44th Parl. 1st Sess.
May 9, 2022 11:00AM
Madam Speaker, I was saying that, even though the Bloc is in favour of the principle of the bill, many of the measures described in Bill C‑19 could do with being fleshed out.
That is what we will do in committee. My colleague, the member for Joliette, will make sure that every measure in the bill is examined and scrutinized so it can be passed with due diligence. Even though we support the bill in principle, we will still take the time to improve it in committee.
This bill includes several measures we feel are reasonable, emergency measures that, in all sincerity, I think are pretty good. Let us start with the extension of pandemic-related measures. We are in favour of this idea and always have been. Even now, many businesses need economic support to weather the pandemic. I want to make it clear that the Bloc Québécois has always supported targeted assistance.
We want businesses to be supported. As we know, the pandemic disrupted the various sectors of the economy in different ways. While some sectors are coping well, other sectors, such as tourism and hospitality, are still struggling. People have changed their habits and are not going back to the theatre, the movies or restaurants. It is great to be able to help certain sectors that have been especially hard hit by the pandemic.
The second urgent measure is the extension, by five weeks, of employment insurance for seasonal workers. Again, we commend this measure. The third urgent measure is the one‑time immediate payment of $2 billion through the Canada health transfer, in addition to $750 million for public transit.
Let us come back to the extension of pandemic-related financial supports. We are in favour of well targeted assistance. We agree in principle with this measure. I just want to point out that businesses have been approaching us for months. We contacted the government and wrote letters to the minister, but there is nothing in the short term to help the businesses affected by the semiconductor shortage. It is bad.
Businesses are being forced to lay off workers or shut down completely because they are missing an essential component needed for their products to function properly. I am talking about semiconductors. Even though I have asked the question several times in the House, there is still nothing to help these businesses in the short and medium terms. There may be a line or two in the budget about plans to potentially have this technology in Quebec or Canada some day. However, for now, there is nothing tangible; in fact, there is nothing at all for these businesses that are losing employees, losing jobs, losing expertise and even facing the risk of bankruptcy. This is unacceptable at this point in time.
The five-week extension of EI benefits for seasonal workers is all well and good, but I think many of my colleagues would agree that employment insurance needs to be completely overhauled. We would not have needed financial assistance measures during the pandemic if our employment insurance system were working properly. This is still not the case, and it is a real problem. One of my colleagues is working very hard on this issue and has made all kinds of proposals, but we all agree that the EI system is completely broken. The system is designed to ensure that people get the least amount of benefits possible, despite having paid into the system. It is just wrong that the system is managed by the federal government, when it is our money. It is unacceptable that it is so dysfunctional, when we have needed additional financial supports for nearly two and a half years. EI reform is critical, and it must be done now.
Lastly, the third measure that is urgent and warrants discussion today is the immediate one-time payment of $2 billion in Canada health transfers. We have been waiting and asking for this for quite some time now. Our health care system is suffocating. We have the know-how, but we need the money and the Canada health transfers with no strings attached right now.
We obtained $2 billion through the Canada health transfer with Bill C-19. However, that is our money. Why must we always beg for our own money?
Not only that, but it is also tied to $750 million to support public transportation. That is a good thing because public transportation took a big hit during the pandemic. Ridership on most public transit systems is very low. As I mentioned, low ridership is due to the fact that people have changed their habits and are still afraid of the virus, which continues to spread.
We need to upgrade this infrastructure and provide new options. More money is needed to support public transportation. I repeat that this money belongs to us and there should be absolutely no strings attached to it. It is not right that our money has strings attached to it.
We will ensure that the money that will be put to good use by the various provinces and Quebec will not have strings attached.
I will now digress for a moment to talk about the Standing Committee on Public Accounts, on which I have the pleasure of serving.
As we have been examining the public accounts in recent months, we discovered that there was information on how different departments provide funding or make expenditures. We know who they fund, where that funding goes and how much is being given. Departments are subject to certain accounting standards. The average person can see how any amount over $100,000 has been spent, where it was spent and how much was spent.
We recently discovered something that is quite significant. Crown corporations, such as Export Development Canada and the Business Development Bank of Canada, are not subject to these same accounting rules. That means that citizens will not be able to see how their money is being spent, for expenditures over $100,000, by Crown corporations, because these corporations are subject to IFRS. IFRS are internationally recognized standards, but they are used by the private sector and should not apply to the government. The public must have the information they need to see how expenditures over $100,000 are spent, who received the money, in what province and what it was used for.
Between 20% and 30% of all government spending goes through Crown corporations. That means it is impossible to know how much money is being handed over. However, we hear a lot about equalization. In the case of equalization, it is easier to have an approximate idea of how much is given and how much is received. There is a lot of emphasis on that, yet we do not know how much we receive in total in terms of government spending because the Crown corporations make it impossible know how much each province in Canada receives, which is unacceptable.
Until we know how much we are receiving, we demand that the transfers, our money, be given to us without conditions.
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- May/9/22 1:47:49 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I rise to address the question of privilege that was raised by the member for Barrie—Innisfil earlier today. I want to take this opportunity to apologize sincerely and unreservedly to all members of Parliament for the unfortunate event that transpired last Friday. I ask the House and its members to forgive me for my lapse in judgment. I take this matter extremely seriously and I promise never to repeat this ever again.
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- May/9/22 1:48:28 p.m.
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I thank the member for his intervention.
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Mr. Speaker, one thing that is really important to recognize is that when we talk about the budget implementation bill, it is part of the bigger picture of the national budget, a budget that delivers, in many ways, for Canadians from coast to coast to coast.
One issue is dealing with child care. We can take the example of what has taken place in the province of Quebec. Quebec has clearly demonstrated how successful a national child care plan could be, because of the success of the child care plan in the province of Quebec.
I wonder if my colleague could provide her thoughts on the benefits of having a $10-a-day child care program for all provinces, in particular for parents from a perspective of affordability, but also for the economy in terms of the possible engagement of literally thousands of future workers.
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Mr. Speaker, I thank my hon. colleague for his excellent question, which allows me to mention that, unfortunately, there are not enough child care spaces.
This system is fundamental. It was introduced by the Parti Québécois, which is a sovereignist party. Everyone knows that all the positive measures in Quebec are driven by sovereignist parties.
Not only are there not enough child care spaces, but it is a provincial system. The federal government should not interfere. We are tired of seeing the federal government interfere in everything that falls under provincial jurisdiction, particularly in Quebec.
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Mr. Speaker, I would like my friend to speak a little more about the theme of paternalism that we saw in this budget. The Prime Minister seems to be adding strings attached with funding that is supposed to be going to provinces for what is within provincial jurisdiction. I have said in this House before that we could sometimes mistake the Prime Minister for wanting to become a premier instead of a prime minister, given all the meddling in provincial jurisdiction that he has been doing over the last number of years.
I would like the hon. member to comment on that.
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Mr. Speaker, I always enjoy conversing with my hon. colleague. His question really ties in to my previous answer.
The federal government always has to impose conditions, even for a system Quebec already has. It is extremely paternalistic, as the member just said. When we want our money back for what we consider to be our needs, the federal government imposes conditions.
The federal government should not be constantly meddling in what the provinces decide to do. Provinces have the right to make their own decisions about certain programs and where their money should be spent. Provinces are different, and their priorities are different.
Why not give the provinces, especially Quebec, a little more decision-making power? As we all know, Quebec is another country and one of the two solitudes.
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Mr. Speaker, I am deeply grateful to my colleague for her excellent speech. I have a question for her as an economics expert.
Last year, the president of CMHC told the Standing Committee on Finance that the way to deal with the crisis is to increase supply.
We know the budget contains plenty of housing measures, such as the tax-free first home savings account. These measures will actually boost demand, and many economists say this is counterproductive. What are my colleague's thoughts on that?
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Mr. Speaker, the overheated housing market does differ from one city to the next. We can all agree that Vancouver, Toronto, Montreal and the regions of Quebec do not all have the same problems.
Using a single pan-Canadian measure to address all of the country's challenges is therefore a bad idea. Additionally, the housing problem is caused by a lack of supply, since the occupancy rate is very high. Providing support measures to a segment of the population that is already able to save for a home, which is what the proposed TFSA does, will ultimately stimulate even more demand. It is counterproductive.
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Mr. Speaker, I am so pleased to rise to speak to this issue and to Bill C-19. There is a lot to discuss, of course, and we have already talked about some of it.
It is really too bad that our debate time has been cut short, as we saw earlier. To say that we deplore it would be a massive understatement. The Liberals across the aisle do not like to debate. We saw this during the election campaign. Important bills were scheduled to be voted on, but the Liberals called an election and wiped the slate clean, killing bills like the one on the Official Languages Act. This means we have to start over on a number of important bills. They also prorogued the House two years ago. Now we have this important, mammoth bill before us, which does not even contain all the measures in the budget. Only some of them are included.
However, I am going to focus on the part that interests and concerns me the most. I think everyone in the House knows that I have risen here about a billion times to talk about the housing crisis.
In fact, there are four major crises in Canada at this time. We spoke about the language crisis earlier. My colleague from Salaberry—Suroît introduced a bill on that issue. It is an important issue for my colleague from La Pointe-de-l'Île, who is a staunch advocate for the French language in Quebec, as I and all members of the Bloc Québécois are. There is a major language crisis in Canada. The federal government does not want to acknowledge that French and English do not have equal status. That is a major problem.
Obviously, there is the health crisis, from which we are emerging. We are pleased and we are hopeful. Once again, the repercussions of the health crisis will be difficult to deal with. There are major problems in the area of mental health. Once again, even though it says it sent money during the crisis and one-time transfers to help the health care system in Quebec and across the country, the federal government is rejecting all the provinces' ongoing request to increase health transfers from 22% to 35%. This could help them deal with the next crisis. We are talking with organizations across the province, and another crisis is looming, the mental health crisis. It will be costly, and the federal government needs to get it through its head that this is a provincial jurisdiction. It is not up to the federal government to establish standards. It just has to sign the cheques. The provinces run the hospitals, pay the doctors and manage the system, and they need money because they know what they require. However, the money is in Ottawa.
The climate crisis is another crisis, and it is connected to the housing crisis, which is the main topic I want to talk about today and one of the topics I talk most often about in the House. The government has taken some small steps to address the housing crisis, as it has for the climate crisis. A year ago, in the span of about a month, the government increased its targets, which were around 30% before the latest budget. With its latest budget, the government wondered why it should stop there. Since the government was not going to meet this target anyway, it might as well increase it to 36%. The government increased the target to 36% but still had no way to reach it. The government did not know how it would meet its targets, but at 36%, it was not afraid of anything. On Earth Day, the government increased the targets to between 40% and 45%, still without backing them up with any measures. There are still no details about how we will reach those targets. The Liberals are not afraid of anything, so they are throwing out percentages and hoping to meet them. In the meantime, along came the Bay du Nord project, which will extract one billion barrels over 30 years. I remind members that Canada has never met a single one of its greenhouse gas reduction targets. Now, the government expects to reach a 40% to 45% target, but that is nonsense.
This brings me to the topic I wanted to talk about: housing.
On housing, the government is taking the same kind of gamble. In other words, it is offering up figures, any figures, and then crossing its fingers, closing its eyes, bracing itself and hoping everything works out. That is how the federal government is acting.
The budget says that Canada needs 3.5 million housing units to address the current crisis. We are not entirely sure how the Liberals came up with that number.
In a study published a few months ago, Scotiabank said that we would need 1.7 million housing units. I think the bank was talking about current needs, but the budget is talking about the government's projected needs to 2031 based on higher expected immigration numbers for the coming years. The government added 1.7 million housing units to the 200,000 to 300,000 people who would arrive each year and somehow came up with 3.5 million housing units, which is a significant target.
The budget actually contains an admission of failure, since it recognizes that Canada needs 3.5 million housing units in order to solve the crisis, but it does not say how the government is going to get there, just like the climate change targets. There are a few programs, figures and dollar amounts for dealing with the crisis.
The example of the rapid housing initiative is already a major problem and a scandal. The municipalities are creations of the provinces. When the federal government says again that it is going to send money directly to Matane, Rimouski, Quebec City, Longueuil or Valleyfield, it is bypassing Quebec.
At some point, the federal government is going to have to come to an agreement with Quebec on this. The last time it tried to negotiate with Quebec, it took three years, during which money was spent in Toronto, Vancouver, and Winnipeg, but nothing in Quebec—
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- May/9/22 2:00:12 p.m.
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I am sorry to have to interrupt the member, but we have to proceed to Statements by Members. He will have three minutes and twenty-five seconds remaining when debate resumes after question period.
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- May/9/22 2:00:41 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, for the past few years, the University of Calgary has been collaborating with the Sikh sangat in the city to raise money for a Sikh Studies program. Many of the residents from my riding of Calgary Skyview have contributed to this initiative. The Sikh Studies program consists of an instructorship in Sikh studies, additional courses, a post-doctoral research fellowship, a Sikh Studies community advisory group and a library fund for Sikh literature.
The university and stakeholders are still collecting donations for the program's endowment. I thank the Sikh sangat, which has and will donate. I want to thank the gurdwaras, including the Dashmesh Culture Centre, the Sikh Society of Calgary, Guru Ram Das Darbar and Darbar Sri Guru Granth Sahib Ji for their leadership. I thank the University of Calgary for providing a home to Canada's first Sikh Studies program, and finally, I give special thanks to the MP for Surrey—Newton for joining me to raise money for the program.
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- May/9/22 2:01:45 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, earlier this month, residents at Kawartha Lakes felt the loss of two prominent historians and authors.
Bev Ewen grew up working at his family's convenience store in Kirkfield, delivering milk to try to get himself through university to complete his teaching degree. After retiring from the Durham District School Board, Bev volunteered with the Kirkfield and District Historical Society, acting as the editor and publisher of its regular newsletter, as well as managing the society’s website and other newsletters. Bev was a regular speaker at local events and will be remembered by generations of children as Santa Claus at the Kirkfield Museum's Christmas concert each year.
In an interesting parallel, Dr. Rae Fleming also grew up in a general store, in Argyle. In fact, after completing his Ph.D. in Canadian history, Dr. Fleming went on to write many books, including one entitled General Stores of Canada.
Throughout his career, Dr. Fleming was a lecturer at various universities and was a research associate at Trent University’s Frost Centre for Canadian Studies and Indigenous Studies.
Both men were pillars in the community and will be greatly missed by many.
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- May/9/22 2:02:53 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I rise today to celebrate a now-iconic Canadian from my riding of Halifax West: Mattea Roach. Mattea first appeared on Jeopardy! back on April 5 and, for more than a month, she dazzled viewers with her knowledge about everything from Belgian kings to Nova Scotian duck tolling retrievers. Through her 23 winning performances, she became the first Canadian Jeopardy! super champion, but what shone through most about Mattea was her warmth and kindness. She is a role model for women, youth, members of the LGBTQ community and, indeed, everyone who knows the value of knowledge, no matter how obscure it may be.
I know my community, and all Canadians, will be cheering her on in the Tournament of Champions in November, and none as loudly as her proud parents Patti and Phil.
Join me in congratulating Mattea and wishing her success in her Jeopardy! journey and in law school.
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- May/9/22 2:04:04 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I am pleased today to commend Michel Désy for the 35 years he has devoted to the farm union movement.
This farmer in Berthier has been involved with the Fédération de l'Union des producteurs agricoles since 1984 and the Producteurs de bovins de Lanaudière since 1986. He has held various roles, such as administrator, vice-president of UPA Lanaudière and president of UPA Autray.
Among his numerous other accomplishments, he was part of the steering committee for Autray RCM's development plan for an agricultural zone. Charity work is also important to him, and he has served as grand knight of the Berthier Knights of Columbus.
His colleagues and I all tip our hats to him for the work he has accomplished. I wish him all the best in his retirement and thank him for his contribution and passion.
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- May/9/22 2:05:09 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, on the occasion of Mother's Day, I want to wish all the best to all women.
In particular, I want to acknowledge the resilience of seniors in Bourassa, who are paying a heavy price because of the COVID‑19 pandemic. Health-wise, seniors are suffering the most due to isolation from their loved ones.
I am pleased to say that my team and I held Mother's Day celebrations in person for the first time. I would like to take this opportunity to thank the organizers and the members of the seniors' clubs and seniors' residences, as well as the organizations working in my riding to bring our seniors out of isolation and contribute to their well-being.
I thank them, and I want to send Mother's Day wishes to the mothers in the diverse communities that shape our beautiful country.
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- May/9/22 2:06:10 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, Mother's Day is a day to be celebrated. I spent this last weekend in gratitude for, and celebration of, the women in my life. I am blessed to have my incredible grandmother, Audrey, with us. She has always been a pillar of strength for my family. My wonderful mother Heather and my wife Allyson make sure our children know they are always loved and supported unconditionally.
Mother's Day is a celebration, but for some it often comes with mixed emotions, including grief from a mother passing, from a relationship being estranged, from infertility and longing for the opportunity to be a mom, or from the heaviness of losing a child of one's own. I think the hardest job in the world is mothering a child one can no longer hold.
I want to thank all the moms for everything they do. I want them to know that if grief or mixed feelings accompanied them this Mother's Day, they are not alone and we see them. Let us celebrate these amazing women this whole week and this whole year, and let them truly know that they deserve more than just one day.
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- May/9/22 2:07:22 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, Asian Heritage Month is an opportunity to recognize the contributions Canadians of Asian heritage have made and continue to make to the social, economic, political and cultural heritage of Canada.
I organized Asian Heritage Month celebrations on Parliament Hill yesterday, with about 500 people attending and performances from 10 diaspora groups. I would like to thank the volunteer team, led by my friend Karunakar Reddy Papala, fondly known as KK. The team included Bangladeshi-Canadian Shah Bahauddin, Cambodian-Canadian Vuthy Lay, Chinese-Canadian Alex He, Iranian-Canadian Alma Rahmani, Pakistani-Canadian Dr. Syed Aziz, Sri Lankan-Canadian Anura Ferdinand, Taiwanese-Canadian Tony Fan, Tamil-Canadian Sivaruban Sivalingam, Vietnamese-Canadian Can Le and also, Jessie Xue, Monica Gupta, Puneet Aggarwal, Reaz Zaman and Subir Paul Chowdhury.
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- May/9/22 2:08:33 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, at the age of five, my daughter signed up to play hockey. She was able to do that because of the leadership of great Canadian athlete Abby Hoffman.
In 1956, when she was nine years old, Abby Hoffman wanted to play hockey. She cut her hair short, registered as “Ab Hoffman” and excelled. When it was discovered that she was a girl, her hockey career ended. Later, Abby discovered her love for running. She represented Canada at the Olympics and Pan American Games and won medals for Canada as a runner, but to do that she also, once again, had to break through barriers. She actually opened up Hart House, which was only open to men until that time, to women so that they could run and play sports as well.
She continues to fight to this day for women in sports. Next week, she is going to be inducted into the Ontario Sports Hall of Fame. I thank Abby for her leadership and congratulate her, from all Canadian girls. I wish her a happy Canadian Jewish Heritage Month. She is a big part of our wonderful heritage.
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- May/9/22 2:09:42 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, on June 4, we will celebrate National Range Day. There are over 2.3 million licensed firearms owners in Canada. We enjoy our property, our culture and our passion safely without issue. That deserves to celebrated.
National Range Day is an opportunity for all Canadians to learn and participate in any of the hundreds of events happening in almost every community across the country. Sport shooters, collectors, recreational shooters and hunters alike will host the country by opening their doors and their communities to all Canadians. People can find an event near them at nationalrangeday.ca.
As co-chair of the Parliamentary Outdoor Caucus, I am proud to support the millions of Canadians who responsibly, legally and safely own and use firearms. I hope more will get to know the positives of Canada's firearms culture, and I am excited for more Canadians to get to know the sport. Let us remember that this June 4 is National Range Day. I hope to see people there.
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