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Oct/4/22 7:40:26 p.m.
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It being 7:40 p.m., pursuant to order made earlier today, the question is deemed put and a recorded division deemed requested and deferred until Wednesday, October 5, at the expiry of the time provided for Oral Questions.

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Mr. Garnett Genuis (Sherwood Park—Fort Saskatchewan, CPC)

Oct/4/22 7:41:05 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, many of our constituency offices were inundated over the summer and in fact we are still dealing with the impacts of an overwhelming volume of complaints about the government's mishandling of passport applications. It is ironic that the government, which wants to expand its influence in more areas of Canadians' lives, has shown itself completely unable to manage its basic responsibilities when it comes to providing Canadians with timely access to passports, something that clearly falls squarely within the responsibility of the federal government. Again, it is typical for these Liberals. They are unable to manage the basic responsibilities of the federal government and at the same time they are telling us how the federal government should be doing more and more to limit people's freedoms and interfere in their lives. Every member of the House knows, and I am sure the parliamentary secretary charged with parroting the government line tonight is fully aware as well of the problems in his own constituency and has heard the frustration, has seen the tears and has dealt with cases of people needing to cancel vacations and of people missing important family events as a result of their being unable to access passports. The challenges continue to come into my office from constituents. We continue to get, in my office, over a dozen passport cases every week for those who are travelling and are not able to get their passports. We are dealing with an inquiry right now from a constituent who applied in February and who has still not gotten her passport. What a ridiculous processing time for such a simple and basic government service. The inability of Service Canada to perform its basic functions is simply unacceptable. The excuse that we have gotten from the minister was to say that there is a large volume post-COVID, as if the government could not have contemplated that travel was going to, in some proportion, come back, at some point, as the pandemic tapered off. We have heard from many constituents who have had to cancel trips and who have waited in long lines, at times in lines that they felt were unsafe. We are still hearing from constituents who are making status requests online and being told by Service Canada that they are aiming to respond within three days, and then not hearing back for weeks and weeks. Again, this is fundamentally unacceptable. The federal government, rather than trying to expand itself into all other areas of people's lives, should focus on doing its core job and providing the basic services to Canadians that it clearly has the responsibility to provide. I would invite the parliamentary secretary, in his response to me tonight, to acknowledge the reality that his government has failed on passports, and rather than trying to bury the conversation in fog and bureaucratic talking points, to acknowledge the pain of my constituents and his, to acknowledge their frustration and to recognize that the government desperately needs to do better, better than it did this summer and better than it is doing now at providing Canadians with this basic service of access to their passports.

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Mr. Irek Kusmierczyk (Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Employment, Workforce Development and Disability Inclusion, Lib.)

Oct/4/22 7:45:06 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I thank the member for Sherwood Park—Fort Saskatchewan for his advocacy on behalf of his constituents. I think everyone in this place can agree that a passport is an important and critical document. We know that Canadians are enthusiastic about travelling again, whether for business or personal reasons, and that passports are critical, so we can imagine the demand. Let me just say that it has been exponential. I will share some numbers for some important context. Service Canada has been issuing passports as quickly as possible, and since April 1, over one million passports have been issued. As of September 25, 94% of passports applied for at specialized passport offices have been issued within 10 business days. The wait time at the passport call centre went from a peak of 108 minutes in April to 30 minutes last week. Service Canada has been working throughout the summer to meet this demand. Staff at Service Canada have been working overtime and on weekends, and here are some of the steps that we have taken. We have hired more than 800 new employees since July 2021, specifically to support the processing of passport applications, and we are continuing to scale-up. We have an online appointment booking tool. We are serving priority clients on Saturdays and extending service hours. We improved client experience in our offices by thoroughly assessing client needs while in line, providing clients with appointments at a nearby location and expanding hours and weekend availability in some locations. As a result, lineups at specialized passport offices are now more manageable and more predictable. Canadians can visit any of over 300 Service Canada centres to request the transfer of their passport applications if they need it for urgent and upcoming travel. This summer, Service Canada has implemented a triage system in 17 of our passport offices. The 10-day passport pickup service is also available in 12 Service Canada centres across the country. We have expanded the simplified renewal process. Canadians can now renew an expired passport as long as it was issued in the last 15 years, even if it was lost, stolen or damaged. We are continuing to hire employees and add processing capacity. This remains a challenging period with high demand, but we continue to work hard to give Canadians the high-quality service they deserve.

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Mr. Garnett Genuis

Oct/4/22 7:47:37 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, rather than acknowledge the significant and ongoing failures, the member is trying to congratulate his government for maybe now doing marginally better than the disastrous situation we dealt with in the summer and the spring. I may have low expectations of the government when it comes to delivering basic services, but Canadians should be able to expect more in terms of the response. We continue to deal with a reality in our office, for instance, where we are not able to do basic status checks and get information unless people have travel booked. The response times continue to be unacceptable. Again, as I mentioned, I continue to have a constituent with an outstanding passport issue who made their application back in February. I heard this summer from Canadians who had to cancel trips and miss important family events and who experienced a huge amount of stress and anxiety as a result. Rather than congratulating themselves, are the Liberals prepared to apologize to the Canadians who were hurt by their failures?

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Mr. Irek Kusmierczyk

Oct/4/22 7:48:54 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, the minister responsible for Service Canada has been travelling throughout the country visiting passport centres and talking with staff. The Government of Canada is taking this situation very seriously and we are taking the necessary steps to remedy it. The hard work of Service Canada employees is paying off. Almost everyone who applies in person at a specialized passport office will get their passport in under 10 business days. I would like to again thank the member for Sherwood Park—Fort Saskatchewan for his advocacy.

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Mr. Kevin Vuong (Spadina—Fort York, Ind.)

Oct/4/22 7:49:31 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, in 2021 the Liberals promised to permanently eliminate interest on federal student loans. Let us be clear. On page 17 of the Liberal Party's 2021 election platform document, entitled “Forward. For Everyone”, it states that a re-elected Liberal government will: Permanently eliminate the federal interest on Canada Student Loans and Canada Apprentice Loans to support young Canadians who choose to invest in post-secondary education. This will benefit over 1 million student loan borrowers and save an average borrower more than $3,000 over the lifetime of their loan. This promise seems fairly straightforward. However, it now seems that Forward. For Everyone” should read “Backward. For Students”. On February 17, I asked the minister responsible whether the re-elected governing party would keep its election campaign promise to students. Of course, amnesia had clearly set in, even though the government claimed to have the backs of Canada's students. Yes, it was roll out the smoke-and-mirrors approach again, and no pesky election promise was going to be allowed to get in the way. On September 17, an assistant deputy minister at the Department of Employment and Social Development gave notice in the Canada Gazette that the interest moratorium on Canada student loans and Canada apprentice loans would expire on March 31, 2023. Clearly, this must have been a mistake, so one week later, on September 23, I asked whether the Liberals would honour their promise. Again, the House was treated to obfuscation and platitudes. At a time when Canadians are struggling to make ends meet and students are taking on debt to afford an education, broken promises and empty platitudes will not cut it. The average federal student debt held by someone with a bachelor's degree is $23,000. I myself graduated with $25,000 in student debt. Moreover, to combat rampant inflation eating away at Canadians' paycheques, interest rates have nearly doubled to 4.7%. Are we to understand now that on April 1, 2023, the government will hand young Canadians and their parents a very cruel April fool's joke of a nearly $600 increase to student loan payments? Should that occur, I cannot fathom the backtracking on this campaign promise, because there are few better investments than to invest in education. On average, someone with a bachelor's degree will pay almost $15,000 a year in annual taxes, nearly double what someone with a high school diploma pays. This is annually, not just one time. It is a recurring benefit to our country, not only in the tax dollars that fund the services that Canadians rely on, but also in a more educated and upskilled workforce. The societal and fiscal benefits are clear. There is also, however, the honouring of a promise to students, along with the business case for investing in our country's next generation. In conclusion, can the government educate students and Canadians on what will happen on April 1? Can it shed light on the path forward for all by letting us know on what date interest rates will be permanently eliminated from Canada student and apprentice loans?

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Mr. Irek Kusmierczyk (Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Employment, Workforce Development and Disability Inclusion, Lib.)

Oct/4/22 7:53:21 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, as I have said in the House many times, young Canadians and students are the future of Canada. More than 673,000 students each year rely on federal grants and loans to help them cover the cost of their tuition, school supplies and living expenses. That is why we are making historic investments to ensure that students continue to have the supports and opportunities they need to build a better future for themselves and their families. With budget 2022, we are helping doctors and nurses in rural and remote communities who have student loans. We are investing $26 million over four years so that nurses in these communities will have up to $30,000 in loan forgiveness and doctors will have up to $60,000, respectively. We are also enhancing the repayment assistance plan as of November 1, and that means people with an income of $40,000 or less will not have to make payments on their students loans. This measure is expected to help an additional 121,000 Canadians each year who have student and apprentice loan debt. Additionally, the cap on what is considered the monthly affordable payment is being lowered from 20% to 10% of a borrower's household income. What is more is that these new thresholds will be indexed to inflation to ensure that people's eligibility for repayment assistance keeps pace with the cost of living. There is more. With budget 2021, we provided $4.5 billion in funding to support expanded access to post-secondary education. Thanks to the Canada student financial assistance program, students and recent graduates will have more access to direct financial support, making it easier for them to pay off their student debt. In the summer of 2021, we extended the doubling of Canada student grants for an additional two years. We also changed the requirement so that students can use their current income when applying for a grant. That means people in financial need will not have their previous workforce experience count against them. New measures under the Canada student financial assistance program ensure that post-secondary financial supports are more accessible. Through these remarkable initiatives, I hope it is clear that we are committed to supporting Canada's students and recent graduates, and that we are committed to building the workforce of tomorrow.

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Mr. Kevin Vuong

Oct/4/22 7:55:46 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I do not know what the parliamentary secretary is not getting. People are struggling to make ends meet. Is the government backtracking on its promise or is it because the government has overspent and now needs to recoup as much money as possible off the backs of students and parents? The parliamentary secretary has refused to answer when Liberals will honour their promise to permanently eliminate interest on federal student loans. That is fine. I will make it simpler. Will the government honour its promise and eliminate interest on federal student loans, yes or no?

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Mr. Irek Kusmierczyk

Oct/4/22 7:56:29 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, by investing in our young people today, we are securing Canada's growth and economic prosperity for future generations. We remain committed to permanently eliminating the federal interest on Canada student loans and Canada apprentice loans. In the meantime, the waiver of interest accrual on student apprentice loans has been extended to March 31, 2023. This will mean savings for approximately 1.2 million Canadians repaying student and apprentice loans, the majority of whom are women. We will help young Canadians transition into the workforce. This is our commitment.

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The Deputy Speaker

Oct/4/22 7:57:05 p.m.
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The hon. member for Vancouver East is not present to raise the matter for which notice was given. Accordingly, the notice is deemed withdrawn. It being 7:57 p.m., the motion to adjourn the House is now deemed to have been adopted. Accordingly the House stands adjourned until tomorrow at 2 p.m. pursuant to Standing Order 24(1). (The House adjourned at 7:57 p.m.)

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Mr. Lloyd Longfield (Guelph, Lib.)

Oct/4/22 11:51:58 a.m.
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Re: Bill C-30

Madam Speaker, I am really enjoying the discussion today. The Bank of Canada has a target of 2% inflation that it is trying to bring us back to. As the member mentioned, in June inflation was growing, in July it peaked at 8.1%, and now it is coming back down to 7% because the Bank of Canada has introduced higher interest rates. The higher interest rates are impacting the more vulnerable people in Canada, so there is a combination there of trying to cool the housing market and trying to slow down the inflation caused by the out-of-control housing market. As the member says, the impact on seniors is something that we need to be addressing. Could the member talk about how this is a targeted approach with a time limit so that, when inflation comes back toward 2%, we do not have something that is going to fuel inflation going forward?

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