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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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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- May/9/22 2:46:15 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, abortion and reproductive health services are not accessible across the country. Women, particularly in northern and rural communities, are forced to drive for hours to access essential health care services. Last year, the government promised $45 million for a sexual and reproductive health fund, but providers have not seen a single dollar for these essential services. It is not good enough for the government to say the right things; it must increase accessibility now. When will it actually deliver the promised funding for abortion and health services in Canada?
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- May/9/22 3:02:30 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, our government is committed to women's health as a long-standing priority. That is why I recently announced $40 million in additional funding to support the Global Financing Facility's “Reclaim the Gains” campaign, bringing Canada's total contribution to $190 million. The funds will help lower-income countries improve the resilience of their health systems and reverse the impact of COVID-19. Canada sees the GFF as a critical part of strengthening country-led health systems and reinforcing sexual and reproductive health rights as core components of the health care system.
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Madam Speaker, there are indeed programs in Quebec. One of them was created after the federal government pulled out in 1993. It is called AccèsLogis Québec, and it is a very good program. Unfortunately, there is some uncertainty right now as to whether it will survive. Like everything else, it lacks funding.
At the federal level, we should focus on programs that really work, such as the rapid housing initiative, the RHI. There are some interesting programs that work but that do not have a big impact on affordability. The RHI is a very good program. The problem is that there is not enough money in it.
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Madam Speaker, that is a very important question. I have many stakeholders in my riding who are dealing with disabilities. One of the challenges we have is that there are also provincial programs that are being rolled out in conjunction with what we are planning in the federal government. As members know, there is nothing more important than working with provinces and territories to ensure that the programs that are being rolled out are complementary, and that takes some time. We are working very hard to ensure not only that we address the needs of those with disabilities, but also that the funding being given addresses the needs in a very complementary way.
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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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