44th Parl. 1st Sess.
February 10, 2022 10:00AM
- Feb/10/22 2:46:26 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, in a disturbing development last week, Vladimir Putin and Xi Jinping met and jointly called on NATO to rule out expansion in eastern Europe, denounced the new security formation in the Asia-Pacific region and criticized the AUKUS trilateral security pact, all three fundamental to the rules-based international order.
Given Russia's aggressive posture on Ukraine and Xi's on Taiwan, can the minister advise on what date specific sanctions will be used to combat this new and very troubling alliance?
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- Feb/10/22 2:47:10 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague for this important question, because we both agree that it is extremely important that strong economic sanctions be imposed should there be a further invasion of Ukraine. I want to make sure that the member understands that we are ready to impose these sanctions. Meanwhile, we are working in lockstep with our allies to make sure that we have the maximum impact with, obviously, the United States, the U.K. and also our EU partners.
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Mr. Speaker, many seniors have been struggling as part of the working poor for their whole lives.
Bill C-12 proves that the Liberals made a colossal mistake with the GIS clawback, and still these seniors are being told that they have to wait until May for help to come. We are hearing heartbreaking stories about seniors with only $70 left a month to cover food and medication, and this while the cost of living skyrockets.
Will the Minister of Seniors please explain to seniors who are receiving and living on $2.30 a day why they do not deserve an advanced payment?
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Mr. Speaker, as my colleague very well knows, we have been there to support seniors, particularly those vulnerable seniors, during this pandemic. As announced in the economic and fiscal update, we will be delivering a one-time payment to fully compensate those affected in 2020.
This week, we introduced Bill C-12 to exclude any pandemic benefits for the purposes of calculating GIS going forward. I hope that we can all get behind this bill and quickly pass it to prevent any future reduction in GIS for the low-income, vulnerable seniors who took these benefits. I think we can all get behind this.
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- Feb/10/22 2:49:04 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, over the past two years, Canadians have relied on the news more than ever for updates, health guidance and accurate information, but now members of the media are being targeted by convoys, experiencing harassment and even death threats while they work hard to keep Canadians informed. Meanwhile, the Prime Minister has been practically silent. Yesterday, CTV Edmonton said that it will no longer display logos on its vehicles in order to protect its staff.
What is the government doing to protect members of the media who are so vital to Canadians and to our democracy?
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- Feb/10/22 2:49:44 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, first of all, I want to echo the concerns that were expressed by my colleague. I hope all members will join us in condemning any kind of intimidation, violence or hate expressed towards the media, who play a fundamental role in reporting on current events.
Right now, it is important more than ever to ensure that the Canadian public is informed about the ways in which we are going to get out of this pandemic, which means peacefully, respectfully and by getting vaccinated. I just hope that the Conservatives would finally join us in asking the members of the convoy to go home.
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- Feb/10/22 2:50:28 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, this week is International Development Week. Reducing extreme poverty, advancing gender equality and increasing access to education and health care for the most vulnerable are some of the many global initiatives that Canada has moved forward.
While the COVID-19 pandemic has changed the lives of Canadians in many ways, globally the pandemic has a pressing impact on people elsewhere and hinders the progress of Canadian initiatives abroad. Can the Minister of International Development update the House on what Canada is doing to help other countries in their vaccination campaigns?
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- Feb/10/22 2:51:08 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, on this International Development Week, we must recognize that the COVID-19 pandemic has impacted the most vulnerable and low-income countries. This is why our government committed 200 million vaccine doses, and approximately 100 million doses have already been made available.
Our contributions have supported vaccination campaigns in Rwanda, Bangladesh, Guatemala, Nigeria and many other countries. We will continue to ensure that vaccines and treatments reach the most vulnerable.
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- Feb/10/22 2:51:37 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, the Liberals are on a campaign against farmers. Recently, they have said they may mandate a reduction in nitrogen fertilizer use by 30%, a decision that would inflate food prices, decrease production, break farmers' bottom lines and put tremendous pressure on supply chains.
This proposed mandate is an arbitrary number from a government that is out of touch not only with farmers, but with reality. Will the Liberal government, today, reverse course and scrap this illogical, unscientific and out-of-touch mandate?
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- Feb/10/22 2:52:17 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, the member cannot say that we are not in touch with farmers. I spend my days, weeks and weekends talking to farmers. I can assure the House that farmers are on board. Farmers care for the environment. Farmers care for the land. Farmers care for the water. They are on board with sustainable agriculture because they know this is the right thing to do for them, for the environment and for consumers.
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- Feb/10/22 2:52:55 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, speaking of fertilizer use, last year I asked for the evidence and about the impact on production. It turned out the government's own departments have not even done the research. They just speculated on the potential for optimizing fertilizer use.
Fertilizer Canada has the brutal facts. There would be $10.4 billion in losses in canola, corn and spring wheat alone, and farmers are hit with an ever-rising carbon tax.
From this farmer to that minister, why is the minister stopping crop growth and hurting Canadians who put food on all of our tables?
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- Feb/10/22 2:53:30 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I can assure members that this government is working with farmers for farmers. Farmers know how important it is for them to have sustainable agriculture. They are good stewards of the land. They know they are the first ones to be hit by climate change. They are on board to adopt more sustainable practices. They are on board to get access to better energy-efficient technologies, and we are there to support them.
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- Feb/10/22 2:54:02 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, the labour shortage in the agricultural sector is causing serious harm to farmers and processors.
In my riding, Olymel is short more than 200 employees in its business. More than one million pigs will not be slaughtered in Ontario and Quebec this year. No workers will be available until July.
When will the minister do something tangible to combat the labour shortage and the processing capacity problems?
We need a date.
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- Feb/10/22 2:54:35 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I want to assure my colleague that we are very aware of the importance and impact of the labour shortage we are facing now, especially in the food processing sector.
I assure members that I am working very closely with my colleagues, the Minister of Immigration and the Minister of Employment, to improve our programs for receiving temporary foreign workers.
My continued co-operation with the sector will ensure we will get this done as soon as possible and in the best way possible.
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- Feb/10/22 2:55:06 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, the government is still clawing back COVID benefits from fishermen. The Minister of Fisheries told me that it was not her fault and to talk to the Minister of National Revenue.
The Minister of National Revenue's office said that it was not their problem and to talk to the Minister of Employment. The Minister of Employment's office said that it was not them and to talk to Service Canada. Service Canada said that it was just ROEs there.
The motto in the Liberal cabinet is, “Don't ask me, I just work here.” Will someone in the government, anyone, show some leadership and reverse the decision to claw back COVID benefits from fishermen?
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- Feb/10/22 2:55:54 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I want to remind the member that the fish harvester benefit and grant program was designed and rolled out very quickly because we needed to get support out the door when it was urgently needed. We created a program that could meet these needs head-on.
The terms of the program were clear from the beginning. It was designed for harvesters, especially self-employed commercial fish harvesters, because they were not entitled to CERB.
We promised to be there for the hard-working men and women of our fisheries, and that is precisely what we did.
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- Feb/10/22 2:56:27 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, the federal government must stop cutting the guaranteed income supplement for seniors who collected the Canada emergency response benefit.
It is cruel to cut off money for those seniors who need it the most, those who have to keep working during retirement just to feed and house themselves.
We know that the minister agrees with us about this, but why is she waiting until June to stop these cuts?
We can work with the minister. She knows that she can count on the Bloc Québécois, which is on the side of seniors.
What is stopping her from acting sooner?
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Mr. Speaker, we all agree about just how difficult this pandemic has been for seniors, particularly those most vulnerable. That is why we have actually worked extremely hard to strengthen income security for seniors, including with increases to the GIS.
As my hon. colleague knows, we announced in the fiscal update that we would be delivering a one-time payment to those who received benefits in 2020. We also introduced Bill C-12 to exclude pandemic benefits for the purposes of calculating GIS going forward. I hope we can count on all members of the House to pass this bill extremely quickly.
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- Feb/10/22 2:57:47 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I hear the minister, but it is February and what she is saying will not be done until May and June.
We know that the minister will introduce her bill, and we will support it. However, we want her to stop cutting the guaranteed income supplement, the GIS, for workers and seniors today. We have been waiting eight months for this.
The problem is that she is still forcing these people to go through months of terrible hardship, making them wait until May to be compensated and until June to stop seeing their benefits reduced.
The minister has the full support of the Bloc Québécois to take action, so why does she not take this opportunity to bring in a quick solution?
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Mr. Speaker, our government's priority from the very beginning has been to be there to support those most vulnerable seniors. That is why we worked so hard to strengthen income security for seniors, including with the increase to their GIS.
We moved very quickly to help seniors during the pandemic. We have also introduced, as my hon. colleague knows, Bill C-12, to exclude pandemic benefits for the purposes of calculating GIS going forward, while also making a major investment through a one-time payment to those seniors affected. We are on top of this, and we will always be there for seniors.
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