44th Parl. 1st Sess.
February 11, 2022 10:00AM
- Feb/11/22 11:45:09 a.m.
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Madam Speaker, Canada's economy needs to improve productivity, and for that we need to grow our workforce, with more highly skilled immigrants and more people with the skills, training and knowledge that employers require. However, here is the problem. People cannot afford to live in some of our economic-generating cities because of out-of-control housing inflation.
When will the government take concrete steps to curb inflation, increase the housing supply and get Canada back into a leadership position in the G7?
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- Feb/11/22 11:45:51 a.m.
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Madam Speaker, I thank the hon. member for his enthusiasm for immigration as a strategy to grow the economy. I look forward to tabling my plan with immigration levels for the next few years in Canada sometime next week.
He is right. We need to manage immigration in an appropriate way so the workers who come here to fill gaps in the labour force to maximize our economic potential have a place to live. With record labour shortages, despite the fact we have more jobs in Canada now than before the pandemic, immigration is going to be an important part of Canada's growth strategy. I look forward to working with our Minister of Housing to ensure the national housing strategy makes housing more affordable for Canadians, including those who come to Canada.
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- Feb/11/22 11:46:25 a.m.
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Madam Speaker, last year B.C. commercial, recreational and indigenous fishers caught fewer fish in order to protect our salmon populations. They made big sacrifices that impacted their livelihoods to contribute to conservation efforts. However, a recent report confirmed that Alaskan commercial fishers caught an estimated 800,000 sockeye salmon bound for B.C.
Will the minister work with her U.S. counterparts to the Pacific Salmon Treaty, help Canadian fishers and allow stocks to recover?
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- Feb/11/22 11:47:14 a.m.
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Madam Speaker, this is obviously a very important topic to the Pacific coast and for all of Canada. We are going to continue to work with our partners to do deep dives to determine how we can best help this industry. We will continue doing that, as we always have, with our stakeholders in a collaborative and coordinated fashion.
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- Feb/11/22 11:47:27 a.m.
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Madam Speaker, hundreds of fish harvesters on B.C.'s coast applied for employment insurance based on the eligibility criteria on the department's website. After they applied, the department changed the criteria on its website and now is rejecting their applications. These fish harvesters have borne the brunt of recent fisheries closures. After years with little or no income, many are just barely hanging on. Either the government failed to communicate the eligibility criteria or it changed the goalpost at the last minute.
Could the minister please inform the House which it is?
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- Feb/11/22 11:48:05 a.m.
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Madam Speaker, as on the east coast, where I am from, we understand the importance of helping our fishers through this troubled time. We were there during the pandemic, and we will continue to be there after the pandemic to ensure that people have the ability to stay afloat and stay on a good course. We will continue to work every step of the way with fishers to make sure we are there 100%.
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- Feb/11/22 11:48:41 a.m.
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Madam Speaker, this week we saw the Canadian Environmental Protection Act introduced in the Senate. CEPA is the cornerstone of federal environmental protection legislation in Canada, which aims to protect Canadians and the environment.
Can the Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Environment and Climate Change inform the House on how this bill will further protect our environment?
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- Feb/11/22 11:49:21 a.m.
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Madam Speaker, I would like to thank the member for Surrey Centre for his environmental advocacy.
Bill S-5 would modernize the Canadian Environmental Protection Act for the first time in 20 years and has support from both industry and environmental organizations. CEPA will recognize, for the first time, that every individual in Canada has a right to a healthy environment. This legal right will lead to stronger environmental protections in tune with evolving science, especially for vulnerable communities exposed to harmful levels of pollution.
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- Feb/11/22 11:49:44 a.m.
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Madam Speaker, in 2006, the CRTC shamelessly said no to the Canadian Association for Suicide Prevention's request to bring a simple three-digit suicide hotline to Canada. It has been 427 days since my motion to bring 988 to Canada passed unanimously in the House. In that time, 4,600 Canadians lost their lives to suicide and over 117,000 Canadians attempted suicide.
What is the Liberals' plan if the CRTC heartlessly says no again?
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- Feb/11/22 11:50:30 a.m.
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Madam Speaker, our hearts go out to all the families and loved ones of those we have lost to suicide and to those who struggle with suicidal thoughts.
It is essential for Canadians to have timely access to suicide prevention, and in addition to working to fully fund a national three-digit mental health crisis and suicide prevention hotline, we are developing a pan-Canadian suicide prevention service. This initiative will provide access to crisis support whenever Canadians need it, and using the technology of their choice, it avoids—
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- Feb/11/22 11:50:59 a.m.
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The hon. member for North Okanagan—Shuswap.
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- Feb/11/22 11:51:05 a.m.
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Madam Speaker, at the fisheries committee, officials from the Department of Fisheries and Oceans and the Canadian Food Inspection Agency could not identify who in government is responsible for ensuring imported seafood is not caught illegally or by using exploited workers. Illegal harvesting and the use of exploited workers are despicable. The government needs to get serious about stopping these activities.
Why is the government not able to identify who is responsible for ensuring that fish and seafood imported to Canada is not caught illegally and is free of exploited labour?
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- Feb/11/22 11:51:48 a.m.
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Madam Speaker, I thank my hon. friend, who I sit with on the fisheries committee.
First and foremost, in terms of focusing on where our product comes from, how it gets there and how healthy it is, the government believes in a couple of things. It believes in science, it believes in process and it believes in getting things right. Over the past six years, we have been doing that. There is room for improvement and we recognize that. That is why we embrace a study on seafood labelling, and that is why we focused on it in the last—
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- Feb/11/22 11:52:27 a.m.
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The hon. member for Chatham-Kent—Leamington.
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- Feb/11/22 11:52:31 a.m.
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Madam Speaker, Canadians are calling for leadership in moving from pandemic to endemic and managing the country as it learns to live with COVID. In another example of poor management, public health policy is now set against immigration legislation. As of February 28, some guest workers who legally came to work in our country will have their working permits expire and they will not be allowed to leave. This creates the situation for illegal immigration, as individuals may enter Canada unvaccinated and now know they can stay.
To the minister, is this intentional?
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- Feb/11/22 11:53:19 a.m.
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Madam Speaker, it is essential when it comes to Canada's immigration system that we have a rules-based process to protect the integrity of the system and to ensure that those who are coming to Canada meet the requirements of admissibility to Canada. It is also essential that we work with the Minister of Health and the Public Health Agency of Canada to put in place protections that will protect our communities and our residents against the spread of COVID-19.
I look forward to continuing my work with the Minister of Health and any member of the House who has questions about the integrity of our immigration process and the need to protect Canadians, including through ensuring adequate coverage of vaccination right across the country.
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- Feb/11/22 11:54:06 a.m.
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Madam Speaker, $1.7 million is not the price of a house in Hollywood Hills, California. That is the average home price in the town of Caledon in my riding. It is up 35% in one year. The government will say it is spending all kinds of money doing this and doing that. I have a message from my constituents: It is not working.
When will the government realize that what it is doing is having no effect? It is an absolute disaster. When will it do something to help Canadians afford a home?
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- Feb/11/22 11:54:39 a.m.
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Madam Speaker, I thank my colleague for his question.
Once again, it is hard to take the Conservative Party seriously when, last week, it again voted against one of the measures we put forward to give all Canadians access to housing.
The budget for the national housing strategy is $72 billion over 10 years. That is the biggest investment the government has made in years.
I would invite my colleague to contribute to all the measures we will be putting forward, including the first-time homebuyer incentive—
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- Feb/11/22 11:55:15 a.m.
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The hon. member for Abitibi—Témiscamingue.
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- Feb/11/22 11:55:19 a.m.
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Madam Speaker, people are bitter about this winter's lockdowns, and I am not talking about the truckers. I am talking about the people who are following the rules and were proud to make sacrifices to protect the most vulnerable.
This winter, we feel like we are paying the price for decades of federal underfunding in the health care system. The chronic underfunding in health is almost as much to blame as the virus for causing the system to break down during the pandemic.
Will the government finally take action and increase health transfers to cover up to 35% of costs?
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