SoVote

Context: House Hansard - 271 - Jan/30/24

Mr. Sameer Zuberi (Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Diversity, Inclusion and Persons with Disabilities, Lib.)

Jan/30/24 6:33:54 p.m.
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Re: Bill C-22

Mr. Speaker, I thank the member for Kitchener Centre for his important advocacy around the disability benefit, for highlighting concerns and bringing them to this House. The disability community is keen and anxious to see that the benefit will be realized, and realized correctly. We understand that many Canadians with disabilities need the additional support from the Canada disability benefit. Our government is eager to get money into the pockets of those who need it most. We must get it right. The delivery of the benefit needs to be smooth, targeted, effective and possible. While the previous Conservative government made promises to Canadians and to the disability community, we actually fulfilled these promises and are going to realize them. Our government has delivered to persons with disabilities. We will continue to do so. We carefully crafted consultations with the disability community. I, myself, over the last five months of being parliamentary secretary to the minister, have learned about the disability community and have learned about the contours, the uniquenesses within the community, and there are many. The disability benefit will reflect these contours, the uniquenesses of the community. Bill C-22 received royal assent on June 22, 2023. Immediately, within a month, we announced the start of meaningful consultations. These consultations are informing the design of the regulations to serve those in need. This is absolutely necessary. The regulatory process is crucial and we must respect it. There is no better way to get it right than to include those with lived experiences. Persons with disabilities need to have the opportunity to contribute to the design of the benefit's regulations. The disability community must have a say in how this benefit will look, and reflect those concerns. In fact, it is required by the Canada Disability Benefit Act. The benefit has real potential to reduce and alleviate poverty and to support those who are seeking financial security, those who are of working age and Canadians with disabilities. We know what the target is. We will hit the mark. Our latest engagement has been via an online tool, where Canadians throughout the country shared their thoughts on details of the benefit. We sought the advice also within key areas from experts, the disability community and advocates. This addresses the member's question on how the application process should be structured. We are now analyzing those very responses from coast to coast from advocates, from people who are living with disabilities and from those with the variations of disabilities reflected within our country. We are assessing those responses right now, and we are drafting the regulations. They are being put into the final stage. We are making sure obstacles are removed so Canadians, those with disabilities, will have access to this important benefit.

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Mr. Mike Morrice

Jan/30/24 6:37:47 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, respectfully, the fact is that the government has not delivered the Canada disability benefit. I will agree though with the parliamentary secretary that they do need to get this right. What the disability community is trying to tell him is that the government needs to follow what is in the Canada Disability Benefit Act, and specifically, that the benefit must be barrier-free. Stakeholders are being told that the disability tax credit may be used as a way to access the Canada disability benefit. This is in contravention of the act. It is not what the community is calling for. What I have been asking from the minister, I am asking again tonight. Very specifically, will the parliamentary secretary make it clear that the disability tax credit will not be used in delivering the Canada disability benefit because it is not barrier-free?

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Mr. Sameer Zuberi

Jan/30/24 6:38:47 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I want to again thank the member for Kitchener Centre for his advocacy. To pick up on the previous reply, we are currently collecting the responses of Canadians who have fed into the process thus far. They are being put into regulation. Those regulations will be first in draft form, when again Canadians will be able to reply to them and to improve them. The feedback we are getting across the country is being put into draft regulations, and Canadians will again have the chance to reflect on them before the benefit is rolled out. This benefit is being done in full consultation with the community following the principle of “nothing about us without us”, which means we can only get to this benefit hand in hand with the disability community.

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Mr. Damien Kurek (Battle River—Crowfoot, CPC)

Jan/30/24 6:39:50 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, as always it is an honour to be able to rise and address such important issues in this place, in particular in relation to the question I asked the Prime Minister on November 23, 2023, which specifically had to do with what has come to be known as the green slush fund. We have heard from high-level whistle-blowers and bureaucrats, those involved, who have said that this is a sponsorship-level type of scandal. For those who may not be familiar with that specific scandal, because it was about two decades ago, millions of dollars were funnelled into Quebec. Specifically, public funds were misappropriated for the benefit of a few Liberal elites and those who were closely connected. However, since November 23, we have a growing laundry list. In fact, I was looking at the list of the Prime Minister's scandals and those of his government. The list of scandals is long; there are dozens and dozens since he became Prime Minister. Even since November 23, we see a growing list. Most recently, there was the $80,000-plus holiday, a free gift given by a so-called friend of the Trudeau family. The Prime Minister did not have any concerns like any other Canadian, and went to stay at an $80,000 luxury resort. Certainly, the Canadians I know do not have friends who own $80,000-per-week luxury resorts. We have seen the smackdown in the courts of the Emergencies Act, a calling-out of unbelievable proportions, showing that the government was completely wrong in its application of the criteria required to take away the rights of Canadians, yet it did it anyway. It was another unbelievable scandal, and this is just since November 23. The list of scandals has grown. We see more information related to the arrive scam app. It was recently revealed that there was fraudulent activity that continues to force us to ask questions about where the money went and who got rich. We see that the pattern of poor judgment speaks to something that erodes trust in the institutions of government because it is a very serious issue. It is something that will have to be grappled with not only today but also for decades to come, as current and future parliamentarians wrestle with the fact that the Prime Minister and the Liberals were so irresponsible with the trust granted to them to govern our country. What I have heard from so many constituents, and what Conservatives have heard across the country, is that while the Liberals are living high at luxury resorts, playing loose with the public purse, Canadians are suffering, visiting food banks in record numbers, seeing the cost of housing become unaffordable and, in some cases, losing their home. When a senior goes to the checkout and is forced, incredibly embarrassingly, to put items back or ask the cashier to not ring them through because they cannot afford them, the reality Canadians are facing could not be more dire. Nonetheless, the scandal-plagued Liberals are so out of touch that they have ignored the reality Canadians are facing, while they and their buddies get rich. Canadians deserve better.

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Ms. Julie Dabrusin (Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Environment and Climate Change and to the Minister of Energy and Natural Resources, Lib.)

Jan/30/24 6:43:54 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I believe that the content of the question, at least in the first instance and maybe slightly now, was about Sustainable Development Technology Canada. I am going to be speaking about that. When the government first became aware of the allegations related to the management of Sustainable Development Technology Canada, the minister took action. Immediate action was taken because any organization entrusted with public funds is expected to act with diligence, care and integrity in all facets of its work. An investigation was undertaken to get to the facts of the situation and determine the most prudent forward plan of action. The fact-finding exercise conducted by the firm of RCGT was just beginning. That exercise found no clear evidence of deliberate unethical behaviour. There were, however, several instances in which the organization was not in full compliance with its contribution agreement. To strengthen practices, SDTC was issued a management action plan with a deadline of December 31 for implementation. SDTC has worked diligently to provide documentation to demonstrate the changes it has made. The department is now in the process of assessing the completeness of SDTC's response and ensuring that the appropriate measures are in place to restore confidence in the management of the organization. Everyone involved is eager to get back to supporting Canadian business. As we know, after discussions with the Auditor General, there is now a full audit of the organization under way. We look forward to the report of the Auditor General and will act with the same prudence we have demonstrated on this file to implement any of the Auditor General's recommendations. There is no cover-up. We have put in place a process for any current or former employee to come forward and share their views. The law firm McCarthy Tétrault has been appointed to conduct a review of human resources management at SDTC. The organization has agreed to take the steps needed to enable this thorough review, allowing current and former employees to speak freely without violating any applicable settlement agreements or non-disclosure agreements. This process is under way and I am confident that it will lead to strengthened practices at SDTC. The government has done its due diligence. This issue has been taken up in the most appropriate venues; that is, the Auditor General, the HR review by McCarthy Tétrault and the Ethics Commissioner investigation. The issues brought forward in this case are important and require us to apply the appropriate due process and due diligence to get to the truth.

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Mr. Damien Kurek

Jan/30/24 6:46:34 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, let me translate what the parliamentary secretary just stated: Do not worry; we have got it; it is not really our fault, but if it is do not worry about it because we will figure out some way to deal with it somehow, sometime in the future, but again, just do not worry; we will move on. Canadians are tired of the irresponsible management of the public purse. Canadians are tired of the scandals. They are tired of the pattern of poor judgment that starts at the top. I come from a rural area where common sense rules, while those Liberals, in some cases literally, want Canadians to freeze in the dark because of their bad ideological decision-making. It is about time that those Liberals realize that the buck stops with them. It is time for them to take responsibility, acknowledge their failures, acknowledge the scandal that has plagued them every day since they were elected, take responsibility and start respecting the public purse.

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Ms. Julie Dabrusin

Jan/30/24 6:47:40 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, it is integral that due process and due diligence continue to guide our actions. The work of the AG, the Ethics Commissioner and the review being led by McCarthy Tétrault will provide the facts that we need to guide our next steps. At the same time, department officials are working to ensure that the organization has met its obligation to implement the corrective measures prescribed by the management response and action plan. We are committed to ensuring that the appropriate governance structures are in place going forward, and we can all agree on this. It is imperative that we focus all of our efforts on supporting Canadian innovators in the clean-tech sector.

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The Deputy Speaker

Jan/30/24 6:48:14 p.m.
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I thank the members for their interventions tonight. This is also a quick reminder that when we have an adjournment debate we try to stick to the questions that were originally submitted for that debate. The motion that the House do now adjourn is 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 6:48 p.m.)

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