44th Parl. 1st Sess.
February 10, 2022 10:00AM
- 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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- Feb/10/22 2:59:08 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, Veterans Affairs Canada is set to cut hundreds of disability benefits adjudicators in March. These adjudicators were hired to deal with the massive backlog at Veterans Affairs. I asked the hon. minister what would happen when these people were cut, with respect to the backlog. His answer was that the backlog would increase 50% in just nine months.
Will the minister commit to rescinding this decision, yes or no?
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- Feb/10/22 2:59:48 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, my hon. colleague is fully aware that we invested over $200 million into Veterans Affairs to make sure it was able to hire employees: employees who, in fact, were fired by the previous government. The 2021 budget included an extension of these resources so we could continue to address the backlog. We have seen a significant decrease in the backlog, in fact, by 40%. I can assure my hon. colleague that we will continue to decrease the backlog.
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- Feb/10/22 3:00:25 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, in 2015, the Prime Minister promised to help veterans.
In 2018, he gave the impression that he would do something by hiring hundreds of contract workers to tackle the backlog of thousands of disability claims. These are the claims of the men and women who risked their lives while fighting for our country.
Today, the contracts have expired and he is refusing to commit to renewing the contracts even though there is still a backlog of 34,000 cases.
Will the Prime Minister get serious about tackling the backlog problem and renew the contracts?
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- Feb/10/22 3:00:59 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, it is kind of rich to be getting this kind of question from a party that, when they were in power, fired 1,000 employees, cut funding to Veterans Affairs and slashed budgets. In fact, they hurt veterans and they hurt Veterans Affairs.
I can assure my hon. colleague that we will continue to make sure that we have the investments to continue to decrease the backlog. Our government has made sure our veterans receive the appropriate compensation they should get, and it will continue to.
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- Feb/10/22 3:01:38 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, Epiq Class Action Services Canada, which administers the federal government's $900-million settlement with armed forces members and veterans who experienced sexual misconduct, has released private information about dozens of claimants. These survivors are now carelessly revictimized again at the highest level. This is what unacceptable looks like, and the Privacy Commissioner is now investigating.
What is the minister going to do to correct this and to make sure that it never happens again?
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- Feb/10/22 3:02:33 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, this is a concerning matter. Our government takes privacy seriously and treats this with the utmost seriousness.
Epiq is an independent, court-appointed administrator for the misconduct class action settlement. It has advised DND and CAF officials that the disclosure did not have the details or nature of any claims. DND and CAF are not involved in this disclosure, and class counsel have asked Epiq to ensure it takes meaningful steps to contain and resolve this issue, so it simply does not happen again. Claimants' private information needs to be treated with the utmost care and seriousness.
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- Feb/10/22 3:03:09 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, the transition to a green economy is also an opportunity for our businesses to innovate and ensure Canada's economic prosperity in the economy of tomorrow.
Can the Minister responsible for the Economic Development Agency of Canada for the Regions of Quebec inform the House about new and significant green initiatives for Quebec's small and medium-sized businesses?
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- Feb/10/22 3:03:46 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I would first like to thank my colleague for her leadership in the Pontiac on our economy's green transition.
Our SMEs make a significant contribution to economic growth in addition to being key assets for rebuilding a stronger, more inclusive and sustainable economy. In February, I will be announcing investments of almost $40 million for more than 20 innovative projects in Quebec. These are strategic investments in projects that will reduce the environmental impact and contribute to the economy of tomorrow.
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- Feb/10/22 3:04:20 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I will quote an email to the government sent by the Liberal MP for Thunder Bay—Rainy River at the height of the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan: “I hate to tell you, but everyone on the ground considers our government’s management of this amounts, so far, to a total disaster.”
Afghanistan committee testimony indicates that nothing has changed:
...at this time it is not coming across that Afghanistan is a priority foreign policy issue for Canada. A Canadian moral stance is missing.
Why are the Liberal ministers failing to show leadership and accountability in dealing with this urgent humanitarian aid crisis?
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- Feb/10/22 3:05:05 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, our Canadian Armed Forces did everything we asked of them under extraordinarily difficult circumstances. Canada was part of an air bridge with our allies that saved as many people as we could. Our armed forces worked around the clock to evacuate as many people as possible for as long as conditions permitted, including our former interpreters, local staff and citizens of allied countries. Under the leadership of my colleague, the Minister of Immigration, we are committed to bringing 40,000 Afghan refugees to Canada.
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- Feb/10/22 3:05:40 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, it was not enough for the Liberals when they paid out $9 million in CERB payments to dead people last year. It has now been revealed that they have paid out $12 million in CERB to people abroad. Surely, even the government realizes it is the “C,E,R,B”, not the “oversea-E,R,B”.
Will the minister, to apologize to Canadians for this waste of taxpayers' money, stand and commit to recovering every penny of these wasted funds?
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- Feb/10/22 3:06:19 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, what we will not apologize for, and in fact are extremely proud of, is having helped over eight million Canadians who received the CERB when they needed it most at the beginning of this pandemic. Verifications are ongoing to identify individuals who received the CERB but may not have been eligible, and claimants who are found to have received the benefit improperly will be required to reimburse the payment.
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- Feb/10/22 3:06:45 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, according to official House documents, 1,610 people with addresses outside Canada received CERB. It is called the Canada emergency response benefit, not the international benefit.
Not one person in this government did a single thing to prevent the loss of $11.9 million. This is another scandal.
Is there a vaccine for Liberal incompetence?
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- Feb/10/22 3:07:29 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, we acted quickly and brought in the Canada emergency response benefit when Canadians needed it most.
Although the Canada emergency response benefit is only available to individuals living in Canada, there were some recipients who work in Canada but have a mailing address in another country.
One example would be people working in Canada through the temporary foreign worker program. If an individual in this situation met all of the other criteria for the CERB, they were entitled to it.
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- Feb/10/22 3:08:31 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, we know the Ottawa blockade is not about truckers. Ninety per cent of truckers are vaccinated, and they continue to play a vital role in keeping our economy running. Despite that, for the second week in a row, the residents of Ottawa have been forced to put up with an unacceptable occupation, which is keeping local businesses closed and residents from being able to live their normal lives.
Can the Minister of Public Safety provide an update to the House on the support our government is providing to help get life for the residents of Ontario back to normal?
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