Debates of Dec. 2nd, 2021

Resumption of Debate on Address in Reply

[The Assistant Deputy Speaker, NDP, Carol Hughes]

Order, please. It is very difficult to hear what the member is saying when members on this side of the House are yelling. I would say that it is more than heckling. Neither are acceptable when someone has the floor. I would ask members who have questions and comments to jot them down if they think they might forget them and they will have an opportunity to ask them after the member's speech.

The hon. member for Winnipeg North.

[Kevin Lamoureux, Liberal, Winnipeg North, MB]

Madam Speaker, I suggest that my Conservative friends pay a bit more attention to the policies that the government puts forward and less attention on the personal attacks, as we have seen on the Prime Minister and other members.

At the end of the day, no matter what the Conservative Party determines is its priorities, our priorities will continue to be Canadians from coast to coast to coast and delivering good, sound public policy that is going to make a real difference.

I want to talk about some of the things from the last election, some of the commitments I made to being an advocate in the House of Commons, ensuring that the government continued to move forward on issues that really matter.

I have talked about the Canada child care program in the past and the millions of dollars, close to $10 million or maybe even a bit more than that today, that go to support children in Winnipeg North every month, and how important it is that the government continue to support that program. From a historical perspective, no government in the history of Canada has supported children in the same way that this government has in the last six years. We have lifted thousands of children out of poverty, and that includes hundreds in Winnipeg North.

The Conservatives will have their own agenda, but I and other Liberal members of Parliament will continue to advocate for the best interests of children. That is one of the reasons why we are very proud of the fact that we are moving forward on $10-a-day child care.

Does the Conservative Party not realize that we all benefit by that program? It would enable more people to be engaged in the workforce. The more people who are engaged in the workforce, the better it is for our GDP. One only need look at the wonderful province of Quebec, and many of my Quebec colleagues talk about the child care program and the positive impact it has had in Quebec. I am sure Ontario will come onside at some point, but all of Canada will benefit from the $10-a-day child care program. That is caring and listening to our constituents. It is advocating for programs that are going to make a difference.

Another program—

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

It'll take you 20 years to get there.

[Kevin Lamoureux, Liberal, Winnipeg North, MB]

The member says—

[The Assistant Deputy Speaker, NDP, Carol Hughes]

Order, please. Members need to restrain themselves a bit for the respect of not only the individual who has the floor right now but also for this place. Again, if members have questions and comments, please reserve them for when it is time for questions and comments.

The hon. member for Winnipeg North.

[Kevin Lamoureux, Liberal, Winnipeg North, MB]

Madam Speaker, the problem is that I am very much limited on the time I can speak on all these wonderful initiatives, so I would appreciate it if the members on the other side would be more quiet.

Another area in which this government has done exceptionally well is supporting our seniors. Again, from day one, we increased substantially the guaranteed income supplement. The GIS is there to support the poorest seniors in Canada. We gave substantial increases, approximately $900 annually, to the poorest seniors, again, lifting literally thousands of seniors out of poverty in all regions of our country. That happened even pre-pandemic.

During the the pandemic, we gave direct payments to seniors, with an additional payment for those on the lowest income. We made an election platform commitment to increase payments to those seniors age 75 and over because of the limitations in terms of abilities and additional costs that they had to incur. It was 10%, which was unheard of. These are the types of commitments this government has made to our seniors from day one and we still continue to make them today.

Listening to our constituents and advocating for programs really make a difference. That is what Liberal members of Parliament are doing. I would encourage my Conservative friends to get on board with some of these programs as opposed to suggesting, as they did in the last election, that our proposed child care program was not a good thing, that they would take it away.

Now we have the new horizons program. The government has enhanced the funding for this program and continues to promote it, because it is to the benefit of seniors throughout the country. I would suggest that all members of Parliament look at that program and promote it in their communities. The program has tangible results for seniors in all our constituencies.

Much like our support programs for seniors, such as new horizons, we also have programs for young people. Let us look at the youth summer program. Over the last five or six years, we have more than doubled of the program. Thousands and thousands of youth are getting employment, often their first opportunity for employment, because of this program. It is making a real difference in all our communities. Much like the new horizons program, which as members of Parliament we all get to contribute to the success of that program in our constituencies, members need to look at this program and promote it among their constituents.

When I was first elected as a parliamentarian in 1988, one of the primary issues was health care. Health care is not just provincial jurisdiction. I know this will upset the separatists from the Bloc, but Canadians love and cherish our health care system. During the pandemic, we learned a little more about areas that needed more attention.

I am thinking about national long-term health care. We need to have better long-term care for our seniors. This government is committed to delivering that. Every Liberal member of Parliament understands it and advocates for that in his or her constituency, and nation-wide. We understand the importance of medication. Since day one, we have invested literally hundreds of millions to keep prescribed medicine prices as low as possible for Canadians.

In our throne speech in September 2019, we indicated that willing provinces should come and talk to us about the national pharmacare, because the only way we can have a national pharmacare program is if we have support from the provinces, and that is something we want to see.

For the first time, we have a Prime Minister who understands the issue of mental health, and we have now incorporated that into national policy. That is something I believe all members of the House should get behind, because it is definitely something all Canadians want. They want government to play a stronger role on the issue of mental health, and we are seeing a commitment to that.

I have to provide comment on reconciliation. This is something opposition members like to criticize. I can tell members that 80% of the 94 calls to action are being acted on in one way or another, with many of them having been passed. Whether it is regarding language, child care or a statutory holiday, this government takes the calls to action very seriously, and we are acting on them.

I look forward to any questions that might come.

[Michelle Ferreri, Conservative, Peterborough—Kawartha, ON]

Madam Speaker, while I deeply respect my colleague's passion, saying something louder does not make it true.

While I appreciate that he is talking about child care and all of these things, I am curious to know why it is so much worse, if you are doing so many things. I have heard from your colleagues, saying that the cost of living is the worst, that we have never had a mental health crisis so bad and that things have never been worse, yet you are telling us that you are doing the best job possible.

Why is it so bad, if you are doing such a great job?

[The Assistant Deputy Speaker, NDP, Carol Hughes]

I am not telling the hon. member anything, and I would just ask her to address the questions through the chair. She may want to use “he” or “she” as opposed to “you”.

The hon. member for Winnipeg North.

[Kevin Lamoureux, Liberal, Winnipeg North, MB]

Madam Speaker, in terms of the manner in which I present myself, it is something I have developed in the last number of years of being an advocate, and the member can turn down the volume if she so chooses. At the end of the day I am very passionate about these issues, because I believe they are in the best interests of Canadians and the constituents I represent, and I believe a part of being an advocate is making sure I am being heard.

I applaud the member for recognizing that the issues I have talked about are important. She is conceding that, and that is one of the reasons I would recommend that, as opposed to listening to nothing but the Conservative spin, she start looking at some of the things that are actually being done—

[Michelle Ferreri, Conservative, Peterborough—Kawartha, ON]

Go ask your constituents.

[Kevin Lamoureux, Liberal, Winnipeg North, MB]

—because on a lot of the issues she raised, she would see that there have been actions: literally hundreds of millions of dollars in commitments, and negotiations and discussions with the different stakeholders, in particular our provinces, territories and indigenous communities.

[The Assistant Deputy Speaker, NDP, Carol Hughes]

I want to remind the member that she had a chance to ask her question. She should take the opportunity to listen to the answer.

Questions and comments, the hon. member for Abitibi—Baie-James—Nunavik—Eeyou.

[Sylvie Bérubé, Bloc, Abitibi—Baie-James—Nunavik—Eeyou, QC]

Madam Speaker, I would like the hon. member for Winnipeg North to elaborate on how we can grow the economy. As everyone knows, we are currently battling inflation. There are two solutions right now, specifically, child care and affordable housing. What is the government doing? It seems to be dragging its feet.

What do you plan to do to help this situation, to help families buy their first home? Will you, the government, finally do something to fight inflation?

[The Assistant Deputy Speaker, NDP, Carol Hughes]

I would remind the hon. member and everyone in the House that members must address their remarks to the Chair, not directly to other members.

The hon. member for Winnipeg North.

[Kevin Lamoureux, Liberal, Winnipeg North, MB]

Madam Speaker, one of the greatest things we can do as a government, in terms of fighting inflation, is to create an environment that employs more people. The more people who are employed, the more contributions are going to be made to Canada's GDP, and that is one of the ways we can fight inflation.

I would ask members to take into consideration that inflation, much like the pandemic, is not something that is unique to Canada. This is something that is taking place around the world, and because Canada took the initiatives it did, such as the wage subsidy program and the CERB program, supporting millions of Canadians and thousands of businesses, we are in a better position to ensure that Canada is in a great position to recover and get back. In fact, we have gotten back more jobs than we had pre-pandemic. That is the way we are going to be able to overcome, going forward.

[Don Davies, NDP, Vancouver Kingsway, BC]

Madam Speaker, I want to thank my hon. colleague for pointing out something that is very important, which is that health care in this country is shared jurisdiction. The federal government has a role to play. The existence of the Canada Health Act is proof positive of that, where we set conditions for the provinces to get money. There are five conditions in the Canada Health Act that provinces must meet in order to receive that money. I would point out that the words “health care” do not exist in the Constitution. All that is there is that the provinces are given the power to establish and maintain hospitals, so it is important to point that out.

There is no mention of pharmacare in this throne speech. The price of drugs has not gone down since the government came to power in 2015. Why should Canadians take any comfort from the member's comment that they may have relief in terms of universal pharmacare?

[Kevin Lamoureux, Liberal, Winnipeg North, MB]

Madam Speaker, I believe the possibility of national pharmacare is still there. We saw it in the previous throne speech, in which the federal government indicated it is looking for willing partners at the provincial level.

The member knows well that the only way we can be successful at getting a first-class pharmacare system is by having the provinces on side. We will continue, I suspect, to look for willing provinces on that point.

[Clifford Small, Conservative, Coast of Bays—Central—Notre Dame, NL]

Madam Speaker, it is an honour and privilege to stand in this historic House today amongst colleagues from across this vast nation as the representative of Coast of Bays—Central—Notre Dame and shadow minister for ACOA.

I thank the great people of my riding for selecting me and putting their trust in me to represent them in the 44th Parliament. At this time, I would also like to thank those who volunteered their time and supported me on my campaign. Without them, I would not be here today.

As well, I send my condolences to the Starkes family on the passing of their mom and grandmother, Ruby Starkes, who is being laid to rest today at 2 p.m. in Baie Verte, Newfoundland and Labrador. The Starkes were a great support to me throughout my life and have been great mentors.

Coast of Bays—Central—Notre Dame is a large riding that makes up 40% of the island portion of Newfoundland and Labrador. I come from a tiny fishing village called Wild Cove, in the very northwest corner of the riding, in White Bay. I was involved in the fishing industry from a young age and eventually ran our family fishing enterprise for nine years. For the last 17 years, I have owned and operated several restaurants. At times, I have had up to 60 employees.

Coming from an entrepreneurial background, I know what it is like to hold my head in my hands, and what it is like to make a payroll. The feeling of walking into my restaurants in late March 2020 and not knowing if they would ever reopen due to the unknowns of the pandemic will never be lost on me, nor will being at sea, caught in a hurricane and having the responsibility of my crew and the vessel on my shoulders. Now, a different responsibility rests on my shoulders, and it is a very heavy weight.

Coast of Bays—Central—Notre Dame, in fact, the entire province of Newfoundland and Labrador, faces an uncertain future. Our main economic drivers are related to natural resources, but the Speech from the Throne neglects the support needed for our natural resource industries.

The current Liberal government has relentlessly worked to dismantle our offshore oil and gas industry with ballooning red tape, which has destroyed investor appetite. We have lost 5,500 jobs as our oil industry has been scaled back. However, Norway is rapidly expanding its offshore oil industry after incentivizing companies early in the pandemic, which lured investment from our offshore to theirs.

The rhetoric that the government sells the people of my province is that there is no future in oil and gas and that these jobs are being phased out, yet countries like Brazil, Trinidad and Guyana ramped up their drilling and exploration programs. Why is this government spreading false information, and why is it forcing the men and women in the oil and gas industry to leave their families to go to the shores of far-off countries in order to find employment? These are people like Luke Jarvis of Harbour Breton, who was one of the 5,500 who lost their jobs in our offshore oil industry. He now has to leave his family and commute to Brazil to work in its oil industry.

The attack on Newfoundland and Labrador does not stop with the oil and gas industry. The fishery also has been thrown into peril as a result of six years of Liberal government mismanagement. Fishers in my riding are fearful of plans to increase marine-protected areas from 14% of Canada's oceans to 30% by 2030. These marine-protected areas are arbitrarily chosen, with very little industry consultation, as if done with a paintbrush. In most cases, fishers are barred from accessing prime historical fishing grounds and not even allowed to use low-impact fishing gear, like hook and line. Fishers need to fish where the fish are and not where they are told to fish.

DFO science is another bone of contention within the fishing industry. This year, fishers like Brad Rideout in Robert's Arm were dealt a blow when the mackerel quota was cut in half. American science suggested we could sustainably harvest 10,000 tonnes, but our scientists set it at 4,000 tonnes. As waters warm, species like mackerel migrate further north. Therefore, science needs to adapt and relocate where they survey species. Fishers in my riding have observed mackerel in quantities never seen in their lifetime, and their frustration mounts with the way quotas are being set.

Not all species are as lucky as mackerel to migrate south before seals invade from the north. Since the eighties, the seal population has grown from two million to at least ten million. Scientists estimate that harp seals alone, with a population of 7.6 million, consume anywhere from four to eight kilos of fish per day. That means harp seals consume our entire provincial landed tonnage of fish in three to six days.

In 3PS, a region that has communities like Harbour Breton and Hermitage, grey seals have had a population explosion. Historically, there were approximately 100,000 in that herd. Now the number sits at five times that amount. Fishers there now watch seals even consume lobster. It was no coincidence that this year, sport salmon fishing was stopped in this region and the cod quota was cut in half within the two-week period. Fishers in 3PS are fearful that the minister of fisheries will place cod on her moratorium once again in 2022.

The fishing industry is crying out for a solution to the overpredation caused by seals. By bringing the seal populations back to historical levels, our $2-billion fishing industry could grow to a$6-billion or $8-billion industry. If we do not act now, our fishery is doomed by this ecological disaster. The possibilities for expansion in our oil and gas and fishing industries are endless. We just need the political appetite to make it happen.

Speaking of appetite, the Speech from the Throne did nothing to address food security in our province. Make no mistake, food security cannot be overlooked. In Newfoundland and Labrador, we only produce 15% of what we consume. The ongoing pandemic and the recent devastation caused by the flooding on the west coast of the island, which cut off supplies coming in from the mainland, shone a spotlight on this very issue. Typically, we have enough food on the island to last for just three days.

No matter how much food we have, one group in our province is really feeling the pinch. Seniors make up more of our population than anywhere else in Canada. I receive emails on a daily basis from seniors who have to choose between heating their homes, buying medication, or putting food on the table. The short-sightedness of the government resulted in giving to seniors in one hand and taking it away from the other. Seniors are especially affected by increasing inflation. Our country's national inflation rate of 4.7% is the highest it has been since 2003. Many feel that this figure is closer to 15% in my province.

The ever-increasing carbon tax applied throughout the logistics chain has compounded the effects of inflation in rural Newfoundland and Labrador, where a rebate cheque is never seen. This is a disgraceful attack on the people of Newfoundland and Labrador by a government that is constantly virtue signalling with no regard for the human cost. We have to consider the human cost and the impact of the decisions made in this sacred place. That seems to be lost on the party opposite. Newfoundlanders and Labradorians find themselves struggling to make ends meet. Action needs to be taken.

Let us review: the government has attacked my province's key industries of offshore oil and gas and fishing, has made life increasingly more expensive for seniors and has no regard for inflation. Is it any wonder that Newfoundlanders and Labradorians feel abandoned by the government?

The government claims that no one is left behind. I can tell members of this House that the people of Newfoundland and Labrador feel left behind. They have elected me to a be a voice that is free to speak on issues that have only been spoken of from a radical Liberal environmentalist narrative for the last six years. I am free to say what my six colleagues opposite want to say; what they cannot say. I will be a voice for Coast of Bays—Central—Notre Dame and all of Newfoundland and Labrador.

[James Maloney, Liberal, Etobicoke—Lakeshore, ON]

Madam Speaker, I congratulate the hon. member on his election victory and his inaugural comments in the House. They were very well done. I have had occasion to spend some time with him outside this House. As he points out, he is from a small town but he clearly has a large personality and will contribute greatly to this House. In fact, during some of our discussions, I thought we saw eye to eye on a number of things and sort of envisioned a world where we could work together and perhaps someday sit in the same caucus, but about a minute and a half into his speech I got over that. Clearly, his surroundings over there have gotten to him, although the caucus was here.

My question—

[Some hon. members]

Oh, oh!

[The Assistant Deputy Speaker, NDP, Carol Hughes]

Order. The hon. member for Etobicoke—Lakeshore.

[James Maloney, Liberal, Etobicoke—Lakeshore, ON]

Madam Speaker, my question arises from the first minute and a half of the member's speech when he was talking about his personal experience running a restaurant business and how much he appreciated the ability to carry on.

Can we work together and will he support Bill C-2?

[Clifford Small, Conservative, Coast of Bays—Central—Notre Dame, NL]

Madam Speaker, I appreciate the kind comments of the member opposite. When it comes to Bill C-2, we have a lot of discussion that needs to take place in this House. We need to know if that bill fits what is needed in my industry and in all of the hospitality and tourism industry in Canada. I have many friends from coast to coast who call me, email me and text me on a daily basis and say, “Cliff, we need help. Speak up for us.”

I am here to advocate within my caucus and to work with members opposite. I will do my very best to make sure that the right thing is done with Bill C-2.

[Monique Pauzé, Bloc, Repentigny, QC]

Madam Speaker, my colleague mentioned the fossil fuel industry in his speech.

It was not the Bloc Québécois but rather the OECD who said the following regarding the climate crisis: “The longer governments wait, the greater the risks of an abrupt transition in which energy prices are higher and more volatile.”

I really wonder why the official opposition party sees only one form of energy, that which comes from fossil sources and will destroy the environment, our health, our youth and our planet. Why can they not see that there are other forms of energy that are renewable and do not cause all this damage?

[Clifford Small, Conservative, Coast of Bays—Central—Notre Dame, NL]

Madam Speaker, I think a lot about fossil fuels and I think about China producing 28% of the world's emissions and producing 4.5 million gigawatts of electricity by coal. China is a country that is about the same size as Canada. China produces 28% of the world's emissions and Canada produces 2% of the world's emissions. If we want to virtue signal, that is fine. We all understand that, but we need to address the problem where it is and that is with the big emitters, not Canada.