Evidence of meeting #141 for Human Resources, Skills and Social Development and the Status of Persons with Disabilities in the 44th Parliament, 1st Session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was cmhc.
A recording is available from Parliament.
Conservative
Don Stewart Conservative Toronto—St. Paul's, ON
It's a yes or no. I have a friend who is a heart surgeon and teaches heart surgery at the U of T. He was walking to work. He was prevented from going to work at the U of T campus to teach young, aspiring doctors. Do you know why? It was because he was Jewish. No one from government stood up and spoke out for that man, and others like him, just trying to go to work and teach our young doctors how to treat hearts.
Is that acceptable?
Liberal
Liberal
Kamal Khera Liberal Brampton West, ON
We condemn hate and anti-Semitism and hate in any form in this country—
Conservative
Don Stewart Conservative Toronto—St. Paul's, ON
We're not seeing it, Chair.
I will cede the rest of my time to Tracy Gray.
Liberal
Kamal Khera Liberal Brampton West, ON
Mr. Chair, may I ask if I will get an opportunity to answer the question the member put forward?
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Bobby Morrissey
I will give you the time.
I'll keep it out of the time.
Go ahead, Madam Minister. It's significant. Answer the question.
Liberal
Kamal Khera Liberal Brampton West, ON
Thank you, Mr. Chair.
We condemn, on this side, unequivocally, any form of hate or anti-Semitism in this country. We have actually put forward Canada's first-ever action plan on combatting hate, with $274 million supporting communities on the ground. We have put forward $25 million for a new Montreal Holocaust museum, which the Conservatives voted against, and $5 million for the first-ever national Holocaust remembrance program, which the Conservatives voted against.
Liberal
Kamal Khera Liberal Brampton West, ON
It's shameful for them to pretend that they care about hate when they have not supported the work we're doing.
Conservative
Liberal
Conservative
Tracy Gray Conservative Kelowna—Lake Country, BC
Thank you, Mr. Chair.
It's really disconcerting that the minister is so unwilling to answer so many questions today on a variety of very important topics. There has been a lot of word salads and very confrontational responses. That's really unfortunate.
I would like to bring forth something that is extremely important that we're seeing play out in all of our communities and on our streets.
I would like to move a motion, Mr. Chair, which you should see is in order. I move:
Given that, across Canada,
44% of Canadians feel worse off financially compared to last year.
A third of Canadians are experiencing an inadequate standard of living.
Nearly one in four Canadians are experiencing food insecurity.
Nearly one in five children live in poverty, representing nearly 1.4 million children.
The committee undertake a study on poverty in Canada, and in particular, the way in which poverty is measured and tracked in Canada, and the lived experiences of those deemed to be above and below the MBM poverty line; that the study be prioritized; that the study be comprised of no less than 12 meetings; that Statistics Canada officials be invited to appear as part of the study; and that the committee report its findings and recommendations to the House.
Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Bobby Morrissey
Thank you.
The motion is in order. It can be moved and debated. It has been circulated in both official languages.
Mr. Fragiskatos, go ahead on the motion as currently introduced by Mrs. Gray.
Liberal
Peter Fragiskatos Liberal London North Centre, ON
Thank you, Chair.
Our side is very open to looking at that very subject. Poverty is a crucial issue in this country. We all agree to that. However, 12 meetings would take up the entire agenda or nearly the entire agenda of this committee, going into the spring and into June. I wonder if the member would be willing to accept two amendments.
We'd go from 12 meetings to four. We have other matters that the committee has already agreed to, so removing the call for prioritization would be part of the amendment that I'm putting forward. Those are two changes.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Bobby Morrissey
Thank you.
We now have an amendment moved by Mr. Fragiskatos. You've heard it. It would reduce the meetings to four and allow the committee to decide priority by removing the reference to it being a prioritized discussion.
Is there any discussion on the amendment?
Go ahead, Mrs. Gray.
Conservative
Tracy Gray Conservative Kelowna—Lake Country, BC
Thank you, Mr. Chair.
This is a very important issue, and I will reference a couple of things here.
First, Food Banks Canada's poverty report card, Campaign 2000's report on child poverty, as well as the MBM, which is the market basket measure on the poverty threshold by Statistics Canada that reports poverty rates, provided information that is very dismal and very concerning.
We know that child poverty has increased at record rates for two years in a row. We also know that the cost of food has increased 35% since 2015. Canada has seen 358,520 more children living in poverty than during the height of the pandemic in 2020. Across Canada, nearly one in five children were living in poverty, representing nearly 1.4 million children. Really, this is across Canada, and the percentage of children living in food insecure households also rose in 2023 from 24.3% to 28.5%.
As this committee is the human resource committee, this is incredibly important. We also know that the cost of living, the cost of housing and a lot of issues that we deal with at this committee are very important, but we feel that this is something that should be prioritized, which is why we have that in there.
That's not something that we would be able to support. This is too timely to push off. This is something that should be a priority for this committee. Therefore, based on what's proposed, we wouldn't support the amendment for the reasons I've given.
Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Bobby Morrissey
Thank you, Mrs. Gray.
We're still on the amendment.
I have Mr. Fragiskatos and Madame Chabot on the amendment.
Liberal
Peter Fragiskatos Liberal London North Centre, ON
Thank you, Chair.
Again, our side is not saying that the issue is not to be considered. It should be considered here, but we have also agreed that we would look at other issues that are relevant to the committee, including issues relating to seniors and other matters. I wouldn't want to see those issues pushed away, because they also matter a great deal to the country and its future.
I'm putting forward, again, the suggestion. I won't move it formally yet because I see that Madame Chabot wants to speak, but I haven't been swayed by what Mrs. Gray said.
I think that we need to go to four meetings instead of 12. If, at some point after that fourth meeting, the committee is of the view that we need a few more meetings, then our side would certainly be receptive to that.
Frankly, Chair, at this committee, I'm not sure there's even a precedent to call for 12 meetings. I'm not sure that there's a precedent in other committees for 12 meetings. That's quite something. Taking it to four is quite reasonable, I think. We would still be able to complete a substantive, serious study on the matter and not push aside the other matters that members have taken care to bring to the committee's attention, including, as I say, matters relating to seniors. Again, I put that to committee members to consider.
Bloc
Louise Chabot Bloc Thérèse-De Blainville, QC
I agree to an amendment like this. We could provide for a minimum of four meetings so we can complete the study.
I agree with the substance of the motion. Issues relating to poverty, such as child poverty, are important. The motion says the study should be prioritized. This motion could have been made before, and we could then have decided to prioritize this study. The issue of poverty is not actually something new. However, we did decide unanimously as a committee to do two more studies.
For these reasons, I agree to the proposed amendment.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Bobby Morrissey
We'll go to Mrs. Gray on the amendment and then Mr. Fragiskatos on the amendment.