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The Assistant Deputy Speaker (Mrs. Alexandra Mendès)

Feb/9/22 5:55:33 p.m.
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The time has expired. Is the House ready for the question? Some hon. members: Question. The Assistant Deputy Speaker (Mrs. Alexandra Mendès): The question is on the motion. If a member of a recognized party present in the House wishes to request a recorded division or that the motion be adopted on division, I would invite them to rise and indicate it to the Chair. The hon. parliamentary secretary to the government House leader.

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

Feb/9/22 5:56:21 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, we request a recorded vote, please.

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The Assistant Deputy Speaker (Mrs. Alexandra Mendès)

Feb/9/22 5:56:27 p.m.
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Re: Bill C-8

Pursuant to order made on Thursday, November 25, 2021, the division stands deferred until Thursday, February 10, 2022, at the expiry of the time provided for Oral Questions.

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Mr. Kevin Lamoureux

Feb/9/22 5:56:43 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, if you canvass the House, you might find unanimous consent to call it 6:44 p.m. so we can get to the take-note debate.

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The Assistant Deputy Speaker (Mrs. Alexandra Mendès)

Feb/9/22 5:57:02 p.m.
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It is now the late show, to adjourn. Does the hon. member have unanimous consent? Some hon. members: Agreed.

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Mr. Michael Barrett (Leeds—Grenville—Thousand Islands and Rideau Lakes, CPC)

Feb/9/22 5:57:41 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, I was pleased to hear the parliamentary secretary say that he is prepared to take notes on this very important adjournment proceeding. We have heard a lot about the housing affordability crisis in Canada. The cost of everything is ballooning. The cost for Canadians to afford a house is slipping out of their hands. That dream of home ownership is getting further and further away for young Canadians. Thirty-year-olds are living at home or stuck in the cycle of renting and are not able to save up for a down payment, as the price of a home has doubled while the Liberals have been in government. However, it is not just the price of homes that has gone up. We know that the price of feeding our families will go up by an average of $1,000 per family this year. The list of individual items and how much they will cost with this increase is too great to go into, but it includes chicken, beef, dairy, fruits, vegetables, heating our homes and putting fuel in our cars so we can get to work and medical appointments. In rural ridings like mine, people do not have the option of taking public transit, for the most part. We need a government that is committed to making life more affordable for Canadians, one that does not say inflation is a global problem while pointing to how our inflation stacks up against that of other places without doing anything to address the issue here. Telling Canadians that inflation is a global problem does not do anything to address the rising cost of everything for folks across this country. Folks are stuck in that cycle, stuck living in their parents' basement because they are trying to save up money to afford a down payment. The price of the average home went from $435,000 when the Liberals took office to more than $800,000 today. That is over a six-year period. With $400 billion of printed cash pumped into our economy just last year, we know we are in a situation where too many dollars are chasing too few goods, and it is raising the price of everything. I hear the Liberals on the other side heckling, “Why stop now?” Well, I will tell them why. It is because this out-of-control, undisciplined spending is putting us in a situation where the only people who will be able to afford a home are folks from overseas who are parking their cash in our housing market, waiting for homes to inflate in value and then flipping them to the next investor. There are empty homes owned by non-residents sitting vacant as an investment vehicle and Canadians cannot afford to get into our housing market. My question for the parliamentary secretary is very simple. What is the government prepared to do right now to make housing more affordable for Canadians?

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Ms. Soraya Martinez Ferrada (Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Housing and Diversity and Inclusion (Housing), Lib.)

Feb/9/22 6:01:49 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, our government's main objective is to help Canadians deal with the challenges they are currently facing. This means that we are working on putting an end to the pandemic once and for all and doing everything we can to keep life affordable. One way to do that is to make housing more affordable. Every year we have been in office, we have made historic, long-term investments in affordable housing. Our recent throne speech was no exception. Whether it is building more housing every year, increasing the number of affordable housing units, or ending chronic homelessness, the government is committed to working with its partners to deliver concrete results. For example, the housing accelerator fund will help municipalities build more and better housing more quickly. Cities can use the funds to attract more investors and planners, offset land purchases and build the infrastructure required for new housing. This will do much to make housing more affordable for everyone across the country. We recognize that buying a home is especially hard for young people in this country and that the housing market is also creating wealth inequality between the older and younger generations. We want to help. We are bringing in a more flexible first-time homebuyer incentive program, as well as new rent-to-own programs. We are also reducing closing costs for first-time homebuyers. Today, I only had time to talk about the programs we announced recently. However, in the past year alone, we have participated in hundreds of announcements welcoming families to their new homes. This was made possible thanks to the national housing strategy, a $72‑billion, 10-year plan that will give more Canadians a place to call home. I will close by saying that our government is making substantive and long-term investments in housing because we believe that everyone deserves a chance to succeed and thrive, and we are working hard to make that a reality. Everyone deserves a roof over their head.

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Mr. Michael Barrett

Feb/9/22 6:04:32 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, in hearing the name of the great riding of Leeds—Grenville—Thousand Islands and Rideau Lakes, I have to take a moment to recognize the tremendous work of my provincial counterpart, the Hon. Steve Clark, who has served ably as Ontario's minister for municipal affairs and housing. Minister Clark has been a champion for affordable housing in our community of Leeds—Grenville—Thousand Islands and Rideau Lakes and across Ontario. Minister Clark has been part of the call for the Liberal government to come good on the $490 million that is owed to the Province of Ontario for housing and homelessness supports in this province. Strong Conservatives like Minister Steve Clark, and like this Conservative team in this place, will continue to fight to make sure housing is affordable and that Canadians and Ontarians can recognize that dream of home ownership, and they are going to make sure they streamline the process to do that.

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Ms. Soraya Martinez Ferrada

Feb/9/22 6:05:46 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, our government is aware that the cost of living is going up for Canadians. The cost of housing in particular is a major concern. We are committed to building a stronger, healthier housing system that benefits everyone in Canada, especially the most vulnerable. We are already seeing significant progress thanks to the national housing strategy, and we made even more commitments in our throne speech. We are bringing strong leadership, a solid plan and unprecedented investments to the table. I now call on my colleague and all members of the House to do their part. I urge them to go back to their ridings and work with people in their communities to ensure that they take full advantage of all the new programs available under the national housing strategy.

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Mr. Larry Brock (Brantford—Brant, CPC)

Feb/9/22 6:06:42 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, recently I asked the Deputy Prime Minister when the Liberal government would reverse its CPP tax hike. Instead of assuring people that the government is doing something about this, she said that we were all mistaken and that Canada's economy is robustly recovering from the COVID recession. The government is tone deaf. The reality is Canadians are paying an extra $1,000 in grocery expenses and $700 for a CPP tax hike and face a 30-year high inflation rate and record-high gas prices. It is a fact that nearly 200,000 Canadians lost their jobs this past January. That is 200,000 more families now questioning how to pay their bills while the Liberal government continues to praise itself. The Deputy Prime Minister and her colleagues are repeating the same talking points that are designed to frustrate rather than assist hard-working Canadians. I asked my constituents to share their thoughts about the finance minister's response, and here is what a few thought. Kody wrote that he is a single dad who makes $28 an hour. He lives in my riding and has to live with a friend because he cannot afford a one-bedroom apartment at $1,200 a month. He calls on the government to end “Justinflation”. Wayne wants the Minister of Finance to try living as a senior who has to cover the bills and buy groceries at the same time. He says that seniors planned for their old age, but not with all these extra taxes. After watching many repetitive answers from the finance minister and her Liberal colleagues, Patti commented that she thinks she speaks for many taxpayers and voters when she says these Q and A periods are nothing more than poorly done theatre. Most of the time the Liberals respond with off-topic babble. Marie's thoughts are similar. She says that she would actually be surprised if the finance minister answered a question, and if she did, she would buy a lottery ticket. Another constituent, Mike, suggests that the system is broken, as there is never an answer. He asks why we would waste our time asking or even bringing up a question when the Liberals never answer a straightforward question and nothing ever gets done. He also suggests that if ministers tried to live on CPP and old age wages like our Canadian seniors, they would start paying more attention to the problems that people are facing. Amelia shared her concerns and would like to know why the Minister of Finance cannot ever answer a good question from the Conservative Party, and why she diverts to answering with all the wonderful things the Liberals have done or are in the process of doing that have us in the concerning situation we are in now. She continues, saying that high inflation, the housing crisis and buying fossil fuels from corrupt countries that have human rights issues are the top three issues in her opinion. Next would be $10-a-day child care. If our health care and senior citizen care is not in check properly, what makes the Liberals think they can make sure other vulnerable groups, such as children, would be properly cared for? She sees a big mess there as well. I would like to thank Amelia for her thoughtful comments. These are indeed important questions that are constantly ignored by the government. Another great comment I received was from Kevin, who is in favour of dropping the CPP hike. He emphasized that the carbon tax is killing us, adding thousands of dollars per year to every family from the pump to the supply chain, and is raising prices everywhere. I would like to thank all of my constituents who shared their thoughts, concerns and questions with me. Their phone calls, emails and comments help me better advocate for them in the House. Will the government ever listen to Canadians, end the sugarcoating and start answering the tough questions on point?

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

Feb/9/22 6:10:53 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, we know the pandemic continues to affect the daily lives of Canadians, and I am hoping to give some real answers for that member opposite so he can get back to his constituents. Canada's economy has made significant progress since the worst part of the pandemic. We all know that challenges remain. Elevated inflation is one of those challenges. This particular challenge is a global phenomenon driven by the pandemic and the logistical difficulty of reopening the world's economy. Although Canada is not immune to these challenges, inflation in Canada is below the G7, the G20 and the OECD averages. That said, we understand that rising prices have a real impact on Canadian families. This is why our government is helping Canadians afford the cost of living with sizable, structural investments in early learning and child care, as well as in housing. This is part of our plan to grow a more resilient economy, a stronger middle class and to ensure pathways to success for everyone. In fact, our government has been focused on the issue of affordability since forming government in 2015. Our policies have lifted 1.3 million Canadians out of poverty, which lowered Canada's poverty rate to historical all-time lows. I am thrilled that, over the past few months, Conservatives have opened up to talking about affordability for Canadians, but unfortunately, their actions tell a different story. When we lowered taxes for the middle class, twice, and raised them for the wealthiest 1%, Conservatives voted against it. When we created the Canada child benefit, which is indexed to inflation, Conservatives voted against it. When we legislated the climate action incentive, which gives the average family in Alberta $981, Conservatives voted against it. When we provided seniors over 75 a one-time payment of $500 this summer, Conservatives voted against it. The hon. member should let Wayne know about that. When we put forward a plan and the funds to create a national early learning and child care plan for Canadians, Conservatives voted against that too. When we strengthened the Canada pension plan to ensure Canadians can count on a safe, secure and dignified retirement, the Conservatives opposed that plan too. The Canadian pension plan, or CPP, is one of the three pillars of the retirement income system in Canada. It covers virtually all workers in Canada except Quebec, which administers its own plan called the Quebec pension plan, or QPP. The CPP replaces a basic level of of earnings for contributors upon retirement, disability or death. In 2016, Canada's federal and provincial ministers of finance, as joint stewards of the CPP, reached a historic agreement to enhance the pension plan. The deal will boost how much working Canadians will get from the CPP when they reach retirement. Ultimately, the enhancement will increase the maximum retirement pension by about 50%. It will also increase the survivor and disability pensions. This represents a major step forward in improving retirement outcomes for Canadian workers and reducing the uncertainty that many Canadians feel about being able to save for their retirements. Quebec subsequently adopted the exact same changes for its provincial pension plan. To fund these enhanced benefits, annual CPP contributions, and QPP contributions for that matter, are being increased modestly over seven years, which has been happening since 2019. A stronger Canadian pension plan means a more secure retirement for all Canadians, and I am sure the member for Brantford—Brant can appreciate that.

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Mr. Larry Brock

Feb/9/22 6:14:35 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, the cost of living crisis affects all Canadians. Everyone has experienced it when filling up their gas tanks, paying utilities or buying food. A recent Angus Reid Institute poll reported that nearly 60% of Canadians are having a difficult time feeding their families. As I indicated earlier, there is an extra $1,000 more in groceries in 2022 alone, as food prices surge. This is another failure of the Liberal government. Their economic negligence is now clearer than ever. When will the Liberal government stop making statements that favour their ideological agenda and start listening to and providing targeted and timely financial relief to everyday Canadians?

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Mr. Terry Beech

Feb/9/22 6:15:26 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, I think I maybe gave eight examples of targeted relief to targeted Canadians, and that member's party voted against all of them. Canadians make contributions to the CPP based on their annual earnings, up to a maximum amount. The amount in 2022 was $64,900, up from $61,600 in 2021. It is important to note that anyone earning less than $61,600 in 2022 will not see their total contributions to the CPP affected by the change in the maximum annual pensionable earnings. It is important to note that the enhancements to the CPP addresses important challenges faced by working Canadians. It is also important to note that the CPP is self-financed by employer and employee contributions. As such, freezing the contributions will mean the increases would come at a cost to Canadian workers. It would mean reducing future benefits for Canadians who are currently working and, in particularly, younger workers who are working today. I do not think anyone wants that.

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Mr. Frank Caputo (Kamloops—Thompson—Cariboo, CPC)

Feb/9/22 6:16:30 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, it is always a pleasure to rise on behalf of the people of Kamloops—Thompson—Cariboo. Veterans and their families are being left behind by the Liberal government. When they rise in the House on this issue, representatives of the government are quick to state that they have made historic investments and done more than any government has done to invest in veterans. With the greatest of respect, they seem to have convinced themselves that by throwing money at the problem they have dealt with it fully and that, while there is more work to do, most of the issues have been addressed. Unfortunately, I would like to talk about where we are today, not where we were a few years ago and not where we were in 2015. Currently, there is a backlog of 30,000 disability benefit claims on the books at Veterans Canada. The current average wait time for a processed claim is 40 weeks. Unfortunately, the average is skewed because some cases, the simple ones, are solved quickly. If they have complex cases, veterans who were prepared to lay down their lives for this country are waiting as long as two years. They are waiting two years for hearing aids that somebody desperately needs, or waiting two years for funding for physiotherapy related to injuries. This is what the government considers good enough. Let us not forget that it was the Prime Minister who said “veterans are asking for more than we can give”. The government has known about this problem for years. We have had reports from the Veterans Affairs committee, the Parliamentary Budget Officer and the Veterans Ombudsman all giving concrete recommendations on how to fix this. Why has the problem not been solved yet? I simply do not know. Is there a political will to solve this crisis? It has been a constant passing of the buck from one Liberal to the next, not seeing fit to address anything more than the status quo. What worries me most is that the government is going to cut over 300 disability benefit adjudicators in March. These are people who were hired to address the very backlog that prompts me to rise in the House today. In an Order Paper question, I asked the government what would happen to the backlog of claims from April, 2022, to January, 2023, if these cuts happen. These are the numbers the Liberals provided of an estimated backlog. It would be 26,600 on April 1, 2022. On July 1, 2022, that would rise to 29,900. On October 1, 2022, it would rise to 33,200, and on January 1, 2023, it would rise to 36,500. If these cuts happen, the backlog will get worse. The minister knows that and the government knows that, yet they are still failing to act. I have one simple question for the government. Will it commit, here and now, to extending the 300 staff past March, yes or no?

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

Feb/9/22 6:20:30 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, since the member for Kamloops—Thompson—Cariboo asked, in essence, a two-part question, let me offer this two-part response. First, on the matter of case workers, as my colleague puts it, I believe this refers to temporary employees who were hired by Veterans Affairs Canada to form what the department calls spike teams. These teams were created from the 350 additional full-time staff who were hired in 2020 for two years as part of VAC's strategy to address the long-standing issue of processing times for disability benefits decisions. Employees on the spike teams were hired and trained starting in June 2020, and since January of last year they have been making decisions on disability benefit applications, thereby accelerating the process for veterans. Coupled with other changes VAC made to its systems, these new teams helped the department reduce the number of pending applications to its lowest point since September 30, 2019, and reduce the number of applicants over the service standard to its lowest point since March 2019. I can confirm that the department has so far received approval to extend some 168 spike and surge resources beyond March 2022. It is also worth pointing out that, as of April 1, 2022, veterans residing in Canada who apply for disability benefits for a mental health condition as well as those who have already applied will automatically immediately qualify for mental health benefits coverage. VAC is also improving case management supports, which go a long way to helping veterans adjust to and cope with a disability as they transition into post-military life and enter the civilian workforce. Some steps the department has taken include using temporary funding for additional case managers; implementing guiding support that sees Veterans Affairs agents work with veterans who have moderate needs so that case managers can focus on veterans whose cases are more complex; bringing in screening tools to improve VAC's ability to identify veterans' levels of risk, needs and complexities to make sure they are provided supports that match their needs; and finally launching a new case management access tool, which reduces the administrative burden for case managers, allowing them more time to work directly with veterans and their families. Regarding my colleague's second question about the unspent funds, I am surprised to learn the member of Parliament is unfamiliar with demand-driven funding. VAC's benefits are demand-driven, so no matter how many veterans come forward they will receive the benefits. These are based on estimates, and the process guarantees that, whether a veteran comes to VAC this year, next year or beyond, the benefits will be available. Money returned remains accessible the next year to fund veterans programming, based on demand. I would like to also take this opportunity to emphasize, having served for a number of years on the opposition benches and seeing the treatment of veterans by the former Stephen Harper government, I have no problems doing a comparison of what this government has been able to accomplish and the number of resources we put into our veterans, compared to the previous administration. For many years we called for things such as reopening offices, including in my home province of Manitoba, where Brandon VAC offices were shut down.

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Mr. Frank Caputo

Feb/9/22 6:24:24 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, with respect, I do not believe my question had anything to do with unspent funds. I did not ask the hon. parliamentary secretary anything about unspent funds. I asked about backlog numbers. I am not sure why we are getting a prepared answer, when I did not ask that question.

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Mr. Frank Caputo

Feb/9/22 6:25:28 p.m.
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The member may say I asked for it previously. I am talking about right here and right now. It is incumbent on the parliamentary secretary, with respect, to answer the question I actually put forward to the government. I am going to ask very specific questions, and I would invite the hon. parliamentary secretary to deviate from the prepared remarks, because we saw where that got us this time. He spoke of 168 people when it came to surge funding. I am not talking about those 168. We have numbers that will rise if those 168 are kept but the 300 are cut. Will he commit today, on behalf of the government, to maintain those 300—

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Mr. Kevin Lamoureux

Feb/9/22 6:25:28 p.m.
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You asked for it previously.

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The Assistant Deputy Speaker (Mrs. Alexandra Mendès)

Feb/9/22 6:25:28 p.m.
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The hon. parliamentary secretary.

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Mr. Kevin Lamoureux

Feb/9/22 6:25:29 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, the member does not understand that the purpose of the late show is to follow up on a question posed in question period. The minister's response, which I was more than happy to deliver, was to expand upon what the member had originally asked. Someone can come to the late show and say they have a number of questions to ask, but it would be nice to advance them prior to posing the questions. I have no problem providing answers from my perspective at any time. I do not require speaking notes. I can tell the member opposite, as I started to at the very beginning, that Conservatives often have a problem. They have this way of manipulating the numbers in an attempt to make the government look bad. In fact, I would suggest to the member that, if he actually did his homework, what he would find is that this government has invested billions, or hundreds of millions, of dollars in our veterans over the last number of years. We understand—

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