Debates of Nov. 2nd, 2020

Air Transportation

[Niki Ashton, NDP, Churchill—Keewatinook Aski, MB]

Mr. Speaker, the government's failure to ensure passengers get their money back is turning into an international embarrassment. Now American passengers are taking Air Canada to court to get their money back.

Instead of standing up for consumers, the government keeps pretending there is nothing they can do. This is not true.

Why is the government dithering? Who in there thinks it is okay for Canadian airlines to rip off their customers?

[Marc Garneau, Liberal, Minister of Transport]

Mr. Speaker, I am very conscious of the fact that many Canadians are frustrated and they would prefer to have refunds. I understand that, and we are encouraging airlines to follow up.

At the same time, airlines and the air sector in general are going through a very rough period at the moment. That is why we are working on a package to address the requirements to ensure that Canadians will have a reliable, affordable and safe air sector after this pandemic is over.

Veterans

[Marc Serré, Liberal, Nickel Belt, ON]

Mr. Speaker, I made funding announcements at the Lockerby and Markstay St. Charles legions in Nickel Belt to unveil new commemorative cenotaphs in honour of local heroes. With the annual poppy campaign under way, I encourage everyone to give generously and get a poppy before Remembrance Day.

More than ever, our legions and veterans need our support. Could the hon. Minister of Veterans Affairs share what our government is doing to ensure they have the support they need and deserve during this pandemic?

[Lawrence MacAulay, Liberal, Minister of Veterans Affairs and Associate Minister of National Defence]

Mr. Speaker, I want to thank my hon. colleague, the member for Nickel Belt, for all the hard work he does for the legions and veterans organizations in his riding. We encourage all Canadians to support the Royal Canadian Legion's annual poppy campaign more than ever this year, as the legion branches deal with the challenges brought on by COVID-19.

Our government is also proud to support our legions and veterans organizations with $20 million in funding assistance through Bill C-4. We can be proud of the poppy campaign and the incredible work done by our legions and other veterans organizations from coast to coast to coast.

Indigenous Affairs

[Eric Melillo, Conservative, Kenora, ON]

Mr. Speaker, in the riding of Kenora, the Neskantaga First Nation has been evacuated because they have no water. The water plant has shut down. This summer the government created many new massive programs to address the crisis of the COVID-19 pandemic, but somehow ensuring clean water for indigenous communities is something it deemed to be too ambitious.

The government has pledged to end all drinking water advisories by this spring. I am wondering if the Minister of Indigenous Services could recommit to that timeline today?

[Marc Miller, Liberal, Minister of Indigenous Services]

Mr. Speaker, the member's question is exceedingly important. I will reiterate the fact that it is unacceptable that Neskantaga has been without clean water for over 25 years.

This is a government that has invested $16.5 million into a new plant, in particular in Neskantaga, and in other places across Canada. There is much more work to do, but this is something that has occurred over a quarter of a century. If the member looks at the 10 years of investment of the Conservatives, in Neskantaga in particular, they only put $300,000 in per year, which is just a tragedy and something that we have committed to fix. We will fix it and we will fix it with financial resources in partnerships with first nations.

[Cathy McLeod, Conservative, Kamloops—Thompson—Cariboo, BC]

Mr. Speaker, the Neskantaga First Nation is on day 9,406 of a boil water advisory, the longest in Canada. The minister was there in 2016 and promised that it would be done by 2018. They are not alone.

On Friday, the Chief of the Chippewas of Nawash told CBC that their plant would not be open until 2023. This is one of over 60 communities that still cannot put clean drinking water into a glass. They cannot wash their hands in this time of COVID.

How much longer is the Prime Minister going to make them wait? If it is not 2021, then when is it?

[Marc Miller, Liberal, Minister of Indigenous Services]

Mr. Speaker, I would encourage the member to look down to the bottom of the article, where she got her information, and see the quote from the elder who said that the Prime Minister was the first one to care, to have actually done something and to give him respect for that.

There is a lot more work to be done. This is a product of decades of neglect. We continue to move on. Obviously, it is too early to determine the full impact of COVID-19 on water infrastructure timelines, but we do remain aggressively committed to meeting that goal, and in partnership with first nations well after that.

[Eric Melillo, Conservative, Kenora, ON]

Mr. Speaker, I cannot understand why the government continues to act so much like an opposition and blames everybody else when it is the government of the day and it is the one that can address this situation right now.

This pandemic has resulted in people having to wash their hands more frequently, physically distance themselves and has upended northern supply chains. It has made bottled water more difficult to come by in indigenous communities. For far too long, these communities have been put on the backburner.

I would ask the minister this. How quickly would his government have responded if it were Toronto or his downtown Montreal riding that did not have access to clean drinking water?

[Marc Miller, Liberal, Minister of Indigenous Services]

Mr. Speaker, as the member rightly points out, this is something that has been the case for over 25 years in some instances, and it does not get fixed overnight. It gets fixed by the consistent partnership, with government after government investing finances and resources in partnership with first nations that too often have been betrayed.

We have eliminated 96 long-term boil water advisories and prevented countless more from becoming long-term boil water advisories. A lot of them, yes, did happen on the watch of his prior government of 10 years, with $300,000 per year, for example, in Neskantaga, where we have invested $16.5 million. That is investment for—

[The Speaker, Liberal, Anthony Rota]

The hon. member for Kamloops—Thompson—Cariboo.

[Cathy McLeod, Conservative, Kamloops—Thompson—Cariboo, BC]

Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister, in 2015, stood in the House and solemnly promised to lift all long-term drinking water advisories by March 2021. He has now admitted that this is another broken promise and, quite frankly, it is unforgivable. Fifty-one advisories have been added since then and for one community, its drinking water now has compounds found in oil and coal.

When will the Prime Minister stand up, apologize and tell us his plan?

[Marc Miller, Liberal, Minister of Indigenous Services]

Mr. Speaker, I will tell the member opposite exactly what the plan is. It is to lift all those long-term water advisories with investment, partnership and hard work, 96 to date. The prior government left them all to waste for a decade. This is unconscionable action. This is something our government moved quickly to remedy and, in fact, after 2015, we increased the number of communities that we would lift those long-term water advisories for.

This is something for which first nations communities have been asking for far too long, deserve so as of right. We will continue to commit to them in partnership to work with them to lift all the water advisories well beyond that date, to work in partnership to keep those water advisories from coming back on.

Employment Insurance

[Marilène Gill, Bloc, Manicouagan, QC]

Mr. Speaker, workers across Quebec who are entitled to employment insurance or the new CERB are unable to apply because their application is being blocked for so-called security reasons. They have spent weeks on the phone, but no one can tell them why their application is blocked or when it will go through. At a time when entire industries are shut down because of the pandemic, the government has no right to leave workers with no income and no answers.

What is happening?

When will the problem be fixed?

[Carla Qualtrough, Liberal, Minister of Employment]

Mr. Speaker, I can assure the member that we are working very hard to make sure that every worker who is entitled to EI gets it and people who are not get the new recovery benefits. I will look into the specifics of this particular case. I, quite frankly, do not know about the security issue. I will look into it and get back to the member shortly.

[Marilène Gill, Bloc, Manicouagan, QC]

Mr. Speaker, even if they are working hard, it is taking too long.

The government cannot let workers go without income for weeks. In the meantime, people are going into debt. While living on the bare minimum of government assistance, they are making sacrifices and cannot meet their basic needs.

We need to truly reform federal programs to properly protect the identity of Canadians. I will come back to that.

Today, in the middle of the second wave, what is the government doing to unblock these applications so workers can pay for groceries?

[Carla Qualtrough, Liberal, Minister of Employment]

Mr. Speaker, we are taking every effort and I am proud to say that 2.85 million Canadians right now—

[Sébastien Lemire, Bloc, Abitibi—Témiscamingue, QC]

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

[The Speaker, Liberal, Anthony Rota]

A point of order cannot be raised during this period unless it is about a technical problem.

[Sébastien Lemire, Bloc, Abitibi—Témiscamingue, QC]

This is the second time that there has been no translation of the minister's reply because of the sound quality. I would like this to be fixed.

[The Speaker, Liberal, Anthony Rota]

We will check what is happening.

We have determined that the minister's microphone is not working properly. We will get it fixed.

We will continue with the member for Montmagny—L'Islet—Kamouraska—Rivière-du-Loup.

Health

[Bernard Généreux, Conservative, Montmagny—L'Islet—Kamouraska—Rivière-du-Loup, QC]

Mr. Speaker, we are seeing COVID-19 outbreaks in a number of meat-processing plants in Quebec. We learned that these employees in an essential, high-risk sector are tested just once a week because of the lack of access to rapid tests. Canada is months behind other countries.

When will rapid tests become widely available so we can deal with the threat to Canada's food safety?

[Patty Hajdu, Liberal, Minister of Health]

Mr. Speaker, in fact, we have delivered over 1.7 million rapid tests since October 24: to Ontario, 531,000; to Quebec, 577,000; to B.C., 153,000; to Alberta, 303,000. The list goes on. In fact, we have been there for provinces and territories to support their role in responding to the pandemic and we will continue to work with them every step of the way.

Motorcoach Industry

[Kerry-Lynne Findlay, Conservative, South Surrey—White Rock, BC]

Mr. Speaker, since March, the B.C. motorcoach industry has seen historic drops in gross revenue, in some cases as bad as 95%. Companies like Wilson's Transportation in Victoria and International Stage Lines in Richmond need our help. Restrictions are in place, layoffs are in full swing and COVID numbers are rising.

What, specifically, is the Liberal government doing to support motorcoach businesses that serve B.C.'s youth groups, sports teams, tourism industry and more?

[Marc Garneau, Liberal, Minister of Transport]

Mr. Speaker, like the air sector and the rail sector, the motorcoach sector has also been hit by this pandemic, and we are working on this. We stepped in when Greyhound departed a year and a half ago, and we are looking at this. This is also a provincial responsibility.

At the moment, the fact is that not very many people want to travel, and it is difficult for the coach industry.