Peter in the Media

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MPP Shurman proud to support the Italian community

SNAP Vaughan East.com

Progressive Conservative MPP Peter Shurman (Thornhill) was thrilled at the quick passage of Bill 103 in the Ontario Legislature today. An Act to proclaim the month of June Italian Heritage Month was a Private Member’s Bill of MPP Mario Sergio (York West) which Shurman co-sponsored along with MPP Rosario Marchese (Trinity Spadina).

“I am very pleased that my fellow MPPs at Queen’s Park agreed to pass this Bill today and officially make the month of June in Ontario Italian Heritage Month,” Shurman said.

The Bill was introduced on September 16, 2010 and was scheduled for second reading debate today. With the unanimous consent of the Ontario Legislature, the Bill moved directly to third reading and was passed with all party support.
“I congratulate the Italian-Canadian community of Thornhill and Ontario on this official recognition. I am honoured to have taken part in seeing this Bill become law,” Shurman said.

Recession worsening for Toronto residents: TD

By CBC News

For many Torontonians, the economic recession hasn't lifted and might even be getting worse, according to a Toronto Dominion Bank report.

For many Torontonians, the economic recession hasn't lifted and might even be getting worse, according to a Toronto Dominion Bank report released Friday.

The bank found that while the city's economy helped the rest of the country cope with the recession - one in eight jobs in Canada is located in Toronto - an increasing number of people are turning to social assistance as jobless rate climbs over nine per cent.

Worse, the report said, is that little improvement is expected in the coming years.

Thornhill MPP Peter Shurman, the economic development critic for the Ontario PC party, said the news isn't surprising.

"This is not a question of recovering from a recession," Shurman said.

"This is a question of hundreds of high-paying manufacturing jobs beginning to disappear in large numbers well before the recession and now being replaced by, generally, part-time service jobs."

TD's report confirms Shurman's observation. Despite 110,000 jobs being added to the GTA's economy since September 2009, many Torontonians report being "underemployed" and working unwanted part-time jobs to make ends meet.

TD predicts by 2012, the jobless rate might begin to decline but will likely remain around the relatively high rate of 8.5 per cent.

Charitable and community organizations, the report said, are being called on to help more people in need but increasingly have to work with fewer resources.

The number of people using welfare more than doubled during the economic recession and is continuing to climb in 2010, with many stuck on a waiting list.

"We're not recovering any time soon in the province of Ontario," said Shurman.

The bright spot in Toronto's economy remains the financial services sector, which continues to grow, the report said.

HST causes energy prices to spike

Owen Sound Sun Times

The cost of energy and gasoline prices -- both slapped with a harmonized sales tax in Ontario -- are sparking the province's nation-leading hike in consumer prices.

StatsCan revealed Friday that the Consumer Price Index (CPI) in Ontario increased 2.9% in September, the highest in the country.

For the third month in a row, Ontario has led Canada in increases to the CPI, which measures the inflationary pressure on common household needs.

The agency points to price hikes for electricity and passenger vehicles as the cause in Ontario.

"As well, drivers paid 5.9% more for gasoline," the report notes.

Tory MPP Peter Shurman said Ontario families are aware of this issue, and are raising it with politicians at the door.

Government making it harder to live in Ontario

By ANTONELLA ARTUSO, QUEEN'S PARK BUREAU CHIEF

The cost of energy and gasoline prices — both slapped with a harmonized sales tax in Ontario — are sparking the province’s nation-leading hike in consumer prices.

StatsCan revealed Friday that the Consumer Price Index (CPI) in Ontario increased 2.9% in September, the highest in the country.

For the third month in a row, Ontario has led Canada in increases to the CPI, which measures the inflationary pressure on common household needs.

The agency points to price hikes for electricity and passenger vehicles as the cause in Ontario.

“As well, drivers paid 5.9% more for gasoline,” the report notes.

Tory MPP Peter Shurman said Ontario families are aware of this issue, and are raising it with politicians at the door.

Hydro ratepayers have seen dramatic increases in their bills, he said.

Gasoline, which prior to the HST was retailing for about 94-to-95 cents a litre in the summer, is now up to $1.08.

Jobs are scarce and are being replaced with part-time work, he said.

And now the CPI is showing increases of almost 3% in September compared to the previous year.

“You can’t expect people to be able to meet the needs on the family,” Shurman said.

The provincial government has said that any additional costs to consumers caused by the HST will be short-term as prices eventually adjust downward.

Ontario Government back-tracking on Eco-Fees

By: Dianne Saxe, PhD Lake Superior News

In a prepared statement Environment John Wilkinson said, "On July 1st, a new program run by Stewardship Ontario took effect to divert household hazardous waste from landfills. Ontarians quickly recognized that the program that started July 1 was flawed because it applied to some products that made little sense to consumers -- and forced consumers to pay fees, in some cases inconsistently, on some routine household purchases.

Programs that existed prior to July 1, 2010, which currently divert, recycle and dispose of electronics, tires and household hazardous wastes such as paint and single-use batteries, will continue. To help ensure these programs are fair and transparent, and that money is used solely to keep hazardous waste out of landfills.

Peter Shurman (PC) MPP – Thornhill, stated to Lake Superior News that:

This his just the latest example of McGuinty Government backtracking which wouldn’t have been necessary had he been “in touch” with Ontario families in the first place and known that they are no longer able to afford additional taxes;

Dalton McGuinty thought he could sneak this tax through under the radar while we were all focusing on the introduction of the HST on July 1st;

This was undoubtedly McGuinty creation and the decision to reverse in an election year was his too…and a re-elected McGuinty Government would bring the Eco-Tax right back;

This type of backtrack was nothing less than the government dipping into our pockets once again and having to recant…we’ll continue to remind Ontario families of such behavior during the election campaign.

Wilkinson went on to say that they will establish a special team that will investigate incorrect or misleading fees being charged by retailers to Ontarians

Ontario will continue to make progress in diverting hazardous waste from landfills to protect our water and land for future generations. The province will begin to provide funding to municipalities to properly manage, recycle and dispose of fire extinguishers, rechargeable batteries, compact fluorescent light bulbs, needles, mercury-containing devices and pharmaceuticals.

These changes will ensure that Ontario strikes the right balance between consumer protection and effectively managing waste.

Like some Halloween ghoul, eco fees may yet rise from the dead, the Ontario Tories warn

By Antonella Artuso, Queen's Park Bureau Chief

Conservative MPP Peter Shurman said the environment ministry’s plan From Waste To Worth still calls for future eco fees on automobiles, mattresses, furniture and small household items such as toys.

“When Dalton McGuinty and Environment Minister John Wilkinson said they want the eco tax program to be simpler and easier for families, it just means they want it buried and hidden so that families don’t know they are being dinged again,” Shurman said Wednesday.

Grahame River, a spokesman for Environment Minister John Wilkinson, says that those ideas for additional eco fees are truly gone.

“We are not introducing eco fees on automobiles or any other products,” Rivers said. “The ‘Waste to Worth’ was a discussion paper, under the former (environment) minister, for consultations with industry and environmental groups. As mentioned, we are not expanding eco fees.”

The Liberal government has established a pattern of promising not to raise taxes, and then reversing course after an election, Shurman said.

One auto manufacturing organization is warning that an eco fee could add up to $1,000 to the cost of each vehicle, he said.

Wilkinson announced Tuesday that he would not reintroduce eco fees brought in over the summer on thousands of common household items.
Pre-existing eco fees on batteries, paint, tires and electronic equipment would stay in place, he said.

PC Leader Tim Hudak had promised to scrap the July 1 eco fees, but has so far committed only to reviewing the earlier ones to determine if those programs are effective.

It was the former government of Mike Harris, which included Hudak, that ushered in the waste diversion legislation that created the possibility of charging eco fees to industries.

Arguing that companies which produce hazardous products should share the cost of disposing them, the Conservatives set up a legislative framework to charge fees to the manufacturers.

“The funding stream is the centrepiece of this piece of legislation,” Tory MPP Julia Munro said at the time.

Under the Dalton McGuinty government, a series of new fees were introduced and, in some cases, directly added to the price consumers paid for those goods.

When in opposition, the Liberals were critical of the bill, arguing that the industry-run program should be kept on a far shorter leash.

“We want a system that is government-controlled and that the government supervises on behalf of all the people of Ontario, not a system where the government wants to set all the rules but then have the rules and regulations somehow administered by the industry itself, and that’s really what’s happening here. That is really a total abdication of responsibilities.” said John Gerretsen, then opposition MPP and later the environment minister who oversaw the eco fee program.

Opposition seizes on move as latest example of flip-flop by McGuinty government

By Karen Howlett

Ontario's Liberal government has officially buried a controversial program that slapped "eco fees" on thousands of household products, marking its latest hasty policy retreat in the face of a consumer backlash.

Just last week, the government pulled the plug on plans to build a 900-megawatt gas-fired power plant in Oakville, west of Toronto, after residents complained that it would be too close to homes and schools. That policy reversal raised eyebrows because Premier Dalton McGuinty has made green energy the centrepiece of his economic policy.

Last year, Mr. McGuinty kick-started a battle for supremacy with British Columbia Premier Gordon Campbell in the burgeoning market for solar, wind and other power projects by vowing to make Ontario the go-to jurisdiction for green-energy investments. But in the countdown to next October's provincial election, he is displaying a new readiness after seven years in office to let politics, rather than policy, dictate his decisions, opposition critics say.

"We are in an election year," Progressive Conservative MPP Peter Shurman told reporters. The government's announcement on Tuesday that it is permanently scrapping a program that imposed fees on aerosols, cleaning products and thousands of other potentially toxic items is just the latest example of a "turnaround or a flip flop ... in the face of what they see out there as a losing proposition."

Environment Minister John Wilkinson acknowledged on Tuesday that the government didn't get it right in its attempt to divert household hazardous waste from landfills.

"The program ... didn't make sense and the fees were inconsistent and confusing," he said at a news conference. "Instead, as we were told loudly and clearly by consumers, we need to make it simpler for them to do their part."

The government gave recycling agency Stewardship Ontario the go-ahead to begin collecting fees last July 1, ranging from a penny for a 59-millilitre bottle of hand sanitizer to $6.66 for a fire extinguisher. But it did not tell the public that the eco fees would be slapped on thousands of new items. The government stopped charging the fees three weeks later, after consumers and retailers complained that the program was mired in confusion, and launched a review that culminated in Tuesday's announcement that it is cancelled.

But critics say the government is giving companies that create the hazardous waste a free pass by not making them responsible for diverting toxic substances from landfills. Instead, the government is providing municipalities with $8-million in funding to help them dispose of fire extinguishers, rechargeable batteries, fluorescent light bulbs and other items unsuitable for recycling bins.

Homeowners will foot the bill through their property taxes because the funding, which averages $18,000 for each of the province's 440 municipalities, is not nearly enough to cover the cost of a waste diversion program, said New Democratic Party MPP Howard Hampton.

"Whoever produces the waste should pay for it," he told reporters. "But this is all being passed on to the ordinary taxpayer."

Energy sector officials said the policy reversal on the Oakville power plant will have more far reaching consequences because it has led to uncertainty over the province's energy policies.

Mr. McGuinty has said he has no idea how much it will cost the government in penalties to kill the $1.2-billion Oakville plant. But energy officials said electricity consumers will ultimately be on the hook for the penalty. Other investors may seek a premium from the government for projects, because of the uncertain environment, they said.

"People are not sure what the government's energy policy really is," one executive said. "I think people are very, very concerned."

Ontario Scraps Eco-Fees For Now, MPPs Cautious of Eco-Fee Return by a Different Name

By: The Canadian Press

Eco fees slapped on thousands of household products failed to strike the right balance between protecting the environment and protecting consumers, Premier Dalton McGuinty admitted Tuesday as the province announced it would scrap the program.

“I'm confident that we have found a better way to strike that balance that is much more sensitive to what our families are going through right now,” Mr. McGuinty said after an unrelated event.

“They're very sensitive to additional costs, they're very anxious about the economy, and our responsibility is to be sensitive to that.”

The eco fees kicked in July 1, the same day the much-publicized harmonized sales tax took effect in Ontario. But there was no advance warning and consumers felt blindsided by a dizzying array of charges on 9,000 products including bleach, household cleaners and laundry detergent.

The government decided to dramatically scale back the recycling program after the complaints, and after realizing most of containers for the products involved can be put into Blue Boxes for recycling as long as they're empty, said Environment Minister John Wilkinson.

“What was announced on July 1 wasn't working for people and it wasn't working for us,” admitted Mr. Wilkinson.

“We are now entering into an agreement with municipalities about some materials that are definitely hazardous and we have to make sure that they stay out of our landfill.”

Municipalities will be given about $8-million a year to help them deal with old fire extinguishers, rechargeable batteries, compact fluorescent light bulbs, needles, pharmaceuticals and any mercury-containing devices, Mr. Wilkinson added.

That works out to less than $20,000 per municipality, so it's local property taxpayers that will be on the hook for the recycling, not the manufacturers, warned the New Democrats.

“The consumer's still going to pay, but they're going to pay through their property tax bill,” said NDP critic Howard Hampton.

“The producers of the waste will get off scot-free here. That's wrong.”

The Opposition said the Liberal government had no choice but to back off the eco fees after upsetting so many consumers.

“They thought they could get this through on the same day the HST was in our focus, and they didn't get away with it,” said Progressive Conservative critic Peter Shurman.

“Ontario families have had enough taxation and what you heard today was the minister saying they're not going to have to deal with an eco tax.”

Despite the government's announcement Tuesday, not all eco fees are being scrapped.

Programs that existed prior to July 1 which divert, recycle and dispose of tires, electronics such as television sets and household waste such as paint and single-use batteries will continue to charge eco fees to consumers.

“We don't want to throw the baby out with the bathwater,” said Mr. Wilkinson.

After the disastrous start to the new eco fees on July 1, the Liberal government quickly realized it had made a mistake and announced a 90-day review of the program, which resulted in Tuesday's decision to permanently scrap the fees.

In addition to putting consumer voices on the industry-led bodies that handle the recycling programs, such as Stewardship Ontario, the government has also set up a toll-free hotline – 1-800-889-9768 – for consumers who feel they've been misled or charged inappropriate eco fees.

Giugno sarÃ il mese dellâ€™Italian Heritage

Da: Corriere.com

È stato approvato a Queen’s Park il disegno di legge di Mario Sergio

Giugno sarà il mese dell’Italian Heritage. È passato ieri in parlamento e con un’incredibile velocità il Bill 103 proposto dall’mpp Mario Sergio il 17 settembre scorso.

L’Italian Heritage Act è diventato legge dopo la seconda e terza lettura ieri a Queen’s Park. Il parlamentare di York West aveva proposto, con il sostegno del collega conservatore Peter Shurman (Thornhill) e l’ndieppino Rosario Marchese (Trinitiy-Spadina), il mese di giugno per ricordare tutti gli immigrati e i lavoratori italiani che hanno contribuito alla ricchezza economica e culturale del Paese.

L’mpp Shurman non ha nascosto una certa emozione dopo l’approvazione del Bill 103: «Sono davvero contento che i miei colleghi parlamentari siano stati tutti d’accordo nel passare questa proposta. D’ora in poi giugno sarà ufficialmente l’Italian Heritage Month. Lo straordinario contributo degli italiani al tessuto sociale, culturale ed economico dell’Ontario è indiscutibile». La proposta era stata introdotta in parlamento da Sergio a metà settembre e ieri era prevista la seconda lettura. Con un consenso unanime dei parlamentari, la proposta di legge è passata alla terza lettura e approvato definitivamente a legge.

«I forti legami tra gli italiani e il loro modo di lavorare sempre insieme, sostenendosi a vicenda, sempre uniti, hanno costruito l’economia dell’Ontario e il sistema delle infrastrutture nel XX secolo - ha continuato Shurman - Voglio congratularmi con la comunità italocanadese di Thornhill e di tutto l’Ontario per questo riconoscimento ufficiale molto importante. Sono onorato di aver preso parte alla trasformazione di questo Bill in legge».

A Queen’s Park, ieri, erano presenti rappresentanti della comunità italocanadese, tra cui membri del National Congress of Italian Canadians (Toronto District), di Villa Charities e Rai Canada.

A giugno del 2010 inizieranno così i festeggiamenti, anche in occasione dei 150 anni dell’unità d’Italia e del 2 giugno, festa della Repubblica.

Peter Shurman, MPP - Thornhill honours our fallen veterans at memorial unveiling

By: Staff Writer

As a mark of tribute to the Canadian soldiers fallen in Afghanistan, an imposing, black-granite Memorial was unveiled by host of civilian and military dignitaries at a somber-yet-impressive function held in Richmond Hill on Sunday.

The Honourable Peter MacKay, Minister of National Defence and Cabinet Minister responsible for Newfoundland and Labrador, congratulated the Indo-Canadian community for building a structure that would carry the Canadian legacy of peace-keeping forward to the younger generation.

‘Maple Leaf Memorial’, as it is come to be known as, because of a gleaming red-colored Maple Leaf structure atop 12 feet granite column, is located within the precincts of the Hindu Temple in Richmond Hill.

The memorial has been constructed primarily by the Indo-Canadian community led by Canadian Museum of Hindu Civilization (CMOHC)–a not-for-profit organization that is dedicated to showcasing global peace-keeping initiatives. The Indo-Community channelised substantial resources to ensure that the structure captured the glory and honor of their sacrifices.

Granites, used in the structure, were sourced from South India.

Canadian Armed Forces personnel graced the occasion in their ceremonial attire with their medallions and colors. Army Band from ‘Buglers from Queen’s Own Regiment played the occasion. ‘Guard of Honors’ was given by 32nd Battalion’ while Color Flag was given by York police’. Six Frasers Highlanders and four sentries guarded the monument as the function was unfolding.

Speaking on the occasion, Mr. Ajit Somershwar, donor and event-coordinator of CMOHC, said that this monument is a clear demonstration of the tribute Indo-Canadians want to pay to Canadian armed forces in their peacekeeping role. “We salute our heroes”, he said.

Ajit pointed that the memorial also bears testimony to the fact that Indo-Canadians have integrated very well in Canadian society. “I have always held the view that the immigrants behave in the pattern of concentric circles. The first circle consists of new immigrants, who have their body in Canada, but their feet and mind back home. After a few years when they are firmly rooted with jobs, businesses, education, and friends, they move in to the second circle with their feet in Canada but mind still back home. The third circle comprises of immigrants who are well-entrenched with their body, feet and mind in Canada. This is when the community becomes integral part of Canada. We can proudly say that we are in the third-circle now.”

Dr. B Doobay who has dedicated the Hindu temple to world peace said that he was proud to be a part of the historic moment when a rand structure was dedicated to the Canadian soldiers. Ms. Shylee Someshwar Chair of CMOHC thanked all the participants and the entre team dedicated to making the event a success.

The MPPs and MPs who participated in the unveiling of the memorial included Hon George Smittherman, Michael Ignatieff, Jim Flaherty, Bryon Wilfert, Christine Elliot, Consiglio Di Nino, Gerry Phillips, Kristy Duncan, Maria Minna, Michael Chan, Navdeep Singh Bains, Patrick Brown, Peter Shurman, and Andrew Kani.

Other prominent dignitaries, who participated in unveiling the function included Mr. Alok Mukherjee, Chair of the Toronto Police Services Board, Armand P. La Barge, Chief of York Regional Police, Dave Barrow, Mayor of Richmond Hill, Frank Scarpitti, Mayor of Markham, Fred Hiltz, Primate of the Anglican Church of Canada, Karen Mock, Human Right Activist, Hari Panday, President and CEO of ICICI Bank, Canada,Michael Ignatieff, Leader of Liberal Party.