Debates of May 26th, 2020

Leonard Rodriques

[Matthew Green, NDP, Hamilton Centre, ON]

Mr. Speaker, today I rise to honour all the health care workers who have lost their lives serving this country on the front lines of the COVID pandemic. According to journalist Nora Loreto, of the 6,000 Canadians who have died from COVID-19, over 5,000 are linked to residential care facilities, close to 86%. We know from the unions representing these workers that a significant portion of these workers are racialized.

I rise to honour Leonard Rodriques, a personal support worker and member of Unifor, whose family says his death was due to a lack of PPE at his workplace. He was buying masks from the dollar store because his workplace was not providing him with PPE. After he was denied the personal protection from his workplace, he was sent home. He tested positive, and when symptoms worsened he went to the hospital. A few hours later, he was discharged from the hospital, and he died two days later. The story of Mr. Rodriques cannot be forgotten. We must begin to collect race-based data related to COVID-19.

Canada Emergency Response Benefit

[Marilène Gill, Bloc, Manicouagan, QC]

Mr. Speaker, Quebec has entered phase two of the pandemic, which is the reopening phase.

Sadly, for some industries, it will be a lengthy process. I am thinking in particular of tourism industry workers in eastern Quebec, who still do not know whether there will even be a summer. For those workers, getting back to normal will not happen overnight. To make matters worse, their 16 weeks of CERB payments are almost up.

The government has no choice. It must extend the CERB, because too many families and communities are depending on it, but not in the same format. The government promised the Bloc Québécois that it would amend the CERB and the CESB so that working would always pay better than not working. However, it broke its promise.

Quebeckers have guts. They want to work. They want to contribute to their region's well-being and be part of the recovery. When they finally get to go back to work, they certainly should not be penalized for their efforts. Quite the contrary.

That is why I want to remind the government that it must keep its promise. Before extending the CERB, the government must amend it so that it genuinely supports the economic recovery instead of slowing it down.

This is not just about respect for workers, it is also about the continued survival of our businesses and communities.

Nova Scotia

[Chris d'Entremont, Conservative, West Nova, NS]

Mr. Speaker, this week is the first time that I have returned to the House of Commons since March, and I am pleased to see that we are all healthy and slowly returning to a new normal.

For the past several weeks, the entire Canadian population has been going through a difficult time due to COVID-19. Unfortunately, many people have lost their lives.

In addition to the health crisis hitting the world, at home in Nova Scotia we have faced other terrible tragedies. On April 22, 22 innocent victims lost their lives in the worst slaughter that Canada has ever known. On April 30, we lost six soldiers attached to HMCS Fredericton during a crash of their helicopter off the coast of Greece. Two of them were Nova Scotians. On Sunday, May 17, we lost Captain Jennifer Casey in the Snowbird crash in B.C.

Since the current crisis prevents us from coming together, it is very difficult for all the families of the victims to overcome these tragic moments on their own. I want to thank all my colleagues, my constituents of West Nova and all Canadians for reaching out to friends and family in Nova Scotia with their messages of support during this difficult time.

My family, my staff and I want to offer our deepest condolences to all the families, loved ones and friends of those who have been lost. Our thoughts and prayers are with them. Nova Scotia will remain strong.

Paramedic Services

[Francis Drouin, Liberal, Glengarry—Prescott—Russell, ON]

Mr. Speaker, while our doctors, nurses and personal support workers are playing an essential role in fighting COVID-19 and doing a fantastic job, today I want to highlight the work of our paramedic services.

This week is Paramedic Services Week, and our paramedics play an important role in fighting COVID-19. I know there are many examples across Canada of paramedics stepping up to help neighbours and their community.

In Glengarry—Prescott—Russell, when the residents of our long-term care homes had to be tested, our paramedic services answered the call. I want to thank them. These men and women always answer the call and save lives each and every day. We are fortunate to have unparalleled paramedic services in Canada. This week, I encourage Canadians to take two minutes to thank them, from a distance of two metres, of course.

Health

[Andrew Scheer, Conservative, Leader of the Opposition]

Mr. Speaker, we are learning today that on May 14, members of the Canadian Armed Forces wrote a report detailing dreadful conditions at long-term care homes in Ontario. Soldiers have witnessed cockroaches, rotting food, seniors left in soiled diapers, and cries for help ignored for lengthy periods. I am sure all Canadians are horrified to hear these details. However, the Liberals only provided this report to the Province of Ontario on Sunday. In other words, the government sat on this report for almost two weeks.

Why did it take a leak to make these details public? Why was the Prime Minister not transparent with this horrific information?

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, I have said many times in this House and over the course of this pandemic that we need to do a much better job of caring for our seniors in long-term care right across the country.

The report that came out is horrific. The Minister of National Defence received the report on Thursday evening. We notified the other ministers on Friday. He then passed the report to the Province of Ontario on the weekend. I read the full report on Monday, and today, on Tuesday, it is being made public. Canadians need to know what is going on, and we need to work together to fix it.

[Andrew Scheer, Conservative, Leader of the Opposition]

Mr. Speaker, the fact remains that the report was written on May 14, so it took almost two weeks for it to be made public.

Our seniors deserve better than this. They deserve better than a government that waits almost two weeks before reading an absolutely appalling report on the situation in seniors' homes. We hear that the army is working on a second report, which will describe the situation in long-term care homes in Quebec.

Can the Prime Minister assure us that he will not wait two weeks before reading it?

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, what happened in Ontario's long-term care homes is totally unacceptable, and this report is extremely troubling. The Minister of National Defence received the report on Thursday and shared it with his counterparts and my office on Friday. We shared it with the Government of Ontario over the weekend, and today, on Tuesday, we are sharing it publicly.

We must take action to ensure that we take care of our seniors, who built this country. It is our duty as Canadians.

[Andrew Scheer, Conservative, Leader of the Opposition]

The Prime Minister has laid out that kind of timeline, Mr. Speaker.

I have a simple question. Who had the report from May 14 until last Thursday?

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, last Thursday, the chief of the defence staff passed it along to the Minister of National Defence. The Canadian Armed Forces had the report up until that moment.

Ethics

[Andrew Scheer, Conservative, Leader of the Opposition]

Mr. Speaker, the media is also reporting today that the Minister of Digital Government has been promoting a fundraising campaign to sue Global News for its story that criticized the Chinese Communist Party. WeChat is a Chinese state-sanctioned social media platform that is monitored by the communist state security and, worse yet, the minister has admitted that her taxpayer-funded political aide is the one who manages her WeChat account and who allowed the fundraising campaign to be promoted. Clearly, this is inappropriate.

What action has the Prime Minister taken in light of these revelations?

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, as a party and as a government, we value the important work that journalists do right across the country. Attacking the integrity of hard-working journalists is absolutely unacceptable. The individual who posted this link on this particular group is no longer a member of this group and is not affiliated with the electoral district association in question.

[Andrew Scheer, Conservative, Leader of the Opposition]

Mr. Speaker, this is so typical of the Liberals. When it comes to things like this, they only apologize when they get caught. When we put this in light of their whole approach to China, foreign affairs experts are saying that the government's approach is to speak softly and carry no stick.

Yesterday, I gave the Prime Minister four opportunities to condemn the attack on the freedom of the people of Hong Kong by the Government of China. He refused. We have seen a pattern of appeasement toward the PRC, but this is much worse. By helping an arm of the Chinese government suppress media critical of the PRC here in Canada, the Prime Minister is actually doing its dirty work.

Why are the Prime Minister's cabinet ministers helping the dictators in the PRC?

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, as I said, the individual in question was not associated with the electoral district association or the member of Parliament and minister in question.

We are, of course, deeply concerned about the proposals for introducing legislation related to national security in Hong Kong. With hundreds of thousands of Canadians living in Hong King, we have a vested interest in its stability and prosperity. We continue to support Hong Kong's high degree of autonomy and freedoms under the basic law and the “one country, two systems” framework, which would be undermined by this proposal. We will always support and promote freedom of speech, freedom of expression and freedom of the press around the world.

Employment

[Yves-François Blanchet, Bloc, Beloeil—Chambly, QC]

Mr. Speaker, I do not know how many empty, hollow responses the Prime Minister has for the media, Parliament and Quebec taxpayers, but he will see that the Bloc Québécois is going to keep an eye on him right up until the election because he has his hand in the public purse. At a press briefing this morning, he said that programs do not judge, but voters do. The program has no judgment. The Prime Minister should have some.

Will the Prime Minister have enough judgment to forgo the wage subsidy, which the Liberal Party does not deserve, and to return the money, where appropriate?

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, people across the country who work for various organizations and companies are at risk of losing their jobs because of COVID-19. The help we have given workers is to ensure that they keep their jobs so the economy can recover. We moved swiftly so that we could help people across the country.

We continue to focus on the workers, and they are the ones we are helping with this worker subsidy.

[Yves-François Blanchet, Bloc, Beloeil—Chambly, QC]

Mr. Speaker, this will come up again. Until the NDP said it had applied to the program, nobody had any idea that the Liberals and the Conservatives had not only applied for money but also received it. They kept things very quiet. The purpose of the program is to keep people employed. It is a program for businesses and workers, and jobs needed to be protected.

Is the Prime Minister now saying that, if not for the wage subsidy, he would have laid off everyone working for the Liberal Party?

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, organizations and businesses across the country are having a hard time because of COVID-19. The wage subsidy program is available to non-profits, charities and businesses that have seen a drop in their income and that want to ensure continuity and support their workers.

To ensure transparency, a list of all companies and organizations receiving the wage subsidy will be made public. Our government always wants everything we do to be transparent.

Seniors

[Jagmeet Singh, NDP, Burnaby South, BC]

Mr. Speaker, Canadians were horrified to hear the details, as outlined by the military report, of the conditions that seniors were living in, in long-term care homes. Seniors need more than just our compassion. They desperately need action. Report after report has made it clear that private long-term care homes have been the site of the most deplorable conditions.

Will the Prime Minister agree today that it is time to remove profit from the care of seniors?

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, we are all concerned about the situation that seniors face in long-term care centres across the country. As I said, the federal government stands ready to support the provinces in their area of responsibility and jurisdiction. We will not be telling the provinces what they need to do in their areas of jurisdiction, but we all know that there is a need for serious conversations within all orders of government and among all Canadians about how we ensure that we are taking better care of our vulnerable seniors, who have built this country and who we need to do far better by than we have been doing so far.

[Jagmeet Singh, NDP, Burnaby South, BC]

Mr. Speaker, Canada needs national leadership to rally around the idea that profits should not be made off of seniors and that seniors should not be neglected.

The conditions were equally appalling at the Herron long-term care home in Quebec. Thirty-one seniors died at that facility. That is unacceptable. The private long-term care homes have the worst conditions.

Is the Prime Minister prepared to say today that it is time to put an end to for-profit senior care?

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, everything that has to do with the administration of long-term care homes very appropriately and constitutionally falls under the jurisdiction of the Province of Quebec, and we will respect the work that the province must do.

Just as the federal government was there to offer the help of the armed forces, just as we are there to support this country's seniors and workers, so too will we be there to work respectfully with Quebec and the other provinces to reflect on how we can all better serve our seniors, who deserve much better than the services they have received in such situations.

[James Bezan, Conservative, Selkirk—Interlake—Eastman, MB]

Mr. Speaker, military members serving in Operation Laser have sounded the alarm on the horrible abuse and neglect of our vulnerable seniors in long-term care homes. The military reported this abuse on May 14, but the minister of defence did nothing with that information until Friday. The Province of Ontario was left in the dark until Sunday because the public safety minister sat on it until then.

Our troops are in harm's way, witnessing blatant disregard for infection control, mistreatment of elderly residents and a level of care described as “horrible”.

Why did the Minister of National Defence sit on these allegations for almost two weeks?

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

Mr. Speaker, let me begin by acknowledging and offering my sincere gratitude for the excellent work of the Canadian Armed Forces who have answered the call to assist the Province of Ontario and the Province of Quebec.

Their report of the appalling conditions that they found in these long-term care facilities in Ontario truly is disturbing and demanded action. That is why, when this information was brought to my attention on Friday, I took immediate action to reach out to the appropriate authorities, including notifying the Province of Ontario and sharing those findings with them.

As the Prime Minister has already indicated, our government received this information on Thursday. It was conveyed to me on Friday, and we immediately reached out to the Province of Ontario and shared the entire report with them. We share the concern for those seniors.

[James Bezan, Conservative, Selkirk—Interlake—Eastman, MB]

Mr. Speaker, that does not answer the question. The question is that this information became available on May 14. The government refused to move on that intelligence and these allegations to go and protect the most vulnerable, our loved ones who are living in long-term care facilities.

The question is quite simple: Why did the Liberals sit on their hands for two weeks and do nothing to protect our loved ones in long-term care homes?