The Conservative government’s regard for civil liberties is called into question by a new airport security regulation. A new rule forces transgender and transsexual Canadians to produce medical documents to pass pre-boarding checks. NDP Transport Critic Olivia Chow is urging the ministry to repeal the punitive measure.

Cities across the country are struggling with aging infrastructure, underfunded transit and insufficient housing. The federal government has to step up support by taking one cent of the existing gas tax and use it as dedicated funding for urban infrastructure projects, NDP Critic Olivia Chow demands in Parliament.

OTTAWA – The government’s plan to sell Transport Canada assets and privatize airports across the country will make rural towns less accessible and hurt families’ pocketbooks

Mr. Speaker, just released secret documents reveal the transport minister and his department are planning to sell off airports and other assets across this country. This fire sale would mean higher fees and airport closures. Rural Canadians rely on these airports to deliver the mail, visit their families or see their doctors. Loss of airports would isolate these communities.

In working towards a National Public Transit Strategy and getting Canadians the 21st-century transportation system they deserve, Olivia Chow has made key recommendations to the House Committee on Transport on what the policy framework should encompass.

This government should strengthen gun control rather than eliminating it – so we can all stand in this House on December 6 and say -Never Again.

These warning system regulations were on the minister’s desk since August. What will happen in the five years before these regulations are enforced?

Why does the infrastructure minister continue to tolerate third world conditions in first nations communities? That is the question Olivia Chow, MP for Trinity-Spadina, raised in the House of Commons. Documents released to her show that two-thirds of all First Nation applications for infrastructure funding were rejected since 2006.

Why does the minister continue to allow these faulty, unsafe helicopters in the air? Why is the minister ignoring the safety of Canadians?

The families of cyclists and pedestrians killed in truck collisions joined me this morning to call on the minister to mandate side-guards.How many more preventable deaths will it take for the government to act?

The loved ones of cyclists and pedestrians who have lost their lives in truck collisions gathered today to urge Transport Minister Denis Lebel to mandate compulsory side guards on heavy trucks.The family members and friends joined together to create http://www.safetrucks.ca/.

In the light of this tragedy it is clear that your ministry has to take action now. I am joined in my call by Jenna’s friends and family as well as by Karen MacNeil Hartmann, Megan Holtz and Jeanette Holman-Price – all of them lost loved ones in grievous accidents involving heavy trucks.

November 23, 2011 Ms. Olivia Chow (Trinity—Spadina, NDP): Mr. Speaker, while the Conservatives are cutting back on public airline safety and security, they are blowing $5 million a year on private jets that mostly sit empty. The government pays pilots to fly planes around empty just to keep up their licences. This is a new [...]

The government has in it’s possession 9 Challenger jets. This fleet of 9 sits un-used on tarmacs or flies around passenger-less, at a cost of 5 MILLION dollars a year. CBC spoke to Olivia about this misuse of money, and the mishandling of priorities by Transport Canada.

November 23, 2011 OTTAWA – Based on Olivia Chow’s initiative, the House Committee on Transport, Infrastructure and Communities has been studying a potential National Transit Strategy over the past two months. A total of 33 witnesses from 19 different organizations across Canada have appeared in front of the committee of which I am a member. [...]