Mr. Speaker, it is a real honour to speak to Motion No. 106, and I want to thank the member for Nickel Belt for introducing it. I am also going to be introducing a motion one minute before I am done, so I would appreciate you letting me know, Mr. Speaker, when I have reached that one-minute mark.
I met my wife at university. We used to go to different seniors complexes, and I would play guitar and we would sing together and provide a bit of entertainment. It was not great music, but it was the love of our life to honour senior members of our community to thank them, encourage them, interact with them, and dialogue with them.
Through the years, as we started having children, we would visit the local rest home on Sunday after church. We asked the staff if there was someone who was lonely who was not getting visitors. We raised our children by example, saying that it was important to visit, honour, respect, and give dignity to the senior members of our community.
We did that, and we have continued to do that. While I have been busy here in Ottawa, my wife adopted another lady, over the last 10 years, Freda, who just passed away. Now we are looking for a new grandma we can adopt and visit. It is an important part of Canadian culture to honour its senior members, and it is a good indication of the heart and the quality of the country we live in.
I wish I could support Motion No. 106 and recommend that others do, but unfortunately, it has some mischievous political parts in it.
The previous government appointed a minister for seniors. One of the major flaws in this motion is that it is missing a call for the government to appoint a minister for seniors. It was a year and a half ago that this Parliament began. Two years ago, the election process began, and the political parties met with Canadians. The Conservative Party showed by example from the previous Parliament the importance of taking care of seniors and preparing for an aging population.
Right now, one in six Canadians is a senior. In five and a half years, it will be one in five. In 12 years, it will be one in four. This is a major shift in Canada, with an aging population we have to prepare for. That is what the previous government was doing. Unfortunately, the current government does not have a minister for seniors. Senior stakeholders across this country have asked the government to please appoint a minister for seniors and also to begin a national seniors strategy.
I was honoured to be asked by our interim leader to be the critic for seniors. I was honoured to do that, because I love seniors. The fact is, I am a senior, and I realize some of the challenges as our bodies age. We need to provide for our seniors, work with our seniors, and provide the care and dignity they need.
I was shocked that the government refused for the last year and a half to appoint a minister for seniors and did not begin a study on a national seniors strategy. That is what we have asked in question period. We have partnered with the NDP critic, who is asking the same thing. We have a national seniors caucus meeting, and we bring in different guest speakers. What do we hear time and time again? Please appoint a minister for seniors and start work on a national seniors strategy. Time is ticking, Canadian seniors are aging, and the Liberal government is asleep.
Motion No. 106 asks for a study on a national seniors strategy. Fortunately, I am also on the human resources committee, where this would be studied. I have asked the committee for the last year to start on a national seniors strategy. The Liberal government has waited for a year and a half. That is a year and a half lost in preparing for this aging population.
In February, when we saw Motion No. 106, I said that we should begin the study on a national seniors strategy now so we are ready and can get to work on it. The Liberals said they did not want to begin but wanted to wait for Motion No. 106.
It is politically motivated. How is it politically motivated? The first paragraph of Motion No. 106 acknowledges that we have an aging population. We can support that. Senior stakeholders support that. That is what the government has been told. For the last year and a half, that is what Canadians have known. Statistics Canada has told us for the last decade that we need to get ready for the aging population. It highlights and acknowledges that. We can support that.
Paragraph (b) says that the government is working hard to help improve the lives of Canadian seniors by restoring OAS and GIS. It highlights that this as a political document and that there was interference by the Prime Minister's Office saying that it wanted that in the bill. The motion I will be introducing in a moment suggests that we take that out and keep it non-partisan and non-political and focus on taking care of our Canadian seniors. I hope the sponsor of the bill will accept that.
The PMO is also saying that the human resources committee should get to work on a national seniors strategy. However, there are no timelines, and we need to have clear timelines so that we are ready for this aging population instead of having a study that sits on a shelf collecting dust.
Paragraph (d) refers to broadening the mandate of the National Seniors Council to allow it to undertake reviews and analysis on its own initiative. The National Seniors Council was created in 2007 by the previous Conservative government to represent the needs of Canadian seniors. The minister and the Prime Minister's Office were to identify the focus to get ready for the aging population.
The Liberals have instructed the sponsor of Motion No. 106 that this body can create its own mandate, do its own analysis, and do it its own thing, which will cause it to become meaningless. That on its own is the reason Motion No. 106 cannot be supported. Hopefully, the sponsor will agree to an amendment to remove that.
The vast majority of Canadian seniors I have talked to about this agree that we need to appoint a minister for seniors and that we need to start on a national seniors strategy, and hopefully the government will accept that.
We heard from the previous speaker about all the things she wished the government would do. However, she really did not acknowledge and address the issues with respect to Motion No. 106. Motion No. 106 has some flaws that need to be repaired. We would support a study on a national seniors strategy, but let us remove those political, mischievous parts of the motion.
Last Friday, when the Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Health was asked how the government would take care of seniors, I was concerned when he replied that they now have assisted suicide to help take care of this massive growing senior population. We were shocked to hear that. That should not be part of the plan. The plan is to protect seniors, give them dignity, and provide the services they need.
I have highlighted the political parts of Motion No. 106. I hope its sponsor will accept this constructive suggestion. I have talked to him ahead of time, so I hope he will accept this amendment, as it is made in good faith.
Therefore, I move that the Motion No. 106 be amended by replacing all the words in paragraph (b) with “appoint a minister for seniors”, and by deleting paragraph (d).