SoVote

Context: House Hansard - 182 - Apr/21/23

Mr. Terry Sheehan (Sault Ste. Marie, Lib.)

Apr/21/23 11:00:50 a.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I appreciated your S. O. 31 on Monday, opening up National Volunteer Week, and today I am tremendously honoured to be closing up National Volunteer Week. I want to take this opportunity to thank all those who donate their time and labour to make Sault Ste. Marie and the broader Algoma district a better place to live, work and play. Last week, I had the opportunity to meet the folks from Sault Search and Rescue, whose members log over 4,000 hours each year responding to urgent situations and training, at no cost to the community. They provide such an important service. Whether it is in a field like firefighting, conservation, hospitals or local child and sporting activities, volunteers make our communities run. Board leaders, fundraisers and those who work on the ground, these people are absolute jewels to our community. I urge all Canadians to take some time and find ways to give back to their communities, because with each individual act of volunteerism, we collectively make our communities better. We also make our country an even better place to live.

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Context: House Hansard - 182 - Apr/21/23

Ms. Rachel Bendayan (Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Tourism and Associate Minister of Finance, Lib.)

Apr/21/23 11:14:30 a.m.
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Mr. Speaker, quite often in the House we spend our time talking about the problems in our society and how to fix them. During this volunteer week, we should also take the time to recognize all those who work on the ground to improve people's lives. That is precisely the mandate of Mission inclusion, an exceptional organization in my riding of Outremont that is celebrating its 75th anniversary this year. Mission inclusion has made its mark in the world for 75 years. It has helped nearly 30 million vulnerable people through support programs in Outremont, throughout Quebec and around the world. To the entire team led by Richard Veenstra and Isabelle Morin I say in the House of Commons, here in Ottawa, congratulations, Mission inclusion, here is to many more years.

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Context: House Hansard - 182 - Apr/21/23

Mr. Gord Johns (Courtenay—Alberni, NDP)

Apr/21/23 12:42:56 p.m.
Watch
Re: Bill C-47

Mr. Speaker, first, I want to thank my colleague from Joliette, with whom I have worked for many years now on tax fairness, trying to make sure that those who are not paying their fair share do pay their fair share. I want to talk about mental health fairness, especially for first responders and military veterans in our country. I got a message from Blair Meadows, who is a veteran and a strong volunteer and committed citizen at the Qualicum Beach Legion, in my riding. He talked about the important costs associated with PTSD service dogs for military police and first responders and that they need to be fully covered by the federal government, including training, maintenance and aftercare. As Mr. Meadows has pointed out, “These dogs are part of our medical care and well-being. Personally, my service dog saved my life and you can't put a price on that.” Others have said similar things. These dogs save lives. When it comes to the people who put their lives on the line for our freedom and democracy, who put the sacrifice on, the government has a duty to ensure that the costs associated with these dogs are covered. It actually saves our health care system money. I know this is an issue for my good colleague from North Island—Powell River, which hopefully should be North Island—qathet if she gets her way with the electoral boundary commission, which she should, in the future. I would like to say to my colleague that this was not in the budget. We saw the Conservatives cut a third of Veterans Affairs when it was under their watch. The government has failed to deliver the critical services that Blair Meadows and many other veterans and first responders need. Does my colleague agree that this should be covered and that it actually saves money when it comes to the mental health care system in our country?

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