Human Resources Committee on May 15th, 2020

[Deb Schulte, Liberal, King—Vaughan, ON]

We've put extra staff into Service Canada and into the areas that need to be able to work on getting these benefits out the door. We've been assigning staff accordingly within the department to try to help reduce those backlogs. There was a peak as new programs came on, then they evened out, and it's gotten better. We're very mindful, and we're keeping an eye on that and putting more resources where required so that Canadians and seniors can get the benefits they need.

Thank you.

[Stephanie Kusie, Conservative, Calgary Midnapore, AB]

Thank you.

[The Chair, Liberal, Sean Casey]

Thank you, Minister.

Thank you, Mrs. Kusie.

Next we have Ms. Young for five minutes, please.

[Kate Young, Liberal, London West, ON]

Thank you very much, Mr. Chair. I'm going to be sharing my time with one of my colleagues.

Through you, I'd like to talk to Minister Schulte.

I want to commend the great work that you have done as Minister of Seniors. You will recall that, when we both became MPs in 2015, we both expressed real concern that there wasn't a full minister designated for seniors issues, and there hadn't been for some time. You quickly brought together a number of MPs and formed a seniors caucus. I was happy to be a part of that to address some of the issues that seniors are facing. I was certainly thrilled when you were named Minister of Seniors.

I was going over some statistics. According to the Canadian income survey released this year, the number of seniors living in poverty is still high; however, it's significantly better than it was in 2014, when a staggering 28% of single seniors were living in poverty. Now it's 8%. COVID-19 has really shone the light on these seniors issues.

How are we assisting these vulnerable seniors specifically to make sure they don't end up living in poverty?

[Deb Schulte, Liberal, King—Vaughan, ON]

We've come a long way. The government has been working since day one on improving the situation for seniors. You know that we did a GST top-up in our very early budget to try to help those very low-income and vulnerable seniors. There were too many seniors living in poverty, and through our measures, we've had a significant improvement in the circumstances of seniors across Canada. However, during this pandemic, we've seen again that seniors are struggling, especially our more vulnerable seniors.

This is why we did the program to provide the $300 for those on old age security, and an additional $200 as an improvement for the more vulnerable who are on the guaranteed income supplement. As I said before, the money they got in April for the GST top-up has helped a couple on the guaranteed income supplement by over $1,500 on average. That's a significant help for vulnerable seniors during this COVID pandemic.

What we haven't talked about is that there are a lot of seniors who are afraid to come out of their homes. They don't have access to public transit the way they used to, because they're afraid to use public transit. If they need to go somewhere, they're often taking a taxi. They're seeing a tremendous impact on their finances because they're having to spend more on the drugs they need. This was raised before by one of the members of the committee, that provinces are limiting the amount of drugs that people are able to have to one month, which means they now have additional dispensing fees. There is a long list of impacts that seniors are facing, and our vulnerable seniors are most affected.

One of the things we're doing is putting in significant investments in community organizations to help support seniors. We see so many organizations stepping up across the country specifically reaching out to seniors to make sure they get the groceries they need and to make sure they have a hot meal. This is coming through with over half a billion dollars that we have flowed into charities and supports for vulnerable Canadians, including seniors.

Part of our announcement this week was an additional $20 million of new horizons money, because we are always oversubscribed in the new horizons program where community groups want to help seniors. In this environment, I've been so impressed with the creativity that people have brought on how to bring seniors together, keeping them in their homes, keeping them safe, but making sure they feel a very connected part of the community.

I'll give you an example if you have the time.

[Kate Young, Liberal, London West, ON]

Thank you so much, Minister Schulte. I really want to allow my colleague Mr. Turnbull to ask a question.

[The Chair, Liberal, Sean Casey]

I'm very sorry, Mr. Turnbull. There are about 15 seconds left if you want to make a quick comment, but you won't have time for a response.

[Ryan Turnbull, Liberal, Whitby, ON]

Minister, I just want to say that you've been a tireless advocate for seniors. As you know, I've been advocating for the seniors in my riding quite strongly, and I've found you to be very responsive and very active. I just want to acknowledge you for that and thank you for being here.

[Deb Schulte, Liberal, King—Vaughan, ON]

And I'll give a shout-out to you.

[The Chair, Liberal, Sean Casey]

Thank you, Mr. Turnbull.

Next we have Mr. Shields for five minutes.

[Martin Shields, Conservative, Bow River, AB]

One of the things you mentioned was new horizons for seniors in the sense of those supports that you talk about. We have two challenges with that. Many seniors who used to be volunteers for Meals on Wheels, delivering things to seniors, are not doing this any longer because they are afraid. They are isolating and don't want to go out. Have seniors really withdrawn significantly because of that?

Second, when we talk about new horizons, PPE is a real challenge. As we relaunch and open businesses, we have a lot of businesses like dental, health care and chiropractic care. They can't get PPE, so our volunteer base is further down that line in the sense of securing PPE. People volunteering is one thing, but without those resources, we have a real challenge.

[Deb Schulte, Liberal, King—Vaughan, ON]

There were two thoughts there, which I'll address.

You're absolutely right. There are many seniors who are isolating in their homes, doing exactly what they need to do to stay safe, especially if they have more complicated health challenges.

With the money for the new horizons for seniors program, the $9 million that we gave to United Way Centraide specifically to support seniors and the $50 million that we have generally provided to local organizations, I have seen a significant number of organizations pivot.... Well, maybe “pivot” is not the right word. They have modified their programs so they can get volunteers. You're right; seniors volunteer. They have time and enthusiasm, and they want to get involved. They want to share their wisdom and their knowledge, so they're usually the ones who are out volunteering to support seniors, and if they're staying home, then we don't have them.

We have been encouraging organizations to potentially hire students. You can see through the Canada summer jobs program that we've also put that into play, so that groups can hire students to help seniors, support them in their homes and keep them connected, train them on video equipment and get them iPads. These are things that we are allowing the new horizons for seniors money to be available for, and it's making a big difference in the lives of seniors today. It will also be helping some of our students get jobs and keeping people employed during this difficult time.

The other issue you raised was protective equipment. This is part of the push that the government has done to acquire as much protective equipment as we can so that we will have some stockpiles available for essential services. We're also engaging and ramping up the opportunity for businesses in Canada, putting orders in with them, getting them going, giving them their certifications and what's required so they can provide this equipment and start getting a national amount of PPE so that we can open up and get back to work safely.

[Martin Shields, Conservative, Bow River, AB]

Again, those volunteers are at the lower end of anybody getting PPE; they really are. They're not going to get it. There are demands much, much higher on the list than they are, and that is a real problem.

There is money coming to new horizons, as you mentioned. United Way is not in my constituency; it is not in many rural ones. When is this money coming out to organizations like new horizons? When will they receive it?

[Deb Schulte, Liberal, King—Vaughan, ON]

Most communities, most ridings, had new horizons money that came to organizations in January.

On that money, we recently alerted those organizations that they had an opportunity to change their program. They didn't have to reapply if they met some new criteria in terms of supporting seniors in a different way, such as hiring volunteers, providing groceries and supports, providing equipment so that seniors could stay connected and getting volunteers to make phone calls and connect with seniors. These are things that the new horizons for seniors program is now allowing those in your community who had money in January to do today, to use that money in this way.

They have the opportunity to not do that and to wait until they can do their regular programming, because not everybody can change what they had in mind, but many are making those changes and providing the support they want to through these allowable categories. They don't need to reapply. They can just use the money right now, today.

That money is in communities on the ground already, and we've just added another $20 million to have organizations that didn't get the money before, but want to do that kind of work in communities, to be able to access additional funding to do that. You will see it on the ground even in those communities that don't have United Way Centraide or Red Cross, which is another group to which we have provided money to help seniors as well.

We've put $100 million on the table to food banks and food share programs, and they've have been distributing that money throughout the country as well through their food bank network.

[The Chair, Liberal, Sean Casey]

Thank you, Minister, and thank you, Mr. Shields.

We're back to the Liberals for five minutes.

Mr. Turnbull.

[Ryan Turnbull, Liberal, Whitby, ON]

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I'll be splitting my time with MP Vaughan.

Minister, it's great to have you here.

I think many seniors at this time are self-isolating. They're homebound. Many are in long-term care facilities. They're not able to have visitors come in and go out. I know that this is having a significant impact on the mental health of our seniors. They are feeling isolated, even more so than they normally talk about, which I think is often a comment that seniors make. My mother is in this situation right now in long-term care.

I wondered if you could tell us about what we're doing to support seniors who are feeling isolated and whether you have any advice for them.

[Deb Schulte, Liberal, King—Vaughan, ON]

Thank you very much.

Absolutely, these are the seniors we're concerned about, and we're concerned about their mental health.

Something that I haven't had a chance to mention yet is that we've launched a new online portal called Wellness Together Canada. That's ca.portal.gs. This is a portal that will help seniors to connect with those with the experience to be able to help them understand that they are not alone, even though they're isolated and it is a very scary time for them. It gives them the supports and the connections they need. That's so important at this time.

I do want to go back to the new horizons for seniors money that we've just announced and also to the money that is already in the communities through United Way Centraide and the new horizons for seniors regular organizations that have been supporting seniors. They have been incredibly creative. I was going to say this before with member Kate Young. We have seen incredible creativity. Let's just give you an example.

There is a program called HOPE. It has 150 seniors in the community who are part of its network. They usually get together twice a week to do yoga, and I think they make a lunch and have an education session on either diet or health—

[Ryan Turnbull, Liberal, Whitby, ON]

Minister—

[Deb Schulte, Liberal, King—Vaughan, ON]

I'm sorry. Am I cutting off your time?

Anyway, I'm going off, but I just want you to know that we have been putting significant funding in the community and people have been picking it up, running with it and doing some incredible things to support seniors.

[Ryan Turnbull, Liberal, Whitby, ON]

Thank you, Minister. I don't mean to interrupt. I just want to make sure that MP Vaughan gets a chance.

[Adam Vaughan, Liberal, Spadina—Fort York, ON]

Thanks very much.

I have just a quick couple of questions.

When did work in your department start on a COVID response?

[Deb Schulte, Liberal, King—Vaughan, ON]

I would say.... I'm going to turn to my....

[Adam Vaughan, Liberal, Spadina—Fort York, ON]

Well before March?

[Deb Schulte, Liberal, King—Vaughan, ON]

Oh my goodness, yes. It was to get—

[Adam Vaughan, Liberal, Spadina—Fort York, ON]

Yes, so it wasn't a prompt from the opposition.