Debates of Oct. 5th, 2020

The House resumed from October 1 consideration of the motion for an address to Her Excellency the Governor General in reply to her speech at the opening of the session.

Resumption of Debate on Address in Reply

[Blake Richards, Conservative, Banff—Airdrie, AB]

Mr. Speaker, I rise on a point of order.

As per Standing Order 43(2)(a), I am indicating that the Conservative caucus's 20-minute speaking slots for the remainder of this debate on the Speech from the Throne will be divided in two.

[Irek Kusmierczyk, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Employment]

Mr. Speaker, I will be sharing my time with the member for Brampton East.

I am honoured to rise in the House today as we mark the opening of the second session of this remarkable 43rd Parliament; a Parliament unlike any other before it.

The COVID-19 pandemic has created one of the most challenging health and economic crises our country has ever faced, and in cross-border communities like Windsor—Tecumseh, we have felt the full force of COVID-19's terrible impact. As a proud manufacturing region, many of our workers did not have the ability or the choice to take their work home during the shutdown; either one was in the factory or one was not. The closure of the U.S. border not only deprived our community of visitors and commerce that keep our businesses vibrant, but it also forced the gut-wrenching separation of families and loved ones at a time when they were needed the most. As a region with the largest concentration of greenhouses in North America and hence the largest concentration of temporary foreign workers, we saw how quickly and ferociously COVID outbreaks could spread in the agriculture sector.

Few communities in Canada faced all these forces at once, but we more than faced these challenges. In the face of COVID-19, the residents of Windsor—Tecumseh rallied together like never before, and here is just one incredible example. On June 27, a miracle happened. Communities across Windsor—Essex came together and, with the help of 10,000 volunteers, collected over two million pounds of canned goods and donations to help feed the most vulnerable.

As members can see, the residents of Windsor—Tecumseh are incredibly resilient and incredibly compassionate. Our community was able to weather this storm in part because we felt we had a partner and friend in the federal government in Ottawa. Since March, our government worked at lightning speed designing new programs and benefits to support Canadian workers and businesses through this challenging period. As the member of Parliament for Windsor—Tecumseh, my goal was to ensure that our constituents' voices were heard and reflected in the decisions being made in Ottawa. Each day, we spoke with countless residents, workers, business owners, organizations, mayors, farmers and nurses. Each night, we transmitted everything we heard directly to cabinet ministers who quickly crafted programs in response, such as the Canada emergency response benefit, which helped nearly nine million Canadians keep the lights on and cover the cost of rent, groceries and other expenses. Three million-plus Canadian employees remain connected to their employers through the Canada emergency wage subsidy program. I spoke with workers at Ford and FCA's Windsor assembly plant, and small business owners like Mike, the founder of Advance Electric and Controls, who said that the wage subsidy was a lifeline that kept the company going and took care of families. Restaurants, cycle shops and hair salons were able to continue because of the wage subsidy and because of the $40,000 emergency business loan that supported over 750,000 businesses.

When we designed the programs, we did not always get it right the first time, but we kept listening to Canadians and kept adapting to make sure we protected the health and livelihood of Canadians and Canadian businesses. While the pandemic has certainly exposed major weaknesses in our systems and institutions, it also brought to light an incredible sense of community. Signs popped up on lawns and in windows across Windsor—Tecumseh thanking essential front-line workers. Manufacturing companies in Windsor—Essex converted their operations to produce PPE and medical supplies. Windsor Mold Group partnered with the federal government to produce two million face shields for health care workers. Hiram Walker and Wolfhead Distillery shifted production from whisky to hand sanitizer. Ford Motor Company, CenterLine, Cavalier Tool and Valiant began manufacturing face shields, face masks and protective clothing. The Windsor Essex Sewing Force recently pieced together its 25,000th mask. It is inspiring but not surprising to see the number of local companies that stepped up.

When it became clear that the pandemic was impacting low-income women, seniors, persons with disabilities and those experiencing homelessness, our government crafted the $350-million emergency community support fund to leverage the great work of charities and local not-for-profits to support vulnerable neighbours.

In our region alone, over $2.3 million in community support funding was distributed to local organizations through trusted local partners the United Way of Windsor-Essex and the Windsor-Essex Community Foundation. Lorraine Goddard, Lisa Kolody and their teams were chosen based on their commitment to collaboration and an ability to respond quickly to emerging needs in our community.

The local Alzheimer's society and several other organizations collaborated on the Windsor-Essex seniors call assurance program, which provided outreach and social support to seniors in isolation due to COVID.

Big Brothers Big Sisters developed a virtual learning program for at-risk youth in priority neighbourhoods.

The Arts Council received funding for their art share initiative, which helps grow Black and indigenous cultural spaces, connections and professional development opportunities.

Family Services developed the COVID-19 counselling support line to help residents access much-needed professional counselling services.

Since the start of the pandemic over 50,000 children and adults received food assistance in Windsor-Essex. In April, the Prime Minister announced the federal investment of $100 million to create an emergency food security fund to boost the efforts of local food banks. The Windsor Essex Food Bank Association received over $500,000 in direct funding and purchased food from the emergency fund. This important investment will allow June and her team at the Unemployed Help Centre to continue operating drive-through food hubs, ensuring that our most vulnerable neighbourhoods and neighbours have access to fresh food throughout the winter.

I am proud that our federal investments have helped these essential organizations continue their vital work during the pandemic. They are what makes our country so great and they have a strong partner in our government. That has been the signature approach: working together, all hands on deck, partnering with community organizations, collaborating with the province and working together with our mayors. This has been a true team Canada approach.

When Mayor Dilkens and Mayor McNamara told me that the city of Windsor and the town of Tecumseh, like many cities and towns across Canada, were struggling under the costs of COVID, we listened and we got to work. Within weeks our government put forward $19 billion in safe restart funds to help municipalities. Our two communities of Windsor and Tecumseh received close to $19 million to help keep services going.

When Ontario opened schools back up and parents were worried about the safety of their children, our government provided $2 billion in a safe return to class funding. Our local Catholic and public school boards received $6 million to purchase PPE and retrofit their classrooms to make them more safe for our children.

What I am most proud of is not just what our government has done to help Windsor—Tecumseh during the pandemic; what I am proud of is the vision we have outlined in the Speech from the Throne of what we are going to do next. The vision outlined in the Speech from the Throne feels like it was written by a resident of Windsor—Tecumseh, for the community of Windsor—Tecumseh.

Protecting Canadians from COVID-19 remains our top priority, which is why we are accelerating the production and distribution of vaccines, COVID testing and PPE. At the same time, we have committed to developing an affordable Canada-wide early learning and child care system that works for parents and their kids. Establishing national standards for long-term care and accelerating the national universal pharmacare program will provide seniors the level of care they deserve, while lifting the burden of expensive medications for all Canadians.

One pillar of the government's vision is to protect jobs, workers and their livelihoods. Modernizing and expanding the EI system, while at the same time establishing a Canada recovery benefit, creates a safety net for workers not able to work, for those not eligible for EI and for families taking care of loved ones.

There are two additional key commitments that will have a huge impact on the residents of Windsor—Tecumseh. Our government has committed to making historic investments to make Ontario and our region a global leader in the manufacture of zero-emission vehicles, batteries and clean technology. We are already seeing the fruits of that commitment with a $2-billion investment in the Ford plants in Windsor and Oakville. That is combined with a commitment to make the largest investment in Canadian history in the training and upskilling of Canadians to guarantee our workers and our residents of the skills necessary to thrive in the economy of today and tomorrow. These investments protect the health and well-being of Windsor—Tecumseh residents, while at the same time protecting jobs that drive our region's economy and prosperity.

Over the last year, it has been a privilege to serve the residents of Windsor—Tecumseh during these difficult times and it has been an honour to be part of a team and government that is focused on the right things, the only thing, which is the health, safety and well-being of Canadians.

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

Mr. Speaker, the member opposite noted that the manufacturing sector was particularly hard hit by the pandemic. With the second wave coming, and the Prime Minister indicating that maybe the answer is to shut the economy down, what is the plan to keep manufacturing in his riding, and all of southern Ontario, going?

[Irek Kusmierczyk, Liberal, Windsor—Tecumseh, ON]

Mr. Speaker, for constituencies such as Windsor—Tecumseh, which have a proud history of manufacturing and auto, the Speech from the Throne really hits the mark. The commitment to make Canada the world's most competitive jurisdiction in the manufacture of zero-emission vehicles, batteries and clean technology is really music to the ears of the workers and the workforce of Windsor—Tecumseh, because we know it positions us not only for the jobs of today but also the jobs of tomorrow. As well, the commitment to the largest historic investment in the training and upskilling of Canadians will also ensure residents and workers of Windsor—Tecumseh are positioned to compete in a 21st-century economy.

[Kristina Michaud, Bloc, Avignon—La Mitis—Matane—Matapédia, QC]

Mr. Speaker, I thank my hon. colleague for his speech.

He said that it was as though the throne speech was written by one of his constituents, as it really hits the mark for his region. I do not know if he lives in an alternate universe, but I can say that the throne speech does not reflect the priorities of my constituents and Quebeckers, and especially not those of environmentalists.

The throne speech states that thousands of jobs will be created by surpassing the 2030 climate targets and becoming carbon neutral by 2050, but says nothing about how we are going to get there.

I would like to know when this plan will be tabled.

[Irek Kusmierczyk, Liberal, Windsor—Tecumseh, ON]

Mr. Speaker, this Speech from the Throne really builds upon the last six or seven months of our experience with COVID. We can look at the fact that the throne speech talks about the extension of the wage subsidy to protect workers and their jobs, as well as the fact that we are looking at improving upon our experience with the CERB, which provided support and protection to over nine million Canadians. We are looking to improve on that with the introduction of the CRB and with the modernization of the EI system.

We are looking at the fact that this Speech from the Throne not only builds upon that experience, but also enhances it and focuses on building back a stronger Canada. This is because we do recognize that there are gaps, whether they are in the national standards for long-term care, the necessity of bringing forward a disability inclusion plan, eliminating chronic homelessness, and, of course, making sure we continue on our path to reducing carbon emissions and being on target for our climate promises.

[Brian Masse, NDP, Windsor West, ON]

Mr. Speaker, it would be remiss not to mention that it is Canadian taxpayers' monies being used to get services out to Canadians, and that this was supported unanimously by all members in this chamber. It was not just one particular effort, it was done through a minority Parliament.

It would also be remiss to suggest the auto investments were not the responsibility of the successful negotiations of Unifor Local 200, and in particular, Jerry Dias and John D'Agnolo. Similarly, Dave Cassidy and Unifor Local 444 are fighting for investments right now. Without a national auto strategy, we are always in the back seat whereas Detroit, for example, has had $8 billion in investment.

I would like to specifically note that there are two situations I would like the member to address. First, where is single-event sports betting, which was promised during the election and is yet to be delivered? Second, and most important at the moment, the member knows many people receive supplementary unemployment benefits, and I want his guarantee today that the government will not claw back CERB or other employment insurance at tax time. This applies to thousands of workers in Windsor and Essex. What guarantee is there that at tax time they will not be punished?

[Irek Kusmierczyk, Liberal, Windsor—Tecumseh, ON]

Mr. Speaker, I always appreciate working with my neighbour from Windsor West on the many issues common to our constituencies. The hallmark of this government's approach has been to move quickly and responsively, but also to move collaboratively. The proof of that, for example, is the $19-billion safe restart program, for which we worked very closely with provincial and territorial partners and municipalities. We also worked together on housing standards for temporary foreign workers, again working with our partners across levels of governments.

It is the same with the promise in the throne speech to bring forward national long-term care standards, and again, we will be working with all of our partners on that. In the same way, partners such as Unifor and the unions have been incredibly powerful. They have been strong partners every step of the way as we design solutions to COVID-19.

[Brian Masse, NDP, Windsor West, ON]

Mr. Speaker, I rise on a point of order. I notice my friend did not answer the two questions I put to him. I would ask for the unanimous consent of the House to give him an extra minute to answer them.

[The Deputy Speaker, Bruce Stanton]

I am sensing there is not unanimous consent for that. Perhaps the hon. parliamentary secretary will have an opportunity to properly reflect on those things at a later point in debate.

Resuming debate, the hon. member for Brampton East.

[Maninder Sidhu, Liberal, Brampton East, ON]

Mr. Speaker, first and foremost, I would like to thank you and the whole House of Commons team for working hard to ensure members of Parliament across the country can participate during this pandemic, as I am doing right now from Brampton. I would also like to give a shout-out to all of the amazing teachers, including my wife, on World Teachers' Day.

These past few months have been difficult for everyone and I am incredibly proud of Canadians for stepping up to the plate to take care of their loved ones, support their neighbours and pivot their business practices. Despite many success stories, this has been a period marked by loss and pain for many. I would like to extend my heartfelt condolences to the many families in my riding of Brampton East, as well as those across the country, who have been profoundly impacted by COVID-19.

Throughout these difficult months, I am pleased that our government took the bold steps needed to ensure Canadians could continue to provide for their families, and businesses were given the tools and resources to maintain their critical employee and supplier relationships, and pivot to providing essential services or safer versions of their services.

In my riding of Brampton East, Embassy Ingredients, a local food manufacture, was able to access much-needed federal resources, donated N95 masks to health care workers and began producing hand sanitizer. It is a terrific example of a socially minded company, whose public safety focus has helped our community, which was allowed to continue adding vibrancy to the neighbourhood while continuing to employ Canadians.

Our government acted quickly to help businesses weather the pandemic. Over three and a half million jobs across Canada were supported by the Canada emergency wage subsidy. We also established the Canada emergency business account, which provides interest-free loans. As our economy transitions into the recovery process, many businesses still require help. For this reason, we are extending the Canada emergency wage subsidy through to next summer, so workers can remain on the payroll.

Additionally, I look forward to the launch of a campaign with the goal of creating more than a million jobs. Creating direct investments in the social sector and infrastructure, providing immediate training to quickly scale up workers, and providing incentives for employers to hire and retain workers are all part of our economic recovery plan moving forward. This fall we will take further steps to bridge vulnerable businesses to the other side of the pandemic by expanding the Canada emergency business account to help businesses with fixed costs while improving the business credit availability program.

The Speech from the Throne highlighted how women, particularly those who are low income, have been hit hardest by COVID-19. Accelerating the women entrepreneurship strategy, which has already helped women across Canada grow their businesses, as well as giving parents access to affordable, inclusive and high-quality child care, are important to our action plan for the women in our economy.

As we go about fixing the holes in our system that have been identified through this pandemic, addressing climate change to transform how we power our economy and our communities will be a top priority of our government. Looking toward legislating Canada's goal of net-zero emissions by 2050, I am proud of our government's efforts in the last five years and during the pandemic to continue combatting climate change at the forefront of our efforts.

Our government has ambitious federal targets for zero-emission vehicles. They are to reach 10% of light duty vehicle sales per year by 2025, 30% by 2030 and 100% by 2040. In order to do this, the government has committed $130 million over five years and into 2024 to deploy a network of zero-emission vehicle charging and refuelling stations in more localized areas where Canadians live, work and play. Here in the Peel region alone, 43 new electric vehicle level 2 chargers were announced recently, with 12 in the city of Brampton. They will be located conveniently at community and recreation centres. Our government is also there to support industry to bring more electric vehicle production to Canada.

In July, the Minister of Infrastructure and Communities, my fellow Brampton MPs and I were proud to announce a $45-million investment from our federal government in Brampton transit. This is the largest investment in Brampton transit in over 10 years. These funds will go toward creating a transit hub, refurbishing buses and purchasing safety equipment. In an exciting step toward electrifying the transit system, 300 hybrid and conventional buses will be refurbished, making them more reliable for riders. Incentivizing the auto industry to transition into electric vehicle production, as well as dismantling convenience and accessibility barriers with a wide network of charging stations and a robust electrified public transit system, are tangible ways our government is working towards achieving our ambitious climate goals.

This year we are facing the most serious public health crisis Canada has ever seen. Our country has been presented with unprecedented challenges, with the safety of Canadians and protecting our economy being among the most pressing. Our government is working with Next Generation Manufacturing Canada, a not-for-profit organization that promotes collaboration between technology and manufacturing to identify critical health care priorities and supply shortages. Our government allocated $50 million in funding to launch production of innovative manufacturing solutions that will contribute to the fight against COVID-19 by assisting federal procurement for ventilators, test kits and PPE.

In a move to further engage the manufacturing industry, our Minister of Innovation, Science and Industry has been working hard with industry to retool and ramp up PPE production. I am exited to say that with the diligent work of the Minister of Innovation, Science and Industry and the Minister of Public Services and Procurement, Canada is now buying roughly half its personal protective equipment from Canadian companies producing PPE right here in Canada.

Every day throughout the early days of the pandemic, my office received many calls and emails with feedback and suggestions regarding our government's economic response to COVID-19. This served as an important reminder of the real faces and families being impacted. I am incredibly proud of our government's flexible and adaptive response allowing for more than nine million Canadians to access the Canadian emergency response benefit.

COVID-19 has been particularly hard on seniors, as they are among the most vulnerable to its effects. In order to help seniors, we invested in a one-time GIS and OAS additional payment, as well as partnered with the United Way, food banks and charities to get essential services and supplies to seniors. We also invested an additional $20 million into new horizons for seniors program. This additional investment went to community projects focused on reducing isolation, improving quality of life and helping seniors maintain a social support network.

The Brampton Bramalea Christian Fellowship in my riding of Brampton East received additional investment in order for them to expand upon their virtual programming. This allowed them to administer enhanced digital literacy training focused on apps in order to allow seniors to connect with others remotely, take part in online seniors fitness classes and mental health wellness workshops. I would like to offer my congratulations to all the organizations that identified a greater need than ever among our seniors and created innovative solutions to address them. I am thrilled our government was able to support these efforts.

The Government of Canada is providing Canadians with extra tools, such as the COVID-19 alert app, to help keep them safe and alert them if they have been in contact with someone who has tested positive for COVID-19. The COVID-19 alert app was developed as a secure way to make Canadians aware of their surroundings, while improving contact tracing for health officials. As we have all experienced an increase in the use of digital software, the COVID-19 alert app is a great example of how this government continues to provide Canadians with accessible technology and information to keep them safe.

Ensuring youth are not only supported, but also have the tools and skills training to improve their job opportunities and prospects, continues to be of utmost importance to our government. The Canada summer jobs program has provided funding to organizations that provide high-quality summer jobs to young people. This summer, employers were undoubtedly thrown a curve ball with COVID-19. I would like to congratulate the organizations in my riding and across Canada that were able to rise to the occasion and create virtual summer camps and other socially distant activities. They create unique and memorable experiences for their clients and customers, and provided substantial job experiences for youth.

Small businesses and organizations are the heart and soul of our neighbourhoods and communities. They provide skills development and training for workers of all ages across our country. In order to recover from this pandemic as a more resilient nation, we must invest in a stronger workforce. Our government is prepared to make the biggest investment in Canadian history for Canadian workers by supporting skills development in growing sectors, helping workers receive education and training, and connecting them to employers and good jobs in order to grow and strengthen the middle class.

In Brampton, as well as across the country, historic investments in comprehensive, affordable housing plans has been occurring. In August, the single largest funding announcement in the region of Peel of $276 million was established through the national housing co-investment fund from the Ministry of Families, Children and Social Development. This investment will allow vulnerable populations, including victims of abuse, seniors and people with mental and physical disabilities, to access affordable and safe housing.

I would also like to praise the Prime Minister for keeping Canadians informed and establishing a point of communication so that the support that Canadians and business owners needed was delivered efficiently. When hard-working Canadians were suddenly out of work, or had their hours cut beyond a liveable wage, our government stepped in with CERB. When businesses could not afford the costs of running their business or supporting their employees, our government stepped in with the Canada emergency wage subsidy and the Canada emergency business account.

When there was a fear of lack of PPE equipment in the country, the government stepped in by building a domestic manufacturing capacity and secure supply chains. When the provinces and territories were working on reopening schools, our government stepped in with a $2-billion investment through the safe return to class fund. As public health measures were implemented to allow businesses and public centres to reopen, the federal government stepped in with a $19-billion investment to the safe restart program. All this and more was done while making investments in green technologies, so Canada can reach its target of net-zero emissions by 2050 and create a better future for today and generations to come.

As we head into the fall and winter, I am energized by our government's ambitious Speech from the Throne to do everything we can to protect and support Canadians. Protecting Canadians, growing our economy, tackling climate change, protecting jobs and investing in job creation in emerging industries continue to be our government's top priorities.

I am proud to have been chosen to represent my riding of Brampton East and incredibly humbled by the efforts of small businesses, not-for-profit organizations and everyday people who are looking out for their neighbours while creating new opportunities to move our community forward. We have quite a lot of work ahead of us, but our government is committed to building a stronger and more resilient Canada together.

[Ziad Aboultaif, Conservative, Edmonton Manning, AB]

Mr. Speaker, the member for Brampton East listed many projects that show the government's efforts in his home riding in Ontario. I do not see the same thing in my home riding of Edmonton Manning. I have an agri-industry of canola farmers, a growing industry, in my riding. China's coercive policy against our canola has been hurting farmers a lot, not only in my riding but across the country.

What is the government doing to facilitate the efforts of canola farmers in Canada and in my riding?

[Maninder Sidhu, Liberal, Brampton East, ON]

Mr. Speaker, as we all know, the pandemic devastated many sectors of the economy and many Canadians lost their jobs. Since the restart of the economy, many Canadians have been able to return to work, but many workers continue to struggle. We know the CERB and the CRB, or the revamped EI, are support systems for these workers to help them in their time of need. Of course, our federal development agency works with different industries across Canada to support the agriculture sector and small businesses across the country. There is much more to be done and I know the government will continue listening to industries across the country to provide the supports that are needed.

[Louise Charbonneau, Bloc, Trois-Rivières, QC]

Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank my colleague for his speech.

He pointed out that women have been affected by the pandemic. However, is the government's proposal not contradictory, given that women are encouraged to be entrepreneurs but they have to stay home to look after their young children affected by COVID-19?

What are his solutions?

[Maninder Sidhu, Liberal, Brampton East, ON]

Mr. Speaker, I would say to the member across the way that I am still working on my French, but I hope to answer in French one day.

Listening has been a key part of our government's plan in providing a better future for Canadians: listening to mothers who are working from home, but also who must care for their children, and listening to businesses that need funding to pay for overhead costs. I know the government is continuing to listen to women who have been disproportionately affected by this pandemic, and it is working on a child care strategy to ensure we support families. I have two children of my own. I hear from my neighbours, as well, that child care is extremely important and on the minds of many, including women, in order to help them get back into the workforce and contribute to the economy. We know that women have an important part to play in our economy and we need them involved. I know our government will be working extremely hard to develop a national child care strategy.

[Matthew Green, NDP, Hamilton Centre, ON]

Mr. Speaker, I heard the hon. member for Brampton East reference tackling climate change. I know that is a very important topic for my constituents. He referenced the production of electric cars and electric vehicles as one of the ways in which the Liberal government plans to do so, but at $60,000 to $70,000 a pop plus auto insurance, my question through you for the member is this.

Does he not agree that providing more significant investments in the operating dollars of public transit would be a real and meaningful step toward addressing climate change rather than a continued subsidy of private vehicles?

[Maninder Sidhu, Liberal, Brampton East, ON]

Mr. Speaker, I would like to point out that our government believes in transit investments. Here in Brampton, over $45 million has been invested in transit. We know if we can provide consumers and our residents with better and cleaner transit options, it will help reduce vehicles on the road and in turn reduce pollution.

With respect to electric vehicles, I think it is important that we give Canadians access to electric vehicles through incentives so we can ensure we get to net zero by our target date.

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

Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to be back in the House today. This is the second time in less than 12 months that I have been able to respond to a Speech from the Throne. I find it quite comical that we are doing this again, after a prorogation that was not necessary but was to hide scandal.

That being said, I am eager to have the opportunity to participate in this debate, not only as the member of Parliament for Battlefords—Lloydminster but also as the Conservative shadow minister for seniors. I am very honoured that our leader has asked me to serve in this capacity. It is one that I do not take lightly.

This year has been particularly challenging. Now more than ever, Canadians need a government with a clear plan and vision going forward. That is why the Speech from the Throne was such a disappointment when it was delivered. Many Canadians did not find themselves in the Liberal government's vision. In fact, Saskatchewanians and westerners once again found themselves explicitly excluded. Despite the Prime Minister's disbelief, western alienation is real and it is largely a product of the Prime Minister's own attitudes and failed policies.

Well before this pandemic, the agriculture sector and the oil and gas sector had been completely left behind by the Liberal government. These two sectors have contributed so much to our entire country, and have the potential to contribute so much more. Despite the families, the businesses and communities that depend on these sectors, they continue to be left behind by the Prime Minister. His continued indifference continues to make things worse. This is underscored by the absence of western Canada and its priorities from the throne speech.

When it comes to what was actually in the throne speech, it still falls very flat. There was no real plan. There was no detailed plan laid out to help the millions of Canadians who are struggling, and the complete lack of a clear plan failed to instill confidence in Canadians that the Prime Minister can or will follow through on his throne speech promises.

I will pre-empt the defence that my colleagues across the way will try to build: that there are never details in a throne speech. However, as has been said countless times, these are unprecedented times. Unprecedented times call for an unprecedented response. Beyond that, the Prime Minister himself told Canadians that he was proroguing Parliament so he could deliver a detailed plan going forward.

It was his own office that had a press release announcing the prorogation of Parliament. It said:

The Speech will outline a detailed vision for the future...

Now that we have all had ample time to reread the speech, we can be certain that we have not missed the details. They are simply not there, confirming what we already knew. The Prime Minister prorogued Parliament and wasted six weeks just so that he could hide from his ethical scandals. That is shameful.

The Prime Minister prioritized hiding his scandal over the interests of Canadians. He prioritized himself over that single mother who lost her job through no fault of her own, and who did not know how she would pay her bills and put food in her children's tummies when CERB ended. He prioritized himself over all the other Canadians who were unsure of what would happen when the program ended.

The shutdown of Parliament was in no one's interests but those of the Prime Minister and his friends. I would hope that the Liberals would stop insisting otherwise because, honestly, Canadians are not buying it and Canadians deserve better.

It is Canadians who pay for the failures of the government, and Canada's seniors have paid dearly. The COVID-19 pandemic has had a disproportionate impact on our seniors. They have faced greater health risks, higher fatalities, forced social isolation, limited access to services and so much more. Despite this, the throne speech did not provide great attention to our seniors, nor did it offer them any semblance of a detailed plan to help them get through the rest of the pandemic healthy and safe.

Last week, on National Seniors Day, I reminded the House that we owe a lot to our seniors. We cannot leave them behind, and we have to do better than the little that was described in the Speech from the Throne. The throne speech reannounced past policy commitments that the government, frankly, has just failed to deliver.

The commitment to amend the Criminal Code to penalize those who neglect seniors is not new, nor is the commitment to increase OAS and the CPP survivor benefit. They have all been said before. With no clear outline of how the Liberals plan to deliver these promises, it is difficult for seniors to put stock in any of these. It is also not possible for us to put stock in other vague commitments, like taking action to help people stay in their homes longer. While the benefits of aging in place are broadly accepted, the Liberals have offered no indication of how to accomplish this, leaving us to believe that it is not a real priority for the government.

As we continue to navigate this pandemic, which should without a doubt be a priority for the Liberal government, we need to make sure the health care workers who take care of our seniors have the critical supplies and the resources that they need. The outbreaks and fatalities experienced in long-term care homes during the first wave of the pandemic were devastating, and too many Canadians experienced the pain of losing loved ones.

The government's number one priority in supporting our seniors in the immediate term should be working to prevent the same outbreaks and fatalities in long-term care homes. As we know, the provinces' premiers made their case crystal clear to the Prime Minister ahead of the throne speech: that additional funds and resources were needed to deal with the pressing health care needs, and that the provinces needed flexibility to use those funds accordingly.

This is also an issue that our leader raised with the Prime Minister in advance of the throne speech. It is absolutely shameful that the Prime Minister failed to even respond to the premiers' requests. Instead, he opted to weigh in on provincial jurisdiction like he always does, committing to an Ottawa-knows-best approach. That approach does not work when the immediate care needs differ, not only from province to province, but from community to community. Provinces are much better suited to address the specific needs in their regions.

To be clear, the commitment to develop a national care standard is positive. The federal government should work with its provincial counterparts to ensure that Canada's seniors have access to quality, consistent care throughout the country. However, Canada's seniors living in long-term care, and their families, cannot afford to wait for care standards to be developed at the government's pace, and much less at the current government's pace.

We are in the middle of a pandemic. If the Prime Minister acknowledges that we are in the second wave, resources are needed now and that is well within the government's jurisdiction. With no commitment to provide greater resources to long-term care workers, I would also caution the government: Liberals cannot vilify our health care workers who are working extremely hard, some in precarious environments, to support our seniors because they do not have the resources they need to provide the highest quality of care. Just the same, knowing the significant impact that this pandemic has had on Canada's seniors, we cannot afford to fall behind in our response. The government's failure to close our borders and secure personal protective equipment at the outset of this pandemic cost lives and livelihoods.

As we see Canada lag behind our allies in securing testing, it is Canadians who pay the price. We run the risk again that Canada's seniors will pay the greatest price. We have to do better for our seniors and for all Canadians. That is why, as Conservatives, we are focused on holding the Prime Minister and his government to account. We will fight for all Canadians, including those the Liberal government has left behind. We will fight for the interests of Saskatchewan and western Canada, and we will focus on putting forward a real plan to keep Canadians safe, protect jobs and get back on track because our country's unity and strength depend on it.

[Kevin Lamoureux, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the President of the Queen’s Privy Council for Canada and to the Leader of the Government in the House of Commons]

Mr. Speaker, I have a point and a question.

This government has been very proactive on the seniors file. In fact, there has been hundreds of millions of dollars, whether directly through increases in the GIS and the OAS, through the support to the many hundreds of non-profit organizations, through the GST rebate or through support to the military for long-term care facilities. This government has been there in a very real and tangible way, no matter what the Conservatives might say.

The member opposite seems to be hung up, just as many of her Conservative colleagues are, on the prorogation of the session. I wonder if the member could provide her thoughts on the province of Manitoba. The premier, in a majority Conservative government, prorogued the Manitoba legislature. Was he wrong to do so?

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

Mr. Speaker, it was the Liberal government that threw out PPE, if not sent it away. When we talk to our long-term caregivers, we hear this is what they need to provide safe places to work in our long-term care facilities.

Before the member starts lecturing me, he should look at what his own government is doing and the ethical scandals it is plagued with.

[Julie Vignola, Bloc, Beauport—Limoilou, QC]

Mr. Speaker, my colleague's speech accurately described the realities that we have been seeing first-hand for over six months now.

At the beginning of her speech, she talked about seniors and how they have been treated.

The government literally created two classes of seniors by giving extra money to seniors aged 75 and over, while the majority of seniors, those between the ages of 65 and 75, are not getting anything.

What does she have to say about that? I would like to hear her comments.

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

Mr. Speaker, I would like to know what the government has done for seniors. Even stakeholders are stating that in the throne speech, “details around all issues including the promised increases to OAS and the CPP Survivor’s Benefit were frustratingly vague and repeated the message we’ve been receiving for months.” This is from the Canadian Association for Retired Persons.

If there were political will, it would be done already. This goes back to my previous answer: We need to see action, and throwing out PPE is not a good action.

[Alistair MacGregor, NDP, Cowichan—Malahat—Langford, BC]

Mr. Speaker, I know my hon. colleague's speech focused mainly on seniors, but at the beginning of her speech she made reference to the oil and gas industry, particularly in western Canada. I caution the Conservatives when they speak about western Canada because, looking at the floor right now, I see that my riding is actually farther west than that of anyone I can see.

That being said, we have two major factors going on right now. We have the threat of climate change and, as we know, an investment climate that is starting to peel away from oil and gas.

Given those facts and the way the industry is heading, would it not be smarter and better policy to start making major investments in helping the workers, the men and women who work so hard in oil and gas, transition to the industries that will be a part of Canada's future 10, 20 and 30 years from now, and start making those investments now before they start costing us far more than they should?

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

Mr. Speaker, I invite the member to come to my riding and tell that to the parents who are trying to put food in the tummies of their children. They are just trying to get ahead. That is all they are trying to do.

He could tell that to the farmers who have to supplement their egg income because of the crappy policies the government has put forward, such as Bill C-69, the carbon tax and Bill C-48, whatever it is. The government is making it more difficult to get their products to market and is taking more money out of their pockets. Farmers have to subsidize their egg income by working in oil and gas because they cannot put food on their tables with what they are receiving in egg income as it is.

Before there are suggestions about allowing investment to free this country, when all our energy investment is leaving and leaving people without work, I invite the member to come and make his comments to my constituents in Battlefords—Lloydminster.