44th Parl. 1st Sess.
February 2, 2023 10:00AM
- Feb/2/23 3:02:23 p.m.
- Watch
Mr. Speaker, the Minister of Justice just announced today his intention to delay by one year the expansion of the medical assistance in dying legislation to those suffering solely from a mental illness. We know that medical assistance in dying is a complex issue and very personal for many Canadians.
Can the minister explain the reasons for his decision?
59 words
- Hear!
- Rabble!
- add
- star_border
- share
- Feb/2/23 3:02:53 p.m.
- Watch
Mr. Speaker, grazie to my colleague from Saint-Léonard—Saint-Michel for her question and her leadership. It is indeed a very complex issue. That is why we have listened to the experts, the members of the medical community and the citizens who asked for more time to develop clear standards.
Canada has developed medical assistance in dying legislation that supports autonomy and freedom of choice while protecting the vulnerable. We will continue in that direction and we will do it right.
85 words
- Hear!
- Rabble!
- add
- star_border
- share
- Feb/2/23 3:03:33 p.m.
- Watch
Mr. Speaker, after eight years of fiscal mismanagement, the Liberal government is not even hiding it anymore. It has now decided it no longer needs to accept the advice of the Auditor General, who says $27 billion in COVID support payments need to be investigated. Instead, the CRA says it is not worth the effort.
Will the government take the advice of the independent Auditor General, or does it believe it is not worth the effort to recover money for taxpayers?
81 words
- Hear!
- Rabble!
- add
- star_border
- share
- Feb/2/23 3:04:04 p.m.
- Watch
Mr. Speaker, when the pandemic hit, we acted quickly to get recovery benefits into people's bank accounts without delay. To achieve that goal, we planned to verify eligibility on the back end after the fact. This approach kept workers attached to their jobs and positioned our economy to come roaring back.
The report found that our individual support programs achieved their intended goals of getting money to Canadians quickly, allowing Canadians to stay home safely and avoiding severe social and economic consequences. The AG also noted that lower-income workers and groups most impacted by the pandemic were able to benefit from the programs.
We are proud of the measures we took to support Canadians.
116 words
- Hear!
- Rabble!
- add
- star_border
- share
- Feb/2/23 3:04:51 p.m.
- Watch
Mr. Speaker, the words “costly coalition” have been given new meaning. Last week, we heard that the head of the CRA said it would “not be worth the effort” to fully review $15.5 billion in what might be incorrect pandemic wage benefits.
After eight years of the Prime Minister, Canadians are using food banks more than ever and are finding it impossible to buy a home. Does the Liberal government think it is not worth the effort to fully review payments worth a total of $32 billion in Canadian tax dollars?
96 words
- Hear!
- Rabble!
- add
- star_border
- share
- Feb/2/23 3:05:26 p.m.
- Watch
Mr. Speaker, it is unfortunate. It turns out the member opposite was not attending last week's meeting of the public accounts committee, because if he was, he would have heard the commissioner of the CRA say that verification work is ongoing with respect to CERB, with respect to CEWS and with respect to all of the emergency programs the government turned out to help Canadians, individuals, families and businesses.
It was a fiscally responsible approach that we promised throughout. In fact, he should go back to the record. In November 2020, it was the Conservatives who voted against carrying out CRA audits on businesses.
105 words
- Hear!
- Rabble!
- add
- star_border
- share
- Feb/2/23 3:06:08 p.m.
- Watch
Mr. Speaker, Abdullah Hamdard is in Ottawa this week and here today pleading with the Liberal government to get his family out of Afghanistan. Abdullah served alongside our troops in Afghanistan, and his family qualified to come to Canada almost a year ago, but nothing has happened. His brother is now missing, feared dead, and his family is living under daily threats. He personally met the minister on Tuesday.
How many more Afghans who have helped Canada need to die before the minister commits to urgently getting Abdullah's family and other Afghans safely to Canada?
96 words
- Hear!
- Rabble!
- add
- star_border
- share
- Feb/2/23 3:06:48 p.m.
- Watch
Mr. Speaker, I have to say that if it was a matter of will, there would be 40,000 Afghan refugees here already, but there are obstacles that are beyond certain control.
As the member just said, the minister did meet him, but let me remind this House of the last numbers we have. We have so far welcomed 26,700 Afghans who can now call Canada home.
We will continue to work with our Afghan community.
77 words
- Hear!
- Rabble!
- add
- star_border
- share
- Feb/2/23 3:07:32 p.m.
- Watch
Mr. Speaker, like many employers, last year, the federal government experimented with new hybrid approaches to work. Now it has begun phasing in a new common hybrid work model across government.
Can the President of the Treasury Board please explain how this model will help the government serve Canadians?
49 words
- Hear!
- Rabble!
- add
- star_border
- share
- Feb/2/23 3:07:53 p.m.
- Watch
Mr. Speaker, I want to thank my hon. colleague for his hard work for the people of Vaughan—Woodbridge.
Canada's public service is one of the best in the world. Hybrid work lets us harness the best of in-person and remote work, creating shared in-person experiences that foster collaboration and trust, together with the flexibility of up to two to three days of remote work a week. Consistency in how hybrid is applied across government will make employees' experiences consistent no matter where they work, and it will support our core purpose: serving Canadians.
98 words
- Hear!
- Rabble!
- add
- star_border
- share
- Feb/2/23 3:08:38 p.m.
- Watch
Mr. Speaker, today I presented a petition from over 33,000 Canadians calling on the Prime Minister to defend public health care.
Canadians know that when the Conservatives say “innovation”, they mean “privatization”, which means lining the pockets of corporations and sticking patients with the bill. The Prime Minister knows it too. Last election, he called out the Conservatives' support of health care privatization, promising he would defend our public system, but today he will not keep that promise.
Will the Prime Minister tell us if he meant what he said during the last election or if this is another Liberal flip-flop?
107 words
- Hear!
- Rabble!
- add
- star_border
- share
- Feb/2/23 3:09:13 p.m.
- Watch
Mr. Speaker, let me be clear: Canadians are proud of our system, and this government is too. It is based on need and not the ability to pay, and we believe that all one should need in order to get health care is a health card, not a credit card.
We will make sure that our investments respect the Canada Health Act while always defending our universal public health care system.
71 words
- Hear!
- Rabble!
- add
- star_border
- share
- Feb/2/23 3:09:37 p.m.
- Watch
Mr. Speaker, there are organizations in my riding that host international artists, athletes and students year after year. Naturally, they need visas. The problem is that the processing time is now over a year and a half. That is 14 months longer than in July 2022, despite the fact that the standard is 14 days in these types of cases.
Last August, the minister claimed that demand would peak by the end of September and that delays would return to normal after that. It is now February, and it is getting worse.
Can the minister explain this total failure for people trying to get a visa to come to our country?
114 words
- Hear!
- Rabble!
- add
- star_border
- share
- Feb/2/23 3:10:25 p.m.
- Watch
Mr. Speaker, we are taking every step to address the backlog in the short term while making Canada's immigration system more sustainable in the long term.
Allow me to be very candid. We have processed approximately 4.8 million applications in total, nearly double the number of the year before. We tripled the number of work permits issued, and we returned to a 60-day service standard for new study permit applications. We achieved that by digitizing applications and hiring more people, more employees, to help us meet our commitments.
We are going to continue to be there to welcome more immigrants to Canada.
107 words
- Hear!
- Rabble!
- add
- star_border
- share
It being 3:10 p.m., pursuant to order made on Thursday, June 23, 2022, the House will now proceed to the taking of the deferred recorded division on the motion at third reading stage of Bill C‑22.
Call in the members.
45 words
- Hear!
- Rabble!
- add
- star_border
- share
I declare the motion carried.
5 words
All Topics
- Hear!
- Rabble!
- add
- star_border
- share
- Feb/2/23 3:25:57 p.m.
- Watch
I am now prepared to rule on the point of order raised on January 31 by the member for Calgary Nose Hill concerning the government’s response to written Question No. 974.
In her intervention, the member argued that the government’s response did not address the substance of her written question. Therefore, in her view, it should be considered a failure to answer within the 45 days required by the Standing Orders and this failure should be referred to committee.
The right of members to seek information from the government is a fundamental one and it is a central accountability mechanism. Written questions are one of the means members possess to obtain the information that allows them to perform their parliamentary duties.
Written question Q-974 was placed on the Order Paper on November 15, 2022. The government presented an answer on January 30, 2023, within the 45-day limit. The response provided appears in that day's Debates.
The main point of contention raised by the member for Calgary Nose Hill regards the substance and completeness of the government’s response. In her view, the response fails to address many of the matters raised in her question.
However, House of Commons Procedure and Practice, third edition, at page 529, states, “There are no provisions in the rules for the Speaker to review government responses to questions.”
Our precedents are clear that it is not for the Chair to rule on the content of the responses to written questions. Indeed, in a ruling on a similar matter on April 25, 2022, at page 4310 of the Debates, the Chair stated: “The Chair is of the view that ruling on the completeness of responses to written questions is tantamount to ruling on their content, and that is not the Chair's role.”
While members should have access to relevant and accurate information to ensure they can fulfill their parliamentary functions, it is not for the Chair to evaluate the content of responses to written questions. Therefore, while the Chair always advocates for greater co-operation between members and ministers in their exchange of information, the matter raised by the member for Calgary Nose Hill does not constitute a point of order.
I thank members for their attention.
387 words
- Hear!
- Rabble!
- add
- star_border
- share
- Feb/2/23 3:29:37 p.m.
- Watch
Mr. Speaker, now that we are back from the holiday break, this is the first chance I have had to rise and ask the government to give us the rundown of what is on the agenda for the rest of this week and for next week.
Unfortunately, the government House leader is not able to answer my question, so I will keep talking about the government's eight years in power. We were hoping for bills to help Canadians, but the sad fact is that Canadians have never suffered as much as they are suffering now. We have seen that on many occasions, including today as we debate a very important motion on bail. Crime rates are going up faster than ever. Why? Over the past eight years, ever since this government took office, violent crime has gone up by 32%. In the coming days, tomorrow or next week, will the government introduce bills to implement stricter bail conditions?
I hope someone on the government side can answer my question now.
I will repeat my question. Can the government House leader, who waited eight minutes to answer my question, tell us why in eight years the government has not been able to find solutions to the length and leniency of bail? Of course, I would also ask that he outline the work that we can look forward to tomorrow and next week.
232 words
- Hear!
- Rabble!
- add
- star_border
- share
- Feb/2/23 3:31:35 p.m.
- Watch
Mr. Speaker, I am here and I am very happy to answer the question.
We will certainly continue to bring crime rates down across the country. I hope we can work together on this issue.
Tomorrow, we will begin second reading of Bill C-34.
This is the national security review of investments modernization act. We will continue with the debate on this bill Monday and Wednesday of next week.
I would also like to inform the House that Tuesday, February 7, and Thursday, February 9, shall be allotted days.
90 words
- Hear!
- Rabble!
- add
- star_border
- share
- Feb/2/23 3:32:42 p.m.
- Watch
I wish to inform the House that because of the deferred recorded division, Government Orders will be extended by 13 minutes.
21 words
- Hear!
- Rabble!
- add
- star_border
- share
- menumenu
- notificationsnotifications
- home
- mailmail
- searchsearch
