SoVote

Context: House Hansard - 172 - Mar/23/23

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

Mar/23/23 11:33:44 a.m.
Watch

Madam Speaker, I thank my dear colleague, the member for Joliette, who is also the Bloc Québécois finance critic. I have a question about next week's budget. What does he think about the money being wasted on the fossil fuel industry? For example, the Government of Canada owns the Trans Mountain pipeline. The cost of the project has ballooned to $30 billion of public money. What does he think about that?

77 words

Mr. Gabriel Ste-Marie

Mar/23/23 11:34:24 a.m.
Watch

Madam Speaker, first, I want to pay tribute to and thank the hon. member for Saanich—Gulf Islands for her strong commitment to the planet. The IPCC's recent report reminds us of the urgent need for action, and I salute her commitment, her life's work, as we were saying earlier in a private conversation. In my opinion, the government made the wrong choice for both the environment and the economy. That is why we were opposed, as was my hon. colleague. The time has come for the government to step from the 20th century into the 21st century and to support the green economy. It needs to stop supporting the oil economy. We still need it, but there must be a gradual, clear transition. For goodness' sake, subsidies to billionaire oil companies need to stop.

139 words

Mr. Martin Champoux (Drummond, BQ)

Mar/23/23 11:35:15 a.m.
Watch

Madam Speaker, I congratulate my very esteemed colleague from Joliette on his speech and comments, which are always enlightening, well-thought-out and prepared. We always appreciate the discussions we have with him. Quebec cares deeply about its culture. This week, the Government of Quebec tabled its budget. There are allocations for culture, especially for certain aspects of culture that I appreciate, in particular facilitating access to culture for youth. Money is allocated for that. Also, some $100 million over five years is being invested in Télé-Québec, if I am not mistaken. That is in addition to Télé‑Québec's current budget. There is also assistance for the media sector. My question for my colleague is this. The Bloc Québécois expressed its expectations for the cultural sector and, especially, the media sector. I would like him to briefly speak about the importance of the resources we are calling for to restore the vitality of the media sector.

174 words

Mr. Gabriel Ste-Marie

Mar/23/23 11:36:13 a.m.
Watch

Madam Speaker, I thank my hon. colleague from Drummond for his question, his comments and the kind words he said about me. We could praise one another all day, for I could say the same about him. Language and culture are at the heart of our identity and our pride. They are what sustain us. They are what inspire us. It is the government's job to support our creators and organizations as well as the ecosystem that surrounds them. This includes the news media. Having high-quality, independent, local news is crucial. Let us look at my community as an example. In Joliette, local media like radio stations and weekly newspapers are having a really tough time, particularly because advertising has shifted from local media to the web giants with no compensation. I see these news organizations as an essential service. It is the government's job to support them and ensure that we continue to have high-quality, local news. That is what the Bloc Québécois is asking for, and we will not back down.

181 words

Mr. Tako Van Popta (Langley—Aldergrove, CPC)

Mar/23/23 11:37:38 a.m.
Watch

Madam Speaker, in her last budget and latest fall economic update, our Minister of Finance talked about Canada's lagging productivity numbers compared to those of our trading partners. She even called this “Canada's Achilles heel”. I wonder if my colleague shares that concern. What does he think is the source of the lagging productivity problem, and could he point to some solutions?

66 words

Mr. Gabriel Ste-Marie

Mar/23/23 11:38:15 a.m.
Watch

Madam Speaker, productivity is incredibly important. In terms of business productivity, Canada is lagging behind our G7 allies, as well as the average across high-income OECD countries. This needs to change. Productivity measures the amount of value generated per hour worked. It is dependent on the amount of capital, the technology used and other factors. The level of technology and capital per hour worked in Canadian businesses do not adequately compare to other countries. Something needs to be done. To fix this problem, the government must support leading-edge sectors like the aerospace industry. Various cities across the country have a strong aerospace industry, and the greater Montreal area is the third-largest aerospace hub in the world. Canada is the only country that has a very large aerospace industry but does not have an industrial policy to support research, development, commercialization and so on. The government needs to do a better job of supporting productivity, investment, research and development.

162 words

Ms. Leah Gazan (Winnipeg Centre, NDP)

Mar/23/23 11:39:36 a.m.
Watch
Re: Bill C-223

Madam Speaker, I am so pleased to rise in the House today. Before I begin, I will mention that I will be splitting my time with the member for Edmonton Griesbach. We talk about budgets, and I hear rhetoric in the House almost on a daily basis about how people from coast to coast are struggling to make ends meet, with a particular reference to single mothers. The story of the single mother is consistently usurped in this House without real solutions to tackle issues of poverty and inequality in this country. I actually was a single mom, as I have mentioned in the House. When I first had my son, I was one of the people we talk about in the House. I was not a single mom at the time, but I had just graduated from university and I was poor. The only thing that kept a roof over our heads at the time and allowed me to feed my son was affordable housing with rent geared to income and social assistance. I had just given birth to my child, and my partner at the time had employment that did not pay the bills, so I needed to get help. I share this today because I often find that in this place these stories are taken by people who have never had lived experience with struggling to make ends meet or struggling to feed their kids. I share today, with my head held high, that I was one of those folks. It is an experience that allows me to understand that things are more difficult in life than a person picking themselves up by their bootstraps so they can survive. Very often things are much more complicated in the lives of individuals and families, and they were for me at the time. I consider myself a well-educated person. It certainly was not about a lack of intelligence or hard work. It was just a matter of the circumstances of life at the time. I share this because we are still coming out of a global pandemic that has impacted families from coast to coast, a pandemic that has left families more economically vulnerable than we have seen in a long time. We had programs put in place during the pandemic that kept food on the table, I would argue. We had CERB. Now, as we move in another direction in real time, the current government is not going after big corporations to pay their fair share of the pandemic. It is not going after the billionaire class to pay their fair share of the pandemic. It is not going after big CEOs to pay their fair share of the pandemic. Do members know who it is going after? It is low-income parents to get money from the monies they collected from CERB, knowing that costs for families were drastically impacted during the pandemic. That is unacceptable, and who is the most impacted by it? It is single mothers with multiple children. We are talking about housing and supporting families. This is going to leave a lot of families on the verge of falling into the streets. Going back to my story, I was very fortunate at the time that I had affordable housing with rent geared to income. It allowed me to keep food on the table when food did not cost as much. That is not the reality right now, which is why the NDP has called on the current government to put in place CERB amnesty for low-income families in particular. The process the government is using could result in families being at greater risk of precarious housing and being placed in deeper levels of poverty. We know that people who were already behind before the pandemic are further behind now. We need to stop poor-bashing in this place. We need to stop the simplified discussions about how to deal with the growing poverty crisis that impacts my riding of Winnipeg Centre, Manitoba, which was just reported to have some of the highest child poverty rates in the country. Children are supposed to be provided with minimum human rights. We have signed on to international law. We have an obligation to uphold international and domestic laws to ensure that children are provided with basic human rights, which are being violated every day, whether in urban centres, first nations communities, indigenous communities or Inuit communities across the country. I hope all my colleagues in the House will support the call for a CERB amnesty for low-income families, which, again, are the most impacted. If we are so concerned about the story of the single mother, it will be single mothers with multiple children who will be most impacted. That, for me, as the member of Parliament for Winnipeg Centre, is a true test of this so-called care I hear about in this place all the time. We must have CERB amnesty now. The NDP also put forward a dental care plan, a universal pharmacare plan, and has been fighting for a national child care strategy that prioritizes public, not-for-profit care. We have been working with frontline advocates and organizations for almost 30 years to push that forward. I am glad the current government finally heeded our call to implement a national child care strategy. This would have made a difference in my life and the life of my son. We talk about people working multiple jobs to pay the bills. I was one of those single moms who had to work multiple jobs to pay the bills. Part of the reason for that was because of high child care costs. I literally had to work more so I could work. If members of the House want to support families, then they need to support a universal dental care plan, universal pharmacare and a national child care strategy that ensures that all children are afforded their minimum human right to have access to affordable, accessible, high-quality child care. These services are essential for supporting families, as is the addition of affordable housing with rents geared to income and my bill, Bill C-223, to put in place a guaranteed livable basic income. I want to build a Canada where families are not begging to eat, where we do not make the assumption we are all born with the same privileges, where nobody is living in poverty, and where we stop poor-bashing and deal with what is going on in our country at the very roots of inequality. We can do that as members in the House. Therefore, today, I call on all members of the House to support the NDP's call, and certainly my bill for a guaranteed livable basic income, and build a Canada for all.

1140 words

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

Mar/23/23 11:49:18 a.m.
Watch

Madam Speaker, I want to thank my colleague for the very personal nature of her discussion about being a single mother. My wife, before we got together, was a single mother who benefited from a good support network around her. However, the reality is that so many single mothers out there do not have that support mechanism. Toward the end of her speech, the member spoke specifically about a basic income. I know the NDP has been rightfully calling for that for a number of years and it is something I agree that we need to understand and implement. Could she comment on how a basic income would directly help single mothers, in particular those who do not have access to good supports.

123 words

Ms. Leah Gazan

Mar/23/23 11:50:12 a.m.
Watch

Madam Speaker, we need to start talking about the high cost of poverty, not the high cost of a guaranteed livable basic income. We have income guarantees right now. My bill would not offer anything new. What I argue, though, is that the income guarantees we currently have are not livable. GIS for seniors is an income guarantee that is not livable. We know that when we do not look after seniors, or anybody, and when we do not provide people with what they need, it costs in other areas, like health care and justice systems. We know that with a guaranteed livable basic income, and we have income guarantees, we need to make them livable and expand them out for those who are falling through the cracks of our social safety net.

133 words

Mr. Tako Van Popta (Langley—Aldergrove, CPC)

Mar/23/23 11:51:12 a.m.
Watch

Madam Speaker, I am very intrigued by the concept of CERB amnesty. I would like to hear some more details about my colleague's thoughts about that. Will there be means testing? I am assuming that applicants for this amnesty would have to be below a certain income or below a certain wealth level. Would there also be inquiries as to why applicants for amnesty applied for CERB when they clearly did no qualify for it? How about the people who decided not to apply for CERB because they knew they did not pass the test? Would they also qualify now for a CERB payment after the fact?

108 words

Ms. Leah Gazan

Mar/23/23 11:52:00 a.m.
Watch

Madam Speaker, we should be clear that this program was not clear to begin with. There were calls to apply for CERB and then we would deal with it after. That is important to point out. A lot of people benefited from support during the pandemic. We know that if we do CERB clawbacks for families that are currently living at lower incomes right now, it is going to result in people ending up on the streets. Income assistance programs are not enough for families to survive, and children are going to be punished for this. I am calling for this, as is the NDP. Instead of going after families living in poverty, instead of going after poor people all the time, poor bashing and criminalizing poor people, let us to go after rich CEOs who collected bonuses during the pandemic from programs that were paid by the government I get tired of that rhetoric in the House. It is not based on research. It is not based on fact. It is a violence that continues in the House against people living in poverty, and I do not accept it.

190 words

Ms. Sylvie Bérubé (Abitibi—Baie-James—Nunavik—Eeyou, BQ)

Mar/23/23 11:53:31 a.m.
Watch

Madam Speaker, I wanted to say that I myself have been a single mother with three children. I have had to work two jobs. I would also like to talk about the cause of poverty, support for families, and funding to help them and single mothers. From my colleague's point of view, what should the government prioritize in terms of support?

63 words

Ms. Leah Gazan

Mar/23/23 11:53:56 a.m.
Watch

Madam Speaker, what I have offered up is not one solution. We need robust supports and services for families, like dental care, universal child care, pharmacare, guaranteed livable basic income and investment in affordable housing with rent geared to income. We need a comprehensive strategy to tackle social inequality.

49 words

Mr. Blake Desjarlais (Edmonton Griesbach, NDP)

Mar/23/23 11:54:30 a.m.
Watch

Madam Speaker, I want to thank my hon. colleagues for engaging in what I believe to be a really important discussion today. To be clear, Canadians are suffering right now. In my community of Edmonton Griesbach, one does not have to look far to see the devastating impacts of poverty. There are community organizations with some of the biggest hearts and biggest hugs one can imagine, but that does not go far enough when we see critical under-resourcing and underfunding of some of the most essential services our country needs to offer. When we do not offer them, we see community organizations having to do that work, the work of health care, the work of mental health, the work that is required to ensure that regular everyday people can maximize their opportunities. People living in absolute poverty, living in the absolute worst situations one can imagine, if they have no homes or supports, are driven to a place in life where they may seek, for example, substances, which they abuse. They will fall down the rabbit hole of trying to find mental health services and will be unable to find them. It is a kind of labyrinth of poverty that our country has created, and we can address it and fix it. We are wealthy country. We would not know that by looking outside. We would not know how wealthy our country really is by the conditions of workers. We would not know how wealthy our country is by the lack of clean water in first nations communities. We would not know how wealthy our country really is until we look at the bonuses big CEOs get. These are questions of our society, of our economy, questions about what kind of Canada we want to build. When I speak to folks in my province of Alberta, they are scared. They are scared of a crumbling health care system that is being driven into the ground by private huge megacorporations that would seek to benefit and profit off those who are sick, and it is being allowed by the politicians for whom they pay. Danielle Smith, the premier of Alberta, right now is allowing for-profit surgeries in my home province. It is shameful when seniors are waiting in emergency rooms day after day not knowing if they are going to get the care they need. I speak to many young people who are struggling to even imagine an idea of owning a home. Even worse, some of them are living on our streets, the most vulnerable in our society. Who put them there? It was not solely the actions of individuals who got them there. It was our society that participated in a manufactured condition. We are seeing a mental health crisis. When I see people in my community struggling to get the supports they need, there are often massive barriers. One of the biggest barriers is money. There is a lack of public mental health care, and that lack of public health care downloads costs onto our existing health care system. This massively and exponentially compounds the problems we are seeing in our hospitals. Hospitals cannot be the one-stop shop for all problems in society. We need to reinforce our hospitals and reinvest in them, but we also need to create more mental health supports with real professionals who can ensure that the work of mental health and the kinds of supports needed in that kind of care are met. We are witnessing a drug-poisoning crisis. It is killing Canadians. It is a crisis that has touched every community that we all represent in this place. Whether it is young people, seniors, business owners or teachers, they are dying because we are not doing anything about the drug-poisoning crisis. We can do more. When driven to absolute poverty, the increase in crimes goes up. These are crimes of desperation. People do not want to see themselves in a penitentiary, but when they find themselves there, we have to ask ourselves as legislators, as people who represent our constituents, how did they get there? It is not, as I said before, the actions of just individuals; it is the conditions of poverty that we have placed upon them. There is an answer to this, and the New Democrats have been steadfast for decades to distinguish between the needs and wants of Canadians. The needs of Canadians are the things I spoke to: good public health care; a good, strong public mental health care system; housing stock that can ensure that low-income folks can get into those homes. We need to address the drug poisoning crisis. We need to make sure that there are resources invested in mental health. We need to take seriously the inflictions of poverty and the outcomes they present. We can ensure that our economy actually works for those who are working to build it. There seems to be a problem with our conception of where wealth comes from in this country. People think CEOs get up in a day and produce all this money. No, it is workers who show up every single day, like the small business owners in my community. They are not only those who offer their philanthropy to those who need help, but they are also the same people who are suffering in their own right. They are seeing huge costs passed on to them, and they cannot afford to compete with these megacorporations that are dodging taxes while simultaneously gouging Canadians. How can a small business compete with that? It is not possible. We need to protect those in the working class in this country. They need strong wages. We do not have a labour shortage in this country; we have a wage crisis. When we increase the wages of everyday workers and they can see the value of their labour produced in their paycheque, that is a good day for workers. It means they can actually put food on the table, pay their bills and pay their mortgages. However, the problem gets worse. It is not just ensuring that workers have good wages but also ensuring that these companies are held to account. We are seeing some of the largest tax avoidance in our country's history taking place right under our noses today, and I will speak directly to some of the facts on this. The tax gap has almost doubled in the last three years. Corporations are walking away with $30 billion in tax avoidance. We could close the tax loopholes today if only we had the courage of the government to see this as a serious problem. I will take a moment to talk about the $30 billion, which can go a long way. We are going to see a budget in a short few weeks, and it is going to demonstrate a massive underfunding of public services if we do not ensure that we close these tax loopholes. Canadians deserve to know that when they show up to work for massive corporations, these corporations are also paying their fair share. When regular, everyday folks are paying exorbitant tax and seeing that these megacorporations are not, there are doubts about the efficacy of our tax system. Moreover, it creates a kind of distrust, which is growing across Canada. We need to fix our tax system, in which corporations see massive profits, with some up 60%, while simultaneously seeing their tax gap go down. This is creating a massive revenue problem. For the government, and in speaking directly with the commissioner of the CRA, it is a massive issue. The CRA needs resources to ensure that it can tackle this. However, right now, these resources are being directed to a witch hunt of little old ladies who took CERB in the most desperate time of need instead of going after the rich corporations that have massive windfall profits. Instead of taxing them, we are going to use CRA to attack these poor folks. We are calling for an amnesty for these folks. I will conclude, as there will be a vote on this amendment in a short while, with regard specifically to the amendment that has been brought by the Conservative Party. New Democrats have been fighting for years to see a pan-Canadian licensing that would make sure we have a standard so that we can increase our workforce, particularly in health care, right here at home. We can do this by ensuring that those who bring those skills here actually have the ability to enter our workforce quickly. We have been calling for this ever since the leader of the official opposition was in federal cabinet, as a matter of fact. Therefore, we are very happy to see the official opposition adopting a very important policy that New Democrats have fought for, and we welcome that. However, my colleague on the finance committee tells me that this specific program was not raised during the committee hearings on the budget, and so it actually was not heard. The Conservatives did not mention it. To be clear, we want action on this issue, but we will be opposing the amendment because we think it is important that the House have a chance to concur in committee before the budget day next week. It is important that we have that. I will conclude with that, and I thank my colleagues.

1576 words

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

Mar/23/23 12:04:39 p.m.
Watch

Mr. Speaker, I was listening attentively. I heard the part of my colleague's speech where he talked about not having a labour shortage but a wage shortage. I may have that slightly incorrect, and he can correct me. I found that to be very interesting. I would agree that, especially since the pandemic came along, the divergence between the haves and the have nots is getting worse and worse and greater and greater. We know that what makes the most successful society, both economically and from a societal perspective, is having a strong middle class in there. Can he expand on that and his suggestions in order to help remedy that?

112 words

Mr. Blake Desjarlais

Mar/23/23 12:05:32 p.m.
Watch

Mr. Speaker, the middle class in this country is important. These are the folks who ensure that our economy is continuing to function. They are contributing every single day. They are showing up to work and making sure that they can put food on the table. The people I am thinking about are those who the middle class often leaves behind. This class of people is growing in this country. Those who need, who are in desperation and who cannot afford to put food on the table are the ones falling behind. It is incumbent on the government to ensure that no one falls behind, particularly when it comes to the needs of Canadians, health care or mental health. We can make the investments that lift these people out of the condition they are in. They do not want a handout; they want a hand up. We can provide that to them because they are people with dignity. They are people with tremendous stories and life experiences who deserve the respect that every worker needs. I will conclude with this. We can eliminate poverty in this country. It is not a matter of money; it is a matter of will.

200 words

Mr. Jeremy Patzer (Cypress Hills—Grasslands, CPC)

Mar/23/23 12:06:34 p.m.
Watch

Mr. Speaker, one thing I found interesting was about the drug addiction crisis that we are facing in this country. One thing the Conservatives are focused on doing is providing more treatment for people who need to receive it. Many mothers have come to my office to talk to me about either somebody in their immediate family or an acquaintance, and how their son or daughter is unable to get the treatment that they deserve because of a lack of beds and a lack of access. Treatment is what these people need so that they have hope to be able to get their lives back on track so they can become regular members of society once again. Would the member agree with me on that?

125 words

Mr. Blake Desjarlais

Mar/23/23 12:07:21 p.m.
Watch

Mr. Speaker, I want to preface my comments on the opioid crisis and the drug poisoning crisis by mentioning the lives that have been lost. We have already lost thousands across this country. People who die cannot seek treatment. That is the problem we have. One can have as many beds as they like, but if we are not addressing the stigma and the barriers to getting that support, we are not doing these folks any favours. We need to ensure that we understand the critical points of how this crisis is affecting us. We need to understand that poverty plays a role in that. We can ensure that people have options. Most times, these folks often need access to what is a health care problem in their lives. We can, of course, ensure that there are benefits towards treatment. However, that cannot be the only solution. There is no silver bullet to this problem. We need to have a holistic solution that addresses the conditions in terms of why people are entering this kind of state. That means anti-poverty measures; ensuring that we have good, safe access to a safe supply; and ensuring that we can meet these people where they are at.

205 words

Mr. Yves Perron (Berthier—Maskinongé, BQ)

Mar/23/23 12:08:26 p.m.
Watch

Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague for his speech. He talked a lot about poverty and lack of income. I would like to ask him about seniors. The Bloc Québécois recently held a conference in the riding of Shefford, where our critic lives. We heard from experts on the subject. Unfortunately, they confirmed our interpretation of the Liberal government's policy of not increasing old age security starting at age 65. It is the Liberal government's way of getting seniors to work. The message the government is sending them is that they need to get out there and work if they do not have enough money. However, not everyone is able to return to the labour market at age 65 or more. Some people are sick, and others held very difficult jobs their whole lives. I think it is appalling and unacceptable to withhold money from a segment of society like that. If the government wants to encourage people aged 65 and over to go to work, then it should give them tax credits, for example. However, we should treat all seniors equally without discriminating based on age. I would like to hear my colleague's thoughts on that.

204 words

Mr. Blake Desjarlais

Mar/23/23 12:09:31 p.m.
Watch

Mr. Speaker, I want to begin by thanking my colleague for bringing up an important topic and advocating for seniors. Seniors are the same people who built this country. They fought for our freedoms. They ensured that we have the kind of beautiful blessings we do today. They are asking for basic respect and decency, which begins with ensuring that the systems they built work for them. The position the government has on not indexing OAS to 65, and instead picking the arbitrary number of 75, is disrespectful. I agree with the member that this is one of the most disrespectful things a government can do. After a lifetime of hard work, these people are left without the supports they need; it is shameful.

124 words