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Mr. Taleeb Noormohamed (Vancouver Granville, Lib.)

Dec/6/22 3:07:49 p.m.
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Re: Bill C-32

Mr. Speaker, whether it is because of bad crops or extreme weather, Putin's illegal war in Ukraine or supply chain issues, food prices in Canada and around the world are on the rise. Canadians are having a hard time putting food on the table, and they are looking to us. Can the Minister of Tourism and Associate Minister of Finance tell the House what the government is doing to help Canadians with the cost of living?

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Hon. Randy Boissonnault (Minister of Tourism and Associate Minister of Finance, Lib.)

Dec/6/22 3:08:17 p.m.
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Re: Bill C-32

Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank my friend and hon. colleague from Vancouver Granville for his hard work on the file and his dedication to his residents. We are always here to support Canadians, and the measures we have in place put more money in the pockets of Canadians. In the fall economic statement, we propose to eliminate student loan interest, to make housing more affordable and to increase the Canada workers benefit. The Conservatives can do the right thing and see their hearts grow not one, not two, but three sizes, and vote for Bill C-32 and to support Canadians.

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Ms. Jenny Kwan (Vancouver East, NDP)

Dec/6/22 3:08:56 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, hundreds of thousands of people experience homelessness in Canada every year, and the Liberals' national housing strategy is failing them. The Auditor General says the Liberals will not meet their chronic homelessness target, and the CEO of CMHC confirmed that is the case. Meanwhile, people are dying on the streets. There is zero accountability from the Liberals and no clear plan to eliminate chronic homelessness. Canadians need action, not failed Liberal promises. What is the government's plan to eliminate chronic homelessness in Canada and ensure that everyone has a place to call home?

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Hon. Ahmed Hussen (Minister of Housing and Diversity and Inclusion, Lib.)

Dec/6/22 3:09:38 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, this is our plan: We are doubling funding to the reaching home strategy, from $2 billion to just under $4 billion. We are introducing the rapid housing initiative, which is on track to build 14,000 deeply affordable homes for the most vulnerable, including those experiencing homelessness. We have the introduction of the Canada housing benefit, which is helping vulnerable Canadian renters across the country. We are building more deeply affordable housing through the co-investment fund, which offers $2.9 billion to build 22,000 additional deeply affordable homes.

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Mr. Gord Johns (Courtenay—Alberni, NDP)

Dec/6/22 3:10:15 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, Canadians are dying and lives are being shattered every day because of a contaminated drug supply. The Conservative leader wants to double down on the failed war on drugs, while the government will not fund the supports people need. The Liberals promised in the last election to send $500 million to the provinces and territories to improve access to evidence-based treatment, but yet again it has not followed through. When will the government move past the stigma and mount a health-based response to this national crisis?

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Hon. Carolyn Bennett (Minister of Mental Health and Addictions and Associate Minister of Health, Lib.)

Dec/6/22 3:10:52 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, the toxic drug and overdose crisis continues, as the member says, to take a tragic toll on families, loved ones and communities. The government will use every tool at its disposal to work with its partners to end the national public health crisis. Since 2017 we have committed more than $800 million to address the overdose crisis, and we are taking concrete steps to divert people who use drugs away from the criminal justice system. Approving B.C.'s decriminalization proposal for personal possession of certain substances was an important step. We know we have to do more, and we will.

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The Speaker

Dec/6/22 3:11:26 p.m.
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That is all the time we have today for Oral Questions. The member for Mirabel is rising on a point of order.

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Mr. Jean-Denis Garon

Dec/6/22 3:11:38 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I would like to read a quote from the Auditor General's statement: “With the audits we are releasing today, the focus of our work is shifting to look at how federal departments and organizations managed programs and services for Canadians as the pandemic continued to evolve”. Today, in the House, the Minister of National Revenue questioned—

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The Speaker

Dec/6/22 3:12:00 p.m.
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Let me remind the House how a point of order works. If a Standing Order has not been followed, then a member must explain how it was not followed. If the hon. member for Mirabel wants to continue with a Standing Order that was not followed, I will be happy to hear what he has to say. The hon. member for Mirabel.

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Mr. Jean-Denis Garon

Dec/6/22 3:12:34 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, to make a long story short, today the Minister of National Revenue attacked a fundamental institution of the House whose primary role is to hold the government accountable. She tried to mislead the House. She was therefore out of order. Today she must rise, retract her comments and apologize.

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The Speaker

Dec/6/22 3:12:58 p.m.
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That is a matter of debate. It is not really a point of order. The hon. parliamentary secretary to the government House leader is rising on a point of order.

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Mr. Mark Gerretsen

Dec/6/22 3:13:13 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I am rising on a point of order that you somewhat addressed. You made very clear what a point of order is, and then the member continued to go on about something that was not a point of order. There has to be a point that you intervene when it relates to matters like that.

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The Speaker

Dec/6/22 3:13:27 p.m.
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I thank the hon. member for his guidance. He is absolutely right. I want to remind all members that, when they rise on a point of order, it is because a point of order was not followed and they need to explain why it was not followed. Otherwise, it becomes debate, and we do not want to take time away from each other's ability to debate important questions that are already on the Order Paper.

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Mr. Mark Gerretsen (Parliamentary Secretary to the Leader of the Government in the House of Commons (Senate), Lib.)

Dec/6/22 3:14:15 p.m.
Watch
Re: Bill C-32

Mr. Speaker, when I left off just before question period, I was reflecting on the fact that there is too much attention being paid by the Conservatives in the House to inflation only as it relates to domestic inflation. They are not considering the whole picture of inflation being a global issue, something that countries throughout the world are, quite frankly, dealing with right now. Canada has the third-lowest inflation rate in the G7. Of course, that is little comfort to those who are experiencing the effects of inflation right now, but that is exactly why we are debating this particular piece of legislation today. This is legislation to help those who are feeling the impacts of inflation the most with trying to get through this very difficult time.

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The Speaker

Dec/6/22 3:15:13 p.m.
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I apologize for interrupting the hon. parliamentary secretary. I would remind everyone that debate is taking place and people should take their conversations into the lobby or the hallway. Inside the chamber, we all want to hear what the hon. parliamentary secretary has to say, and when the questions come, we will want to hear them as well. The hon. parliamentary secretary can proceed.

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Mr. Mark Gerretsen

Dec/6/22 3:15:37 p.m.
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Re: Bill C-32

Mr. Speaker, that is the first time somebody has ever said that everyone wants to hear what I have to say. I certainly thank you for those kind words. This bill is bringing in measures that are specifically designed to assist those most impacted by inflation right now. Most important is to look at the impact of the measures we are talking about in this bill in support of Canadians, those who need it the most. It is well documented that the impact of those measures on inflation is next to nothing. I think it is very important that we reflect on exactly what some of those measures are. For starters, the one measure in this bill I am very happy to see, because I think it is long overdue, has to do with the elimination of student loan interest from the federal portion. I know it has been said in the House that we do not have a student loan problem. I would disagree with that. I suggest that is exactly the opposite of the truth because we do have a problem when it comes to education. The reality is that decades ago, when my parents were in their teens and early twenties, all one needed to get a job that could provide security to build a family and buy a house was a high school diploma. By and large, one could find stable employment to provide for oneself and one's family. That is not the case any more. Now, one needs much more than that. One quite often needs a university degree, to be highly skilled in a trade or, in some cases, have completed a masters or postgraduate work. The difference between now and then is that secondary school is covered through taxes. It is covered through property taxes and taxes that individuals pay to support the school system. To get to the point of being able to provide and start a family back then was free. Now we are in a situation where education is a lot more expensive. The cost of getting to that place of providing for and building a family is much more expensive. When we start talking about things like eliminating the interest on student debt, I think it is absolutely important because it moves us toward being able to provide the education that people need to get stable employment. That employment can be used to build a family, buy a house and so on. From my perspective, we ultimately have to get to a point where either community college or university for Canadian citizens is almost as easy to access as high school is because it is through that that people can experience the quality of life that previous generations, like that of my parents, were able to experience. I really think that this piece of legislation is absolutely key right now. We need to get this through the House. I am glad to see that we are at the final stage of this. The reality is that there are Canadians out there waiting on this legislation to be passed so they can start to get some of the supports in it. We know full well that the House could end up debating this fall economic statement until May or June, just like the Conservatives forced us to do with the last fall economic statement. We have had numerous speakers on this: 38 Conservatives, six NDP, 10 Bloc, one Green and 26 Liberals. After all these speakers, I cannot understand how anybody in the House would possibly think that continuing debate on this piece of legislation would be more important than getting the supports the legislation provides to Canadians. I am glad to see that there is time allocation on this. We need to get to a point where we can have a vote on this. Let us have our voices heard through that vote, and if it passes, get the supports to Canadians. There are Canadians out there suffering right now who need these supports.

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Mr. Marty Morantz (Charleswood—St. James—Assiniboia—Headingley, CPC)

Dec/6/22 3:20:24 p.m.
Watch
Re: Bill C-32

Madam Speaker, in the Parliamentary Budget Officer's review of the fall economic statement, Bill C-32, he categorized $14.2 billion as unannounced spending. I am just wondering if, before we go to actually vote on this bill, the member would tell us what the details of that spending are.

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Mr. Mark Gerretsen

Dec/6/22 3:20:49 p.m.
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Re: Bill C-32

Madam Speaker, I will be completely honest. I am not fully versed in the Parliamentary Budget Officer's report, but I would say that every member of Parliament gets the information from the government at the exact same time. The member assumes that I am going to somehow have access to that before him, but that would be against the rules of the House. I am allowed to see what is tabled when he is allowed to see it. He knows that. To suggest that there is some kind of information that I have that he does not have is simply not the truth.

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

Dec/6/22 3:21:26 p.m.
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Re: Bill C-32

Madam Speaker, I am wondering if the hon. member for Kingston and the Islands has any comment on this as we debate Bill C-32. I understand his point that other members have spoken. It was almost getting to be like The Twelve Days of Christmas with how many members have spoken. I expected it to move into music. I ended up being the one Green who spoke. There are other thoughts and comments that we would like to make, but we do not want to prolong debate unnecessarily. The fundamental point is that we have rules and procedures in this place. We have time allocated for debate. If that is truncated on a routine basis continually, what does that mean for the future of this place as a place that is the heart of democracy, where debate takes place and where we do not truncate and bring down the bâillon every time?

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Mr. Mark Gerretsen

Dec/6/22 3:22:20 p.m.
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Re: Bill C-32

Madam Speaker, I think that the member brings up a very good point. It is unfortunately the reality of the place where we are now. It is an inevitable cycle. Conservatives are just using every single tactic they have, not only to slow down legislation that they are against, but also to slow down every piece of legislation of the government. It is almost as though they want to force the government to use time allocation so they can say we are being undemocratic. The cycle continues so they can say that we did it 50 times, 60 times, 70 times and so on. Perhaps the member is on to something, in that we need to look at our Standing Orders and how we deal with this kind of stuff. I will be completely honest. Before I got here, when I used to hear of Stephen Harper bringing in time allocation and terminating debate, I used to think it was an egregious thing to happen, until I realized, when I am sitting here, exactly how this place functions. When Canadians actually figure out how this place functions, I know they will understand why it is necessary to do this and why it is necessary to end the games.

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