade opportunities will be the focus of our discussions. Meetings have been arranged with Canadian businesses in Taiwan and with senior governmental officials including the President. My report will be tabled in Parliament and I will include some details in my next Householder.

A number of people asked me when the next election was coming. Although there were rumours of an election last Spring, it appears that the Bloc Quebecois will continue to support the minority government until they recover their lost support in Quebec. In addition, Parliament has passed a Bill setting fixed dates for Federal General Elections. The next election will be held in October 2009 unless the government is defeated on a budget, a Throne Speech or other specified confidence votes. Normally a government will prorogue Parliament when they have exhausted their priorities. That means that all Bills not passed will die and a new Throne Speech with an updated agenda will be delivered to start a new session of Parliament. I expect this may happen soon.

Seniors issues have often been the subject matter of my work and as our society ages, the problems faced by seniors continue to grow. You may be interested to know that within the next decade there will be more seniors in Canada than children.

This year my mother turned 83 and, as can be expected, she has some health challenges and other needs that family members must attend to. My own experience reminds me that seniors are among the most vulnerable in our society. They have the least opportunities to increase their income to cover rising costs and they often become concerned about whether they will be safe and properly cared for in the future. They are also targets of those who would try to take advantage of them. The reality is that as we get older, the challenges grow and we will need help.

To bring attention to some of the more prevalent issues facing seniors, I have developed a number of motions which I have just tabled in Parliament. These are summarized in this householder and it is my intention to raise these issues in Parliament whenever possible. Seniors need a persistent voice in Parliament and Parliamentarians must be reminded that as our population ages, the problems will grow. We need to plan for these realities.

In this issue, I have also written a couple of articles on climate change and air quality in south Mississauga which is below acceptable levels and is facing new challenges. As well there are articles on Passports and Permanent Resident ID cards and on the risks associated with misuse of alcohol including Fetal Alcohol Syndrome. I hope you will find these articles to be of interest.

I also want to thank you for your constructive feedback. Your views and comments help me to do the best job possible.

Sincerely,

Paul Szabo

Over the past number of years, I have noted a significant increase in the number of seniors that have contacted my office with serious concerns related to their health and well-being. As our society ages, the number of seniors will grow to a much larger proportion of our population. The risks to, and needs of, seniors will also continue to grow.

Seniors are among the most vulnerable in our society because they have very few opportunities to increase their income or to reduce the costs of their basic food, housing and health care needs.

Ageism is discrimination on the basis of age and it has unfortunately crept into our system of supports and services for seniors. As a consequence, many seniors are living a life of despair. These conditions also have significant consequences to their family caregivers who are struggling to provide appropriate care to their loved ones while they attend to the needs of their own families.

Poverty, homecare, pharmacare, nursing home accessibility, family caregivers, elder abuse and the need for information all come up regularly. Although some of these areas involve other levels of government, it is important for the federal Government to show leadership in establishing priorities and in collaborating with other jurisdictions.

In order to bring these priority issues to the attention of the government as they consider future priorities, I have tabled in Parliament a number of motions for consideration. The following is a condensed listing of those motions:

1. Establish Provincial, Territorial and Regional poverty lines in Canada thereby setting the level of poverty we are prepared to tolerate.
   
   
2. Implement a “Guaranteed Annual Income For Seniors” program to ensure that no senior lives below the official poverty line for their region.
   
   
3. Eliminate mandatory retirement at age 65 throughout Canada to ensure that all seniors who need to work or who wish to continue to work can do so.
   
   
4. Increase the Caregiver Tax Credit to the equivalent value of the government subsidy per patient that is provided to nursing homes.
   
   
5. Provide EI benefits for family caregivers who withdraw from the paid labour force to provide care in their home to an aged, infirmed or disabled family member.
   
   
6. Increase the Refundable Medical Expense Supplement for seniors from the current 25% of the allowable portion of medical expenses claimed to 50%.
   
   
7. Amend the Canada Pension Plan Act to permit those who withdraw from the paid labour force to provide care for an aged, infirmed or disabled family member, the opportunity to continue their full participation in the CPP.
   
   
8. Increase the accessibility of homecare and to establish meaningful guidelines to ensure that the number of hours of care available per day are sufficient to provide the support necessary to the senior and that homecare be expanded to include chronic care.
   
   
9. Strengthen the pharmacare system to ensure that all medically necessary drugs are available to all seniors without cost and that dispensing fees be strictly regulated.
   
   
10. Establish guidelines for the care of the chronically ill or those who require continuous care and to regulate the nursing home industry to ensure that the standards of quality care are being monitored and enforced.
    
    
11. Expand and improve the accessibility of affordable housing for seniors.
    
    
12. Amend The Criminal Code to recognize that abuse of a vulnerable senior represents an aggravating factor which warrants stiffer sentences for those convicted of elder abuse.
    
    
13. Amend The Criminal Code to recognize that taking from a senior is an aggravating factor which warrants stiffer sentences for those convicted of defrauding a senior.
    
    
14. Establish a new Officer of Parliament as the Physician General of Canada to guide and advise seniors and other Canadians on important healthcare issues.
    
    
15. Establish the cabinet position of Secretary of State For Seniors to be the principal advocate for seniors issues thereby ensuring that seniors have a voice and that it is heard at the decision making table.
    
    
16. Develop and implement a Canada-wide public education campaign to inform Canadians about the growing prevalence of “Ageism” (discrimination on the basis of age) within our society and on how we all can help to identify and correct the problems.
    
    
17. Develop and adopt a “Bill of Rights for Seniors” to serve as a guide for public policy development affecting seniors and to serve as a lens through which all existing legislation which affects seniors can be examined to ensure that the best interests of seniors are being served.

The measure of success of a country is not an economic measure but rather an assessment of the health and well-being of its people. As such, the needs of seniors must be a priority. These motions will help me to raise these issues with the Government and Parliament this Fall. If you have any questions or suggestions, I would be most interested to hear your views.

As you know, demand for passports has increased substantially since the United States now requires them for those travelling to the US by airplane. In 2008, it is also planned that passports will also be required when you enter the US by land.

Needless to say, the passport processing time has been very long. If you may be traveling to the US in the future, you are encouraged to ensure that you have a passport that is current. Note that many countries require that your passport have at least 6 months left before expiry.

Another potential problem has to do with permanent resident cards (PR cards) which are a vital document for Canadian permanent residents who are travelling back to Canada. The PR card confirms the holder’s permanent resident status in Canada. Permanent residents who travel outside Canada must show the card before boarding commercial transportation (plane, train, boat, car or bus) when returning to Canada.

The PR card was introduced for new immigrants to Canada on June 28, 2002 and since they were valid for 5 years, they are now starting to expire. Canadian permanent residents are therefore advised to check the expiry date on their card to make sure that their card is renewed in time for any future travel.

Without a valid PR card, permanent residents will not be allowed to board, and will be referred to the nearest Canadian embassy or consulate to obtain a permanent resident travel document. This will result in delays and could mean significant additional travel costs.

Permanent residents can obtain a new PR card by completing the application forms available online at www.cic.gc.ca or by calling 1-888-242-2100 (toll-free). Applications are currently being processed within 6–8 weeks of receipt at the Case Processing Centre in Sydney, Nova Scotia. My office may be able to assist in the case of emergencies.

The residents of South Mississauga have a history of activism when it comes to air quality in our community. I can vividly recall the extensive interventions on proposals such as burning PCBs at the cement factory, increasing emissions at that petroleum refinery or building a new gas fired hydro plant in south west Mississauga.

The medical officer of health confirmed there were hot spots in our area which reflected unusually high levels of cancer and respiratory problems. Residents also noted the paint on their cars and homes had been damaged by particles in the air. Now studies conducted by the Ontario Medical Association, the Toronto Medical Officer of Health and the Halton Region Medical Officer of Health have all pointed out that poor air quality results in premature deaths due to the impact of air pollution on respiratory systems.

Now we have even more authoritative evidence that the air quality in our area is worse than acceptable levels. In November 2006, the Provincial Ministry of the Environment released its report on the results of the Clarkson Airshed Study and it confirmed the concerns expressed by a number of ratepayer groups in the community. The Report is available on the internet and although it is very technically oriented, the conclusions are very clear.

The study was conducted in a relatively small area bounded by the 8th Line in Oakville on the west to Meadow Wood Road on the east and from Lake Ontario to Dundas Street. It found that the ambient air in the study area sometimes exceeded the Province’s acceptable levels for three significant pollutants: Particulate Matter (PM 2.5) which is the most harmful, nitrogen oxides (NOx) and volatile organic compounds (VOCs). Other pollutants such as sulfur oxide (SOx), carbon monoxide (CO) and carbon dioxide (CO2), which contribute to global warming, were not measured.

Overall, the pollution levels were 14% above the provincial average. While only one air monitoring station was located downwind of large industrial plants in the Southdown Road area, the study nonetheless determined that 25% of the total pollution is generated by local industry.

Now the community is facing another major challenge. Since early 2000, a number of ratepayer groups have actively been opposing attempts to construct as many as three, large gas-fired power plants in south Mississauga. Hydro supply is an important matter but the resistance to these plants stems from the concerns the residents have about the impact on air quality. The plants under consideration are located near Royal Windsor Drive and Winston Churchill Blvd, on Loreland Ave at the Etobicoke border and the third at the current site of the Lakeview Power Plant. All three proposals are or were subject to receiving OMB approval.

The position of the ratepayer organizations, as provided to me, is:
“We think that increasing pollution in our community through the construction of one or more new power plants is a bad idea, yet the Province of Ontario and the Mayor of Mississauga seem determined to have plants constructed in the areas noted above. We think the Province needs to rethink its approach to assessing the impact of new polluters on air quality by adopting a “cap” approach that jurisdictions such as California have implemented. Caps limit total pollution in an airshed, while Ontario’s laws measure polluters independently, as if each new source of emission was the first in the atmosphere, but fails to consider the cumulative impact of all sources of air pollution.”

I fully support the position of the ratepayers. We need to stop construction of any new plants as long as the air quality in our community is at unacceptable levels. You may wish to contact your ratepayers association for more information and support them by writing to the Premier of Ontario and the Mayor of Mississauga.

At the beginning of 2007, it was evident that public opinion about the environment and global warming had undergone a fundamental shift. We were no longer debating whether or not climate change was occurring. We were discussing what to do about it.

In response, the David Suzuki Foundation undertook a project to find out what solutions Canadians had to offer. They met with over 30,000 people all across the country and another 30,000 sent in written submissions.

According to their report, they found that Canadians felt an urgent need to ensure that we establish a sustainable economy that confronts the reality of environmental degradation and global warming. They want their political leaders to commit to short-term targets to achieve long-term solutions. They want strong laws to protect the environment, policies to encourage good environmental practices and immediate action without partisan politics getting in the way.

In conducting their study, the Foundation asked people what specifically they would do if they were Prime Minister. The five urgent action areas were:

1. Build a sustainable, affordable public transportation system.
   
2. Introduce a carbon tax system to help meet our Kyoto commitments.
   
3. Entrench in the Constitution the right to clean water, breatheable air and a safe food supply.
   
4. Identify and protect habitats that species at risk need to recover.
   
5. Institute a national program to penalize polluters and reward green initiatives.

In addition to the action items identified in the analysis of the responses, several themes also arose as follows:

1. Voters reject the traditional division between the economy and the environment – rather, they know that the environment is the economy.
   
2. Canadians want elected officials and corporate leaders to protect Canada’s competitive edge by taking advantage of cost-saving energy efficiencies.
   
3. The urgency that Canadians feel cuts across party loyalty. They want to put aside partisanship and work together to solve the most urgent of our problems.

After all the votes were tallied, Canadians stated categorically that they expect federal politicians to show real leadership by:

1. Developing a national sustainability plan
   
2. Ending subsidies to polluting industries
   
3. Setting significant pollution reduction targets for large industries starting in 2008
   
4. Meeting or exceeding California’s vehicle emission targets by 2009
   
5. Meeting our Kyoto targets
   
6. Protecting Canada’s species at risk

These policy recommendations enjoy overwhelming public support and present an opportunity for elected officials to show real leadership on the environment. The final over-arching conclusion was expressed as follows: “Canada is at a unique moment in its history. Never has the political and social climate of the country been so ready for positive change.”

The David Suzuki Foundation is to be commended for their study. The opinions reported reflect the input of over 30,000 Canadians and those views certainly enjoy broad public support. In my view, their priorities and ideas are responsible, realistic and achievable. As such, they will have my full support in Parliament.

Misuse of alcohol is a very serious problem that affects us all in some way. For many years, I have worked on a variety of initiatives to educate Canadians about the risks. Here are a few statistics about the consequences of alcohol misuse which may be of interest:

• 42% of serious crime involves the use of alcohol
  
• 1,100 Canadians were killed and over 68,000 were injured by impaired drivers in 2004
  
• 30% of fires
  
• 30% of suicides
  
• 60% of homicides
  
• 50% of family violence
  
• 65% of snowmobile accidents
  
• 30% of drownings
  
• 40% of falls causing injury
  
• 50% of hospital emergencies

As well, prenatal consumption of alcohol is the leading known cause of mental retardation in Canada. Known as Fetal Alcohol Spectrum of Disorders (FASD), children born with this incurable brain damage also face a lifetime of challenges such as:

• 60% will be suspended or drop out of school
  
• 60% will get in trouble with the law
  
• 50% will go to jail or be put in an institution
  
• 50% will show inappropriate sexual behaviour
  
• 30% will become abusers of drugs or alcohol
  
• 80% will have problems with employment
  
• 80% will never be able to live independently

There is no recommended safe level of alcohol consumption during pregnancy and binge drinking (more than 4 drinks on one occasion) is the most damaging behaviour affecting the fetus.

My Bill C-251 to require a health warning messages on the labels of beverage alcohol is currently being debated in Parliament. It calls for labels similar to those used by 21 other countries which caution that the misuse of alcohol may cause birth defects or impair one’s ability to operate a motor vehicle. Beverage alcohol is the only consumer product that can harm you if misused that does not have a warning label on the product.

Unfortunately, the Government is not supporting the Bill. In Parliament, they gave the opinion that labels do not work and they would be cost prohibitive for the alcohol industry. Since the Bloc Quebecois is supporting the Conservatives, the Bill is expected to be defeated. Public education is essential to address these kinds of issues and I am hopeful that my continued efforts have helped.

Mothers Against Drunk Driving has always been helpful and supportive to me and I have always supported their efforts on a broad range of initiatives. They have earned much respect for their efforts and their success as an organization.

They are a non-profit, grassroots organization that is committed to stopping impaired driving and supporting the victims of this violent crime. At the heart of MADD Canada are their volunteers who include not only mothers, but fathers, friends, business professionals, experts in the anti-impaired driving field and concerned citizens who want to make a difference in the fight against impaired driving.

MADD’s aim is to offer support services to victims, heighten awareness about the dangers of drinking and driving, and to save lives and prevent injuries on our roads. Driving while under the influence of alcohol or other drugs is a terrible crime that touches all of our lives and it is an irresponsible, dangerous and intolerable act. Visit their web site at www.madd.ca or call their toll-free line at 1-800-665-6233 if you would like to obtain some information.

Special personal messages of congratulations may be requested for those Birthdays and Anniversaries listed below.  As these events are very important occasions, you may want to request a message, when applicable, from Her Majesty The Queen, the Governor General and the Prime Minister of Canada.

Greetings from Her Majesty the Queen are available for 100th Birthdays and every 5th year thereafter, and 60th Wedding Anniversaries and every 5th year thereafter.  Please note that copies of birth certificates and marriage certificates are required by Government House for messages from The Queen.

Birthdays

75th and over   - message from the Prime Minister

90th - 99th         - message from the Governor General

100th and over - message from Her Majesty The Queen
                          (copy of birth certificate required)

Wedding Anniversaries

25th and over    - message from the Prime Minister

50th - 59th         - message from the Governor General

60th and over   - message from Her Majesty The Queen
                         (copy of marriage certificate required)

Visit us on the Internet: www.paulszabo.com

Mississauga Office Hours: Monday to Friday 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Appointments can be scheduled during office hours or other arrangements can be made by calling the office.

Constituents may write to any Member of Parliament or Cabinet Minister postage free. Simply address your envelope to the particular Member, c/o House of Commons, Ottawa, Ontario K1A 0A6. Your views and suggestions are important.

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