House of Commons Hansard #66 of the 43rd Parliament, 2nd Session. (The original version is on Parliament's site.) The word of the day was seniors.
Pat Kelly Conservative Calgary Rocky Ridge, AB
Mr. Speaker, news reports say that small businesses have taken on $135 billion in COVID debt, which puts 2.5 million jobs at risk. Many small businesses cannot even access federal aid, but the ones that can will not be sustained on debt alone. They need a safe, open and employment-based economy.
Will the federal government acknowledge that its failures are prolonging Canada's lockdowns and table a plan to deal with them before we lose two and a half million small business jobs?
Chrystia Freeland LiberalDeputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance
Mr. Speaker, I am delighted to hear the Conservatives say they are concerned about small businesses. I sure am, and that is why I would like to urge the Conservatives to stop their delaying tactics and pass Bill C-14. Members do not need to believe me that this is essential for small businesses. Let me quote Dan Kelly, who says that “Bill C-14 has some important measures for small businesses.... CFIB urges all parties to ensure this support is passed quickly”. Let me echo that and urge the Conservatives to pass these essential supports.
Taylor Bachrach NDP Skeena—Bulkley Valley, BC
Mr. Speaker, hundreds of people have reached out to me over the past month and shared their struggles affording medication. They include Pam in Burns Lake whose son's expensive medication will not be covered once he graduates, or Valorie, a senior in Terrace who has to delay paying her basic bills in order to afford her diabetes drugs. We proposed a plan based on the government's own report, and it rejected it.
When is the minister going to have a universal pharmacare program for Pam, Valorie and the countless other Canadians who need it?
Patty Hajdu LiberalMinister of Health
Mr. Speaker, in fact, we are following that same report and have been making steady progress to implement national universal pharmacare. Instead of imposing a top-down approach on the provinces and territories like the NDP have proposed, we are committing to work together to create a pharmacare system that works for all.
In the meantime, we have established a transition office and created a new Canadian drug agency and we are working on a national formulary and investing a billion dollars over two years to help Canadians with rare diseases to get access to the medications they need. That is progress.
Alexandre Boulerice NDP Rosemont—La Petite-Patrie, QC
Mr. Speaker, the main thing they want to do is to renege on their promise yet again.
Yesterday, when the Liberals rejected our pharmacare bill, they showed us that what really matters to them is big pharma and rich insurance companies.
The Liberals have been procrastinating on this issue for 24 years, but in Quebec, there is a large coalition in favour of such a plan. The FTQ, CSN and CSQ all support real public pharmacare, as does the Union des consommateurs du Québec.
By rejecting our proposal, the Liberals are punishing all part-time workers and low-income people.
Will the Prime Minister be able to look at himself in the mirror after such a betrayal?
Patty Hajdu LiberalMinister of Health
Mr. Speaker, surely the member opposite understands that it is better to work with provinces and territories than unilaterally impose programs on any province or territory, including Quebec. That is our approach. It is a collaborative approach. We are following the Hoskins report. We are moving forward on national universal pharmacare. We have taken a number of important steps. The government understands the hard work that is ahead of us to get this done. I think the NDP should understand the value of collaboration.
Sukh Dhaliwal Liberal Surrey—Newton, BC
Mr. Speaker, in order to target gun and gang violence, we need better data to trace firearms used in the commission of an offence. In 2014-15, the Harper Conservatives closed half of the RCMP laboratories that analyzed and traced these types of firearms. It is clear that we need to rebuild and further that capacity.
Can the minister provide an update as to what our government is doing to help British Columbia enhance our data?
Bill Blair LiberalMinister of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness
Mr. Speaker, I thank the member for Surrey—Newton for his excellent question and his tireless advocacy on behalf of the safety of the people of Surrey. We are pleased to see that our federal funds are being used to open a new forensic firearms lab in British Columbia. This is essential to holding criminals accountable and to getting illegal guns off our streets.
We are also renewing the Canada-United States Cross-Border Crime Forum and working on the creation of a new bilateral task force on gun smuggling and trafficking with our American allies. We will strengthen gun control in this country at our border and in our communities.
Leona Alleslev Conservative Aurora—Oak Ridges—Richmond Hill, ON
Mr. Speaker, more explosive allegations of sexual misconduct at the highest levels of the armed forces were revealed today. This time, the highest-ranking officer stepped down for the duration of the inquiry. This is all happening on that minister's watch.
Is the Minister of Defence aware of any more allegations or cases of abuse of power, sexual misconduct or other inappropriate behaviour by high-ranking officers?
Harjit S. Sajjan LiberalMinister of National Defence
Mr. Speaker, one thing I can assure the member about is that we have absolutely no tolerance for any type of sexual misconduct. Regardless of the rank and regardless of the position, we will take action. We want survivors to come forward. We want them to know that they will be heard and that things will be investigated, because we absolutely have a no-tolerance policy and we will take action.
Leona Alleslev Conservative Aurora—Oak Ridges—Richmond Hill, ON
Mr. Speaker, General McDonald was the person in charge of eradicating the very behaviour he is accused of. This leaves military members wondering if justice can actually be achieved. A safe and thorough independent investigation is critical, but senior officers who themselves may be complicit remain in key positions within the chain of command.
How will the minister ensure that compromised senior officers are not interfering in these investigations in order to protect themselves?
Harjit S. Sajjan LiberalMinister of National Defence
Mr. Speaker, I can assure the member that every single allegation will be investigated thoroughly and independently of the chain of command, regardless of position and regardless of rank. We will take the appropriate action because we owe it to our members. I want to commend the survivors who are coming forward and to let them know that they will be heard and their allegations will be investigated.
Warren Steinley Conservative Regina—Lewvan, SK
Mr. Speaker, recently at the agriculture committee, a senior vice-president representing Maple Leaf Foods realized and revealed why a major processing plant was built in Indiana instead of here in Canada. She stated, “the not-so-good, with our regulatory system, is that it stymies investment. It creates barriers to predictability, barriers to innovation and barriers to cost efficiency that oftentimes far outweigh, and sometimes even stymie, the health and environmental positives we are trying to gain.”
The government is failing on job creation. When is it going to get work and start creating paycheques instead of pink slips for Canadians?
Chrystia Freeland LiberalDeputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance
Mr. Speaker, our government absolutely understands that the single most important thing for Canadians right now is to recover the jobs lost by COVID. That is why I am delighted to say that notwithstanding the extremely difficult circumstances today, Canada has already recovered 71% of the jobs lost in the wake of the pandemic, and that compares with just 56% of the jobs recovered in the United States. I would like to thank all hard-working Canadians and Canadian businesses who are behind that.
Warren Steinley Conservative Regina—Lewvan, SK
Mr. Speaker, Canadians do not believe a word that comes out of the minister's mouth. There are 213,000 more unemployed Canadians. The government has the worst job-creation record in the G7. Canadians are tired of empty platitudes and broken promises. It is time for the Liberal front benches to get to work so that Canadians from coast to coast to coast can get back to earning paycheques.
When will the economic development minister and her cabinet colleagues bring forward a real plan to get our economy back on track and get Canadians back to work?
Chrystia Freeland LiberalDeputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance
Mr. Speaker, if the member opposite does not want to believe my words, let me quote David Parkinson from The Globe and Mail. Here is what he has to say: “For the economy as a whole, there are remarkably healthy signs. Unlike last spring's lockdowns...it appears we've learned how to keep the economy rolling.... The underlying recovery remains largely intact.” Thanks again to all the hard-working, innovative Canadian business owners who have made that possible.
Marie-Hélène Gaudreau Bloc Laurentides—Labelle, QC
Mr. Speaker, thousands of people receive their T4 slip and then realize that fraudsters have claimed the CERB using their name. The government does nothing.
People spend hours on the phone to no avail. It is easier to get someone's personal information to commit fraud than to get through on the CRA phone lines.
I would point out that the CRA's lack of verification before sending CERB cheques is what made this fraud possible.
What is the minister doing to fix this issue and help victims?
Diane Lebouthillier LiberalMinister of National Revenue
Mr. Speaker, The Canada Revenue Agency is thankful for all the work that call centre employees have put in over the past year.
Call volumes have increased by 83% since 2020 and show no signs of decreasing for the upcoming tax season.
We have hired an external firm to help with the call volume during tax season. This is a temporary measure that will help guarantee service quality for Canadians. By March, we will have hired over 2,000 new employees and extended CRA call centres' hours of operation.
We will keep working hard to serve Canadians.
Marie-Hélène Gaudreau Bloc Laurentides—Labelle, QC
Mr. Speaker, the Canada Revenue Agency is neglecting victims of CERB fraud.
I spoke with parents whose three children were victims of fraud. They are spending hours on the phone, only to be told that the CRA can only deal with one file at a time and that they have to call back later about the other two children. These parents are being forced to take time off work because trying to reach the Canada Revenue Agency is a full-time job.
Seriously, is this the same hotline as the one for the quarantine hotels?
Diane Lebouthillier LiberalMinister of National Revenue
Mr. Speaker, as I said, I want to thank the Canada Revenue Agency's call centre employees, who are dealing with an 83% increase in call volumes.
I want to reassure victims of fraud that they will not have to reimburse the Government of Canada. We will continue to work hard to make sure people have better service.
Kevin Waugh Conservative Saskatoon—Grasswood, SK
Mr. Speaker, Saskatchewan is home to nearly 1.2 million people, but unfortunately only 43,000 have received at least one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine. That is less than 4%. Meanwhile, in the United States the number is around 12%, and we know in Israel it is nearly 50%.
Why is our government so far behind our allies in providing vaccines to those who want them?
Steven MacKinnon LiberalParliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Public Services and Procurement
Mr. Speaker, we of course share the urgency of the hon. member in vaccinating the people of Saskatchewan and indeed every Canadian. That is why we are very happy we are able to fill our commitment to receive six million doses in the first quarter of this year, over 23 million doses in the second quarter and more than enough pre-approved vaccines to vaccinate every Canadian by the end of September. That of course includes every person in Saskatchewan who wishes to receive a dose, and we look forward to that day.
Jacques Gourde Conservative Lévis—Lotbinière, QC
Mr. Speaker, the government messed up vaccine and PPE procurement, and it has no idea how much everything cost. There is an $11-billion gap between the Minister of Finance's budget and the estimated costs.
Why is there such a massive gap, which will drive us into an even deeper deficit?
Steven MacKinnon LiberalParliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Public Services and Procurement
Mr. Speaker, as we do every year, we will of course account for all government spending in the public accounts. It will be as transparent and open as the member can possibly imagine, just as it has been in the past. We will continue to do whatever it takes to protect Canadians with PPE and especially vaccines. We will have enough vaccines to vaccinate everyone by the end of September.
Marc Dalton Conservative Pitt Meadows—Maple Ridge, BC
Mr. Speaker, the government tries to make Canadians believe that they are focused on helping them, but actions speak louder than words.
This week I received an email from a single pensioner in my riding who got an EI repayment demand for $130. Contrast that with the calls I am getting from constituents, asking when vaccines are coming. They want to get back to work and off of EI, and return to a normal life.
How is it that the government has the resources to go after paltry sums of money but cannot get vaccines to these same Canadians?