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Mr. Kevin Vuong (Spadina—Fort York, Ind.)

Nov/30/21 3:09:24 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, my question is to the Minister of Canadian Heritage. In my riding of Spadina—Fort York, people have raised concerns about the rise of racism in our community. They are worried about the violence and harassment they are witnessing online and in person. As someone of Asian heritage, anti-Asian hate is a sad reality. Many of my neighbours in Spadina—Fort York also know this far too well. That is unacceptable, but whether it is anti-Asian racism, anti-Semitism, Islamophobia or any form of hate, hate is hate, and any strategy developed must eradicate this whenever and wherever it rears its ugly head. Could the minister update the House on the vital work in combatting racism and anti-Asian hate?

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Hon. Ahmed Hussen (Minister of Housing and Diversity and Inclusion, Lib.)

Nov/30/21 3:10:11 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, since 2019, our government has committed close to $100 million through Canada's anti-racism strategy, including $70 million to support community organizations across Canada, addressing issues of anti-racism and multiculturalism. We are the first government in Canadian history to listen to Black Canadians when they said that they needed capacity-building funding and funding for infrastructure. That is why I am happy to report that through the supporting Black Canadian communities initiative and other initiatives, we are, for the first time, investing in building the capacity of organizations that have done so much for so long with so little.

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The Speaker

Nov/30/21 3:10:59 p.m.
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That is all the time we have for oral question period. The hon. member for Lac‑Saint‑Jean on a point of order.

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Mr. Alexis Brunelle-Duceppe

Nov/30/21 3:11:08 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, there have been consultations among the parties, and I really, truly hope you will find unanimous consent for the following motion: Given the credible reports and testimony indicating that the Chinese government is arbitrarily detaining more than one million people in the Xinjiang region, thereby committing crimes against humanity against the Uighur minority and the Turkic peoples living on its territory and violating every provision of the United Nations Genocide Convention; given that China denies the existence of any crime against the Uighurs and the Turkic peoples of East Turkistan; given that the international community asked China for immediate, meaningful, unimpeded access to Xinjiang by independent observers, including the United Nations High Commissioner, specifically during the 47th session of the United Nations Human Rights Council in June 2021; given that, in the past, other Olympic Games have been postponed on reasonable grounds, such as pandemic or war; and given that the 7th general assembly of the World Uyghur Congress resolved on November 14 in Prague to ask the International Olympic Committee to postpone or relocate the Beijing 2022 Olympic Games, the House of Commons hereby asks the International Olympic Committee to (1) postpone the Beijing 2022 Olympic Games by one year to 2023 so that an independent international observation mission can go to the Xinjiang region; and (2) find an alternative and relocate the Beijing 2022 Olympic Games to a location outside of China if (a) China refuses to allow an independent international observation mission; (b) an independent international observation mission concludes that there have been violations of the human rights of the Uighur minority or other Turkic peoples.

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The Speaker

Nov/30/21 3:12:48 p.m.
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Just as an observation, I remind members to be as concise as possible when presenting something. This being a hybrid sitting of the House, for the sake of clarity, I will only ask those who are opposed to the request to express their disagreement. Some hon. members: Nay.

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The Speaker

Nov/30/21 3:13:45 p.m.
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The hon. member for Carleton has three minutes remaining for questions. Questions and comments, the hon. member for Louis-Saint-Laurent.

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Mr. Gérard Deltell (Louis-Saint-Laurent, CPC)

Nov/30/21 3:14:11 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, like everyone else, I was listening carefully to the speech by the member for Carleton right before question period, and we asked the government a lot of questions about what it plans to do about inflation. Unfortunately, we heard all kinds of talk, but no real action. We can all see that the federal government has absolutely no plan to address inflation. What is worse, when government members are presented with the truth that Canadian families are all suffering so long as the inflation rate stays at 4.7% and that this inflation is one of the highest in the world, especially among our partners, the government keeps pointing out that the rate is comparable to that of the United States. However, the United States has an inflation rate that is much higher than Canada's. Could the member for Carleton explain how the current government's economic policy compares to the U.S. government's?

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Hon. Pierre Poilievre (Carleton, CPC)

Nov/30/21 3:15:17 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, that is a very good question. What is the cause of real estate inflation? First, it is not COVID-19. It should actually have driven housing prices down. There is no immigration, so there are fewer consumers buying houses; wages are lower, because people have lost their jobs; and there is a lot more uncertainty, which usually discourages people from buying anything at all; yet prices have gone up. Second, international supply chains are not the issue, because that does not include land, since it is already here. Third, Canada has the world's second-highest real estate inflation. We have the second-largest housing bubble after New Zealand. Other countries also have COVID-19, but real estate inflation is not as high elsewhere. What is causing it? The government printed $400 billion in the last year and a half. The money went to the banks and was loaned to buyers, specifically to very wealthy investors, to inflate real estate prices and keep the dream of home ownership out of reach for many Canadians. This means that we need to stop printing money to drive out inflation, and start building housing instead of printing money.

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Mr. Daniel Blaikie (Elmwood—Transcona, NDP)

Nov/30/21 3:17:07 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, the member for Carleton and I can at least agree that inflation is a problem for the financially vulnerable and that there are things that the federal government could do. However, there is much that we disagree on in his analysis. I wonder why the member does not talk about some of the market forces, such as Canadians who did maintain their income but instead of spending money on travel decided to invest in real estate being one of the causes for inflation. I would go on but, unfortunately, his colleagues and the member have run out the clock.

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Hon. Pierre Poilievre

Nov/30/21 3:17:42 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, if the hon. member thinks that somebody cancelling their $3,000 vacation is what caused housing prices to rise 25% in one year, one-third since COVID, then he needs to pull out his calculator and do a little more math. What actually happened is that mortgage lending went up 41%, most of it going to rich people and wealthy landlords, after the Bank of Canada began printing its $400 billion. Too many dollars chasing too few houses equals house price inflation.

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Right Hon. Justin Trudeau (Prime Minister, Lib.)

Nov/30/21 3:18:19 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I would like to begin by thanking the hon. Leader of the Opposition for his remarks this morning on the Speech from the Throne. In September, Canadians gave the government a very clear direction. They want us to finish the fight against COVID-19 once and for all and put forward bold, concrete solutions to meet the other challenges we face. As shown in the Speech from the Throne, that is exactly what we will continue to do. During this election campaign, we presented Canadians with a clear vision to fight COVID-19 even harder by making sure that everyone on planes and trains is vaccinated, which has in fact become a reality, in addition to bringing the same intensity, expertise and energy to bear on our other challenges, such as the housing crisis, climate change, intolerance and reconciliation. That is exactly what we promised Canadians, and that is exactly what we laid out in our throne speech. Of course, job one remains ending the pandemic. We will always put the health of Canadians first. From the very first day of the pandemic, we had a straightforward message to Canadians: We would have their backs. That is what has guided us every step of the way. Having people's backs was not just about making sure we were handling the health crisis. It was also about making sure that we were giving the economic supports to Canadians that they so desperately needed while we made sure they could stay safe through the first wave of the pandemic. Every step of the way and through the subsequent waves, the guiding principle of being there to support Canadians, to allow them to do the necessary things to keep themselves and their families safe from this health crisis and make it through the economic crisis, meant that we were there to support Canadians every step of the way. Now, Conservative politicians kept telling us in the House that we were doing too much, that we were making a mistake by investing so much to support Canadians: to support families, to support workers, to support small businesses and to support students. However, not only did we know that investing in Canadians would be the right way to ensure that our economy would come back as quickly as possible as we made it through the worst of the pandemic, but we knew that showing Canadians they had a government they could count on, that would have their backs and could deliver income supports, deliver health supports and deliver the vaccines that were necessary, would give people confidence to continue being true to our values as Canadians. When a storm hits it is easy to want to hunker down and just take care of ourselves, but Canadians are really, really good at stepping up in a crisis. That is what Canadians did because they had confidence that governments were there to support them. It was not just the federal government either, although the federal government delivered eight dollars out of every $10 to Canadians to help them through the pandemic. The provinces and the municipalities were all there working hand in hand to make sure we were delivering for Canadians. The fact that Canadians could be reassured that their institutions were there to support them, our health professionals were working hard for them and political leadership in all orders of government were there for them gave them the confidence to do the right thing and continue to step up to be there for each other. Even as Canadians were watching their governments and frontline workers be heroes to keep them safe during the pandemic, Canadians themselves, from small business owners to young people to seniors, were there to support each other through this time. That, quite frankly, has been the story of the pandemic: Canadians have been there for each other. As we continue to deal with the pandemic, which is going through new phases now, and even as so much of our economy has been able to come back and many people are now safely vaccinated and feeling a lot more confident about how they and their families are, we know there is still more to do. That is why in the throne speech we talked about everything from implementing enhanced border measures to address variants of concern; to securing boosters, doses for kids and the next generation of COVID-19 vaccines; to investing in more opportunities to create vaccines and health products in Canada. These are the kinds of things we need to do not only to get this pandemic behind us as quickly as possible, but also to ensure that Canadians can continue to thrive into the coming months and years. That is why we need to finish this fight against the pandemic. The single most impactful thing we can do to help Canadians grow the economy and create opportunities for themselves and their kids is to end the pandemic for good. That is why we are so focused on ensuring that people have access to life-saving vaccines, that science guides our way every step of the way and that we work with the provinces and territories to ensure that if lockdowns and more public health measures are necessary, the federal government will be there to support small businesses, families and the people who need help to get through the pandemic. That is how to ensure we will continue to do well. That is what Canada laid out as a plan from the very beginning, and not on our own. We cannot take full credit for knowing that investing in Canadians was the best way through the pandemic. Those were the recommendations of international economic organizations such as the IMF, the World Bank, the OECD and a range of others. They said countries that have the fiscal capacity to support their citizens should do so as we enter the pandemic and get through it. Of course, Canada had the best fiscal capacity of any of our partners in the G7, with the lowest debt-to-GDP ratio, and we continued to move forward in ways that supported Canadians every step of the way. Unfortunately, members opposite, such as the member for Carleton, said that we were doing too much too fast to support Canadians. We disagreed, and what we have shown is that our economy has bounced back faster than the economy in the United States, for example. We have recovered over 100% of the jobs lost during the pandemic while the U.S. has only recovered about 81%. There is much more to do, so we have a real plan to keep building a strong, resilient economy that works for everyone. At the heart of our work is continuing to tackle the rising cost of living. We know that families across the country are looking at rising costs with real concern. They are facing significant inflation, which is a reality right around the world. However, Canadians also have the tools to get past it. We recognize that a huge part of the costs that families bear these days is the cost of child care. That is why we moved forward to build the first-ever, Canada-wide child care system that will provide $10-a-day child care to families within five years. We also know that families need help now, so the money we are putting forward to invest in child care in places right across the country will result, in many places, in immediate reductions of child care costs. Indeed, the Province of Alberta has announced that as of January 1, because of the investments made by the federal government and the deal signed with the federal government, they will be able to cut child care costs in half for families across Alberta. They are not the only ones; other provinces are doing the same thing. This really does beg the question: If governments in Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba and other Conservative provinces across the country have stepped up so strongly in moving forward on child care and reducing costs for families, why are the Conservatives here in Ottawa so opposed to signing child care agreements? They promised in the election that they would rip up child care agreements signed with the provinces. If they are actually concerned about costs and expenses for families, reducing child care to $10 a day is one of the best ways to do exactly that. We also know that the housing crisis is a reality for middle-class families across the country. The cost of affordable housing and the cost of a home are higher than ever. Families need help. The big challenge we face in Canada is that, for 10 years, Stephen Harper's Conservative government kept saying that the federal government had no role to play in housing and no obligation to invest in housing. Ten years of nothing, with no leadership from the federal government, has long-lasting effects. That is why, when we took office in 2015, we made a promise to Canadians that we would recommit to housing and deliver ambitious plans. That is exactly what we did in 2017 when we created the national housing strategy, a plan that started at $40 billion and is now up to $80 billion.Through that strategy, investments have provided hundreds of thousands of families with more housing, more spaces and the ability to find affordable housing—

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The Assistant Deputy Speaker (Mrs. Carol Hughes)

Nov/30/21 3:29:19 p.m.
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I am sorry to interrupt the Prime Minister, but a member is being disrespectful. I would ask the member for Carleton to wait. He will have an opportunity later to ask questions and make comments. I would ask that all members be respected when they have the floor. The hon. Prime Minister.

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Right Hon. Justin Trudeau

Nov/30/21 3:29:33 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, we have put in place measures that have made a real difference in helping Canadians access home ownership over the last few years. However, we definitely know that we have more to do. One of the commitments we made during the election was a $4-billion housing accelerator fund for municipalities. That $4 billion will help them move faster in building supply, issuing permits and developing low-income and middle-class housing, creating the supply that is so needed to take the pressure off families and communities. This is in addition to the other initiatives we have had, whether it is the Canada housing benefit or the rapid housing initiative that has worked with municipalities. However, we will also do more. We will help families buy their first home sooner, with a more flexible and generous first-time home buyer incentive and a new rent-to-own program, and by reducing closing costs for first-time buyers. These are all concrete, tangible solutions that will help move things in the right direction for Canadians. Even as the Conservative politicians these days are rending their shirts about the housing crisis, they offer no solutions. Indeed, the only concrete solution they had in their platform during the 2021 election was, get this, to give a tax break to wealthy landlords to help them sell their buildings. It really takes a federal Conservative to think we are somehow going to help people rent or buy homes they cannot afford by giving tax breaks to wealthy landlords. That simply does not work. What we have is a comprehensive plan that will indeed support Canadians in buying affordable housing and finding lower-priced places to stay. We are working on housing affordability. Every step of the way our focus has been on supporting Canadians, whether it is by indexing the Canada child benefit to the cost of inflation or through a child care program that is not only going to help families with their costs, but also get more women into the workplace while giving kids the level playing field they need to succeed. We are making investments for the longer term of our future. We are standing up for the middle class, and will continue to address the labour shortages by boosting economic immigration levels and investing in skills training. Obviously, Canadians are concerned about the economy, and they want to know that we are there to help them. We are going to be there to do that, and we are going to be there to invest. However, there are other issues that Canadians expect us to work on, and that is exactly what we are going to do. Canadians want concrete action, and that is what we will do. They want us to take action on climate change, to innovate in new technologies and clean energy, and to create green jobs. They want us to build a more inclusive country and move faster on the path to reconciliation. We recognize that climate change exists. Furthermore, we have long recognized what the Conservatives refuse to recognize, even today in 2021, which is that we cannot have a plan for the economy if we do not have a plan for the environment. The Conservatives refuse to address climate change. They refuse to build an economic future for Canadians that will achieve net zero by 2050, not just for our country, but for our planet. We need to make the investments necessary to transform our economy in order to have lower carbon emissions, more innovation, more green jobs and, most importantly, green careers. Unfortunately, these are the issues that the Conservatives continue to block, from putting a price on pollution to capping greenhouse gas emissions from the oil and gas sector until they reach net zero by 2050. This is how we will prepare our economy, our industries, our workers and our energy needs for the 21st century. These are investments we are making, not only for the economy and jobs, but also to protect nature. When we took office in 2015, barely 1% of our coastlines and oceans was being protected by the Harper government. In just a few years, we brought that up to 14%, and we are on track to reach 25% by 2025 and 30% by 2030. The same goes for our lands, 30% of which will be protected by 2030. We know that protecting the environment means more than just preserving its beauty and resources for future generations. It also means taking meaningful action to fight climate change now. That is our vision. It means understanding that by protecting nature, wetlands, and our rivers, lakes and oceans, we can ensure a better future with less climate change, while making unprecedented investments to transform our economy the right way. As for reconciliation, we know that we need to build partnerships and that we need to find solutions to address climate change. In fact, we would not have been able to protect as much of our coastlines and oceans if not for the leadership of indigenous peoples and our partnerships with them. I am thinking specifically of the Inuit, who have shown a solid understanding of the fact that addressing climate change and spurring economic growth in their communities and across the country must go hand in hand. I appreciate the Leader of the Opposition raising reconciliation in his address to Parliament a little earlier. One thing we can all do concretely in the House is work towards the full implementation of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. Unfortunately, however, the Conservative Party voted against the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples in the last Parliament. I hope that the indication by the Leader of the Opposition that reconciliation is important to him means that the Conservatives are going to change their approach on UNDRIP, and actually realize that the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples is an important thing for Canada and the world to lead on. We will also continue to work with all parties in the House on these sorts of issues as we move forward. I want to respond to a few of the points the Conservative leader made in his approach this morning. Unfortunately, he did not really demonstrate all that much in the way of leadership as much as he tried to score cheap political points. We all know that the best thing for our economy is to put the pandemic behind us, yet the Conservative Party will not even confirm how many of its own MPs are vaccinated. That is simply not leading by example. We can hear from the members opposite that they hate it when people bring this up. At a time when we know the way through this pandemic is through vaccinations, they cannot be unequivocal on the need to get vaccinated and the need to lead by example. It is really disappointing. If the Conservatives had won in this past election, right now people would be travelling on planes and trains without the need to be fully vaccinated and would be putting Canadians at risk. That was a commitment the Conservatives had made to Canadians: that they would not have to be fully vaccinated to travel on a plane or a train. That is simply not the kind of leadership Canadians expected. It is certainly not the kind of leadership they chose. It is also something that would be bad not just for the course of the pandemic in our country, but indeed for the economy. The Conservatives continue to demonstrate that they do not understand that the best thing to do to grow our economy is to finish this pandemic. The members opposite have spoken a lot today about Canada's relationship with the United States as well. We will continue to stand up for Canadian interests. We will continue to stand up in the fight for the removal of softwood lumber tariffs, the fight to continue producing electric vehicles in Canada and the fight to continue making sure that our products, such as potatoes, continue to have access to the United States. When the Conservative leader talks about the fact that we are not doing enough to go at the United States, it reminds me of what he said when we stood up for steelworkers and aluminum workers against the last American administration. His comment was that those retaliatory tariffs were dumb. That was the word he used. He said that it was a dumb thing to push back against the United States when they were imposing tariffs on steelworkers and aluminum workers and threatening massive waves of protectionism. We did not listen to the Leader of the Opposition then. We went ahead in standing up strongly and firmly for Canadian interests, and that U.S. administration backed down. We protected our steelworkers and our aluminum workers, so members will understand that I am not going to take lessons from the leader of the official opposition on how to capitulate to the Americans. We will instead stand up strongly and firmly every step of the way. Our government is focused on concrete solutions that deliver results. We have one of the most successful vaccination campaigns in the world. This reminds us, again, of the complaints and the partisan, personal attacks made by members of the official opposition, the Conservative Party, that when we were getting our vaccines they were not coming fast enough, we did not do well enough and we were not covering Canadians. Here we are, with one of the top vaccination rates in the entire world, and the party that spent all its time complaining that we were not doing enough to get vaccines into this country is now the only party in the House that did not bother to get fully vaccinated. That sort of playing political games and scoring cheap rhetorical points while not actually following up on the substance of what needs to happen to keep Canadians safe is, unfortunately, par for the course for the Conservative Party of Canada. Despite all the talking down of the Canadian economy and our approach to supporting Canadians during the pandemic by the Conservatives, we have now recovered over 100% of the jobs we lost during the peak of the pandemic and have created new jobs on top of that. That is something that happened because we have been investing in Canadians and supporting small businesses across the country. Over the past few months I could not go into a small business or a restaurant across the country without someone telling me, “Thank you for that wage benefit,” or “Thank you for the support that you were able to give us to get through it.” In return, I thanked them for hanging in there and staying open, and now for getting going again. I say yes, we will continue to support them in fighting the labour shortage that we are facing. We had a year of closed borders to immigration when we were able to accept only a small number of people as immigrants. We now know that we have to get back to bringing people in to continue to grow our economy. We need to work on skills training. We need to give young people opportunities. We will continue to work not just to make sure people have jobs, but that jobs are filled. Growing the economy requires a government with a commitment to do what we have said from the very beginning: that every step of the way, we will have Canadians' backs. We continue to be there for the economy and for small businesses. We continue to be there for families, with the Canada child benefit indexed to inflation and $10-a-day child care. We will provide targeted support for the hardest-hit sectors, such as tourism. The leader of the official opposition talked about support for the tourism industry. I hope his party will work with us and we will get their support, because right now coming before the House we have Bill C-2, which will have targeted supports for the tourism industry. This is a sector that is very worried about what consequences the omicron variant might have for its industry and people's plans. We have a piece of legislation we are putting forward that would make sure we are there to support those industries that are hardest hit. It would make sure we are there to support small businesses or businesses that are facing challenges, but would also make sure that we have lockdown supports if provinces have to move forward with targeted measures. We will be there as a federal government, as we have been from the very beginning, to allow Canadians to make it through this health crisis knowing that their government has their backs and that we will bounce back and come roaring back stronger than ever. That is what is in Bill C-2 that we are moving forward. I certainly hope that the Conservatives and the other parties in the House realize that Canadians deserve a Parliament that is focused on them and is there to support them every step of the way. We are committed to establishing the Canada mental health transfer to expand the delivery of high-quality free mental health services. We know that Canadians, like people around the world, have suffered because of the pandemic. The isolation, the pressures, the anxiety and the challenges they have faced have left their mark, and that is why investing historic amounts in mental health supports across the country will go a long way to help Canadians. In the first days of this Parliament alone, we have introduced legislation to bring in 10 days of paid sick leave for workers in the federally regulated private sector and we will work with the provinces on echoing that across the country. We want to protect health care workers from unacceptable intimidation. We are going to ban conversion therapy. However, there is always more to do. Of course, we know that there is always more work to be done, but Canadians expect us to work collaboratively and respectfully in the House of Commons. They fully understand that there are different points of view and that there will always be robust debate about how best to help and serve Canadians. I look forward to these discussions. However, Canadians expect to see parliamentarians who are there for them, who think every day about how to serve them better and how to provide them with support and growth that they can benefit from. That is what they expect, and that is what this government is prepared to do. I am reaching out to all parliamentarians with this Speech from the Throne, which focuses on concerns that we agree on. As I said, I look forward to the debates on how best to meet the expectations of Canadians. The key question is whether we will be there for Canadians. I can assure the House that on the government side, the answer is yes.

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Mr. Daniel Blaikie

Nov/30/21 3:46:38 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, I rise on a point of order. I have been a member of Parliament for a little over six years now and I have heard many allegations in the House that the Prime Minister has no great respect for Parliament, and sometimes I have seen some evidence of that. Today, I note he went well over 20 minutes, which is normally the amount of time members have to speak. I would direct you, Madam Speaker, to Standing Order 50(2), which gives the Prime Minister the right to speak longer, and it is nice to see the Prime Minister engage today with Parliament. If the he is in the mood, I would seek unanimous consent of the House to extend the question and answer period by another 10 minutes, for a total of 20 minutes, so he might continue this engagement. Before you seek that unanimous consent, Madam Speaker, it would be appropriate to hear the Prime Minister on this point of order. Therefore, I would invite you to ask him for comment and then seek unanimous consent of the House to extend his question period by a further 10 minutes.

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The Assistant Deputy Speaker (Mrs. Carol Hughes)

Nov/30/21 3:47:32 p.m.
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Does the hon. member have unanimous consent to allow for 20 minutes of questions and comments? Some hon. members: No. The Assistant Deputy Speaker (Mrs. Carol Hughes): Questions and comments, the hon. member for Central Okanagan—Similkameen—Nicola.

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Mr. Dan Albas (Central Okanagan—Similkameen—Nicola, CPC)

Nov/30/21 3:47:44 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, I appreciate the Prime Minister's presence here today to share with us his response to the Leader of the Opposition. Canadians want to see a little more statesmanship when it comes to the big issues they have. I must confess, and maybe it is the smallness on my side and my character, but I found the Prime Minister's speech today very partisan. Actually, maybe it is for the best, because when the Leader of the Opposition is getting under the skin of the Prime Minister, it is probably because there are some legitimate criticisms. I would ask the Prime Minister to consider those criticisms, because usually we hate in others what we do not like in ourselves. Maybe that might drive him to take a bit of a different stance, be more consolatory and be a little more prime ministerial. I am going to give him the opportunity to talk about something I hope we both can agree on and I think Canadians want to hear. Obviously my province of British Columbia is under a tremendous amount of pain right now, and I do appreciate the help the Prime Minister and his cabinet have extended to British Columbia and the conciliatory way that they are trying to be there for people in a very difficult time. The mayors, Spencer Coyne from Princeton, B.C. as well as Linda Brown from Merritt, B.C. have both said to me that the bill required to fix what is necessary to get people back in their homes will be in the tens of millions of dollars and those communities do not have it. Under the DFA, the 80/20 sharing, where 20% is paid by municipalities, will be beyond their ability to pay. Is the Prime Minister willing to help these communities? It will take years to restart, and I hope we will get a positive response.

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Right Hon. Justin Trudeau

Nov/30/21 3:49:30 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, I regret the partisan tone of the introduction to the member's question, but I recognize that he has been a solid voice for his community, which has been hit very hard by these extreme weather events. I highlight that I know we need to not only be there for people right now, as I told Mayor Brown of Merritt, who I spoke a few weeks ago, that we would be there for her and her community, as we will for people right across British Columbia, but we need to do more in fighting climate change into the future as well, on ensuring that we are cutting our oil and gas sector emissions, that we are moving forward on investing in clean, renewable energies and that we are building climate resilient infrastructure. These are the things that matter. On the disaster response support, I have simply said that the federal government will be there. We will work hand in hand with British Columbia and we will support Canadians who need help.

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Ms. Kristina Michaud (Avignon—La Mitis—Matane—Matapédia, BQ)

Nov/30/21 3:50:34 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, I want to thank the Prime Minister for his speech. However, I must say that the people of the Lower St. Lawrence and Gaspé, the region I represent, were a little disappointed with what was in the throne speech. Several things were left out. There was nothing about farmers, health transfers, or the need for EI reform, especially for a region like ours. As well, one segment of the population was particularly overlooked: seniors 65 and over. I represent a large region with four constituency offices, and every week, if not every day, we get calls from seniors asking us to explain why this government does not think that they deserve proper support. There were $500 cheques sent out, randomly, just before the election. Some seniors were very happy to tell me that they took some of that money and gave it to my party, because we are the only party that stands up for seniors. However, it is not too late. The increase in the guaranteed income supplement for seniors 75 and over has not been brought in yet. Why not give it to seniors 65 and over?

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Right Hon. Justin Trudeau

Nov/30/21 3:51:41 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, when we came to power in 2015, one of our first initiatives was to increase the guaranteed income supplement by 10% for the most vulnerable single seniors. This truly helped lift tens of thousands of seniors out of poverty, and we will continue to help seniors, whether it is in this pandemic, during which we have paid record amounts to Canadians, or with the promise we made several years ago to increase old age security for seniors 75 and older. We all know that seniors are living longer, which is very good news, but we must recognize that costs increase as well. That is why we chose to target those whose costs are increasing. It was to help them even more.

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Ms. Laurel Collins (Victoria, NDP)

Nov/30/21 3:52:45 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, Canadians expect their Prime Minister to take climate action that matches the scale and urgency of the crisis, but instead the Liberal government has been increasing fossil fuel subsidies to big oil and gas companies, the very companies that are fuelling the climate crisis. In 2015, the Prime Minister promised to eliminate fossil fuel subsidies; he increased them. In 2019, he promised to eliminate fossil fuel subsidies; he increased them to the tune of $900 million a year. In 2020, he promised again; he broke that promise. When will the Prime Minister stop breaking his promises to Canadians?

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