Human Resources Committee on Feb. 5th, 2026

[Patty Hajdu, Liberal, Thunder Bay—Superior North, ON]

—and I would just say that, in fact—

[Rosemarie Falk, Conservative, Battlefords—Lloydminster—Meadow Lake, SK]

They're paying for their machinery. They're paying for their seed. They're paying for their fertilizer.

[The Chair, Liberal, Bobby Morrissey]

Ms. Falk—

[Rosemarie Falk, Conservative, Battlefords—Lloydminster—Meadow Lake, SK]

They're paying for all of those items, and that ultimately gets passed on to the consumer. I just don't appreciate that this is what's happening.

This has been debunked? That isn't the case. Maybe if the Liberals—

[The Chair, Liberal, Bobby Morrissey]

Thank you, Ms. Falk.

[Rosemarie Falk, Conservative, Battlefords—Lloydminster—Meadow Lake, SK]

—actually went to a farm and spoke to farmers, they would know how this goes.

[The Chair, Liberal, Bobby Morrissey]

Ms. Falk, please respect the chair.

[Andréanne Larouche, Bloc, Shefford, QC]

I have a point of order, Mr. Chair.

[The Chair, Liberal, Bobby Morrissey]

Yes, Madam Larouche. I will suspend if the interpreters cannot interpret.

[Andréanne Larouche, Bloc, Shefford, QC]

I just wanted to point out that the interpreters are having trouble keeping up. Let us exercise caution.

[The Chair, Liberal, Bobby Morrissey]

Thank you, Madame Larouche.

I will now give the minister a minute to respond without interruption to the question that was directed to her.

[Patty Hajdu, Liberal, Thunder Bay—Superior North, ON]

I think a responsible government focuses on the real challenges that our families are facing and the real solutions that help families. What doesn't help families is rhetoric that's been driven repeatedly without any basis in reality. What families want is the help right now.

You have a choice, Madam Falk. You can vote for the kinds of things that your own province is asking for, which are investments in early learning and child care, the $15.8 million in federal funding helping your province expand school food programs, and the 90 organizations that will hire Canada summer students this year and this summer. These are the kinds of things that families are saying are helpful, and we'll continue to focus on families.

[The Chair, Liberal, Bobby Morrissey]

Thank you, Madam Minister and Ms. Falk, for that lively exchange.

Ms. Dandurand, the floor is yours for five minutes.

[Marianne Dandurand, Liberal, Compton—Stanstead, QC]

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Minister, one of the government initiatives I'm most proud of is the Canadian dental care plan. At first, many people, including opposition members, said that the plan wouldn't work and that it would be too complex. There are around 110,000 people in my riding. Of those, 32,000 are enrolled in the Canadian dental care plan, which is a very high number.

Can you talk about the tangible results we're seeing across the country in connection with the Canadian dental care plan?

[Patty Hajdu, Liberal, Thunder Bay—Superior North, ON]

Each new program is very complex; that's true. However, after a while, the program becomes very useful for many Canadians.

You're absolutely right. Besides child care, this is one of the most frequent things that people talk about to me as a member of Parliament.

In fact, in my riding, if I could just share a small story, a middle-aged business owner couple with a small business didn't have dental benefits and hadn't had dental care in a long time. This is not a couple that you would necessarily think were going without dental care. They had a thriving small business, but “thriving” means it was paying for their daily life and their family expenses. Dental care was not an option for them. They came up to me spontaneously at an event to tell me how their lives had been changed by being able to access dental care.

They are working Canadians. MP Falk was just speaking about how we are supporting working Canadians. Many working Canadians do not have benefits with their jobs. Dental care is not just a nice-to-have. It becomes an urgent need when you're living in pain and you have dental decay.

I met a fellow at the grocery store who was a labourer. Just before the last election, he came up to me and said how his life had been profoundly changed by being able to access dental care. He went so far as to show me his new teeth, which was very moving and funny all at once, because he was so proud of the smile that he could finally show off.

These are stories that I'm sure you're hearing in your riding. This is a generational change. It is a real equity piece, and it was the missing piece from our national health care system that so many people are proud of.

[Marianne Dandurand, Liberal, Compton—Stanstead, QC]

Indeed, it has significant impacts on public health in the long term. From a long-term economic perspective, the health care costs will be lower for the government because people's health, including their dental health, is being maintained.

In a riding like mine, it can be hard to reach certain populations. A lot of benefits are available, but some people are deprived of those benefits because, for example, they don't file their tax returns.

What kind of measures can be taken to make it easier for people to access all the benefits and credits that the government offers? I'm thinking in particular of my riding's more rural areas, where the poverty line can be quite high.

How can the government make it easier for people to access benefits?

[Patty Hajdu, Liberal, Thunder Bay—Superior North, ON]

That's such an important observation, and it's why I was very excited in recent months to announce the automatic tax filing that will reach some of the most needy Canadians. In fact, I think I saw a headline the other day that there's about $2 billion in unclaimed Canadian tax credits, whether it's for the Canada child benefit, access to dental care or the many other tax credits that Canadians are entitled to.

It's sometimes hard for people to file taxes, and people can get behind. This new measure to automatically enrol people is a pilot. Of course, we want to make sure that it works well and that it will be useful. This means that Canadians will start to access the benefits to which they are entitled.

This is something, by the way, that poverty activists have advocated for a very long time to implement in Canada. It's because they also know that Canadians are going without the benefits they deserve.

If you think about the Canada child benefit, it's $7,000 per child, especially for young children. Obviously, that support continues throughout a child's lifetime. That is a giant amount of money for a family living on a low income. If they're not getting that benefit, that's a real detriment.

I don't know about you, but we do casework in our offices. Some of the most moving stories are when someone finally gets through their complicated tax backlog and finds out they're getting $40,000 in Canada child benefit back pay. In many cases, I've heard moms talk about buying a vehicle so they can get back and forth more easily with their children, or putting it towards a down payment for a house in Thunder Bay, Ontario. That's very feasible.

These are the kinds of stories that I think more Canadians need to know so they know how we can help them get those benefits.

[The Chair, Liberal, Bobby Morrissey]

Thank you.

To conclude, I will give the floor to Ms. Larouche for two and a half minutes.

[Andréanne Larouche, Bloc, Shefford, QC]

Thank you very much, Mr. Chair.

Minister, I was wondering about this as I was listening to other people's questions. If I understood your answer to Mr. Joseph correctly, you mentioned 85,000 people. You said that 98% of seniors were receiving their benefits, despite the challenges posed by the Cúram software. It may be a system that you wanted to modernize, but 85,000 people is still a lot.

In short, I think that's downplaying the situation. One senior who doesn't receive their benefits is one too many who could find themselves in a precarious position. I know we passed a motion for you to return to our committee to discuss this issue, Minister. Since a Liberal colleague has already opened the door, I'd like to ask you for your opinion.

Don't you think that's one too many seniors? Someone from your department wrote to me to say that, if I wanted, we could always have a discussion. However, I think the best way to shed light on this system is for you to appear in committee to answer our questions on this. What do you think about the fact that 85,000 seniors, or 2%, are still too many?

[Patty Hajdu, Liberal, Thunder Bay—Superior North, ON]

I agree. In fact, one senior is too many.

I agree with you. That premise is exactly why I have the department focused intensely on making sure that we deal with these delayed OAS starts.

Let me be very clear that these are new applicants; nothing is happening to applicants who are already receiving OAS. Their benefits are on time and they're processed, but there are certain cases that have been more difficult to bring on board, and the department is very focused on getting through them.

As I have repeated, if there is a senior in particular financial need who needs to get their situation resolved immediately, please bring their name forward. We have contacted your office. You have not provided any names yet, but if you have names of individuals, please give them to us. We will make sure we deal with them immediately.

[The Chair, Liberal, Bobby Morrissey]

Thank you, Ms. Larouche.

Minister, just before we conclude, I have one question.

You referenced the Canada summer jobs program. The part that often gets missed is that the many not-for-profit organizations that run valuable programs would not be able to do that without the funding they get.

Is this going to be applied across the country? It's allocated by riding, so does that mean everybody gets an increase?

[Patty Hajdu, Liberal, Thunder Bay—Superior North, ON]

Yes. We will see 100,000 jobs this year, which is up from 60,000 last summer. That's to address the specific unemployment needs we see in youth in particular.

You're absolutely right that it's a real asset to not-for-profits across the country and also for small businesses, which have, in some cases, summer surges—maybe in your province because it's a nice place to go in the summer. A lot of students get those opportunities in various sectors, including tourism.

[The Chair, Liberal, Bobby Morrissey]

Thank you, Minister.

Is it the will of the committee to adjourn?

[Some hon. members]

Agreed.

[The Chair, Liberal, Bobby Morrissey]

Thank you, Minister, witnesses and members.

The committee is adjourned.