House of Commons Hansard #5 of the 43rd Parliament, 1st Session. (The original version is on Parliament's site.) The word of the day was work.

Topics

4:40 p.m.

Liberal

Gary Anandasangaree Liberal Scarborough—Rouge Park, ON

Madam Speaker, I thank the member for Cariboo—Prince George for his kind words. I assure him that I support all workers in Canada and the right of Canadian workers to have employment. Through advocacy by our government, we will ensure that all of our workers in any industry are supported.

4:40 p.m.

Conservative

Brad Vis Conservative Mission—Matsqui—Fraser Canyon, BC

Madam Speaker, today I will be sharing my time with the member for Edmonton Centre.

It is a pleasure to stand today and address the Speech from the Throne, but before doing so please let me thank the voters of Mission—Matsqui—Fraser Canyon for putting their trust in me. To my core campaign team, Jeff Wilson, Alison Rachel, Baljinder Brar, Marc Vella, Christopher di Armani, Jagjit Toor, Jalen Kropf and Sukhpreet Kang, I am thankful for their efforts and contributions. To all my volunteers and donors, I thank them for their time and generous financial support. My wife Kathleen has sacrificed and given so much to allow me to stand in this House. I thank her from the bottom of my heart.

I thank my two boys, Declyn and Nicholas, for their sacrifices and the sacrifices to come. Their dad is here to serve, set an example and fight for a better future for all Canadians. They are both young, but if they learn anything from my time here and what it took to get here, it should be to fight for what they believe in, be relentless in their efforts for excellence and do it all for the glory of God.

Turning to my riding of Mission—Matsqui—Fraser Canyon, it is an enormous riding, encompassing parts of the Fraser Valley Regional District, Thompson-Nicola Regional District, and Squamish-Lillooet Regional District. My riding is one of the most beautiful regions in all of Canada, with endless potential. It is rich in natural resources, fisheries, rail transportation and agricultural land. The area is a world-class tourist destination and a nature lover's paradise. We are home to world-class river rafting in Lytton. Rugged Lillooet hosts the award-winning Fort Berens Estate Winery and a burgeoning agricultural sector. There is the Sasquatch ski resort in Harrison Mills. Ashcroft features the vital Ashcroft Terminal, a key component of Canada's Asia-Pacific gateway and a key interior port for the Canadian Pacific and Canadian National railways.

The Fraser Valley boasts the richest and most productive agricultural land in all of Canada. We have the highest farm gate sales per capita. The community of Yale is intricately tied to the history of British Columbia, the gold rush and the foundation of our province. First nations have inhabited these lands since before recorded history, and all have a common connection to the Fraser River. The Stó:lo people, for example, are the people of the river.

Mission—Matsqui—Fraser Canyon is 22,000 square kilometres of ruggedness and complexity that literally spans climates and cultures, between the Fraser Valley and Fraser Canyon regions. This brings me to the challenges that we face today on the Fraser River, challenges that our salmon, sturgeon, steelhead, eulachon and many other species face as well. These challenges were not even touched upon during the Speech from the Throne from the Liberal government. Pacific salmon are an iconic feature of British Columbia, and the Fraser River is one of the most productive river systems, if not the most productive river system, in the entire world. The future viability of some of the most threatened populations of these once-vibrant salmon species is under threat.

This brings me to the Big Bar landslide. Satellite imagery confirms that over a year ago, a landslide occurred on the Fraser River, just north of Lillooet B.C. in the northern part of my riding near the Big Bar ferry crossing. A large rock slab calved off upstream in a narrow portion of the river, creating a significant blockage and resulting in an over 16-foot high waterfall. However, the Department of Fisheries and Oceans only became aware of the Big Bar landslide last June. Since then, to its credit, it has been working with provincial and indigenous partners to address salmon passage around and over the obstruction. Sadly, this is too little and too late for many of the salmon that attempted to return to their natal spawning-grounds this fall. Approximately 60,000 fish were captured, stored in tanks and transported past the obstruction by helicopter or other means, while others made it through when water levels subsided. However, Fisheries and Oceans has said that the majority of the fish that did make it through were too stressed to spawn, and it has yet to release the mortality numbers of those transported around the slide.

In a year of already record-low returns, this will devastate future generations of salmon in the upper Fraser.

There could very well be a total collapse of the salmon stocks above the slide. That is not fearmongering. In fact, scientists from the Department of Fisheries and Oceans reported to the Pacific Salmon Commission that there is “a meaningful chance of extinction” for three salmon runs as a direct result of the Big Bar landslide.

Despite this, the federal government only issued an emergency request for information to the private sector to solicit plans and solutions for how to solve this crisis on November 26 of this year. That was two weeks ago, for a landslide that occurred in October of 2018 and that has been on the radar of the authorities since June 2019. That is simply not fast enough for the many indigenous communities, hunters and anglers who rely on these fish for their commercial, ceremonial and cultural well-being.

I have heard directly from numerous concerned individuals and share the frustration of those who have demanded and continue to demand quicker action to save our iconic wild salmon in British Columbia. Just this week, the Pacific Salmon Foundation called this a salmon crisis, and I join with the first nations leadership council in British Columbia in calling on the federal government to declare a state of emergency. If the work to remove the slide debris and remediate the area is not completed now, over the winter months, when water levels are lowest, then next season's returning salmon will again be impacted and threatened with extinction.

As a side note on British Columbia history, a natural slide occurred during the construction of the railway in British Columbia in 1914, and it took over 50 years for the fish to maintain their stocks after that slide.

Therefore, I call on the federal government to take whatever immediate, extraordinary action is necessary to get workers and resources to the site, declare a state of emergency and free up the funds necessary to immediately solve this crisis and save the fish.

I would like to thank my NDP colleagues, including the member for Courtenay—Alberni who has raised this issue in response to the Speech from the Throne. I look forward to working with all sides of this House to address this crisis. This is not a political issue, it is a Canadian issue that we must work on together.

After question period, I met with the Minister of Fisheries and Oceans, and she is aware of this crisis and is doing her best as a new minister to address this. I will be holding her to account to make sure our fish are saved.

I wish I could say that the Big Bar landslide is the only major threat to the Fraser River watershed and the wildlife that call this ecosytem their home, but unfortunately that is not the case. In the southernmost part of my riding, between the cities of Abbotsford and Mission, the District of Mission has been working tirelessly to replace its sewage pipeline, which crosses beneath the Fraser River to the sewage treatment plant in Abbotsford. Close to 50,000 people rely on this critical piece of infrastructure. The existing pressurized pipe is over 30 years old, at capacity and at risk of imminent failure. According to Mission's engineers, it is not a question of “if” but “when” this sewage pipeline fails. The environmental devastation of raw sewage lining the banks of the Fraser River would be unprecedented.

In 2017, the District of Mission was allocated $6.9 million from senior levels of government, but only a small portion of that funding has actually been transferred to date. Since that time, construction costs have skyrocketed, and government review after government review has bogged down the process with red tape. An immediate cash injection is needed to see this project through. This will provide an essential service to an expanding community and ensure our environment is protected for future generations, as the District of Mission in the Fraser Valley continues to grow at an accelerated pace. I cannot stress enough the importance of moving quickly on this critical infrastructure issue.

In conclusion, the health of the Fraser River ecosystem is far too important to leave to chance. As previously mentioned, this year's salmon returns were already troublingly low. Faced with development pressure, warming waters, climate change, poaching and overharvesting, our salmon cannot afford additional stressors. There are viable, timely solutions to these looming challenges, but only if the federal government and this Parliament take action now. I stand ready, as a member of the Conservative Party, to work with the Minister of Infrastructure and Communities, the Minister of Fisheries and Oceans and the Minister of Environment on these pressing issues.

4:50 p.m.

NDP

The Assistant Deputy Speaker NDP Carol Hughes

Unfortunately, the time is up but maybe the member would be able to finish up during questions and comments.

4:50 p.m.

Winnipeg North Manitoba

Liberal

Kevin Lamoureux LiberalParliamentary Secretary to the Leader of the Government in the House of Commons

Madam Speaker, the member has brought forward a number of issues. No doubt MPs from all sides of the House have concerns related to things that are happening within their ridings. It is always interesting when MPs bring to the floor of the House some concerns, not only from within their ridings, but of interest to all Canadians and our country.

We have brought through legislation such as amendments to the Oceans Act. We have spent hundreds of millions of additional dollars to protect our waterways and so forth. There is room for improvement and we have recognized that.

I appreciate the fact that the member brought forward these ideas. Does he have some specific examples that he would like to see put in place?

4:50 p.m.

Conservative

Brad Vis Conservative Mission—Matsqui—Fraser Canyon, BC

Madam Speaker, what we can do today is work with the Minister of Fisheries, Oceans and the Canadian Coast Guard to ensure that boots are on the ground at the Big Bar landslide, not next week, but this week, beginning the work to remediate the situation and ensuring that the rockslide is cleared before spring freshet.

Everyone in British Columbia tied to the Fraser River wants action on this now and I will be working with the Minister of Fisheries, Oceans and the Canadian Coast Guard to ensure that is in fact taking place.

4:55 p.m.

NDP

Gord Johns NDP Courtenay—Alberni, BC

Madam Speaker, the member for Mission—Matsqui—Fraser Canyon identified priorities that should not be partisan. When it comes to protecting wild salmon, it should be everybody's issue.

Returns on the coast this year were despite the Big Bar slide. We had half the lowest return in recorded history in the Fraser. We had record low returns in the Skeena. In Clayoquot River we had 300 returning chinook salmon in all of our tributaries. These are tributaries and streams that normally produce thousands of fish. We are seeing fish die off and we are seeing a lack of resources.

We need an emergency package from the government. We need a restoration package of funding equivalent to what the government would spend on a forest fire in Alberta or a flood in eastern Canada. This is a national emergency. We need staffing resources in the department. We need a record amount of money in the salmon enhancement program. We need EI for fishers because they are losing their homes. The commercial fleet did not even set sail until the end of August.

Would my colleague join me in calling on the government to come up with a rescue package, an emergency package, for coastal British Columbians in light of this crisis that is happening right now?

December 11th, 2019 / 4:55 p.m.

Conservative

Brad Vis Conservative Mission—Matsqui—Fraser Canyon, BC

Madam Speaker, I share the concerns of my colleague from Courtenay—Alberni that we are facing an emergency situation as it relates to Pacific salmon that spawn on the tributaries by the Fraser River.

This is an emergency. Immediate action is necessary to remediate some important issues to ensure that we have wild salmon for future generations.

4:55 p.m.

Conservative

Dan Albas Conservative Central Okanagan—Similkameen—Nicola, BC

Madam Speaker, I want to offer my congratulations to the member. He will do right by the people of Mission—Matsqui—Fraser Canyon. Being a fellow British Columbian, I congratulate him on his election.

The member also mentioned the need to work with municipalities. I am wondering if he could express a bit more about the needs specifically around the infrastructure project, the sewage one, that goes under the Fraser River as that is an important topic and I want to keep it top of the government's mind.

4:55 p.m.

Conservative

Brad Vis Conservative Mission—Matsqui—Fraser Canyon, BC

Madam Speaker, the mayor of Mission, Pam Alexis, has been working tirelessly to coordinate between our provincial and federal governments to ensure that Mission receives the necessary funds.

During the steel and aluminum tariffs, the cost of construction rose so quickly that the District of Mission did not have the resources to get this project moving as it should. It was also bogged down by some environmental provincial regulations that need to be addressed as well.

I am going to work tirelessly with the District of Mission and with my federal colleagues on all sides of the House to avoid another environmental catastrophe on the Fraser River.

4:55 p.m.

Conservative

James Cumming Conservative Edmonton Centre, AB

Madam Speaker, I rise today to give my first speech in this great chamber as the member of Parliament for Edmonton Centre. I want to take a moment to thank the constituents of my riding for putting their trust in me to voice their concerns in this important institution. My promise to them is to represent their interests forcefully, with the utmost integrity and conviction.

This opportunity would not have happened without a dedicated group of volunteers who knocked on over 70,000 doors, many who have helped me for over six years. To the hon. Laurie Hawn who first approached me to serve, I thank him for his belief in me and his service. I will not let him down.

I want to express my profound gratitude to my family for their endless dedication and selflessness in helping me get here today. My wife Debbie has supported me in every adventure I have travelled on for over 37 years. I thank my kids Garrett, Taylor and Kennedy, son-in-law Steven and granddaughter Maya. Dad and Papa C will make the family proud.

I would like to give a special shout-out to my son Garrett. He has inspired me every day as I watch him reach his goals as he overcomes the challenges of living with Duchenne muscular dystrophy. Garrett gives me the energy and resolve to fight for what is right every day.

I now want to discuss the nothing burger that the Liberal government across the aisle served us last week. It was badly cooked, had a stale bun, lacked Alberta beef and had just a sprinkling of condiments that left us completely unsatisfied.

All in all, the Liberals' Speech from the Throne was full of platitudes and not much else. It did not touch on healing our regional divides, strengthening our position on the world stage or getting prairie Canadians back to work.

Instead, we got a whole lot of grandstanding with no actual plans to do anything for small business owners struggling in this declining economy. This was a disappointing experience for me as a newly elected member hearing my first throne speech.

As an Albertan, I was also disappointed that the economic engine of our country was ignored. The plight of 170,000 unemployed Albertans has been continuously treated with indifference by the party across the aisle. My constituents of Edmonton Centre recognized this and responded accordingly in the last election, and I will not take their trust for granted.

This past fall, I met a family in my riding in the neighbourhood of North Glenora where the husband had lost his job with a drilling company that had redeployed capital to Texas. He has since found a new job, but his income was reduced by $5,000 a month. In order to get by, his kids moved in to help pay the rent. There are thousands of other stories similar to this one that the Liberals do not care about when they throw around their space-time continuum nothingness.

The leader of the official opposition recently appointed me as shadow minister for small business and export promotion. In that capacity, I want to make some remarks about the missed opportunities in the Liberals' Speech from the Throne.

As a lifelong entrepreneur, business leader and former Chamber of Commerce CEO, I have heard and experienced what impacts small business success over the years. I am grateful that I can use what I have learned and put that expertise to use in this chamber.

The Liberal government has so far completely ignored the plight of small businesses across the country, and the difficulties they face as the private sector tries to create more jobs and expand during these uncertain times. Small business owners are risk-takers and hard-working entrepreneurs. They need to be respected, which the government has failed to do, even to the point of calling them tax cheats, which I find to be a great insult.

The throne speech did not touch on the massive job losses, personal bankruptcies or the regular flight of capital that businesses across the country, especially in Alberta, are battling. In fact, just last week, Statistics Canada announced that over 71,000 jobs were lost in November, which brings the overall unemployment rate to a high of 5.9%, the biggest increase in a decade. In October alone, over 13,000 Canadians became insolvent. That is a 13% increase, which is a 10-year record.

In 2018, the Fraser Institute reported that the amount of money Canadians invested abroad increased by 74%. Business investment in Canada also declined 2% in recent years, and foreign direct investment dropped by 55%. Investments in intellectual property are also down. These are just some of the reference points to give my colleagues an indication of how bad the situation in the private sector is, and why our economy is bleeding.

Where were all these losses? They were in the private sector of course, which is the main driver of our economy and which the government continually fails to support and encourage. Small businesses cannot grow and create jobs if the Liberal government continues to burden them with higher payroll costs and a carbon tax that increases the input costs on everything. Compliance costs and regulations are also issues that kill businesses' ability to compete.

There was virtually no discussion around lessening the burdens on competitiveness in the throne speech, which begs the question why the Prime Minister and his government are behaving like this. Why do they not take pride in Alberta's energy sector? It is respected and admired all over the world for its ethical labour standards, regulatory compliance, environmental conservation efforts and community commitments.

If given the opportunity to export our energy and technology, we could grow the Canadian economy and lower global emissions at the same time.

When will the government start focusing on policies to bring this country together rather than pull it apart? This is why more Albertans sent us to Ottawa, to voice their concerns and frustrations and make Liberal members across the aisle hear what is going on in that part of the country that they so frequently overlook and downplay.

This is why our Conservative caucus now forms the strongest ever official opposition in Canadian history. We will hold the government to account and stand up for our constituents and Canadians across the country.

The Liberals were given a humbling mandate to work collaboratively with the members across the aisle. However, I am skeptical, given the promises in the throne speech. Compared with their 2015 draft, this recent one was double the length, which did not mean more policies were put in, just more platitudes and empty promises and far fewer sunny ways, as members might have noticed.

We can all see that sunny ways and Care Bear economics led to an unemployment rate of 5.9% across the country and to tens of billions added to our deficit, not to mention sky-rising economic debt and the ballooning of government spending of taxpayer dollars with no return to balanced budgets, which is a big concern both for my constituents and for small business owners too.

In fact, government spending during the first half of this fiscal year compared with the same period last year increased by 9%, which is staggering. We all know that we cannot spend our way to oblivion. Someone, somewhere down the line, will be paying the price for the unstoppable spending habits of the Liberal government. That means we will all be chipping in to correct this damaging behaviour sooner or later.

In conclusion, I want to reiterate my gratitude to my family, volunteers and community for putting their trust in me. I look forward to representing their interests and concerns and serving in my roles, as member of Parliament for Edmonton Centre and shadow minister for small business and export promotion, in this great place.

5:05 p.m.

Liberal

Marcus Powlowski Liberal Thunder Bay—Rainy River, ON

Madam Speaker, this is my first time standing in the House of Commons. I am very proud to represent the people of Thunder Bay—Rainy River. I would also congratulate all members for having been elected to the House of Commons.

We have already heard a number of stories about everybody going door to door and what they were hearing. What I heard, going door to door, was a lot of people kind of cynical about politicians and the fact that they heard so much bickering between the parties, so much heckling and so much hostility. People want us to work together for the betterment of this country.

In my brief few days in the House of Commons so far, I have not gotten the impression that the opposition is really interested in working together with us for the betterment of the country. My fellow member of Parliament from Edmonton perhaps underestimates the concern of some of us in our party for the people of Alberta.

A lot of people from Thunder Bay go out to Alberta to work, at least part of the time. A lot of friends of mine live in Alberta. We certainly are sympathetic to you and we welcome the opportunity to work with you should you feel able to work—

5:05 p.m.

NDP

The Assistant Deputy Speaker NDP Carol Hughes

First of all, I would remind the member to check, to see the signal that I will give to wrap it up and ask the question. The other thing I will ask the member is to make sure he addresses his questions to the Chair and not to individual members.

The hon. member for Edmonton Centre can respond accordingly.

5:10 p.m.

Conservative

James Cumming Conservative Edmonton Centre, AB

Madam Speaker, I am a bit confused if there was a question in there, which I do not think there was. However, I can tell you that this side of the House is completely prepared to work with the other side if you start to produce policies that deal with some of the issues that I spoke to in my speech.

There are over 150,000 people unemployed in Alberta. I described the worker who had his kids move back into his house because he can barely afford to pay the rent. When you start, on the other side, producing some policies that can help these people and help businesses, you will get all kinds of co-operation.

5:10 p.m.

NDP

The Assistant Deputy Speaker NDP Carol Hughes

Once again, I want to remind the member that he is to address the questions to the Chair and not individual members.

Questions and comments, the hon. member for Timmins—James Bay.

5:10 p.m.

NDP

Charlie Angus NDP Timmins—James Bay, ON

Madam Speaker, I want to welcome my friend to the House. I listened with great interest. I do represent a resource region, but we need to start talking about ever-rising emissions. I think that is one of the fundamental problems with what I have heard from the Conservative Party.

My family and my wife are from Alberta. Her family all worked in the oil patch. When I door-knocked throughout the election in blue-collar neighbourhoods, I heard people who were very concerned about the crisis of catastrophic climate change.

Year in and year out, Canada's emissions continue to rise. If we are going to find a solution, it is a national solution and Alberta is part of that. The problem is to start addressing the ever-rising emissions that are coming from that sector. We are not hearing anything from Jason Kenney, certainly, and we have heard nothing from the present Conservative leader.

How will my hon. colleague and his party bring this to the House so that we can start to deal with the issue of needing Canada to finally start lowering emissions?

5:10 p.m.

Conservative

James Cumming Conservative Edmonton Centre, AB

Madam Speaker, already Canada is in a position where we produce some of the lowest-emitting ethically produced oil in the world. If we really want to make a difference with global emissions, then why would Canada not have a strategy, within Canada, to use our own resources and stop importing oil from those countries that do not do it to the standard that we do?

Further, we should be able to take technology that we have produced in Canada and reduce emissions elsewhere. LNG and technology that has been developed in Alberta could be exported throughout the world.

5:10 p.m.

Liberal

Kirsty Duncan Liberal Etobicoke North, ON

Madam Speaker, I will splitting my time with the member for Humber River—Black Creek.

Let me begin by thanking the people of Etobicoke North for once again putting their trust in me, giving me the privilege of serving them and for fighting for what is important to them in this place.

Let me also take this opportunity to congratulate you, Madam Speaker, on your new role, as well as all members of Parliament and returning colleagues on their success. I look forward to working with colleagues, particularly on the issues that matter to Etobicoke North: strengthening the middle class, protecting the environment and keeping our communities safe.

I love serving our wonderful Etobicoke North community and families. Etobicoke is home. It is where I was born and raised. I went to Dixon Grove Junior Middle School and Kipling Collegiate, schools where many of our Etobicoke North students attend. Etobicoke is where I have chosen to live my life and serve the people I care deeply about.

Etobicoke North is proudly one of the most diverse communities in the country. Over half our population is first generation and another third of the population is second generation. They, like my own family that came from Scotland and Ukraine, came to Canada to build a better life and particularly a better life for their children. I want to thank our Etobicoke North families for teaching me their beautiful languages, cultures and religions. I want to thank them for including me in the family celebrations at our churches, gurdwaras, mosques and mandirs.

I also want to highlight some of the many organizations that do important work in our community: the Albion Neighbourhood Services; the life-saving work done at the Ernestine's Women's Shelter; the Rexdale Community Health Centre; the Rexdale legal clinics; the Rexdale Women's Centre; and the Youth Without Shelter.

I would like to recognize the work of Royal Canadian Legion Branch 286 and 23 Division of the Toronto Police Service.

The people of Etobicoke North work hard for their families, many work two and three jobs and many work six and even seven days a week. They tell me that the middle-class tax cut our Liberal government introduced makes a real difference in their lives. The Canada child benefit helps even more. In fact, the CCB is helping 25,000 children in our community.

However, our government also understands that there is more work to be done to make life more affordable for families. Therefore, our very first order of business is to lower taxes for the middle class and people working hard to join it.

Starting in 2020, this change will put more money back in the pockets of Canadians by increasing the amount of money they earn before paying federal income tax. Once fully rolled out, nearly 20 million Canadians will benefit, saving a single person close to $300 a year in taxes. For a couple or family, including families led by a single parent, the savings would be even greater, close to $600 a year.

The people of Etobicoke North and Canadians understand that climate change is real and that it is happening now. It is the most pressing environmental issue we face. It is important to point out that in this election a majority of Canadians voted for serious action on climate change.

Our Liberal government has already put in place 50 important measures to tackle climate change. While we are making real progress, we know there is much more work to do. We are working collaboratively with provinces and territories to take even stronger action to reduce pollution and invest in a cleaner future. We will plant two billion trees over the next 10 years, reach net-zero emissions by 2050 and protect 25% of our land and oceans by 2025.

I would like to acknowledge the tremendous advocacy of our Etobicoke North youth council on fighting for climate change and environmental action.

The last issue I would like to raise is the need for stronger gun laws.

The 23 Division of the Toronto Police Service serves Etobicoke North and is one of 17 divisions in the city of Toronto. Tragically, the area served by 23 Division has had the second-highest number of shootings since 2004.

I have been fighting for real action on guns and gangs since I began serving as the member of Parliament for Etobicoke North. While in opposition, I spoke repeatedly to ministers and obtained funding to help our youth exit gangs. I brought grieving mothers to Ottawa to meet with members of Parliament from all parties and held a vigil on Parliament Hill for our children. I also brought all levels of government, along with dozens of organizations, together in Etobicoke North to address the violence and so we could all take real steps to end it.

Let me explain why. When I attend a meeting of 100 or so people in our community, it is common for mothers to tell me that they are the parent of one of the young men who has been gunned down. These violent killings are one of the most devastating traumas parents can experience. They are left suffering emotionally and psychologically. Devastated families must be supported, and our communities must receive support in building resilience.

Grieving mothers and community elders say, “These were the children who were supposed to bury us. No one asks about our pain because no one wants to know.”

Grieving mothers in our community have reached out to other bereaved mothers to establish groups, such as Positive Change, for mutual support, to take real action to stop the violence and to improve the lives of other youth. Positive Change's says, “50 sons, brothers, grandsons, friends lost. Together let's stop the violence.”

Our Liberal government has worked hard to keep illegal firearms off our streets by passing legislation that ensures better background checks and sensible licence verification, best practices in record-keeping and safe transportation of firearms. However, gun crime is on the rise. In Etobicoke North, the availability of guns and the prevalence of gangs are the key causes of violent crime.

Elsewhere, and all too often, people are killed or injured because criminals have used military style assault weapons. These guns are designed to inflict mass casualties and have no place in Canada. Our Etobicoke North community is tired of excuses and know that “thoughts and prayers” do not make our community any safer.

As promised in the recent election, we will ban military style assault rifles. For more than four decades, police chiefs in Canada have been advocating for restrictions on assault weapons. We have listened and we will act. We will also work with provinces and territories to give municipalities the ability to further restrict or ban handguns. We will continue to fight gang-related violence by investing an additional $50 million a year, for five years, to help municipalities meet the needs of communities at risk. As well, we will ensure that the Canada Border Services Agency and RCMP have the resources they need to detect and stop the flow of weapons at our borders.

I have spoken at length about the violence that affects our community because I am always going to work to make our community safer. However, I want to make it clear that I could not be more proud to come from our community and to serve our wonderful hard-working families. I love to see these families in our schools, at their events and in their homes. Families make our communities strong and our country better.

I would like to wish all my colleagues a very merry Christmas, happy holidays and best wishes for the new year.

5:20 p.m.

Conservative

Matt Jeneroux Conservative Edmonton Riverbend, AB

Madam Speaker, congratulations on your role.

I congratulate my hon. friend across the way. We did get to spar a bit in the last Parliament, which was fun. However, I was a bit surprised at her speech. We did spar over science quite often. The Speech from the Throne did not mention a lot of science, other than space-time continuum. We did not hear any science in the member's speech either.

A lot of viewers out there were probably curious as to what happened to science in the newest iteration of the government. Come to think of it, sport is not in there either. I do not know if she did the job so well in the last Parliament that the Liberals now no longer need those departments or they just decided that it was politically astute at the time and now it is maybe not so important. What happened to the science?

5:20 p.m.

Liberal

Kirsty Duncan Liberal Etobicoke North, ON

Madam Speaker, let me be very clear. Our government has committed to science, research, evidence-based decision-making and supporting our world-class researchers and our students. That is why we reinstated the long-form census. That is why we created the position of Canada's chief science advisor. That is why we have made the largest investment in research in Canadian history, a $10 billion investment in research, a 25% increase to our granting councils.

That is in stark contrast to what we saw under the Conservatives when research funding stagnated, when government scientists were cut and when we had researchers protesting on parliament about the death of evidence.

5:25 p.m.

NDP

Gord Johns NDP Courtenay—Alberni, BC

Madam Speaker, my hon. colleague talked a lot about science. In the Speech from the Throne, the Liberals commit to a carbon-free economy by 2050. The science says that is too far out. The science is saying, from the IPCC report, that by 2030, in the next 11 years, we have to reduce emissions by 45%. That is what the science says.

If the government is paying attention to its own science or to international scientists around the world, it would be taking urgent action to move toward a carbon-free economy, not by 2050 but by 2030. That would mean we would have to reduce emissions by 4.5% a year. We are not seeing that. The government is investing in fossil fuel infrastructure instead of clean energy.

We need the government to take this emergency, this climate crisis seriously. I hope the member will listen to her government's science and act on it.

5:25 p.m.

Liberal

Kirsty Duncan Liberal Etobicoke North, ON

Madam Speaker, climate change is real. It is happening now. It is the greatest environmental threat we face and we have to take action for our children and grandchildren.

I am glad my hon. colleague mentioned the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. I served on that panel for two reports. I was a lead author for North America for climate change and human health. I have devoted the last decades of my life fighting for action on climate change.

I remember under the Conservatives, when climate change was not even accepted as real. The then environment minister did not accept that climate change was real until about 2012.

We accept the science. We are taking action, with 50 different measures to tackle climate change and more work to do.

5:25 p.m.

Conservative

Martin Shields Conservative Bow River, AB

Madam Speaker, I acknowledge your position and thank you for stepping forward, letting your name stand, going through the process and being the Chair. I appreciate your doing this.

The hon. member talks about the possibility of doing it municipality by municipality. Being a former mayor and looking at the patchwork that could exist of legislation from one town, one city, one municipality, developing different laws and different rules, I would find that a nightmare for a municipality and the police enforcing it. Criminals would have a field day, saying, “Oh we can't do it here, we'll go over there”.

That patchwork that the Liberals talk about of municipalities and rules is a problem.

5:25 p.m.

Liberal

Kirsty Duncan Liberal Etobicoke North, ON

Madam Speaker, I cannot stress enough that while I love my community, we are suffering under the violence. Between 2004 and 2018, we had 458 shootings in our community. We had 61 shooting deaths. Thoughts and prayers are not enough and we are tired of going to funerals.

5:25 p.m.

Liberal

Judy Sgro Liberal Humber River—Black Creek, ON

Madam Speaker, congratulations on your appointment. We are pleased to see you. You have been a fixture up there for the last several years and it is always pleasant to have you. Also you always remind me to speak through you and through the Speaker, but somehow in the House we have a habit of looking at each other and forgetting that.

I am thrilled to be back. It is 20 years that I have been here and it is as exciting today to be here and speaking as it was when I was first elected 20 years ago. I continue to enjoy what I do and I am so honoured to be elected again by the constituents of Humber River—Black Creek. It is such an honour and I love them very much and look forward to having a few years to make a difference in their lives.

It is such an honour and a privilege for me to listen to my colleagues, especially the first-time ones. We all came here to make the world a better place and there are lots of opportunities for us to do that. Listening to my fabulous colleague from Etobicoke North and the commitment that she has brought to the House and the work that she has done over her many years is an example for many of the new members to follow. Passion and caring are things that matter and she continues to be re-elected because of the very same things that she commented on. She cares about the people that she represents and continues to fight against the gun violence that many of us in the Toronto region unfortunately have to deal with.

Since we are in the process of changing Speakers, I am going to congratulate our other new Assistant Deputy Speaker. I welcome you to that chair, Madam Speaker. Remember that the first time you sat in that chair was the first time I spoke in this Parliament, so that makes it extra special for me.

I want to thank my husband and family and my staff and all of the volunteers for the tremendous work they did in the last election. We had a great campaign and it was a tribute to each and every one of them. I would be remiss if I did not congratulate each and every member in the House. We all came here for the same reason. We are from different parties, but they are just party labels. We are all here for one reason, to try to push an agenda that makes a difference for all of us and to make sure that we are doing the right things.

Regarding the comments by the member for Edmonton Centre, he talked about his desire to make sure that small business is represented here and so many issues. There are opportunities for him and others to do that work here. I really look forward to working with everyone to advance the agendas that we all care about.

The throne speech is a road map that will guide us to making a better Canada, because it can always be better. We try to bring in policies that are going to affect the residents of Humber River—Black Creek and to give them an idea of what our plans are on this side of the House, and I would hope many of these ideas are shared by the opposition parties so that we can advance these issues together.

We are talking about climate change and what a serious issue it is. The world has now woken up to the fact that climate change is severely eroding our quality of life. It does not matter what part of Canada we come from, whether there are forest fires or floods, it is having a significant impact on the infrastructure of our country as well as the lives of Canadians being driven out of their homes by tremendous fires throughout different parts of Canada. Climate change is a serious issue. Clean air and clean water are the basic fundamentals that I know we all care about and it is critically important that we are investing in this. When we talk about infrastructure and concerns about how we are doing it, we have to make sure that climate change is number one as we move forward.

There are new technologies, as the member for Edmonton Centre centre mentioned. There are many new technologies coming forward constantly, and it is important that we maximize the opportunity with them to ensure that we are doing everything we can do reduce emissions and improve air quality for Canadians. Our government cares, as do all of the opposition parties, about a cleaner and safer environment for all Canadians.

Cutting taxes is something we all talk about and would like to see happen. If we can do that, we can make the lives of Canadians better. However, in my riding of Humber River—Black Creek, there are a tremendous number of challenges, whether we are talking about small businesses and their desire to advance themselves or about single-earner families struggling to make a living, keep a job and advance their family.

Of course, our Canada child benefit was a tremendous help to thousands and thousands of residents in my riding, as I can tell members after the recent election, when I was knocking on doors and talked with many single mothers. Having that extra money deposited into their bank account at the end of the month allows them to ensure that they have better meals on the table. It is not for frills. It is not put away in a bank account for someone. It literally changes the nutrition that those children get every day. Children are getting better lunches and they are eating better.

All of those things sound simple, but to some of the families that I represent in certain parts of Humber River—Black Creek, there is a real challenge to provide the very best they can within a limited income.

Affordable housing is another major challenge facing Humber River—Black Creek, as it is all across Canada. One gentleman who came to see me gets $1,080 a month in disability, but his rent is $1,000 a month, because it was increased. Dealing with these kinds of issues is extremely difficult. I asked that individual how he managed if he was paying $1,000 and was left with only $80. He said, “I live off of food banks.” Looking at this gentleman, I would never have imagined that he had to live off food banks, but that is the reality.

Really, a lot of what we are trying to do is make a difference in the quality of life of the people we represent and throughout Canada. It is a fairness issue for people to have those opportunities as they continue to move forward, young families in particular. The fact that we have lifted over 300,000 children out of poverty is a tremendous thing. It is important for each and every one of us to carry that on as we move forward, and make sure that families have that money right away. There is also the maternity and parental benefit. A lot of the policies we put forward are about affordability and quality of life.

In the case of seniors, I was thrilled to hear the platform announcement of the increase in OAS by 10% for those over 75. This will be my favourite. I, along with all of my colleagues, will fight to make sure that is a reality. We see that many seniors at 75 years of age have increased expenses, and they find it much harder to manage. They may need additional home care that they have to pay for, for example, so that 10% increase will be a significant help to them and for many of the seniors that I talked to.

Again, it is about trying to make a difference in the quality of life of Canadians.

Madam Speaker, I look forward to seeing you in that chair many times. I congratulate you on your recent election and on achieving this wonderful post as Deputy Speaker.

5:35 p.m.

Conservative

Matt Jeneroux Conservative Edmonton Riverbend, AB

Madam Speaker, on behalf of the Conservative Party, welcome to the Chair. It is great to see you take your seat.

I also congratulate my hon. colleague. Twenty years ago, I was not thinking about coming here, but the member has certainly spent some time in this place. I will admit that I have learned a few things from her by sitting together with her on the transport, infrastructure and communities committee.

Speaking of that committee, I hope that there is still some working relationship that will continue with my role as shadow minister for infrastructure and communities.

I am hoping the hon. member can answer a quick question for me. We heard time and time again about the failures of the Infrastructure Bank, that it was not helpful to rural communities and barely got any project built or off the ground. I am hoping she can commit here today in her seat to speak to the new minister and say that we need to put the Infrastructure Bank debacle behind us and move forward with infrastructure dollars flowing into communities that actually need it.