SoVote

Context: House Hansard - 336 - Sep/16/24

Mr. Mike Morrice (Kitchener Centre, GP)

Sep/16/24 3:35:55 p.m.
Watch

Mr. Speaker, it is an honour to rise on this first day back of the fall sitting of our Parliament to present a petition on behalf of petitioners who would remind us that folks with disabilities across the country continue to disproportionately live in poverty. They make it clear that this is because federal and territorial programs are below the poverty line. They note that the Canada disability benefit was promised as a benefit to reduce poverty for persons with disabilities in the same manner as the guaranteed income supplement and the Canada child benefit. However, instead, the proposed Canada disability benefit from budget 2024 is nothing that the disability community had been calling for, falling well short of the many promises made by the Liberal government. The petitioners note that the maximum amount is just $200 a month, that it requires a new application process in contravention of section 11(f) of the Canada Disability Benefit Act and that it is restricted to folks who have the disability tax credit, which is long known for the many barriers to access. The petitioners call on the government, in short, to fix the Canada disability benefit. They go on to itemize the numerous ways that this needs to be done, first, by fully funding the benefit to actually lift folks out of poverty with the urgency seen with the CERB, the Canada emergency response benefit, for example. They go on to call for the government to automatically enrol folks with disabilities who are already a part of provincial and territorial programs, rather than using this disability tax credit. They call on the government to tie it to an individual's income as opposed to household income. In short, it is a clear set of principles and actions that could be taken to fix the Canada disability benefit. I am glad to present this petition on behalf of over 3,000 people who have signed it.

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Context: House Hansard - 336 - Sep/16/24

Mr. Mike Morrice (Kitchener Centre, GP)

Sep/16/24 10:59:34 p.m.
Watch

Mr. Speaker, this being my first opportunity to intervene in the debate this evening, I want to start by thanking the member for Nunavut for bringing forward this emergency debate. In her interventions, I heard her differentiate between more studies and action. Specifically, I heard her call out the Truth and Reconciliation Commission's calls to action. The government has actually been so slow at moving forward on those calls to action that the Yellowhead Institute has even stopped reporting back on them. If we are going to be serious about this being an emergency debate, we should be listening to what the member for Nunavut is putting forward, which is to push for action that indigenous leaders have already made clear they want to see. Those are the calls to action of the TRC. It should be imperative for all of us to work together to make progress on them more quickly. My question for the member for Vaughan—Woodbridgeis this: What is he willing to do, alongside MPs from all parties, to make progress on the TRC's calls to action more quickly, as the member for Nunavut has called for?

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Context: House Hansard - 336 - Sep/16/24

Mr. Mike Morrice (Kitchener Centre, GP)

Sep/16/24 11:28:41 p.m.
Watch

Mr. Speaker, the member for Kamloops—Thompson—Cariboo spoke about moving to action, about young people and listening to folks on the ground. That is what the TRC was all about. It is what the member for Nunavut has called for us to focus on. Call to action 66 specifically calls on the federal government “to establish multi-year funding for community-based youth organizations to deliver programs on reconciliation”. Is the member supportive of call to action 66 and what is he doing to make it happen?

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Context: House Hansard - 336 - Sep/16/24

Mr. Mike Morrice (Kitchener Centre, GP)

Sep/16/24 11:41:38 p.m.
Watch

Mr. Speaker, I want to follow up on that question, recognizing that the member for Yukon has such a track record here of working with others in the best interest of his community and those he is looking to serve. To follow up on the question from the member for Nunavut from earlier, could he talk about what other MPs can do to support efforts to move more quickly toward the implementation of indigenous policing, in the way that the member for Nunavut referred to?

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