Debates of March 10th, 2021

National Defence

[Erin O'Toole, Conservative, Leader of the Opposition]

Mr. Speaker, Canada's chief science advisor, Pfizer and the chief immunologist have all said that the government's plan to leave a four-month interval between the two doses of the vaccine will leave Canada more vulnerable to COVID-19 variants.

Why is the Liberal government ignoring the advice of scientists?

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, on the contrary, unlike the Conservatives, we have listened to scientists and experts every step of the way. Now that we have safe and effective vaccines in Canada, we need to make sure that as many Canadians as possible can get vaccinated. To ensure that as many people as possible are protected from COVID-19, the National Advisory Committee on Immunization said that second doses can safely be delayed up to four months.

We will always continue to work with the provinces, territories and experts to keep communities safe.

Pensions

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

Mr. Speaker, in an interview she gave yesterday, the current member for Longueuil—Charles-LeMoyne explained that the government voted against a call from the majority of Parliament to increase old age security by $110 a month because it would be unfair to low-income seniors. The Liberals had promised an increase during the election campaign, but only for those over 75.

Is the Prime Minister compromising universal access to old age security in Canada?

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, on the contrary, we have always been there to support our seniors.

We increased the guaranteed income supplement by 10% as soon as we took office. We supported seniors and expanded and reformed old age security.

We invested and will continue to invest, as promised, in order to increase old age security for seniors when they turn 75.

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

Mr. Speaker, parliamentarians knew all of that when a majority of us voted for an increase. The Prime Minister is not answering the question. Seniors have worked their whole lives and wanted to make sure they would have a basic minimum income. The value of this benefit is shrinking every year, if not every month. Seniors' purchasing power has been reduced even more because of the pandemic, yet the Prime Minister refuses to increase the benefit starting at age 65.

My question is clear and it is very important. Are the Prime Minister and the government compromising universal access to old age security?

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, we are supporting seniors of all ages during the pandemic by providing a total of $3.8 billion in tax-free payments and increased community supports.

We plan to increase old age security by 10% for seniors when they turn 75. That is on top of the work we are doing to restore the age of eligibility for old age security benefits, increase the guaranteed income supplement for single seniors, and improve the Canada pension plan for future retirees. We will continue to be there for our seniors, as we have always been.

Official Languages

[Jagmeet Singh, NDP, Burnaby South, BC]

Mr. Speaker, at a committee meeting, the government submitted essential documents in English only. That is unacceptable.

The government has all the resources needed to ensure that all documents are submitted in both official languages. Why is the Prime Minister treating French like a second-class language?

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, unfortunately, what the Leader of the NDP has said is simply not true.

We provided the clerk with the thousands of documents requested. The committee then received the documents in both official languages. The process is working properly. We will always protect our two official languages across the country.

Health

[Jagmeet Singh, NDP, Burnaby South, BC]

Mr. Speaker, we are coming up on the first anniversary of COVID-19. It has been a very difficult year for so many people, but what is so heartbreaking about this pandemic is how seniors bore the brunt of it, particularly seniors in long-term care. We have learned that seniors in for-profit long-term care experienced the worst conditions and were most likely to lose their lives.

The New Democrats have long said there is no place for profit in the care of our seniors. Will the Prime Minister commit to removing profit from long-term care?

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, we have committed to working with the provinces and territories to ensure that seniors are protected right across the country in long-term care. We know there is a need to improve long-term care standards across the country. We look forward to working with the provinces and territories to share best practices.

In the case of seniors, we have stepped up as a government with more than $3.8 billion in tax-free payments to seniors, along with enhanced community support. We are committed to increasing old age security by 10% for seniors aged 75 and up. That builds on our work of increasing the GIS, increasing the Canada pension plan for future retirees and supporting seniors every step of the way.

COVID-19 Emergency Response

[Pierre Poilievre, Conservative, Carleton, ON]

Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister loves to brag about what he calls big, fat government programs. Maybe if he had focused on smart, results-oriented programs we would not have the highest unemployment rate and the worst vaccination rate in the G7. Out of 15 countries measured by the Macdonald-Laurier Institute, we are ranked 11th on the COVID misery index.

Why did he spend so much to achieve such miserable results for the health and livelihoods of Canadians?

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, I hate to correct the member on his facts, but Japan is a member of the G7.

By taking quick and necessary action, we saved millions of jobs, provided support to millions of families and kept more businesses solvent with CERB, flexible EI, recovery benefits, the wage subsidy, rent support and CEBA.

Of course, we hear the Conservatives say we spent too much, too quickly. When we turn to recovery, we will regain the jobs lost by making targeted investments, including in training and creating jobs. We knew that the best way through this pandemic was to be there for Canadians and that is exactly what we did.

[Pierre Poilievre, Conservative, Carleton, ON]

Mr. Speaker, congratulations to the Prime Minister. He knows that Japan is in the G7. Maybe he should also know that Japan has one-tenth the COVID fatality rate of Canada.

Let us start judging results. He has delivered the highest unemployment rate in the G7 and the worst vaccination rate. Now we find, from a scientific and statistical study of health and well-being, that he has delivered among the highest levels of misery for the biggest price.

Why does the Prime Minister judge his success simply by how expensive he can be, not by how many lives he can save?

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, we know this has been a hard year for Canadians, and we have all had to look out for each other. We are grateful for Canadians' hard work and resilience, and as we said, we have their backs.

We know it has not always been easy, and we have ensured easy access to digital tools and resources that provide information and support. Wellness Together Canada has provided hundreds of thousands of Canadians with confidential support during the tough times of the pandemic. If anyone needs support, we will be there for them.

[Pierre Poilievre, Conservative, Carleton, ON]

Mr. Speaker, what was that? Is he really expecting us to believe that? When I ask the Prime Minister about having the worst vaccination rates, the worst jobless rates and among the highest misery rates during COVID, the best he can do is stand up and read some talking points that were written for him by his bureaucrats? Why can he not show a little contrition for his failures?

The Prime Minister has cost us the most to achieve the worst results, and what he expects us to do now is just continue down this failed path.

If the Prime Minister wants the confidence of Canadians, will he tell them what he will change to reverse the failures that he has delivered thus far?

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, I can understand the frustration of the member opposite, being among the many Canadians who have lost their jobs during the pandemic.

The fact is that we have been there to support Canadians every step of the way, by investing in families, by investing in workers, by knowing that the best way through the pandemic is to be there to support them. That is exactly what we have done and what we will continue to do.

We have been there for people because we made a simple promise to have their backs as long as it took and as much as it took, not just because it is the right thing to do, but because it is the best way to ensure that our economy comes roaring back after the pandemic. We will continue to be there for Canadians, regardless of what the opposition says.

Employment

[Raquel Dancho, Conservative, Kildonan—St. Paul, MB]

Mr. Speaker, it has been a devastating 12 months for Canadians, and it sounds like we are going to be in this for another seven months, if not longer. Three million Canadians remain out of work and remain on government support programs. We know that women’s workforce participation has been set back 30 years. As long as I have been alive, that is how much loss we have had as women in this country, and 100,000 women remain out of work and are not looking for work at all because there are no jobs.

What is the Prime Minister’s plan for these three million Canadians and for women in Canada?

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, we recognize that this recession, the pandemic crisis, is actually a “she-cession”. Vulnerable women at all socio-economic levels have been harder hit by the pandemic than anyone else. Indeed, we know we need to make sure that the losses in the advances of women's equality that we have suffered this year cannot be any more than temporary.

That is why investments in child care continue to be at the forefront of the intentions of the government. Support for gender equality and women's rights is something this government will never flinch on.

[Raquel Dancho, Conservative, Kildonan—St. Paul, MB]

Mr. Speaker, I did not actually hear a plan for recovery for Canadian women.

This week the Deputy Prime Minister and the Liberal government praised themselves for establishing a women's task force for recovery, an entire year after 1.5 million women lost their jobs in the onset of the pandemic. I will note that this task force has zero representation for women-dominated industries that were most impacted by the pandemic. We are talking retail, personal services, accommodation services and mom entrepreneurs. There is zero representation for them on the task force.

It is the Prime Minister's duty to deliver a plan to Canadians for how he is going to bring back jobs and improve things for women. What is that plan?

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, the task force we put forward is going to focus on a feminist recovery for our economy, but it is not the only thing we have done. A number of years ago, we set up a close to $5-billion women's entrepreneurship strategy that has let women entrepreneurs succeed right across the country. We know when women entrepreneurs succeed, they create jobs in the community and create solutions in the community.

We are also committed to moving forward on child care. We see the business community has woken up to the fact that child care is an economic argument, not just a social argument. We certainly hope the Conservatives will understand the extent to which investing in child care is something we need to do.

[Erin O'Toole, Conservative, Leader of the Opposition]

Mr. Speaker, my colleague highlighted that economic downturns can have effects that last for generations. COVID-19 has seen the greatest exit of women from the workforce in 30 years. All of the progress the Prime Minister just mentioned was wiped out a year ago. He has talked about the “she-cession” many times over this last year, but all the Liberals have done is announced a task force for the future.

Why does the government still not have a plan to get women back into the workforce in all sectors and in all regions of the country?

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, that is simply not true. Yes, we have announced a task force to ensure that women are at the heart of the economic recovery moving forward, but throughout the pandemic we have been there to support women, through increasing the Canada child benefit and in supports for shelters and victims of domestic violence. We have continued to invest to be there to support women through the women's entrepreneurship strategy. However, indeed, one of the most pressing recommendations made by everyone on how to support women in the workforce is to move forward on child care. I look forward to seeing support from the Leader of the Opposition when we put forward our ambitious plan on child care.

Official Languages

[Mario Beaulieu, Bloc, La Pointe-de-l'Île, QC]

Mr. Speaker, the Liberal Prime Minister has a major credibility problem when he says that he will defend the French language in Quebec. His own office violated the Official Languages Act when it submitted thousands of pages of unilingual English documents about the management of the pandemic to the health committee. The act is clear. The government is required to provide bilingual documents so that they can be tabled in both official languages.

Why is the Prime Minister's Office violating the federal language law?

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, the hon. member's claim is completely false. We gave the law clerk thousands of documents that were requested, and the committee then received these documents in both official languages. The system is working as it should. We will always protect our official languages. We will always protect French and, unlike the members of the Bloc, we will protect French across Canada.

[Mario Beaulieu, Bloc, La Pointe-de-l'Île, QC]

Mr. Speaker, the Liberal Prime Minister's record speaks for itself. Since he said he would defend French in Quebec, he has refused to apply Bill 101 to federally regulated businesses. He has voted against adequate knowledge of French to obtain citizenship from within Quebec and now he has violated the Official Languages Act by providing thousands of pages of documents to the law clerk in English only.

What credibility does he have to ask Quebeckers to trust him to protect French?