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Decentralized Democracy

House Hansard - 19

44th Parl. 1st Sess.
December 16, 2021 10:00AM
  • Dec/16/21 3:10:01 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, procedures, procedures, procedures. Sébastien Charrois is a constituent of mine whose family has been raising chickens for generations. He is at the end of his rope. He cannot find enough people to catch and transport the chickens in his barns. Transportation companies cannot do the work, and they cannot bring in temporary foreign workers. Tens of thousands of chickens are going to be euthanized if he does not find temporary workers. I have a simple question for the government: When will it do what needs to be done to bring in temporary foreign workers immediately?
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  • Dec/16/21 3:10:43 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, our temporary foreign worker programs are extremely important, especially to the agriculture and agri-food sector. The Minister of Employment, the Minister of Immigration and I can assure the House that we are making headway with this major reform. We want to acknowledge good employers. The vast majority of our employers and agricultural producers are good employers. We want to find a way to speed up the process and increase the ratio of foreign workers in plants, which has already been done with the Province of Quebec.
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  • Dec/16/21 3:11:44 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, since my Motion No. 103 in 2017, we have changed the conversation so that no federal leader could ever pretend that Islamophobia is not a threat. We have made progress since then, including a national summit earlier this year, but as long as Muslim Canadians fear for their safety in the workplace or walking down the street, we have to do more. Could the Minister of Housing and Diversity and Inclusion please tell the House what the government is doing to continue combatting Islamophobia in Canada?
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  • Dec/16/21 3:12:19 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, Islamophobia is real and a troubling fact. That is why earlier this past summer we held a national summit on Islamophobia to hear directly from community members about their lived experiences, but also taking concrete steps on how we can assist them further. I am pleased to inform the hon. member for Mississauga—Erin Mills that we will take further action, including dedicated resources to tackle Islamophobia and working with Muslim Canadians on the appointment of a special representative to tackle Islamophobia. On this side of the House, we will continue to fight hatred in Canada to keep communities safe.
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  • Dec/16/21 3:12:59 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, seniors across this country who had their GIS cut off cannot afford food, medicine, heat and rent. Some of them are already homeless and some of them are at risk to be homeless soon. For months, the NDP asked the government to fix the problem. Finally there was an announcement that gave seniors across this country hope for a one-time payment. Sadly, today we found out that payment is not coming until May. The government should be ashamed. Seniors are losing everything and it is doing nothing. When will the Prime Minister stop turning his back on the seniors of this country?
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  • Dec/16/21 3:13:41 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, since day one, our government has prioritized being there for the most vulnerable. For low-income seniors with the greatest need, we have increased the OAS and GIS. We know during the pandemic working seniors needed income support, and they should not be penalized for it now. That is why our government is making a major investment through a one-time payment for seniors who have had their benefits affected. Seniors can rest assured we will always be there for them.
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  • Dec/16/21 3:14:12 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, back in 2015 the Liberals promised to end all boil water advisories in first nations communities within five years, yet today 42 advisories remain in 30 communities. A recent Parliamentary Budget Officer report calls out a significant gap: $138 million more is needed in annual operating spending. When will the government allocate the resources necessary to fulfill its 2015 promise and ensure that every first nations community has what every person in Canada deserves, access to clean drinking water?
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  • Dec/16/21 3:14:54 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I can reassure the member this government has every intention of working hand in glove with indigenous communities to raise all long-term boil water advisories. Our work is paying off. In fact, 74% of long-term boil water advisories have been lifted since we have been in government. We have another 16% of the long-term boil water advisories under construction and we will not rest until we get this done.
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  • Dec/16/21 3:15:27 p.m.
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That is all the time we have for question period today. We have a point of order from the hon. member for Louis-Saint-Laurent.
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  • Dec/16/21 3:15:35 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, we all recognize that a lot of people are now on the hybrid system. We respect that and there is no problem with it. However, there is a problem when a minister or anyone else does not have their headset. Time is running out. The Minister of Veterans Affairs spoke for 14 seconds before he finally recognized that he did not have his headset on correctly. Then, my hon. counterpart, whom I recognize was very efficient with his speech, spoke for 30 seconds. Let me be clear: When the time is running out, the time is running out for everybody.
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  • Dec/16/21 3:16:03 p.m.
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To respond to that, the problem was not the minister. He was part of it, but we had technical difficulties with interpretation, and it is too bad that the technical area did not work. That is why we extended time. The Speaker used his judgment; he wanted to make sure a complete answer got out, not broken pieces. That was my issue. I am sorry not everyone agrees with it.
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  • Dec/16/21 3:16:37 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, this problem was created on our side. I offer a sincere apology to the House. We will endeavour to ensure that all members have their appropriate headsets. I apologize that we caused this disruption.
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  • Dec/16/21 3:16:58 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, on the same point of order, I note that the whip seems to have impaired one of his ministers, who was not here in person, from answering a question. The Minister of Finance was deprived of the chance to answer housing inflation questions, and I think it is inappropriate for the whip—
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  • Dec/16/21 3:17:15 p.m.
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I believe the hon. minister was here in person virtually. That counts. We are not to comment on whether members are in the House, and technically she was in the House.
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  • Dec/16/21 3:17:36 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I rise on a point of order. There have been consultations with the other parties, and I hope that if you seek it, you will find unanimous consent for the following important motion: That the House call upon the government to use all available tools to fight against Islamophobia, starting with the designation of a special envoy to monitor and combat Islamophobia.
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  • Dec/16/21 3:18:00 p.m.
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All those opposed to the hon. member moving the motion will please say nay. Some hon. members: Nay.
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  • Dec/16/21 3:18:23 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, there have been discussions among the parties, and if you seek it, I believe you will find unanimous consent for the following motion: That the administration of the House and the federal government take steps to ensure that, as of January 31, 2022, the masks distributed on Parliament Hill and in the various federal departments and agencies come from domestic businesses that produce this type of personal protective equipment, or PPE.
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  • Dec/16/21 3:18:54 p.m.
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All those opposed to the hon. member moving the motion will please say nay. Okay. The House has heard the terms of the motion. All those opposed to the motion will please say nay. Hearing no objection, I declare the motion carried.
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  • Dec/16/21 3:19:34 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I rise on a point of order. I support the last motion, but I suggest that in the future you leave sufficient time, after a question is read out, for the interpretation to be completed before seeing if there are any nays, because the response was called before interpretation was completed in one case.
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  • Dec/16/21 3:19:47 p.m.
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I will do that. That is a good point and I appreciate the help.
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