The Canada Learning Bond provides money from the Government to help you start saving early for your child’s education after high school.
Your child could get $500 NOW to help you start saving early for your child’s education after high school, and an extra $100 each year up to age 15. That’s up to $2,000 (plus interest) in bonds for your child’s post-secondary education Read the rest of this entry »
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
April 17, 2012
CONSERVATIVE WRECKING BALL DEMOLISHES MORE RURAL SERVICES
Castlegar – BC Southern Interior Member of Parliament Alex Atamanenko was dismayed to hear the news that the Citizenship and Immigration Canada (CIC) office in Kelowna is slated for closure earlier today.
“The Conservatives are dismantling Canada piece by piece,” he declared. “This will result in a critical reduction in services related to citizenship and immigration matters for the people in my riding.”
Although CIC is expanding the use of online processes which is helpful in some circumstances, Atamanenko’s office receives calls from many people who don’t have computer access or who don’t know how to use them. Read the rest of this entry »
MP ATAMANENKO SLAMS CUTS TO BORDER SERVICES
CASTLEGAR – Alex Atamanenko, MP for BC Southern Interior, slammed the Conservatives for slashing services at the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) and putting Canadian public safety and business at risk.
“These cuts could end up costing Canadians more than they save,” said Atamanenko.
The CBSA faces a $143.4 million cut to its current budget. Canada is cutting back on border officers at a time it is introducing comprehensive changes on “perimeter security” with the United States, strengthening ties to harmonize regulations and processes with the United States.
“I have spent time at some of our border crossings and have a deep appreciation of the work our Canadian Border Service officers do. They turn back illegal weapons, keep drugs and criminals out of our country and collect the necessary duties that protect Canadian businesses and supplement our tax base,” stated the NDP MP.
“To be faced with a reduction of personnel at our border crossings is ludicrous. It seems a contradiction to the government’s so-called tough-on-crime” focus. Let’s also not forget that border service officers and their families help contribute to the local economies of our rural communities.”
According to NDP International Trade Critic Brian Masse, by slashing jobs and cutting the CBSA’s budget, the Conservatives are guaranteeing lost business and weakening public safety for Canadians.
“Fewer border services officers mean longer wait times for Canadian travellers and lost revenue for businesses stuck clearing customs instead of moving goods. For every extra minute trucks are stuck idling at border plazas, thousands of dollars are lost.”
Masse also points out that Conservative mishandling of the border will compromise public safety while diminishing government tariff revenues.
“First and foremost, fewer border officers mean a greater likelihood for guns and drugs to sneak over the border. But in their reckless attempts to save money, Conservatives will also miss out on valuable revenue that comes from tariffs,” said Masse.
“Our government should not be playing with the safety of Canadians. We should be increasing staff at border crossings instead of slashing jobs,” concluded the BC Southern Interior MP.
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For more information: Alex Atamanenko 250-365-2792 1-800-667-2393
ATAMANENKO SLAMS KATIMAVIK CUT AS “UN-CANADIAN”
April 4, 2012 (Ottawa, ON) - BC Southern Interior Member of Parliament Alex Atamanenko is outraged at the Conservative decision to cut Katimavik.
“This is purely a political decision. Just because the Liberals started this program, Conservative ideology believes that it must go,” stated the NDP MP.
“I have personally witnessed the good work that these young Canadians do in helping our communities and have seen the positive interaction that takes place between them. This is truly a grassroots way to build national unity. Cutting the program is, in my opinion, un-Canadian!”
Katimavik began in 1977 with the purpose of educating youth and fostering lifelong civic engagement through community service. Through various changes to the program, it has continued to adapt to changing society while staying true to its mission. According to their most recent annual report, from 2010-2011, “600 Katimavik volunteers worked 81,770 hours in Read the rest of this entry »
March 29, 2012 (Ottawa, ON)
Alex Atamanenko, MP for BC Southern Interior, is not impressed with the direction taken by the Conservative government in the 2012 federal budget introduced today in the House of Commons.
Atamanenko says the government’s plan to raise the eligible age for Old Age Security from 65 to 67 will force seniors to work two years extra while denying jobs for younger workers longer. It also forces low-income seniors in BC to live two more years on degrading rates of social assistance.
The budget also short changes the Provinces by $31 billion with unilateral changes to the funding formula for federal health transfers, opening the door wide to privatization and two-tier health care.
“These are massive cuts and the provinces cannot afford it,” said Atamanenko. “It is shameful that this government will balance the books on the backs of seniors who want to retire in dignity and Read the rest of this entry »
MP ATAMANENKO CRITICIZES FEDERAL CONSERVATIVE PLANS TO GUT THE FISHERIES ACT WITH BUDGET BILL
Proposed changes could end crucial powers to protect fish habitat
MARCH 22, 2011 (Castlegar, BC) - MP Alex Atamanenko (BC Southern Interior) said the Conservative’s plan to make changes to the Fisheries Act in an omnibus federal budget bill next week has been exposed and the federal government needs to come clean on its agenda.
A former DFO employee Otto Langer leaked documents last week that shone a light on government plans to strip the Fisheries Act of habitat protection provisions.
“In the current climate of the Enbridge pipeline, increased mining proposals and private power projects on BC rivers, these proposed changes to fish habitat protection make you wonder just what interests are they choosing to protect?,” said Atamanenko.
“I find it very interesting that two former Progressive Conservative cabinet ministers have lashed out at the federal government as ‘foolish’, saying the Harper government has ‘very, very limited understanding, intelligence or wisdom’ on this subject,” Atamanenko added.
“As they put it, you can’t protect fish if you don’t protect their habitat,” he said.
Federal NDP Fisheries Critic Finn Donnelly first challenged the government over the leaked documents on March 13 in the Read the rest of this entry »
Atamanenko Angered by Provincial Decision on Jumbo Resort
March 21, 2012
Alex Atamanenko, Member of Parliament for BC Southern Interior voiced his dismay and anger at the BC provincial government’s approval of the controversial Jumbo Alpine Glacier Resort.
“The Liberal government has seen fit to make this decision in spite of years of fighting against the development of Jumbo by communities and individuals. Ignoring the voice of the people and paving the way for an unwanted development is short-sighted and irresponsible,” said the NDP MP. “What is this government doing?”
If built, the $1-billion Jumbo Glacier Resort would create a ski resort and recreational city on Crown land in the remote Jumbo Valley in the Purcell Mountains, 55 kilometres from Invermere. The site is home to grizzly bears and other wildlife whose habitat will be impacted by the development. The site is also carries historic and spiritual significance for the Ktunaxa First Nation.
“This is decision goes against the wishes of rural communities, a First Nation and the environment,” said Atamanenko.
“The Jumbo resort is being proposed in a region that already has a dozen ski resorts within 150 kilometres. The proposed Read the rest of this entry »
Atamanenko MP Set to Host Open Forums on Food Sovereignty March 18-23
Alex Atamanenko, MP for BC Southern Interior is all set to welcome constituents to a series of public forums he has organized with others throughout the riding on the topic of Food Sovereignty.
“I couldn’t be more pleased that Colleen Ross, Vice President of Policy for the National Farmers Union (NFU) has offered to share her wealth of stories and experience in international and national food movements alongside local presenters at each of the forums,” said Atamanenko. “Colleen and the NFU work very closely with Via Campesina, a global small farmer organization fighting an epic battle against the world’s largest corporations for the right to have a say in their countries’ food policies.
According to Atamanenko there are enormous barriers and challenges facing farmers and eaters in Canada and around the world to produce, trade and have access to healthy and sustainable food supplies. “The solutions to these challenges are varied and often complex, but overcoming these barriers will rely on the intentional actions of informed citizens in each and every community,” said the BC Southern Interior MP.
“Under the current regime in Canada, there is really little hope of influencing policy that positively impacts small and medium sized farmers in a way that will rebuild our local food systems,” said Ross. “For this reason, we must organize more strategically at the grassroots levels – forming partnerships with each other here in Canada and with our allies abroad so that change for the good happens globally, not just locally.
Ross went on to stress that every person involved in the food sovereignty movement can help to make a huge difference by getting more people to join in the struggle. “This will quicken the pace and impact for a better future for food, farmers and society as a whole.”
Atamanenko is inviting everyone to an evening of inspiring discussion at one of the following forums:
All forums are from 7:00-9:00 pm with a break for local and fair trade refreshments.
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For more information contact: Alex Atamanenko, MP – (613) 996 8036
Predatory horse meat business must be shut down
March 14, 2012 – Alex Atamanenko, MP for BC Southern Interior, is applauding the new anti-horse slaughter billboard that has been erected in Ottawa by the US based Angel Acres and supported by the Canadian Horse Defence Coalition.
“I am hoping that the billboard’s powerful message will bring much needed public attention to an industry that, for a long list of reasons, should not exist.”
Atamanenko has championed this cause with his private members bill C-322 (Slaughter of Horses for Human Consumption). Thousands of people have petitioned the government in support of this bill in the hopes of ending what is regarded as a predatory and inhumane industry.
“If other companion animals, such as dogs and cats, were to suffer the inhumane deaths endured by horses in Canadian slaughterhouses, the country would call for an immediate end to the practice,” said Sinikka Crosland, Executive Director of the Canadian Horse Defence Coalition.
According to Atamanenko all kinds of horses, raised for every other purpose other than the food supply, are being bought up Read the rest of this entry »
Atamanenko Says Canadians Have the Right to Know How CETA Will Impact Health Care Services
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 (CETA). 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.
According to BC Southern Interior MP Alex Atamanenko, the pressure to sign a corporate friendly agreement is even greater than it was when Canada entered into NAFTA in 1996. “The federal Conservative government has not demanded a clear straight forward exemption for health as they are negotiating this agreement. At the round-table, we were told that the European Union is trying to pressure Canada to require provinces to negotiate specific exemptions for health. This is contrary to the fundamental principles of the Canada Health Act as outlined by Roy Romanow”, stated Atamanenko. Read the rest of this entry »