Debates of Oct. 26th, 2020

Foreign Affairs

[Rob Oliphant, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Foreign Affairs]

Mr. Speaker, as has been very clear, a mistake was indeed made in officials' testimony to the committee in what was presented. An apology has been given, and we will continue to respect the work of our peacekeepers around the world and we will continue to do the work that Canadians want us to do.

Air Transportation

[Xavier Barsalou-Duval, Bloc, Pierre-Boucher—Les Patriotes—Verchères, QC]

Mr. Speaker, for seven months the Minister of Transportation has refused to require airline companies to give their clients refunds for cancelled flights. Instead, he told people to complain to the Canadian Transportation Agency.

People listened to him and complained to the Canadian Transportation Agency, which has received more than 10,000 complaints. Guess how many of these complaints have been dealt with. None. Not one single complaint has been dealt with. Instead of doing his job, the minister directs people to a dead end. People want to get their money back, and they do not want to wait until hell freezes over.

When will he require airlines to give their customers a refund?

[Marc Garneau, Liberal, Minister of Transport]

Mr. Speaker, as I have said many times, this is not an ideal situation, and I certainly understand the frustration of Canadians who want refunds. At the same time, we are encouraging airlines to refund passengers.

We must also realize that these companies are under extreme financial pressure. That is why we are working on measures that will ensure that Canadians have a transportation system that is safe, reliable and affordable.

Agriculture and Agri-Food

[Mark Strahl, Conservative, Chilliwack—Hope, BC]

Mr. Speaker, when the Canadian Food Inspection Agency falsely accused Fraser Valley Specialty Poultry of illegally shipping product across provincial boundaries, they told the owner to just admit he was guilty and pay the fine, but Ken Falk refused. He fought back and was found not guilty of all charges. Now the government is refusing to pay back his over $100,000 in legal fees and will not even tell him how to avoid being falsely charged again.

Why are the Liberals running roughshod over this hard-working Canadian farmer?

[Marie-Claude Bibeau, Liberal, Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food]

Mr. Speaker, I can assure him that, together with the Canadian Food Inspection Agency, we are working very closely with businesses. We must deal with a multitude of challenges with respect to trade barriers. I can assure him that we are doing everything we can to protect our inspection system, so that it is always robust and recognized, and to support all our producers and processors as effectively as possible.

Women and Gender Equality

[Marilyn Gladu, Conservative, Sarnia—Lambton, ON]

Mr. Speaker, every week in Canada, a woman is killed by her domestic partner. With the pandemic, there is an increase in human trafficking and in domestic violence.

Although this government has talked a lot about eradicating violence against women, little action has been taken. In fact, the MAPI funding was eliminated and the murdered and missing aboriginal women's report recommendations were shelved.

When is this government going to take real action to address violence against women in Canada?

[Gudie Hutchings, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Women and Gender Equality and Rural Economic Development]

Mr. Speaker, I agree with my colleague 100%. There should be no violence against women in Canada. Everybody deserves to be safe. We know that all Canadians are feeling the impact of COVID, but we know it is clear that women are feeling it more and more to a greater extent. However, we have taken measures to support them. We have given $90 million to help improve capacity at shelters and sexual assault centres and an additional $10 million from Indigenous and Northern Affairs. We are supplying over 1,000 organizations with funding to help women in need.

Health

[Tracy Gray, Conservative, Kelowna—Lake Country, BC]

Mr. Speaker, we are only in October and already the drug overdose deaths in the Okanagan have surpassed that for the entire year of 2019. Unfortunately, the numbers are similarly surreal across British Columbia. One does not have to look far to find someone in my community who has a family member who has, unfortunately, fallen victim to addiction. This is a crisis and we need action now.

Why is the health minister continuing to drag her heels in taking action on addiction and recovery?

[Patty Hajdu, Liberal, Minister of Health]

Mr. Speaker, my heart goes out to the member opposite. I do not think any of us in this room can say we are not touched by someone who struggles with substance use or mental health issues. That is why we have taken this issue so seriously. In fact, with regard to the opiate overdose crisis, it is this government that restored harm reduction to Canada's drug strategy, that brought back compassion to an approach to supporting people who use substances to recover, to ensure that people could access a safer supply of substances and use substances in a way that could connect them to resources and begin that hard process of recovery.

This is not an easy problem, it does not have an easy solution, but we are working very hard with in particular B.C. and all of the provinces and territories.

Infrastructure

[Tony Van Bynen, Liberal, Newmarket—Aurora, ON]

Mr. Speaker, throughout the COVID pandemic, people in York Region have appreciated this government's continued support for public transit. Transit services, like the proposed Yonge North subway extension, are critical to getting people to work and home quickly and safely each day.

Would the Minister of Infrastructure and Communities share with this House the government's ongoing investments in public transit in York Region?

[Andy Fillmore, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Infrastructure and Communities]

Mr. Speaker, public transit investments create good jobs and help Canadians get around their communities. This is why this government funded the planning and preliminary engineering of the Yonge North subway extension into York Region, while Conservatives ran on a platform of funding cuts for infrastructure. Our government has committed over $5 billion to transit projects in the greater Toronto area. These investments mean better jobs, reduced emissions and more resilient communities.

COVID-19 Emergency Response

[Philip Lawrence, Conservative, Northumberland—Peterborough South, ON]

Mr. Speaker, many organizations in Canada are suffering through the pandemic. Among them are the legions. The legions are struggling through it and part of the reason, according to their Dominion Command, is because legions do not often have to file tax returns because they are non-profits, which makes them ineligible for pandemic relief.

When will they be eligible for all pandemic relief?

[Diane Lebouthillier, Liberal, Minister of National Revenue]

Mr. Speaker, our priority is to ensure that the money promised under the emergency financial support measures is delivered to eligible Canadians quickly and effectively. The same goes for other benefits and audit activities. In some cases, the CRA will ask individuals to provide additional information to verify their eligibility.

Natural Resources

[Matt Jeneroux, Conservative, Edmonton Riverbend, AB]

Mr. Speaker, the government continues to put policies that hurt Albertans front and centre. Not even 24 hours after Alberta announced its plan to diversify the economy by becoming a recycling hub, the Liberals announced that plastics will be labelled as a toxic substance. This new label is toxic to Alberta's economy and the men and women who work hard in the plastics manufacturing sector, like the Teamsters Local 987.

Why is the Prime Minister so intent on leaving Albertans behind?

[Seamus O'Regan, Liberal, Minister of Natural Resources]

Mr. Speaker, one in every three workers in mining and oil and gas were able to stay in their jobs, thanks to the Canada emergency wage subsidy. That is a subsidy that is going to continue right through until next summer. It represents hundreds of millions of dollars to support energy sector workers. It also represents tens of thousands of families in Newfoundland and Labrador, Alberta and Saskatchewan who will continue to be able to go to work and put food on the table, thanks to this Liberal government.

We are supporting workers, we are supporting families and we are supporting our oil and gas sector proudly.

Small Business

[Pat Kelly, Conservative, Calgary Rocky Ridge, AB]

Mr. Speaker, the government has consistently failed small businesses by attacking them with draconian tax changes, calling them cheaters, designing aid programs that have not reached struggling small businesses and bungling the availability of rapid testing, which small businesses need for recovery. After six months of announcements, the government claims it has finally fixed the emergency bank account for personal accounts.

When will the government fix the rest of its botched aid programs and table a credible plan for economic recovery?

[Mary Ng, Liberal, Minister of Small Business]

Mr. Speaker, nothing is more important to us than helping our small businesses get through this very difficult time. Whether it is the small business loan that has helped almost 800,000 small businesses, relief for fixed costs such as the rent subsidy or helping businesses with payroll, there are literally millions of Canadians who are benefiting from the support to our small businesses. We will stop at nothing to keep supporting the work they do because they are so important to our communities.

Post-Secondary Education

[Bob Bratina, Liberal, Hamilton East—Stoney Creek, ON]

Mr. Speaker, we know that access to high-quality education for young people is critical to the success of not only individuals but local economies and Canada as a whole. However, we know that access to post-secondary education is not equal across the country. In the north, entrants to post-secondary now have an option to pursue their studies north of 60 with the creation of Yukon University, but more needs to be done for access to education across the north.

Could the Minister of Northern Affairs update the House on our government's work on this important file?

[Dan Vandal, Liberal, Minister of Northern Affairs]

Mr. Speaker, I thank the member for Hamilton East—Stoney Creek for his hard work.

The creation of Yukon University this year was an important milestone for the north. Building on this, last Friday I was proud to announce the creation of the northern post-secondary education task force, which will play an important role in delivering on the objectives of the Arctic and northern policy framework to close the gaps that exist between the north and the rest of Canada. By addressing long-term inequalities in the north, we are building healthier communities, respecting the rights and interests of indigenous peoples and supporting a strong economy.

Royal Canadian Mounted Police

[Rachel Blaney, NDP, North Island—Powell River, BC]

Mr. Speaker, people are seeing systemic racism in action in Canada. We have the indigenous services minister publicly stating that he disagrees with the RCMP commissioner. The RCMP commissioner is defending the police response, which left Mi'kmaq fishers in danger and resulted in devastating property damage. The government and the RCMP commissioner must own that the lack of planning is systemic racism and finally address it. On Friday, the Assembly of First Nations called for the commissioner's resignation.

I ask the minister to be clear. Does he have confidence in the RCMP commissioner?

[Bill Blair, Liberal, Minister of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness]

Mr. Speaker, all police services, including the RCMP, must be committed to ensuring the people they serve and protect are treated with dignity and respect.

I had a conversation today with the national chief about his concerns. The issues we discussed are serious, complex and long-standing, and they must begin with an acknowledgement that systemic and structural racism and bias exists throughout our criminal justice system. Police reform must ensure justice and fairness for all Canadians. That reform is the mandate we have given to the RCMP commissioner and what we expect from the RCMP.

Health

[Marwan Tabbara, Liberal, Kitchener South—Hespeler, ON]

Mr. Speaker, the number of reported cases of COVID-19 continues to rise, as we have seen this past weekend. We know that the key tool to combat the further spread of the virus is the COVID Alert app. Unfortunately, not all Canadians have downloaded the app or even have access to the app at this time.

Could the minister please update the House and Canadians about the government's plan to increase the use of the COVID Alert app?

[Patty Hajdu, Liberal, Minister of Health]

Mr. Speaker, the member is absolutely right. Downloading COVID Alert is a way we can help protect ourselves and the people around us. It is an app that protects privacy. In fact, it was reviewed by the Privacy Commissioner as such.

We are very thrilled that many provinces have onboarded the app, and I encourage all Canadians to download the app. It is very simple. It takes only a second, and it is another way we can make sure we are protecting our own safety and the people around us.

The House resumed from October 22 consideration of the motion, and of the amendment.

Opposition Motion—Instruction to the Standing Committee on Health

[The Speaker, Liberal, Anthony Rota]

It being 3:06 p.m., pursuant to an order made on Wednesday, September 23, the House will now proceed to the taking of the deferred recorded division on the amendment to the motion by the member for Calgary Nose Hill relating to the business of supply.

Call in the members.

Before the Clerk announced the results of the vote: