Evidence of meeting #15 for Human Resources, Skills and Social Development and the Status of Persons with Disabilities in the 45th Parliament, 1st session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was board.
A recording is available from Parliament.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Bobby Morrissey
Thank you, Mr. Genuis. Your time is up.
Mr. Joseph, you have the floor for five minutes.
Liberal
Natilien Joseph Liberal Longueuil—Saint-Hubert, QC
Thank you, Mr. Chair.
It's a treat to see how my opposition colleagues are behaving.
What's damning is that the opposition parties in the House claim to stand up for families, youth, our regions and Quebec, while in committee they oppose it.
Madam Secretary of State, after voting against the budget, which directly helps our families, our young people and our regions, especially Quebec, have the opposition parties contacted you to propose concrete and sustainable solutions?
Liberal
Anna Gainey Liberal Notre-Dame-de-Grâce—Westmount, QC
We are in touch with our colleagues in Parliament. I'm available to meet with them. I apologize to Mr. Blanchette‑Joncas, because I think we missed an opportunity to meet. I have planned a number of meetings with members of the House.
Liberal
Natilien Joseph Liberal Longueuil—Saint-Hubert, QC
Have you ever been offered concrete solutions that don't encroach on the budget?
As for Quebec, for example, we're told not to spend too much. However, the Bloc Québécois has proposed measures that would add $36 billion to the $78‑billion deficit.
Do you think that's a good solution?
Liberal
Anna Gainey Liberal Notre-Dame-de-Grâce—Westmount, QC
The budget that the Minister of Finance and the Prime Minister have put forward is designed to respond to the challenges of the day. There are some good ideas and some good policies in there. This is in line with what Canadians expect of their government.
The proposed investments are aimed at building an ambitious and optimistic country for young people, families and workers across the country.
I am very pleased with the direction our government is taking, particularly in terms of investment, and I'm proud to support the budget.
Liberal
Natilien Joseph Liberal Longueuil—Saint-Hubert, QC
Do you think some of the arguments from the opposition parties would fit in well with the budget?
Liberal
Liberal
Natilien Joseph Liberal Longueuil—Saint-Hubert, QC
Indeed, it is very important.
Mrs. Goodridge was a bit hard on you in her line of questioning. However, in the House, she voted against what she seems to be defending in committee.
Do you see any hypocrisy in that? Be frank.
Liberal
Anna Gainey Liberal Notre-Dame-de-Grâce—Westmount, QC
I think it's always better to support the investments we're proposing in the budget. After all, they include affordable child care, dental care and the national school food program—
Conservative
Liberal
Anna Gainey Liberal Notre-Dame-de-Grâce—Westmount, QC
—as well as the Canada child benefit. It amounts to almost $11,000 a year for some families.
Conservative
Laila Goodridge Conservative Fort McMurray—Cold Lake, AB
When we're in committee, we're supposed to be judicious and not accuse people of things. When I was asking my first round of questions, I had Liberal members accuse me of lying. Now I have Liberal members accusing me of hypocrisy. This is not how we conduct ourselves in committee.
I believe that this is against the rules of our committee.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Bobby Morrissey
Thank you, Ms. Goodridge.
I would ask all members to be judicious in their phrasing, but members are accountable for their public positions. Thank you.
Mr. Joseph—
Conservative
Laila Goodridge Conservative Fort McMurray—Cold Lake, AB
On a point of order, Mr. Chair, calling somebody a liar in committee is absolutely against the rules of order—period.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Bobby Morrissey
Thank you, Ms. Goodridge. I'll review the blues from this particular meeting with interest.
Mr. Joseph, the floor is yours.
Liberal
Natilien Joseph Liberal Longueuil—Saint-Hubert, QC
Mr. Chair, I'm going to continue along the same lines.
I'm not in politics for the sake of politics. I'm in politics to stand up for causes and ideologies I believe in. The hypocrisy is quite apparent right now.
Now I'll ask the secretary of state my last question.
Ms. Gainey, the Conservative members questioned the effectiveness of the national school food program. They claimed that it didn't help to feed a single child. We know that's not true.
Could you tell us exactly what impact the program is having and what we can expect going forward?
Liberal
Anna Gainey Liberal Notre-Dame-de-Grâce—Westmount, QC
I can provide some details and give you the figures for the national school food program. It's available in every province and territory, and we're also working with indigenous communities. The purpose of the program is to provide nutritious meals to children.
In New Brunswick, thanks to the federal government's additional investment of more than $11 million, over 57,000 children in 160 schools will be provided with meals. That's good news for New Brunswick.
In Prince Edward Island, the federal government's $7‑million investment will help provide meals to more than 1,500 children, as well as breakfasts and snacks to more than 800 children.
I can give you the numbers for every region.
Conservative
Laila Goodridge Conservative Fort McMurray—Cold Lake, AB
We started late, and we're two minutes early. We started three minutes late.
