Procedure and House Affairs Committee on April 13th, 2021

[Darrell Samson, Liberal, Sackville—Preston—Chezzetcook, NS]

I want to thank my colleague for that, because I was going to land there soon. I'm glad that she helped point that out for all Canadians, because that's what team Canada is. You see how quickly she wanted to make sure that I didn't miss a step. She wanted to support me in my intervention and that's what it's about. She was coming to support us, because we're working together to achieve the same success, because Canada is a great country. Canadians are great people. We are proud of our country and we must continue to work together.

As my colleague noted earlier, yes, we'll finally be voting in a few hours. I hope all my colleagues and all parties can join with us in voting for Bill C‑14 because Canadians have neither the time nor the appetite for partisan politics or strategies, at any time. They want us to work together for the welfare of Canadian citizens.

I want to get back to seniors.

I have to say that isolation is particularly hard on seniors. It's hard on us too because we like to see our fathers, mothers and grandparents, but we're afraid to visit them because we know we're in the midst of a pandemic and don't want to increase the risk of infection. These are tough situations as well.

Yesterday one of my constituents called me to discuss the difficult situation he was facing. He told me he hadn't seen his niece for more than a year because she had health issues, being acutely sensitive to environmental factors in particular and perhaps COVID‑19. He lives 10 kilometers away from her. Situations like these are really trying for many Canadians.

As I said a little earlier, there are two tunnels.

The first tunnel concerns the health and safety of Canadians and the second the economy and support for individuals, families and entrepreneurs. We know that women have been the hardest hit economically; they have found the situation even harder, considering the greater and tougher challenges they've had to face. That's also the case of young people. We've doubled funding for student summer jobs. That will help a lot.

In my riding of Sackville—Preston—Chezzetcook alone,

we just about doubled student summer jobs. This is crucial. Students need to work. They need to make money to continue their studies, and we need to support them.

We need to support them. That is why our government doubled our funding. I'm so proud of the support. Last year we didn't know if we could even get those jobs going or if companies would be able to function, but they found their way.

We work together, as we must continue to do today and tomorrow. It's crucial that we do it.

Getting back to seniors, we had to invest in certain areas to support them. I have so many stories. Down in Preston, a group of young people got together and brought some groceries to families. We had Beacon food bank, the Red Cross and the United Way. These organizations play such an important role. If government had to pay them to do work, we wouldn't be able to afford it. They volunteer and do so much outreach.

Transportation for seniors is crucial. I spoke to a few seniors the other day. Some of them haven't been out for months. They are just waiting now. They are hopeful. They are feeling much better today than they were feeling a month ago because the vaccines are coming out.

Our government announced that we would have six million vaccines by March 31. I hate to say it, but some parties on the other side said, “That's not going to happen. It's not possible. There's so much need across the world that we'll never get six million.” My friends, we got well over eight million vaccines. It's 10 million this week, and I think we're at 12 million next week. We're ramping up, and it's because of all of you and your support.

I know the opposition has a role to play, and you've played that role. It's important to give us suggestions, and to give us your comments and your opinions, but at the end of the day, we must govern. We must make decisions as government, and those decisions are very important.

Going back to Bill C-14, we're going to see some help in it for Canadians, but my friends, more good news will be coming on Monday. Again, I don't have a crystal ball, but I know that we have been consulting with Canadians. We have been listening. We've been having those conversations, putting the time in that's so crucial to help Canadians, and now we will be able to deliver a budget that will continue to support Canadians.

If we had not prorogued Parliament, if we had not reset the agenda and refocused.... We've been doing that, to be quite honest with you, for a long time. Yes, we prorogued, but we're still working and focusing on where to put our priorities. That's what the fall economic statement allowed us to do, to start building that blueprint and start putting into action some key things that we've seeing through Bill C-14.

Monday will be an important day for Canadians as we continue to support all Canadians right across this country. You know the old saying, from Newfoundland to Vancouver, and then the territories of course. I can't believe I skipped Nova Scotia and Sackville—Preston—Chezzetcook, but it's all provinces, all Canadians.

You know, when we're Canadian, we have to make sure.... When it comes to long-term care, we learned through this pandemic that there are gaps. We need to build national standards together. I have to say, that's where we need you to share with us what standards are necessary, to make sure that we continue to support and protect seniors. It's crucial.

I'm Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Veterans Affairs. Veterans are also struggling through this pandemic. It has been extremely difficult for them. It is our responsibility to care for, to support, to help and to work in partnership with our veterans community. I know that we work very hard to support organizations that support veterans across this country. It was very important to help those organizations stay afloat. I'm talking about the Legion, which is another organization that is so important.

I don't know if you know, but there are 1,382 Legions in this country. I'm sure that each and every one of you, if we took a poll right now, could tell me how many Legions you have in your riding. As I said earlier, I wasn't a math teacher—I've been in the profession of education for 30 years—but it doesn't take a rocket scientist to know that if there are 1,382 to 1,400 Legions across this country, and there are 338 members of Parliament from all sides, all parts of this country, on average, you have three Legions in your riding. I have five. Some may have two.

These Legions, these people volunteering in Legions are playing a major role in supporting our veterans and our communities every day. Legions were shut down. They couldn't raise money. The poppy fund was getting weaker and weaker as we moved about. We had no choice. It was simple. Government had to come to their support as quickly as possible. They're one organization.

There's VETS Canada. They reach right across this country, and they're supporting veterans on the ground every day. There's also True Patriot Love. There are so many great organizations out there, and we were able to get them some support, financial support. There was $20 million for all those organizations, about $14 million of which went to Legions because, as I said, they cover a lot of turf.

I want to thank all of you here today. It's because of you, all parties, team Canada, that we were able to deliver that funding and continue the supports on the ground for these individuals. It's very important.

I understand we're going to vote on Bill C-14 today. I would like to think it will receive unanimous support because there are important investments in individuals, in Canadians, in this bill. It's already late, but together, as team Canada, we're going to get there because we need to get there.

I could go on for another hour if you want and talk about where our investments need to be when we talk about building back better because it's crucial. This is what the committee is supposed to be talking about. How can we work together to put forward the programs and initiatives and to create the investment environment?

Mr. Long is a businessman. As he knows, government is not to lead. We are to create that positive environment for the business community to prosper. We need to get out of their way to some extent for them to do that, and this is what we can do together.

I would love to continue on. Maybe I'll get another chance sometime, but I have another meeting. This is my first reflection with this committee in which I've had a chance to talk about this important motion and the amendment. We should be focused on building back better, working together for all Canadians.

To all Canadians from Newfoundland, the Atlantic, Ontario, Quebec, the west, British Columbia and the territories, I say: together we can change things.

I'll conclude with the expression I used for 11 years as executive director: "Every problem has a solution; together we can change things."

Thank you very much.

[The Chair, Liberal, Ruby Sahota]

Thank you, Mr. Samson.

[Ginette Petitpas Taylor, Liberal, Moncton—Riverview—Dieppe, NB]

I have a point of order, Madam Chair.

[The Chair, Liberal, Ruby Sahota]

Yes, Ms. Petitpas Taylor.

[Ginette Petitpas Taylor, Liberal, Moncton—Riverview—Dieppe, NB]

I'm sorry to interrupt. I first of all want to thank Darrell.

I also wondered if we could get a sense of how long we will be going today. I have no issues, but if there is anything I need to cancel, I would like to get a bit of a sense of whether we will be going on for an extended period of time or whether we're planning on finishing shortly.

I wonder if we could get a bit of direction on that.

[The Chair, Liberal, Ruby Sahota]

That's a good point. I didn't even realize it was past one o'clock.

Mr. Nater has his hand up.

[John Nater, Conservative, Perth—Wellington, ON]

Madam Chair, why don't we move to a vote right now, and then we can adjourn after the vote. Why don't we vote on the motion and amendment, and carry on?

[The Chair, Liberal, Ruby Sahota]

Is everyone ready for a vote at this point?

Some are and some are not.

[Darrell Samson, Liberal, Sackville—Preston—Chezzetcook, NS]

No. We still have some speakers on the list, I think. It's crucial to hear from everyone on this important topic.

Thank you.

[The Chair, Liberal, Ruby Sahota]

Thank you, Mr. Samson.

CBC aired your announcement of the apology for the Black battalion from World War I, and I thought that was really well done. Your speech in particular was very moving. I got to hear you speak from the comfort of my home. I'm glad CBC aired it in that way. I thought it was really accessible for everybody. It was a well done event, different from the announcement you were recently.... You've been doing a lot of announcements.

We will carry on with the list. We have Mr. Long next.

[Wayne Long, Liberal, Saint John—Rothesay, NB]

Thank you, Madam Chair.

Good afternoon to all my friends and colleagues in PROC. I'm happy to be back as a sub. I have been here so often that sometimes I feel like I'm a regular member. I always joke with my colleagues that I want to make sure I'm invited to the barbecues, the Christmas parties and all of those things when we can all get together.

I want to commend MP Samson on that really moving, thought-provoking, unbelievable speech. It was a pleasure to listen to you, Darrell.

[The Chair, Liberal, Ruby Sahota]

We may have to do that in the future when we are all together. Previously, I think under the leadership of Scott Reid actually, we used to meet every once in a while in the Parliamentary Restaurant and have an unofficial committee business meeting. We'd just talk about our hopes about where we want to go in this committee and what kind of work we want to do. I always found the times we did that were really good. It was beneficial to all sit together from across parties and break some bread without the pressure of a formal meeting.

Maybe we can do that. Maybe it will be a barbecue this time, if you're cooking, Wayne.

I'm sorry to interrupt, but it just brought back a memory. Go ahead.

[Wayne Long, Liberal, Saint John—Rothesay, NB]

I think times like that, Chair, when we can all get together in a more relaxed, informal environment are good. It's about team building and it's about talking to each other in a more non-political environment and surrounding. I think that's healthy.

Certainly, in my days at the Saint John Sea Dogs, a wonderful major junior hockey league team here in Saint John, I was very big with team building and making sure our players could get together away from the pressures of hockey, billets, parents, coaches, agents and so on and so forth.

I have lots of things I want to talk about. I'm sure the Sea Dogs will come up, but first and foremost I did want to just thank you, MP Samson, again for your speech. I always enjoy sitting around at the Atlantic caucus and national caucus with you. You're a wonderful member of Parliament and your riding is certainly lucky to have somebody as passionate as you.

I want to acknowledge a few things from your speech before I get started talking about MP Turnbull's amendment. One is your recognition of MP Duncan and the work she has done from, really, day one of this pandemic with all of us—the calls, the Zooms and just the leadership.

I will be frank. To get an email out of the blue from MP Duncan asking how you're doing means a lot. It means a lot to me, personally, that somebody who I have become friends with over the past few years.... A general out-of-the-blue email concerned about your well-being and how you are doing means a lot. Certainly, MP Duncan, kudos to you for your continued leadership.

I still look back at the time when you were in Saint John. We did an announcement with Brilliant Labs on coding. I will never ever forget. We walked into the school. We did our announcement. We were there for probably 45 minutes, all in all. There were 20 to 25 young adults, give or take, who all had an exhibit they wanted to show MP Duncan. During her speech, she recalled every child's name who was there.

We wondered how she did that. We thought she must have had a list. No. She just remembered all their names. I will never forget that. I thought there must be some cue cards or something that one of her assistants was holding. No. She went left to right in that room and named absolutely everybody. Incredible. Kudos.

[The Chair, Liberal, Ruby Sahota]

Mr. Long, could you move your boom mike up just a little bit more?

[Wayne Long, Liberal, Saint John—Rothesay, NB]

Sure. Is that better? I apologize.

[The Chair, Liberal, Ruby Sahota]

It looks better.

[The Clerk]

Madam Chair, yes, apparently it's better, so that's good.

Thank you, Mr. Long.

[Wayne Long, Liberal, Saint John—Rothesay, NB]

Okay, my apologies. I hope I didn't take out the ears of our wonderful interpreters.

Also, MP Samson, I want to acknowledge the two wonderful Legions in my riding of Saint John—Rothesay, Legion branch 69 and Jervis Bay Legion. They do wonderful work in our community. You are right. I believe you said there are 1,300 Legions across the country. My respect goes out to each and every one of them, and I'm certainly glad that, as a government, we were able to step in and help them, and when we help them, they help others. It's certainly a win-win for all of us.

It has been an interesting day. I gave a lot of thought to this meeting, the meeting we're in now, and the situation we're in. I did some preparation, obviously, and certainly saw some news of the day where the Leader of the Opposition came out with his climate plan. I looked at that with great interest. Certainly it looks like some parts of our plan are there.

I remark at the use of green screens now. The leader of the party was out in space at one point, and then he was over a lake, and then he was going through the forest, and then he was in the woods. It was remarkable to see. He was all over the place. Those presentations sometimes are difficult with green screens in the background.

I know certainly the leader of the opposition in the previous Parliament did his supposed climate plan at what almost looked like Camp Crystal Lake from Friday the 13th. It was this small, little lake where he did his presentation. Not to harken back to movies, but I was always reminded of the movie Friday the 13th when he made his announcement.

I want to build on MP Samson's speech. I never say that I was a businessman; I still am a business person. I've had great success. I've been lucky; I've been fortunate. I've taken risks. I remember leaving a somewhat secure job. I had a $10,000 line of credit. I had two weeks' vacation. I remember sitting with my wife, Denise, and totalling up that I had about 10 weeks to make my business work, otherwise.... Denise at that point was home with our youngest son, Konnor, who was just two, and our oldest son, Khristian. I remember taking that risk. I remember being that entrepreneur. Sometimes people will look at entrepreneurs like they're just these risk-taking people, but that's how Canada was built. It was built by entrepreneurs and small business owners.

To link where I was as a small business person to where I am now, I love what I do. I thank God every day for the opportunity I have been given to represent my riding, my beautiful riding, its people and those who are in need and to be an advocate for them.

Being a small business owner, I had to meet payroll. I had to balance budgets. I had to run a deficit at times. I had to strategically invest. I had to do those things. I wanted to take those skill sets to Ottawa to contribute to our government and help with policy decisions and add my voice, whether it be in the New Brunswick caucus, Atlantic caucus or national caucus.

You know, I wouldn't say I've become disillusioned, not at all, but then you fast forward to my committee work. I love what I did at HUMA. I see MP Vecchio, who was a big part of our team in HUMA in the first Parliament. We travelled the country. We developed a report, if you will, a study on poverty reduction, which certainly was part and parcel of our poverty reduction strategy and our national housing strategy. I also sat on the ethics committee with MP Blaikie.

Committees can do great work. Look, I was the first person who was skeptical of committees: “Oh, yeah, committees, whatever. You go up there and you sit and you....” No. No. I tell my constituents that—no. We do work for Canadians in those committees, the work of Parliament—great work. We help with legislation. We help with bills. We study. We are the second sober thought at times.

Chair, we just talked about getting together in a more relaxed environment, maybe have a barbecue for some togetherness and fellowship. There's no committee that probably holds more esteem than PROC. It's a committee that a lot of MPs hold in the highest esteem.

Here we are. I understand that politics is politics, and the job of the opposition is to challenge the government, make government better, to hold government accountable. I get it. I get it absolutely.

I was elected in 2015. I guess I'm five and a half years in. I don't feel like a veteran. Some people call me a veteran, but I don't feel that way.

I think we need to step back, and we need to understand why we are where we are. MP Samson covered many, many topics and many, many issues. His speech was wonderful. I appreciate that. But in the end, to circle this back, we are here today and we're talking about MP Turnbull's amendment. Chair, correct me if I'm wrong here.

As I said the last time I spoke, this is like Inception. Have you ever watched that? You're at one layer and then you're at another layer and another, and then you're about four layers back, and then you have to try to crawl back up the ladder and get back to reality. Again, we're talking about MP Turnbull's amendment to MP Vecchio's motion.

For those Canadians who are listening, and I'm sure there are thousands upon thousands upon thousands of Canadians who are really tuned into this.... No, I can't say that with a straight face. As I did last week, and the week before and the week before that and the week before that, before I speak sometimes I like to just clear my head, so I'll go out. I'll turn the camera around and I'll show you. There's a route just outside my office door here into the mall. It's called Market Square. I just talk to constituents. I have my mask on and am obviously socially distanced. I talk to them about the issues of the day and what they want and what they're concerned about, and their hopes and dreams and their fears and concerns.

Their concerns are about a once-in-a-generation pandemic that we are in the midst of. They talk about COVID-19. They talk about vaccinations. They talk about our government delivering vaccinations to the tune of.... As for the numbers, as MP Samson said, we're ramping up. We have our foot on the pedal. We're full steam ahead here.

I apologize if I'm off, but we were supposed to deliver six million vaccines by the end of March. I believe we exceeded that by.... I think we were at eight, and then we were at 9.4. That number continues to grow and grow.

Later this afternoon I will be getting my AstraZeneca vaccine. I'm thrilled about that. As leaders in our communities, every one of us should absolutely fight back against vaccine hesitancy. I tell people that the best vaccine you can get is the first one available to you. My wife, Denise, and I will get the AstraZeneca vaccine later this afternoon. We're thrilled about that opportunity. We're going to continue to promote that and make sure all Canadians are vaccinated.

In fact, as we have said, we will make sure and certainly Premier Higgs in this province will make sure that.... Obviously, we're going to provide vaccines to Premier Higgs, but we're going to make sure that everybody can get their first vaccine by the middle of June. I think that will be a wonderful accomplishment. That's what people are concerned about. That's what people want us to be seized with, getting them through the pandemic, offering them support through the pandemic.

I'll be the first to tell you that I've gained a whole new appreciation for what a strong government can do for their country, their constituents and their citizens in times of crisis. Boy, have we as a Liberal government delivered for Canadians. We've been there when they needed us. We've had their backs.

I remember coming home on March 15 last year not knowing what we were going to face. I talked about that earlier. I don't think any of us from any party, whether it's MP Kent, MP Nater, MP Van Bynen or MP Simms.... I'm looking at the list here. I don't think any of us were really prepared for what we faced when we all came back to our constituencies in March—the fear, the uncertainty, what we saw going on in other parts of the world.

And we delivered—CERB, CEBA, commercial support for rent and rent support, loans, interest-free loans and working with banks on mortgage deferral. Then there was the CRB, expanded EI, caregiver benefits and sick leave. We have delivered programs for Canadians, and I'm proud of that. I know that Canadians are appreciative of what we have done as a government to be there for them.

Getting back to my being out in the—

[The Chair, Liberal, Ruby Sahota]

Do you have a point of order, Madam Normandin?

[Christine Normandin, Bloc, Saint-Jean, QC]

Thank you, Madam Chair.

I don't like to interrupt my colleagues, but I see he's describing the actions the government has taken. He's no longer addressing Mr. Turnbull's amendment.

Could you remind my colleague to be somewhat more relevant in his remarks?

Thank you.

[The Chair, Liberal, Ruby Sahota]

Thank you, Madam Normandin.

I do encourage the member to stay relevant to the amendment at hand.

[Wayne Long, Liberal, Saint John—Rothesay, NB]

Thank you, Madam Chair and MP Normandin. I certainly take your point. I understand your point of order, and acknowledge that in making sure that I stay relevant to MP Turnbull's amendment to the motion. I'll just finish up with this, and then we'll get to MP Turnbull's amendment.

The programs we've offered are what Canadians needed. Canadians appreciated it from all of us who offered support: the Conservatives, the Bloc, the Greens, the NDP, our own party, the independents—whoever. I talked to 13 or 14 people today, and I asked them if they knew anything about prorogation and the Conservative Party challenging it with respect to...and we're going to get to this, obviously, to the Perelmuters, the Kielburgers and all of this here in a second, with respect to the motion.

I asked them if they were seized with that. They were looking at me kind of like “no” and asking why they would be seized with that. They said they're interested in support. They said, “We're interested, Wayne, in your advocating for more funding for this riding, for infrastructure spending, for working with proponents in the rapid housing initiative and the federal co-investment fund to make sure we can deliver affordable housing from coast to coast to coast.” Those are the things they want us working on.

I think this is important and you'll have to bear with me on this, Chair. For those Canadians who are listening in today with respect to MP Vecchio's motion, obviously you can't have an amendment to a motion without the motion, so I want to quickly go through MP Vecchio's motion and then explain MP Turnbull's amendment to it so that everybody understands it in context. I think that's only fair.

MP Normandin, I hope this ties it back now to the motion and the amendment to the motion. I have them here.

There are times for the old adage that there's an answer to the question or a solution to the problem, but when you don't want an answer to the question or a solution to the problem, you continue to look for the problem. You continue to look for the question when there's an answer. You look for the problem when there's a solution.

To go to MP Vecchio's motion, I'll quote her:

That, in respect of the Committee's study of the government's reasons for the prorogation of Parliament in August 2020, the Committee

(a) renew the invitation issued to the Prime Minister to appear before the committee, provided that if he does not agree, within one week of the adoption of this motion, to appear for at least three hours, the Chair shall be instructed to report to the House forthwith a recommendation that this committee be empowered to order his appearance from time to time—

[Karen Vecchio, Conservative, Elgin—Middlesex—London, ON]

Point of order.

[The Chair, Liberal, Ruby Sahota]

Ms. Vecchio.

[Karen Vecchio, Conservative, Elgin—Middlesex—London, ON]

Although I'm really enjoying this, I do think we are supposed to be talking about the amendment. I understand that Mr. Long would like to put this forward, but after two months of this filibuster, if people tuning in today don't know that for the last eight weeks everybody has been filibustering, it's great, but we should really get on to the business of the day.

My turn was at the beginning, two months ago, when I actually addressed this. It has been addressed numerous times, so if we could talk about the amendment, I know there will be great [Technical difficulty—Editor] as he is starting right now.