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Ms. Elizabeth May (Saanich—Gulf Islands, GP)

Feb/1/22 10:18:16 a.m.
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Re: Bill C-10

Madam Speaker, on behalf of the Green Party of Canada, I completely agree with the points that have been made, particularly just now by the hon. member for New Westminster—Burnaby. We do benefit, particularly under the innovative flexible approach we have had to take in the pandemic. Access to bills on an embargoed basis has been quite essential, and it has been different from other times when bills are shared on an embargoed basis, certainly before first reading. Going back to March, 2020, a bill was put forward by the then finance minister that included provisions that I believe were offensive even to members of the Liberal Party. There was a quick rewrite, and before first reading we achieved a substantial change in the bill. It is important that we be able to honour the traditions of respecting embargoes while also sharing legislation in ways that have been really creative, helpful and positive in moving us all forward. The government does not have the right to ignore those embargoes. I do not know that I will want to make any further points, but as this issue develops and as I go back and look at the press conference remarks from the Prime Minister, we may have further remarks to add. It certainly is an important principle that has been raised by the Conservative House leader.

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The Assistant Deputy Speaker (Mrs. Alexandra Mendès)

Feb/1/22 10:19:44 a.m.
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Re: Bill C-10

As per tradition, we will take it under advisement and get back to the member for Louis-Saint-Laurent as soon as possible.

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Mr. Terry Beech (Parliamentary Secretary to the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance, Lib.)

Feb/1/22 10:20:07 a.m.
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Madam Speaker, I will be splitting my time with my friend, the hon. member for Surrey Centre. I am thrilled to be back in our nation's capital to address the Speech from the Throne. Canadians have shown great resilience and ingenuity over these last two years. Our government has worked rapidly and diligently to provide the tools and resources required by families, businesses and other levels of government. We deployed unprecedented assistance across all sectors of our economy, with the federal government accounting for $8 out of every $10 spent on pandemic response. This was the right thing to do, as we were able to use our AAA credit rating to take on the cost of the pandemic with significantly lower borrowing costs than those incurred by other levels of government, by households or by enterprises. These programs have worked. Our focus on keeping Canadians healthy has led to a job recovery of 108% of pre-pandemic employment, compared with just 84% in the United States. Canadians have increased their savings rates, and there are more businesses in Canada today than there were before the pandemic started. It is no wonder, then, that finishing the fight against COVID is such a priority. It accounted for the majority of new spending in the economic statement alongside targeted investments for indigenous reconciliation and for repairing the flood damage in British Columbia. Our economic, social and environmental future depends on us getting this right. I am dedicated to finishing the fight alongside all members of the House, with a focus on building a better future for our children and our grandchildren. Every step of the way, our focus on health has saved lives and has been the core of our recovery. Our approach has led to a significant growth in GDP, and our trade surplus has just recently hit 13-year highs. However, it is impossible to talk about growing our economy without addressing our plan to fight climate change. The devastating floods and fires in British Columbia are a stark warning that climate change is real and imposes real hardship and real cost. Canada must be a global leader in taking on this fight, and we will need to take even bolder action going forward. Our ambitious climate plan, entitled “A Healthy Environment and a Healthy Economy”, is an articulate, world-leading plan that sustainably grows our economy while exceeding our climate change targets. We will end fossil fuel subsidies while investing in the future of the green economy. We have already committed more than $100 billion to date, we have put a price on carbon and we have invested in a national electric transportation framework that for the first time has enabled Canadians to drive from Vancouver Island to Prince Edward Island in an electric vehicle. Canadians are expecting us to do more and move faster. The foundation of any strong economy is built on the health of its citizens, which depends on having healthy air, soil and water. We must protect and restore our biodiversity while eliminating plastic waste from our oceans and restoring iconic species such as our treasured Pacific wild salmon. I can comfortably say our government has been the most aggressive government in Canadian history on the environmental file, and I invite everyone who is interested to read my full environment and climate change report on terrybeechmp.ca/reports to get more information. After spending so much time addressing climate change and the environment, I think it is also important to highlight to Canadians and to members of the House the urgency with which we need to prioritize the health of our oceans and our marine ecosystems. We launched an oceans protection plan that saw new resources deployed on the B.C. coast. Massive swaths of ocean that were previously left unmonitored and unprotected now have resources in place. On marine protected areas, a space in which B.C. is a leader, we increased our protected areas from less than 1% in 2015 to more than 14% today. We will ensure that 30% of all marine and terrestrial areas are protected by 2030. In addition, we invested record funding in protecting biodiversity and revising the Oceans Act and Fisheries Act to provide modern protections in legislation from coast to coast to coast. We invested $647 million in our strategy to conserve and restore wild Pacific salmon populations and their habitats. This is the largest investment in any species in Canadian history, and it is necessary to ensure we restore our wild salmon fishery for the benefit of future generations. Quite frankly, the status quo has been unacceptable. Left unabated, there would be more plastic in the ocean than biomass within a single generation. We must build a circular economy that prevents plastic pollution from entering our marine ecosystems in the first place, and remove the plastic that is already there. I say let us do more. Let us be bolder, let us move faster and let us develop the economy of the future today. Anything less is shortchanging ourselves and is shortchanging future generations. While I am addressing the issue of taking actions today to benefit future generations, I cannot help but turn to the topic of housing. Affordable housing is the elephant in the room for every conversation about the economy or quality of life in Metro Vancouver. In addressing this problem, it is important to understand that the federal government had been substantially absent from housing in Canada for almost 30 years until our government took office in 2015. Since then, we have developed a $72-billion national housing strategy and have moved to invest in affordable housing, while also providing the tools to help with housing affordability. We have also invested in transit infrastructure, which is a critical tool in enabling municipalities to increase supply in our communities. This has also facilitated the acceleration of future transit projects, such as the proposed rapid transit line that would connect at the SeaBus in North Vancouver, run across the Second Narrows Bridge to the corner of Hastings and Willingdon, and then south on Willingdon to Metrotown. This is a project and route that I have championed for many years, and it is now supported by provincial MLAs, local governments and first nations. In the last election, we committed to dozens more initiatives in regard to housing that fall into three primary categories. The first, of course, is to build more supply. The second is to taper demand through disincentivizing the use of housing as an investment asset and instead focus primarily on utilizing housing as a place to live. The third is to build more pathways to home ownership and enable renters to more easily live where they work. This is not just about building housing. It is about building communities. These investments give us more flexibility to create more regional centres and utilize housing dollars more effectively. While the $72-billion housing strategy is a good start, the additional investments in new buses, SkyTrains and even a new SeaBus are part of the housing solution as well. We cannot talk about building more livable communities without talking about the need for affordable child care. Even if a family in Burnaby or North Vancouver is lucky enough to find a space, the cost is quite often prohibitive. Economists agree that if we want to accelerate the economic recovery from COVID-19, we need to invest in families, and in women in particular. I raised this issue with a group of North Burnaby moms on Facebook, and hundreds of parents relayed incredibly useful information that the minister incorporated into the design of our program. British Columbia then became the first province to sign on to our national framework, which will create tens of thousands of new spaces while lowering the cost of child care to 50% in less than a year. Within five years, the cost will drop further until it reaches $10 a day. This program is a great addition to the Canada child benefit, which helped lift 300,000 children out of poverty and helped decrease our country's poverty rate to all-time lows. This affordable, inclusive and high-quality program will ensure that families will be able to make predictable decisions about child care and have the option to re-enter the workforce as they see fit. In addition, we will create new opportunities and brighter futures for a new generation of Canadian children who will be better prepared to add significant value to our economy while creating better lives for themselves and their future families. The Deputy Prime Minister referred to creating a generation of Canadian super kids, and I could not agree more. I will remind members in the House that before the pandemic, we lowered our debt servicing costs while lowering poverty rates to all-time lows in Canadian history since we started measuring them, all while growing the economy, investing in housing and fighting climate change. We need to finish the fight against COVID and focus on the things that have helped Canada establish one of the highest standards of living in the entire world. Despite the challenges our world has faced over the last two years, and will continue to face in the years to come, I am sincerely optimistic about Canada's place in the world and our ability to create an economy and a society that is full of opportunity for future generations. I look forward to working with members from all parties, and with Canadians from all regions of this great country, to create this positive future.

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Ms. Marilyn Gladu (Sarnia—Lambton, CPC)

Feb/1/22 10:29:16 a.m.
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Madam Speaker, I recently saw it reported that in terms of countries that have the most debt, Canada is right behind Greece. What are the government's plans to address the huge debt that this country has and the inflation we are now seeing?

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Mr. Terry Beech

Feb/1/22 10:29:39 a.m.
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Madam Speaker, the member was my first critic when we were first both elected in 2015. We got to know each other quite well. Our government has focused on lowering the debt-to-GDP ratio every single year that we have been in government. That put us in a position where we were able to take on the extraordinary costs that were incurred by the pandemic, which was the right thing to do. It is because of our AAA credit rating and our fiscal prudence that we were able to take on these costs at much lower borrowing costs than families and small businesses could have. It was even at less of a cost than the provinces could have had. I am happy to report that with this investment, jobs have returned at 108% of pre-pandemic levels and we have retained our AAA credit rating.

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Mrs. Julie Vignola (Beauport—Limoilou, BQ)

Feb/1/22 10:30:34 a.m.
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Madam Speaker, when we want to move forward as a society, it is important to take stock of what we have and where we want to go. The Speech from the Throne goes some way toward that, which is a good thing. However, there are major gaps. Take seniors, for example. They are currently getting an increase of $7 a month. Over the past 10 years, they have received just $89, which is about $9 a year. When will seniors be a priority? We all care about their health.

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Mr. Terry Beech

Feb/1/22 10:31:10 a.m.
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Madam Speaker, I agree with the member opposite that seniors are a priority and must be a priority. In fact, seniors have been a priority of this government since we took office. I will remind the member that during COVID there was a $500 one-time payment to make sure the most vulnerable seniors had the resources they needed when they needed them. We are also the government that increased the OAS by more than 10%. I would also remind the member that we are the government that lowered the qualifying age from 67 years to 65 years, which meant thousands of dollars in the pockets of seniors right across this country just when they were on the verge of retirement.

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Mr. Gord Johns (Courtenay—Alberni, NDP)

Feb/1/22 10:31:52 a.m.
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Madam Speaker, my colleague talked about the government's world-class oceans protection plan. Members are well aware there was a marine debris spill off the west coast in October. That debris is landing on our shores, and the government has basically left it up to the contractor and the company to deal with the cleanup. Meanwhile, the stuff is showing up on the shore, polluting our ecosystem, and the company is nowhere to be found. It has been left on the backs of indigenous communities and local cleanup organizations. When is the government going to fix this loophole? Is it going to establish an ecosystem service fee on the transshipment of cargo units so that there are funds in place for local communities to address this issue, instead of waiting for the polluter to fix it? Clearly, it is not taking enough action to fix this huge problem on the west coast.

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Mr. Terry Beech

Feb/1/22 10:32:46 a.m.
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Madam Speaker, I used to work with the member for Courtenay—Alberni on the fisheries committee, and we have a lot of shared interests, especially around oceans and marine ecosystems. Our government believes in the polluter-pay system. We have been changing our laws to make sure that is reflected. We changed the Oceans Act. We changed the Fisheries Act. In fact, I worked with this member to do just that. We have also invested in expanding our Coast Guard. A lot of that was provided through the historic oceans protection plan. We have actually enabled indigenous communities to help join the fight with the Coast Guard with organizations like the indigenous-led coast guard services that are unique on the west coast of British Columbia. I would also hate to stand up in the House of Commons and address this member without talking about the $647 million that has been invested in wild salmon, because I visited his riding specifically to talk about salmon. I am glad to see that investment was made and I am sure he is as well.

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Ms. Elizabeth May (Saanich—Gulf Islands, GP)

Feb/1/22 10:33:52 a.m.
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Madam Speaker, the hon. member was elected on a pledge to stop the Trans Mountain pipeline. It continues to be constructed and at this point is completely inconsistent with achieving the Paris goal of ensuring the global average temperature does not exceed 1.5°C. I would ask the hon. member how he can sit on those government benches while the pipeline continues to be built.

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Mr. Terry Beech

Feb/1/22 10:34:18 a.m.
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Madam Speaker, more than almost any member in this House, I have been very clear about my work on the Trans Mountain pipeline. I have also been very clear about the historic work this government has done to fight climate change. We are a leader in the world. We have one of the most articulate and world-leading plans to fight and address climate change. Canada needs to continue to be a leader, and it is going to be this government that will make that happen.

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Mr. Randeep Sarai (Surrey Centre, Lib.)

Feb/1/22 10:34:49 a.m.
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Madam Speaker, friends and colleagues, I am very happy to be here in the House of Commons to reply to the Speech from the Throne. Canadians have faced a great deal of hardship over the last two years as a result of the unprecedented times we are living in. I continue to be in awe of the resilience, compassion and sheer tenacity that has been shown. Even though for much of the last two years we in the House have been working virtually from our communities, we have been able to accomplish a great deal of very important work on behalf of Canadians. I look forward to continuing our work together as we resume our work on behalf of Canadians. I would also like to take this opportunity to congratulate the Right Honourable Mary May Simon on her appointment as Canada's 30th Governor General and long-awaited first indigenous Governor General of Canada. I congratulate her on the delivery of her first Speech from the Throne. Now to our purpose for being here today, I am very proud of the government's record over the last six years. We have tackled many big issues that have been left unresolved by previous governments such as housing, child care and more. We continue to work towards creating a more equal Canada by addressing the systemic discrimination and racism embedded in our institutions. On top of that, we are nearly two years into a global pandemic, and with this new mandate, Canadians gave the government a clear direction to continue to work towards putting COVID-19 behind us and to continue working to resolve the challenges that face Canadians in their everyday lives. Our government will continue to be on the right side of history on these and many more issues as we work towards finishing the fight against COVID, take strong action against climate change, make life more affordable, walk the shared path of reconciliation, put home ownership back in reach, create jobs and grow the middle class. Canadians expect us, as their representatives in Ottawa, to focus on the big things that matter and to work together to deliver results that create meaningful change. I will speak today about a few of the themes from the Speech from the Throne, including housing, child care, safer communities and mental health and addiction, issues that are particularly important in my riding of Surrey Centre and in many other communities across the country. The government is committed to ensuring that Canadians have a safe place to call home. In fast-growing communities like Surrey Centre, we struggle to create enough homes to keep up with our growing population. In fact, in the last five years, an additional 74,000 people have called Surrey home. Since 2015, the government has increased the amount of affordable housing in Surrey and across the country. This includes 44 new affordable units in partnership with Atira Women's Resource Society, an important organization in our community that helps vulnerable women. Through a $16.4-million investment in the rapid housing initiative, a total of 105 new affordable units will support individuals experiencing homelessness and those struggling with substance abuse, mental health and spiritual wellness. Just last week, the government announced that there will now be more than 10,000 new affordable rapid housing units across Canada, made possible by our government's additional investments in the second round of the rapid housing initiative. This $2.5-billion investment is an excellent example of what can be accomplished through collaboration across all levels of government, provincial, territorial, municipal and indigenous governing bodies, that identify priorities in each community. The Liberal government has also been working to make housing and home ownership more accessible to more Canadians. This is through the creation of Canada's first-ever national housing strategy. We created a number of programs, like a more flexible first-time homebuyer incentive and CMHC's residential construction financing initiative. We will also be creating a rent-to-own program and will be reducing closing costs for first-time buyers. My province of British Columbia was the first in our country to step up for its residents and sign a deal with the federal government to provide $10-a-day child care. This is a $3.2-billion investment that will not only support accessible early learning and child care in Surrey, but also pandemic recovery to allow more parents to return to the workforce and contribute to our growing economy. In fact, it has already started, reducing the cost of child care by half for every parent in British Columbia. As a parent of three children, I was fortunate to have my mother and in-laws help us. However, that is not the case for many. Many have to choose between working or child care, a choice no one should have to make due to costs. No matter where people live across the country, they deserve a safe community. Many communities across the country like Surrey deal with gun violence and the challenges in preventing it. Surrey has the largest youth population in British Columbia, but with it also comes challenges of youth violence, guns, gangs, drugs and addictions. The government has taken strong action, in part by banning more than 1,500 types of assault weapons. This includes building on our progress in implementing a mandatory buyback of assault-style weapons and working with the provinces and territories that want to ban handguns. We are also moving forward with a 10-year national action plan on gender-based violence and will continue to support organizations providing critical services. The Province of British Columbia is receiving more than $30 million of federal funding to ensure that law enforcement is equipped with the necessary resources to better detect and prevent crimes before they happen, while having the resources to hold offenders accountable for any blatant disregard for the law. We also announced in the fall economic statement that the government will be providing an additional $250 million to municipalities and indigenous communities to support community-based programs aimed at prevention and wraparound services. We know that addressing social and economic issues such as housing and employment to create opportunities for young Canadians plays an important role in addressing violence and creating safe communities. Our government understands that we cannot simply arrest ourselves out of this problem. We support local community groups who have knowledge of the particular challenges in their communities and provide exit strategies for youth already involved in gang activities, programs like the Surrey anti-gang family empowerment program. My community is so fortunate to have access to a program working to address and prevent gang violence in our communities. The $7.5-million SAFE program, which is funded by Public Safety Canada and led by the City of Surrey, works to build positive life skills and increasing connections with families, schools and communities to keep children and youth out of gangs. This program delivers 11 individual programs through 10 partner organizations designed to disrupt the negative pathways to gang violence for Surrey's population and children. The program is on track to help over 4,500 at-risk youth and their families get the support and services they need to stay safe. The COVID-19 pandemic increased the challenges that Canadians face in supporting their mental health. With increased feelings of stress, loneliness and sadness, it has been a rough few years. Annually, 20% of Canadians experience a mental illness or addiction problem. Throughout the pandemic we have seen those numbers grow with nearly half of Canadians reporting that their mental health worsened during the pandemic, including seven out of 10 health care workers. Our government understands that mental health is health. We are working to help end the stigma around mental health and seeking support when people need it. We made the Wellness Together portal available to Canadians across the country and most recently the PocketWell app, which provides access to mental health tools and resources. Pandemic-related investments in mental health include $500 million in support during the pandemic for Canadians experiencing mental health challenges, homelessness and substance use; $100 million for mental health interventions for LGBTQ+, youth and seniors affected by COVID-19, and $50 million to support those at risk of COVID-19-related trauma or post-traumatic stress disorders. Prior to the pandemic, since forming government in 2015, we have been making investments in mental health, including $5 billion to provinces and territories to increase the availability of mental health care; $600 million for a distinctions-based mental health and wellness strategy for indigenous services; $140 million to support veterans dealing with PTSD; $45 million for national mental health care standards and $600 million to address the opioid crisis. In many communities, the COVID-19 pandemic is compounding the ongoing health crisis of opioid overdose and health. Through these new measures, vulnerable people will be better able to get the support they need while respecting public health. It is very good to be back with all members here in person and virtually. I look forward to continuing our work together on behalf of Canadians in bringing our government's vision from the Speech from the Throne to reality.

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Mr. Brad Vis (Mission—Matsqui—Fraser Canyon, CPC)

Feb/1/22 10:44:57 a.m.
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Madam Speaker, it is a real pleasure to be in the House today. I thank my hon. colleague from across the aisle, the member for Surrey Centre, for his remarks today and for the collaboration we have had over the last few months as we dealt with the devastation impacting British Columbians. As the member knows, my riding is the heartland of agriculture in British Columbia. Right now, blueberry farmers are having a very difficult time getting the support they need, both from the provincial government and the federal government. While many are appreciative of the $5 billion that came in emergency funds, which was a big accomplishment, does the member recognize that we need to do more for our blueberry farmers to do what the disaster financial assistance programs and business risk management programs do and help make farmers whole again so that they can cultivate the fruit that we all need to live healthy lives?

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Mr. Randeep Sarai

Feb/1/22 10:45:58 a.m.
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Madam Speaker, I want to assure my colleague opposite that I grew up on a blueberry farm, and every summer my maternal grandparents and uncles are still blueberry farmers. They have faced struggles and they know the struggles that many of their colleagues have faced during this time, specifically in Abbotsford, as well as in Mission and Matsqui. I can assure him that this government is going to be working hard to make sure that they are whole and that they are safe for future flooding and for damages in the future.

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Mr. Mario Simard (Jonquière, BQ)

Feb/1/22 10:46:35 a.m.
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Madam Speaker, I am pleased to see you again. You are just as radiant in 2022 as you were in 2021. I just want to tell my colleague that the oddest thing I saw in the throne speech was the creation of a department of mental health. That is just as odd as establishing a department of national defence in Quebec City. Health is a provincial jurisdiction. If my colleague wants to address the health file, I could discuss the fiscal imbalance with him. Year after year, Ottawa generally has more money than expenditures; it is the opposite for the provinces. What I would advise my colleague to do is review all requests from all the provinces to increase the health transfers up to the much talked-about 35% threshold, a tidy sum of $28 billion that would bring transfers to $60 billion a year. Is my colleague aware of that?

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Mr. Randeep Sarai

Feb/1/22 10:47:33 a.m.
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Madam Speaker, I too want to commend your ravishing presence, as the translator alluded to and as I forgot to say earlier. In response to my colleague across the aisle, I would like to say that sometimes we want to have our cake and eat it too. I know the provinces want the health transfers, but if we actually implement any programs or encourage programming, they are critical of it. I can say that in my province we could probably say that we gave over $700 million in the last accord, particularly for mental health, and it has been much regarded and is giving services to those who are in need and will continue to do so.

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Mr. Gord Johns (Courtenay—Alberni, NDP)

Feb/1/22 10:48:16 a.m.
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Before I get started, I want to wish my oldest daughter a happy 22nd birthday: Happy birthday, Maddie. Madam Speaker, I appreciate my colleague's talking about mental health and addictions. People who are struggling, and it is getting worse for them, especially through the pandemic. The people who have the most complex issues and who require complex care certainly need a place to live to start with. He talked about the rapid housing initiative. We had a good application in my riding from non-profits, women's organizations, indigenous support and local government support, but we have people who are living on the street with complex issues. It is costing them, costing lives and costing taxpayers. It takes a lot of money to respond to that need. At the pace the government is going, it is going to take 45 years to house the homeless population in our country. Will the member lobby his own cabinet to increase investments into housing for people who are the hardest to house and also to increase investments into non-market housing? I urge the member to work with us. We would like to see a wealth tax on those who can afford to contribute.

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Mr. Randeep Sarai

Feb/1/22 10:49:30 a.m.
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Madam Speaker, I first want to wish Maddie a happy birthday also. Hopefully she has a great birthday today. Madam Speaker, I cannot comment on an individual application in my colleague's riding, but I can say that when I became the representative for Surrey Centre, we had 160 people on the street in a tent city on the strip, as they call it, in Surrey Centre. One hundred and sixty people were housed immediately through modular shelters. They were transitioned to 250 in-place housing units. I can probably say that on top of the 250 permanent housing units, we have built another 144 in the rapid housing initiative. That problem is going away in Surrey, and I hope it does in my colleagues' ridings as well.

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Mr. Charlie Angus (Timmins—James Bay, NDP)

Feb/1/22 10:50:14 a.m.
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Madam Speaker, I will be sharing my time with the member for South Okanagan—West Kootenay. As always, it is a great honour to stand here as the representative of the people of Timmins—James Bay. This is the day that the old Irish Catholics would tell us is St. Brigid's Day. Why is St. Brigid's Day worth recognizing? This is the day that is halfway between the darkest day of the year and the spring equinox. I would like to think we are past the dark days, but I do not think we are. January was a very hard month, and we are looking at a time in our nation when there are many forces of darkness confronting us: forces of disinformation, a breakdown in civil society and a breakdown in our ability to talk to one another. As such, it is essential that Parliament—the people's House, the House of Commons, the House of the common people—is open for us to come and debate. There is so much we need to address at this time. Today marks not just the halfway point to the equinox; today marks 27 years that the people of Neskantaga First Nation have gone without clean water. For 27 years, generations have grown up with contaminated water in a community in Canada. Just over from Neskantaga, at Marten Falls First Nation, the community marks the 111th day that the children of Marten Falls have been unable to go to school because of the chronic underfunding, the poverty and the overcrowding in Marten Falls and Neskantaga. These are the issues that we should be debating. In our society in Canada, indigenous people are expected to live in degrading circumstances. The thing that is fascinating about Neskantaga and Marten Falls is that they are located in a place that many Canadians have heard of, the Ring of Fire. We hear about the great riches of the Ring of Fire. Doug Ford said he was going to drive a bulldozer to the Ring of Fire. The nation of Canada's focus has always been on getting the resources out of the ground, yet we have children who cannot go to school because of chronic underfunding. It was very moving in the slowdown and the crisis with omicron during January to hear parents talk about the mental health of their children; the mental health of children in cities, suburbs and small towns; and how we had to be there for our children. We never heard any national conversation about the mental health of the children in a community like Marten Falls, who are denied a universal human right, the right to quality education. They are being denied that. No, I do not think we are halfway between the darkness and the light. We are still very much in the darkness. I think of January and the thousand people who died from omicron in Ontario alone. It is a thousand people so far. I think of their families. I think of the front-line medical and health teams that struggle on their shifts to try to keep people alive. I think of the people who are facing delayed surgeries because our ICUs are overrun. Today, this morning, in North Bay in northern Ontario, there is a gang of thugs outside the health unit in North Bay threatening people. What kind of nation have we become when the notion of freedom is that someone can go and target vaccine clinics? They bragged this weekend that they were shutting down vaccination clinics in Ottawa. What kind of so-called freedom is it to target doctors, nurses and health workers? I know we are tired. Omicron hit us like a baseball bat. We had all thought we had gotten through it. We thought we got through it while we did not bother to ensure the rest of the world had access to vaccines. Then what came out of the rest of the world was omicron, and we do not know what is coming next. However, what concerns me most is not so much that we are tired or not so much that we are stressed, but this fundamental breakdown as a nation that we have to confront. When I talk to people about the pandemic, I know the vast majority are tired. They are doing their part and going along, but when I see people dancing on and desecrating the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, never in my life as a Canadian could I have imagined that someone would be so ignorant. What concerns me much more is the number of people who came on my Facebook page to say that it never happened, that it is not true, that it is made up. The disinformation about the situation that we are facing is the real crisis in this country. Here in Parliament, we are not talking about how we find our way through a pandemic but about whether or not we can work together as parliamentarians to try and raise our nation up to find a way through this together, yet some may find that it is politically advantageous. There is one very crafty Conservative MP who came up with the term “vaccine vendetta”, but I actually think it is more of a vendetta against his own leader. What has happened in our country when vaccinations, a solution, medical science and our front-line researchers become targets and the Conservatives can talk about vaccination as a vendetta? Of course, they are all wrapping themselves in the Canadian flag, walking around with the flag upside down or walking around with the flag desecrated with the swastika, and everyone I have ever heard from this so-called “Freedom Group” tells me that their great-grandfather, grandfather or uncle fought in the war. Well, welcome to Canada; everybody's relatives fought in the war, but they fought for a freedom that is not an individual right to harass and intimidate. They fought for a collective belief that together as a nation, we are different and we are better. Rather than talk about our veteran grandfathers, I am going to talk about my grandmother, Lola Jane Lindsay MacNeil, from the Ottawa Valley, who worked 12-hour shifts as a nurse. My grandmother was a hard woman with me because she remembered polio, which disappeared just before I was born. I thought my grandmother was raging and angry, but she had been on the wards of the polio children and she understood the importance of vaccinations, so when someone comes on my page and says, “Oh, on the polio vaccine, all they needed was vitamin C”, no, that is false, and we have to call that out. I urge my colleagues from all parties to rise above this disinformation campaign that is out there and the idea that this is somehow a vendetta or that this is somehow cooked up by the Prime Minister to make everybody's life hard. Yes, it is hard. Suck it up. Grow up. It is has been hard for all of us, but it has been really hard for our front-line medical workers, who deserve better than to see a mob trying to harass them at health units today. This brings me back to this principle of so-called liberty and freedom. I welcome the protesters on Parliament Hill. That is why Parliament is here. I love the fact that an open Parliament Hill is a place where people can demonstrate for whatever reason they want. If the City of Ottawa decides that Wellington Street is now going to be part of a permanent demonstration, I do not have a problem with that; I just hope the city will allow it when indigenous protesters come. However, what I do have a problem with is the harassment of small businesses on our residential streets and the harassment of people off Parliament Hill. That is not about freedom; that is about intimidation, and we are better than that as Canadians. We are so much better than that, but it means that in Parliament we have to stand up. In closing, I have been reading Camus again and again. I hear people talk about their right to do this and their right to do that. In The Plague, Camus says that what happens is that there is no more individual destiny; there is only a collective destiny made up of the plague and the emotions shared by us all. Yes, we are frustrated, and yes, we are angry, and yes, omicron has caused massive emotional damage to all of us, but we cannot exploit that. We have to find a way as parliamentarians. I know there are people of goodwill in every part of this chamber who understand that as a nation, as Canada, we have to be that light. We have to say that there is a better way to be. That is the discussion that I am hoping we can have, with respect and support and the love for our people who have suffered so much through this pandemic.

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Mr. Kevin Lamoureux (Parliamentary Secretary to the Leader of the Government in the House of Commons, Lib.)

Feb/1/22 11:00:08 a.m.
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Madam Speaker, I appreciate many of the comments that the member has put on the record with regard to the protest that we have been witnessing over the last number of days. No one questions the value in a democracy of having peaceful demonstrations, but I think this continuing demonstration is having a very strong negative impact on the community of Ottawa, particularly in the downtown area. Could the member provide his thoughts on how this demonstration has affected those who live downtown and call it home or have a small business there, as well as the importance of having streets clear for traffic?

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