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Mr. Tim Louis (Kitchener—Conestoga, Lib.)

May/9/22 6:22:12 p.m.
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Re: Bill C-19

Madam Speaker, I sit on the agriculture committee, and all parties work together. We are doing a lot of the things that the member actually said that we were not. I would hope that he would speak to his colleagues, and he is always invited to come and speak to us. We have programs such as the natural climate solutions fund, the nature smart climate solutions fund, the agricultural climate solutions program, the on-farm climate action fund and the agricultural clean technology program. Can the member opposite comment on some of those programs, and add to that his opinion?

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Mr. Dan Mazier

May/9/22 6:22:51 p.m.
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Re: Bill C-19

Madam Speaker, the problem with all of these programs and all of these things is that they are all based off of the carbon tax, which is a foundational problem for all of us in rural Canada. It is disproportionately applied. As I said in my speech, it is increasing costs by up to $12 an acre for farmers. This Liberal government's approach to this is just basically not acceptable.

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Mr. Alexandre Boulerice (Rosemont—La Petite-Patrie, NDP)

May/9/22 6:23:27 p.m.
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Re: Bill C-19

Madam Speaker, there are a lot of problems with the budget, but it also contains measures designed to help people. Thanks to the agreement that the NDP negotiated with the Liberal minority government, we are going to be able to give the poor and the middle class access to dental care. Does my colleague not think that it is a positive development for the people in his riding, including children, youth and seniors, to have the opportunity to go to the dentist?

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Mr. Dan Mazier

May/9/22 6:23:55 p.m.
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Re: Bill C-19

Madam Speaker, it is a matter of priorities. As a farmer, if I were in eastern Canada, knowing that my government has put a 35% tariff on the fertilizer I need to buy to put in this crop, I would be absolutely horrified and so frustrated. There is no one in the House, except the Conservatives, standing up for farmers across this country.

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Ms. Elizabeth May (Saanich—Gulf Islands, GP)

May/9/22 6:24:33 p.m.
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Re: Bill C-19

Madam Speaker, I could not agree with my hon. colleague more about the importance of focusing more on agriculture. It is important, as farmers are definitely in a position to take a lot of leadership in changing agricultural practices, not only for soil conservation and carbon sequestration in soils, but also for local food security. We learned a lot during COVID about the importance of supply chains and being able to be food secure within Canada. I would like more of the member's comments on that question.

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Mr. Dan Mazier

May/9/22 6:25:09 p.m.
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Re: Bill C-19

Madam Speaker, the main concern is the total lack of focus or even mention of this in the budget. That should be very concerning for us. We are in a very pivotal time in our country and in the world. Countries are at war, and 25% of our food supply is in jeopardy. The government is doing absolutely nothing, and I find that just terrible.

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Ms. Raquel Dancho (Kildonan—St. Paul, CPC)

May/9/22 6:25:38 p.m.
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Re: Bill C-19

Madam Speaker, the hon. member outlined that the Liberal government is going to be forcing farmers to reduce their fertilizer use. In light of his comments, 100 million people may starve to death this fall because of the impacts on agriculture in Ukraine. Now we are hearing from the Liberal government that it is going to force us to reduce our fertilizer use, but we know farmers do not use more fertilizer than they need. The reason they use fertilizer is to increase the food that they create per acre. If the member could comment on the importance of fertilizer, how it helps Canada feed the world and how detrimental this policy would be to those around the world who depend on Canadian food, I would greatly appreciate it.

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Mr. Dan Mazier

May/9/22 6:26:22 p.m.
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Re: Bill C-19

Madam Speaker, I would like to thank the member for the great work she does in her riding. Fertilizer is the game-changer for modern-day agriculture. If we did not have nitrogen fertilizer, we would not be feeding the people we are right now on the landscape. If the Canadian government, especially the Liberal government, decides to take that tool away from us, it will have detrimental impacts on not only this year's crop, but also future crops to come.

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Mr. Mike Morrice (Kitchener Centre, GP)

May/9/22 6:26:59 p.m.
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Re: Bill C-19

Madam Speaker, I appreciate the chance to share some reflections with respect to the budget and the implementation act, Bill C-19. I want to start by talking about housing. In my view, the extent to which all levels of government work together to address the skyrocketing cost of housing will define my community over the coming years. I am sure this is true for the communities of many other members in this place as well. Last year, as I have shared before, there was a 35% increase in the cost of housing in Kitchener. What does that mean? It means we have seen, by the last point-in-time count, a tripling in the number of folks who are living unsheltered. We are seeing encampments continue to grow, where folks are resorting to living in tents. We are seeing students who are unable to move out of their parents' homes and unable to afford rent, as well as seniors on fixed incomes whose anxiety continues to rise as they see their rent rising too. I often think of the health care workers I met this past summer, who shared with me that they were planning on leaving and heading further west because they, too, could not afford the soaring cost of rent. As I have done here before, I want to start by sharing what I appreciate about what is in the budget, and that is some early signs that the federal government may be finally beginning to take some meaningful action when it comes to addressing the cost of housing. A specific example is that there is significant investment in this budget with respect to co-op housing. Back in the eighties, in 1982, there were 6,500 units built that year alone of deeply affordable, dignified co-op housing. I have personally had the experience of living in co-op housing. I can attest to how important co-ops are and ensuring that units remain affordable in perpetuity. In this budget, there is a commitment to build 6,000 units. Now, that is not in one year but over several years, but it is significantly more than the 477 that were built in 2020. It is a $1.5-billion investment. Those are the kinds of investments I would like to see more of. There is also a commitment to reinvest more funding in the rapid housing initiative, a program that has been oversubscribed. What does that mean? It means that great organizations like Indwell, which is looking to repurpose faith communities to build affordable housing, have not been able to get funds in the past. My hope is that, with a renewed commitment to the rapid housing initiative funding, which has $1.5 billion allocated to it, more organizations like Indwell will be successful in securing funds to build more affordable units. There is also a commitment to end the blind bidding process, which we know would only allow for more information to be shared that could also address the crisis we are in. I want to mention two items that were in the budget but are not in Bill C-19. One is removing the preferential tax treatment currently given to house flippers. I hope the government will ensure that this is in future legislation. It was committed to in the budget, as well as the housing bill of rights. It would ensure the requirement of a home inspection, which is one of the things that would help address the overheated market. Of course, we do need more investments from both the federal and the provincial governments in non-market housing and other ways to reduce the commodification of housing. There are several items I remain deeply concerned about. I will start with climate, because no doubt we need to be honest. If we want even a 50% chance of keeping global average temperature increases below 1.5°C, which is what is required for a livable planet, and we do our fair share of the global carbon budget, it means 86% of our known fossil fuel reserves in this country need to remain unextracted. To do so means that we will need to invest in workers, in their upskilling and retraining, to ensure they have access to the economy of the future. There are organizations like Iron & Earth, a worker-led not-for-profit that has been calling for $10 billion to go to workers for a prosperous transition, to ensure they have access to the support they need. Instead, what is in the budget is $7.2 billion directed toward carbon capture and storage, a new fossil fuel subsidy, at a time when we are being told these would be phased out. That is exactly what we need to be doing. We need to be phasing out these subsidies and prioritizing those funds to workers and to proven climate solutions. When it comes to health care, this pandemic has exacerbated existing gaps, so I want to pause to reflect on a few other significant gaps that I would encourage the governing party to move forward on. The first is with respect to mental health. Many parliamentarians will say the words “mental health is health”, and I am glad that more folks are saying those words, but we need to treat it that way. Mental health advocates across the country have been calling for a new Canada mental health transfer to provinces. While the budget mentions an intention to engage in this, the only commitment is to a wellness portal. While I am sure this is a worthy investment, we need to be mindful of the significant dollars that are required from the federal government to move toward parity in mental health funding so that it is true that mental health is health and we can eliminate the wait times we see across the country, and certainly in Waterloo-Wellington. I am hearing that this remains the case in our community as well. When it comes to long-term care, I had the chance to ask the Prime Minister directly last week about the safe long-term care act, which has been talked about in the supply and confidence agreement between the Liberals and the NDP, and when there will be plans to introduce that act. There is no mention of that in Bill C-19 or in the budget. In fact, the only mention of long-term care in the budget was the money that was allocated in 2021. Just a few days ago, I was speaking with a woman who was reflecting about her mom, who is waiting for a bed in long-term care. With tears in her eyes, she shared that she did not know whether her mom would make it out of hospital and into long-term care. I think of the personal support workers I have spoken with, who have shared that they do not get to give four hours of care. They are lucky if they do four minutes of care a day. We know there is more that the federal government can and should be doing to put standards in place when it comes to investing in long-term care. I would encourage the governing party to prioritize doing so. Last, I will pause to reflect on following through with promises made to Canadians with disabilities. It is actually one of the areas that I have been encouraged by in my time in this place. We now have 100 MPs from all parties, including four colleagues in the Waterloo region, who have all said that it is time to follow through. We know that Canadians with disabilities are disproportionately living in poverty across the country. About 40% of those living in poverty are Canadians with disabilities, and it is 1.5 million people across the country. The governing party has promised to introduce substantial legislation for the Canada disability benefit, a guaranteed income for every Canadian with a disability across the country. In this place, I have had the chance to share stories of folks in my community about what it means to them not to have access to this and what it means to be living in poverty as a result of not getting appropriate supports. I continue to encourage the governing party to introduce substantial legislation for the Canada disability benefit. I will pass my thanks again to the 103 MPs from all political parties who have come together to say we can do better and we must. Some might say, “Well, wait a second. This all sounds well and good, but can we afford these things?” I want to close by sharing some of the ways we can afford these significant and important investments, and we do not need to do it simply by increasing debt. We can and should stop gifting oil and gas companies, which are making record-breaking profits, billions of dollars and should reinvest it. We have had a lot of promises about taxing the rich, but the budget reduced the campaign promise for a 3% surtax on some of the largest companies, whose profits soared in the pandemic, down to 1.5%. It avoids any talk of an inheritance or a wealth tax. Even the vacancy tax, as I have shared in this place before, in Bill C-8 was down to 1%, and it exempts every Canadian and every corporation in the country. In Vancouver it is up to 5%, and in doing so, they have been able to reinvest millions of dollars in affordable housing. Of course, there is no talk of closing corporate tax loopholes, which we know is a measure we need to do. With that, I will close and welcome questions.

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Mr. Tim Louis (Kitchener—Conestoga, Lib.)

May/9/22 6:37:10 p.m.
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Re: Bill C-19

Madam Speaker, I want to thank my colleague for his speech and for his advocacy. We share a region and a city. I know he mentioned an organization called Indwell, which is an affordable housing provider. We have met with them, and we are all advocating together. I wonder if the member could explain the importance of programs, and the benefits of federal programs such as the rapid housing initiative, with the understanding that the federal government can and will do more. Also, could the member explain the importance of wraparound services? We cannot have housing without supports and we cannot have supports without housing. Then, basically related to that, could the member explain how provinces, and in our case the Province of Ontario, need to step up with more health supports for affordable housing?

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Mr. Mike Morrice

May/9/22 6:37:57 p.m.
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Re: Bill C-19

Madam Speaker, let me share what a joy it is to be working alongside the member for Kitchener—Conestoga. He brings a tone to this place that I think we need more of: It is a more collegial tone: one of actually working together to get things done. When it comes to the rapid housing initiative, I could not agree more. Indwell is a great example of an organization that we hope, through new investments in the rapid housing initiative, has that much better of a chance of building exactly the kinds of investments that we know we need. When it comes to wraparound investments, this is a great chance to talk about shelter care. In our community, the organization House of Friendship has learned exactly what it takes to not only provide housing but to ensure that those who are living in shelter have access to the mental health and addiction support services they need on site. With him, I am so proud to continue to let others across the country know about the success that House of Friendship has had in our community. It could be replicated in other organizations across the country.

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Mrs. Karen Vecchio (Elgin—Middlesex—London, CPC)

May/9/22 6:39:11 p.m.
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Re: Bill C-19

Madam Speaker, one thing the member spoke about was mental health. That is something that I have seen that is absent from the budget. Sixty-two per cent of Canadian parents are saying that they have seen the mental health of their children get worse. The Canadian Paediatric Society is seeing more self-harm. When it comes to things like self-harm and eating disorders, they are two to three times higher. I am looking for the member's thoughts. What should we be doing for mental health, and how should the government be helping out more?

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Mr. Mike Morrice

May/9/22 6:39:40 p.m.
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Re: Bill C-19

Madam Speaker, I thank the member in particular for her leadership on the status of women committee. We need to recognize how having women chairing committees like that changes the substance of the conversation in really productive ways. When it comes to mental health, we need to only be looking to what mental health advocates across the country have been calling for, and that is parity in funding. There is a significant funding gap. Specifically, what they have been calling for is 12% of health funding to go towards mental health. We need to be honest with ourselves. That is the kind of investment that is both significant and necessary if we are going to eliminate the wait times that are plaguing areas across the country.

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Ms. Monique Pauzé (Repentigny, BQ)

May/9/22 6:40:33 p.m.
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Re: Bill C-19

Madam Speaker, when the budget was presented on April 7, the government was talking about sending infrastructure transfers to the provinces as long as the federal government approved of the provinces' plans for the money. I would like to know what my colleague thinks about that. Does he think that transfers for infrastructure or anything else should be contingent on whether the federal government approves of what Quebec and the provinces intend to do with the money?

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Mr. Mike Morrice

May/9/22 6:41:07 p.m.
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Re: Bill C-19

Madam Speaker, I thank the member for Repentigny for her question. If I am honest, it is something I continue to learn about in this place. I spoke to the mental health transfer, for example. This is an example where funds would be allocated to provinces within their jurisdiction to spend appropriately. When it comes to infrastructure, I would be glad to sit down with the member to better understand what she thinks the best way to approach it would be, and to have that conversation with her.

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Mrs. Karen Vecchio (Elgin—Middlesex—London, CPC)

May/9/22 6:42:00 p.m.
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Re: Bill C-19

Madam Speaker, I really want to bring to the discussion some of the key things that are happening in Elgin—Middlesex—London. These are the key things that we are still waiting for an answer from the government on. As a girl from a rural community, I think we need to talk about fertilizer. We need to make a plan. I was happy enough to sit on the agriculture committee the other day, just seeing some of the fine work that was being done there, but we know that we have people in Elgin—Middlesex—London who are seeding right now. Fertilizer has a 35% tariff applied regardless of whether one bought it prior to March 2 or not. We know that boats have continued to sit at sea. We know that there continues to be issues, but we need to have a plan. The farmers need to know what is going to happen next. They start buying, and they start preparing even for next season, for 2023, and they will be preparing in October through December. We need to know what is going on and the government needs to come up with a plan. Is it going to be helping out? Are they going to get 35% of this back from the coffers that are sitting there taking in these tariffs right now, or is that 35% tariff going to be applied to the food and to everything else that Canadians are consuming? I wanted to bring up fertilizer and ask the government to please come up with an answer. We are waiting. I want to talk about passport services. Golly gee, we have heard a lot about passport services, but I just want to remind the government that 10-year passports are due. That means that they are going to be there, so it needs to come up with a plan. We are just waiting. We have people who are being told, as I heard earlier today, to come at 1 a.m. to line up. Back in 2007, I believe it was, when we knew the U.S. government was putting in this plan, I can tell members, as I was a constituency assistant, the government was prepared. We had line-ups that were eight and nine hours long, but the government was prepared, and within eight weeks, people were still able to get their passports. We know that with this government right now, it is the same situation, but there is no passport service. Please, get the services back to being Service Canada. I also want to talk about the cost of living. This is just really simple. I want to just make sure I read this one to members. A constituent wrote to me, “Good morning. Yesterday, I went to put gas in my car and my heart sank when I saw how much I had to pay for a litre. Right now, I work three jobs, so that my wife can stay home and home-school our kids. How many more jobs do you want one person to work?” I think that is the question. He already has three. They home-school their children. I am sure they are very frugal, like many families are, but what is the government going to do when it comes to the cost of living? This morning, my husband filled up for $1.99 in the city of St. Thomas. Last year at this time, we know it was closer to two-thirds of that cost. I am asking the government to do some work, to start thinking about what it is like to be a regular Canadian who has to pay these bills, who has to feed their children and who has to buy food and clothes and shelter. I am just asking for some compassion, and I am hoping that the government will get to work.

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The Assistant Deputy Speaker (Mrs. Alexandra Mendès)

May/9/22 6:45:15 p.m.
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It being 6:45 p.m., pursuant to order made earlier today, it is my duty to interrupt the proceedings and put forthwith every question necessary to dispose of the second reading stage of the bill now before the House. The question is on the amendment to the amendment. If a member of a recognized party present in the House wishes to request a recorded division or that the amendment to the amendment be adopted on division, I would invite them to rise and indicate it to the Chair. The member for Sherwood Park—Fort Saskatchewan.

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