Human Resources Committee on Nov. 26th, 2020

[Louise Chabot, Bloc, Thérèse-De Blainville, QC]

It's a payment to NGOs for projects intended to reduce violence and fraud.

[Benoît Robidoux]

Is it in the supplementary estimates (B)?

[Louise Chabot, Bloc, Thérèse-De Blainville, QC]

It is in the main estimates, on page 67 in the English version. It is the last item in the “Contributions” section, in the amount of $1.8 million.

[Benoît Robidoux]

Let me ask Mr. Perlman if he has any information about that.

I have to confess that I don't know exactly what we are talking about.

Mark, would you have any idea what they're talking about?

[Mark Perlman, Chief Financial Officer and Senior Assistant Deputy Minister, Department of Employment and Social Development]

Yes, it's part of the New Horizons for seniors program at page 267 of the main estimates. I don't know whether we have any results for this one, though.

[Benoît Robidoux]

We'll get back to you.

Ms. Chabot, we will get back to you later with the answer because I am having difficulty following.

I will come back to that question.

[The Chair, Liberal, Sean Casey]

Thank you, Ms. Chabot.

The floor now goes to Ms. Gazan.

Ms. Gazan, you have six minutes.

[Leah Gazan, NDP, Winnipeg Centre, MB]

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

I'd like to thank everybody for being here today.

In my riding I have many seniors who are part of the shelterless community, many as a result of complex mental health and trauma issues resulting, for example, from being a veteran and from the PTSD that comes from experiencing war. Others are the many residential school survivors who are currently now shelterless.

This is disgusting, particularly for seniors, who we always say should be able to live with dignity and human rights.

Has your department explored ensuring an increase in the GIS benefit to a livable level so that all seniors, no matter where they're from, can live with dignity and human rights?

[Benoît Robidoux]

Thank you for the question.

I agree with you in your point that they have to live in dignity. The government has increased the GIS once for single people, the ones most affected by this, and I can assure you that we are always looking at options to improve the financial security of seniors—

[Leah Gazan, NDP, Winnipeg Centre, MB]

I'm sorry. With all due respect, I really need an answer. Is your department committed to ensuring that the benefit is livable? We can all agree that we want seniors to live in dignity, but the way we demonstrate that is just not happening.

My question is, then, will you ensure that the GIS is increased to the point that it's livable, so that all seniors in this country can live with human rights and dignity?

[Benoît Robidoux]

As a civil servant, I can ensure you that we are looking at options to help in that direction and to propose and advise when possible in that direction.

[Leah Gazan, NDP, Winnipeg Centre, MB]

Okay, so that's a “maybe”. I felt that it was a non-government response, with all due respect.

My next question is with respect to a single-payer pharmacare system and a universal dental care system. We know that seniors, as I've indicated, have been among the hardest hit during the pandemic, and really, the one-time payment of $600 doesn't cut it, particularly with the former example I used about many seniors being shelterless. This is a tragedy, a tragedy on the watch of this government.

Can you speak to the importance of a universal single-payer pharmacare program and a universal dental care program as life-sustaining measures for seniors?

[Benoît Robidoux]

Well, pharmacare is very good. As you know, the government wants to move forward on pharmacare. It's part of their commitment. I can't, however, speak to pharmacare. That is a Health Canada file, and you would have to direct that question to officials from Health Canada.

[Leah Gazan, NDP, Winnipeg Centre, MB]

That's fair enough.

Concerning long-term care homes, I asked questions while the minister was here about deaths in long-term care homes and about providing extra support for those seniors who want to live at home but do not have proper support.

She was unable to give me a dollar amount of the money being invested to ensure that seniors can live at home. I'm speaking specifically of examples in my riding, where seniors want to leave long-term care homes because their lives are at risk but do not have the resources needed to live at home.

[Benoît Robidoux]

Thanks for that question.

As the minister mentioned, the government has already moved forward on home care, which is somewhat different from the broader idea of living at home and being supported to do so.

We read the Speech from the Throne, as you probably did, and I can tell you that since the Speech from the Throne was released, we've been working on options for the government to advance that commitment.

[Leah Gazan, NDP, Winnipeg Centre, MB]

When will that be done?

[Benoît Robidoux]

I couldn't tell you that. We're working—

[Leah Gazan, NDP, Winnipeg Centre, MB]

I ask because people want to know when they're going to get support. Certainly in my riding seniors who had no options have perished in the last couple of months. They are not disposable, and I think at least a timeline....

Do you have any sense of when this will be done, to ensure that we can assist seniors in being able to survive the pandemic?

[Benoît Robidoux]

Again I can't tell you timelines, but I can tell you that the government has announced this in the Speech from the Throne, because clearly it's a priority for the government, and that we're working on options. We're doing our best as quickly as possible to devise options that could be—

[Leah Gazan, NDP, Winnipeg Centre, MB]

That, with all—

[The Chair, Liberal, Sean Casey]

Thank, you Ms. Gazan.

[Leah Gazan, NDP, Winnipeg Centre, MB]

Yes. Thank you.

[The Chair, Liberal, Sean Casey]

Thank you, Mr. Robidoux.

Next is Mr. Kent, please, for five minutes.

[Peter Kent, Conservative, Thornhill, ON]

Thank you, Chair, and thank you to all of our witnesses this evening.

The minister mentioned in her remarks that to fulfill her responsibilities to seniors, she often has to work horizontally with other ministers and their departments—employment, labour and families.

I'm wondering how seniors with disabilities—working seniors or those who were working before COVID and those who were not—will benefit from the government's recently announced disability inclusion plan, particularly given that they've been hard hit by the pandemic.

[Benoît Robidoux]

Thanks for the question.

The plan on this in the Speech from the Throne is pretty detailed and comprehensive. A person with a disability would be in principle supported by the new benefit. Clearly, seniors with disabilities would fully benefit from the new benefits. That would not get into a guaranteed income, but with other benefits it would continue the building blocks of guaranteed income.

There's also an employment and training plan for persons with disabilities to be able to work if they are able to, with some support that they would receive. Like other persons with a disabilities, they often face barriers in accessing the labour market. This plan would mainly help non-seniors, but it could help some seniors too.

Finally, the third part of the plan is to ensure that the delivery of benefits is streamlined and more accessible. The seniors with a disability would clearly benefit from that.