Debates of March 8th, 2021

COVID-19 Emergency Response

[Mel Arnold, Conservative, North Okanagan—Shuswap, BC]

Mr. Speaker, recently the hon. member for Niagara Falls and I co-hosted a virtual town hall with my constituents of the North Okanagan—Shuswap.

We heard that Marcia operates a bed and breakfast and has been left behind by the government’s faulty programs.

Cheryl works with a small non-profit that has also been left out of relief programs.

Tyler started producing hand sanitizer when Canada had none last year, but Tyler and his employees were left out when the government spent $252 million on Chinese sanitizer, and Tyler and other producers will be hit by another excise tax hike in April.

Monica works at a marina that is going to suffer because the government is jacking up costs and licensing fees for boaters.

These are more than stories; these are people left behind by the government. These people and all Canadians deserve better. They deserve a Conservative government that will work with them to secure our future.

International Women's Day

[Heather McPherson, NDP, Edmonton Strathcona, AB]

Mr. Speaker, today is International Women's Day, a day to celebrate women and girls, but today is also a day to fight. COVID-19 has had very serious consequences for women around the world. In Alberta we have not seen women's unemployment rates so high since the 1980s. In Canada, even after 50 years of promises, women still do not have the national child care program recommended by the Royal Commission on the Status of Women in Canada, and around the world girls are leaving school at alarming rates, crippling their future and making them vulnerable to early marriage and sexual violence.

As a woman who has fought for equality for women and girls my whole life, both in Canada and around the world, I will celebrate today; as a women who has benefited from the leadership and strength of those who have come before me, I will celebrate today; and as a woman who has seen the power and the potential in my daughter and in all young women, I will celebrate today.

However, I will also fight.

[Louise Chabot, Bloc, Thérèse-De Blainville, QC]

Mr. Speaker, on this International Women's Day, I want to recognize the tremendous effort and sacrifices female workers have made during the pandemic. I say “female workers” because all of today's front-line professions are female dominated.

A total of 82% of our caregivers are women. They are the backbone of our health care network and are saving lives. A total of 78% of our teachers are women. Every day they are coming up with new ways of educating and supporting our children during this difficult time. The majority of day care workers who care for young children are also women.

It is primarily women who are on the front line in the fight against the pandemic. They are the ones who have been putting themselves at risk from the beginning for our children, parents and grandparents.

Ladies, on behalf of the Bloc Québécois, I want to sincerely thank you. Happy International Women's Day.

[Nelly Shin, Conservative, Port Moody—Coquitlam, BC]

Mr. Speaker, today we celebrate the contributions of women across Canada. With the advocacy of the Famous Five, Canadian women won their rightful status as persons in 1929 and voted for the first time in 1916. We have made some progress, but when it comes to violence against women, under the current Liberal government we are far behind.

There is still no government action on the report on missing and murdered indigenous women and girls. The Prime Minister failed to acknowledge the systematic rape of Uighur women as genocide in Xinjiang by refusing to show up and vote on the motion. Women have been sexually assaulted at government quarantine sites, yet the minister continues to assert that these sites will keep Canadians safe and has failed to shut them down. In 2018 ombudsperson Walbourne informed the Minister of National Defence of a sexual misconduct complaint against General Vance, but the minister failed to act and the Prime Minister continues to cover up for the minister.

On behalf of the traumatized women who have yet to see justice, I would like to ask the Prime Minister when he will stop gaslighting women and start protecting them.

[Alexandra Mendes, Liberal, Brossard—Saint-Lambert, QC]

Mr. Speaker, I had a hard time deciding how to pay tribute to my sisters on this International Women's Day.

I owe so much to so many women in my life. With the year we have had, I think it is important to focus on the contributions of women, all the women who, since the pandemic hit, have cared for our communities in every possible way. From mothers to doctors, from teachers to nurses, from PSWs to cashiers, millions of Canadian women have stepped up and innovated.

I would like this women's day to be the start of some serious contemplation about how we should change the way these women, for whom caring for others is a way of life, are compensated and recognized by society. There can be no post-COVID recovery without a female-focused recovery.

If I may say, happy Commonwealth Day.

National Defence

[Candice Bergen, Conservative, Portage—Lisgar, MB]

Mr. Speaker, when allegations surfaced about Gen. Vance, the Minister of Defence said, multiple times, that he was shocked to learn about them.

We know this is not true, because he had known for three years and he did nothing. It is obvious the minister never intended to act on this misconduct, and instead Liberals actually threatened members of the Armed Forces in order to keep them quiet.

The question is, why? Why was the Minister of Defence more interested in protecting his battle buddy than the men and women of the Canadian Armed Forces?

[Harjit S. Sajjan, Liberal, Minister of National Defence]

Mr. Speaker, I disagree with the member's assertions.

I disagree with the testimony that Mr. Walbourne provided to the committee, and look forward to setting the record straight when the opportunity comes to speak at the committee.

[Candice Bergen, Conservative, Portage—Lisgar, MB]

Mr. Speaker, one is either part of the investigation or part of the coverup. There is no middle ground.

The minister chose to turn a blind eye, and he helped cover it up. I believed the Ombudsman when he said that he tried to show the minister evidence, and the minister said, “No, I don't want to see it.”

Rather than protecting the very men and women he was supposed to be serving, the minister was more concerned with optics and keeping dirty little secrets.

Does the Minister of Defence realize he has failed to do his job? He has lost credibility, and he has lost trust.

[Harjit S. Sajjan, Liberal, Minister of National Defence]

Mr. Speaker, as I have said, any allegations that were ever brought forward were immediately put forward to the proper authorities. In fact, the very next day after informing me of the concerns, the former ombudsman was contacted by the Privy Council Office to begin an investigation. There was no evidence that the ombudsman relayed this to the original complainant despite repeated follow-ups by senior officials.

As I stated, I look forward to an opportunity to speak at committee once again.

[Candice Bergen, Conservative, Portage—Lisgar, MB]

Mr. Speaker, in November 2017, the Prime Minister said in an interview that when there are questions of sexual misconduct many times Liberals know but say nothing.

It is 2021, and it is still happening. The Liberal Minister of Defence knew. He said nothing. Privy Council members knew. They said nothing. Liberal PMO staff knew. They apparently said nothing.

Today, on International Women's Day, it would be nice if the Prime Minister would stop defending the Liberals who knew about these allegations and said and did nothing.

Will he do that?

[Harjit S. Sajjan, Liberal, Minister of National Defence]

Mr. Speaker, as we have stated, we have no tolerance for misconduct.

No politician should ever be part of any type of investigation. Any time allegations were brought forward, they were always provided to the appropriate authorities so that an independent investigation could be conducted.

[Gérard Deltell, Conservative, Louis-Saint-Laurent, QC]

Mr. Speaker, the National Defence ombudsman met with the Minister of National Defence three years ago, on March 1, 2018, and told him about sexual harassment allegations against the Chief of the Defence Staff.

In committee, the minister first stated that he was not aware of the allegations, but the ombudsman quickly contradicted him. The minister even refused to look at the evidence presented. Where is his courage? Where is his sense of responsibility?

Why did the Minister of National Defence act so dishonourably?

[Harjit S. Sajjan, Liberal, Minister of National Defence]

Mr. Speaker, I completely disagree with the member's assertions. Any time an allegation was brought to my attention it was always brought forward. No politician should ever be part of an investigation. It should always be done independently. That is why these allegations were immediately brought forward to the Privy Council Office: so that an independent investigation could be conducted. I disagree with the testimony provided by the former ombudsman and look forward to showing up at committee to set the record straight.

[Gérard Deltell, Conservative, Louis-Saint-Laurent, QC]

Mr. Speaker, there is no question that for three years the minister and the Prime Minister have been silent. For three years they have done absolutely nothing to resolve this situation. Today what is the Prime Minister doing? He is defending his minister; and who is he blaming? He is blaming the ombudsman. What a disgraceful attitude.

How can a self-proclaimed feminist treat a sexual assault case with such little courage?

[Harjit S. Sajjan, Liberal, Minister of National Defence]

Mr. Speaker, we are not going to take any lessons from the opposition when it comes to our actions in support of gender rights. We were the first government to have a Prime Minister who appointed a 50% female cabinet. The Ministry of Defence brought forward the Declaration of Victims Rights.

We have taken action when it comes to gender rights and we will continue to do so. We will not take any lessons from the previous government.

Health

[Christine Normandin, Bloc, Saint-Jean, QC]

Mr. Speaker, again last week, Quebec and the provinces asked the government to increase health transfers. The Prime Minister told them he would think about it after the pandemic. How many times do we have to go over this? We are in a health crisis. There needs to be investments in health.

This needs to be done during the crisis, not after. There is a fire to put out. Everyone but the Liberals understands that.

When will they listen to reason and transfer money for health?

[Patty Hajdu, Liberal, Minister of Health]

Mr. Speaker, we have been there for the provinces and territories every step of the way.

We have made historic investments in the provinces and territories, pre-pandemic and during the pandemic, such as $19 billion in safe restart money, $2 billion for safe schools, purchasing all the personal protective equipment, funding the purchase of a vaccine acquisition, funding research and being there regarding outbreaks in long-term care. We will continue to be there for the provinces and territories as we get through this pandemic together.

[Christine Normandin, Bloc, Saint-Jean, QC]

Mr. Speaker, this government claims to be feminist. Eighty-two per cent of caregivers are women. The government is abandoning these women by refusing to increase health transfers. The government basically told them that they were on their own during the first wave. Now it is saying the same thing during the second wave.

Now that vaccines are finally starting to arrive these same women will be doing the vaccinating and the burden is on them.

When will the government recognize their sacrifice and help them by increasing health transfers?

[Patty Hajdu, Liberal, Minister of Health]

Mr. Speaker, as I have said repeatedly, we will be there for the provinces and territories as we have been all along. In fact, when we talk about gender equality today, it is important to remember that not only did we support immediate responses in long-term care, and support provinces and territories and the extraordinary expenses they faced as a result of the pandemic, we also topped up the wages for the provinces' and territories' essential workers, who are often women.

We were there for the provinces and territories before the pandemic, we have been there throughout this historic health crisis and we will be there as we recover.

National Defence

[Jagmeet Singh, NDP, Burnaby South, BC]

Mr. Speaker, it takes a lot of courage to file a complaint about sexual misconduct, but that is exactly what a woman in the Canadian Forces did. That complaint made it all the way to the desk of the Minister of Defence, but he did nothing about it.

What will the Prime Minister do to protect women in the Canadian Forces?

[Harjit S. Sajjan, Liberal, Minister of National Defence]

Mr. Speaker, we have absolutely no tolerance for misconduct. Our government brought in the Declaration of Victims Rights. Currently, we have Justice Fish reviewing the military justice system. We actually have an independent panel currently trying to deal with systemic racism and gender bias. We will continue this work. This is the work that we started as a government. We need to continue this so that we can prevent situations like this from happening at all.

[Jagmeet Singh, NDP, Burnaby South, BC]

Mr. Speaker, it takes incredible courage to come forward with a complaint about sexual misconduct. That is exactly what a woman did in the Canadian Forces. That complaint made it all the way to the desk of the defence minister, who did nothing about it. That sends a message to all women in the Canadian Forces that they will not be listened to and that they are not safe. That is wrong. This does not stop with the defence minister: This goes all the way to the Prime Minister.

What will the Prime Minister do to make sure women in the Canadian Forces are safe?

[Harjit S. Sajjan, Liberal, Minister of National Defence]

Mr. Speaker, first of all, I disagree with the member's assertions. Our government has absolutely no tolerance for this type of inappropriate sexual behaviour. As I have said, any allegations that were brought forward were always taken to the appropriate authorities. No politician or elected official should ever be involved in any type of investigation. These should be done independently so that there is confidence in the process. We will always support those who come forward.

[Leona Alleslev, Conservative, Aurora—Oak Ridges—Richmond Hill, ON]

Mr. Speaker, today is International Women's Day, a day when we celebrate strong women who had the courage to break barriers and inspire the generations that followed them.

Women in our Canadian Armed Forces have the right to proudly serve alongside men as their equals. However, when the Minister of National Defence was informed of serious allegations of sexual misconduct at the highest level, he did not take action. How will he repair the harm he has done?

[Harjit S. Sajjan, Liberal, Minister of National Defence]

Mr. Speaker, first of all, I disagree with the member's assertions. There is a lot more work that needs to be done, but the assertions that the member made are absolutely wrong. Any time information is brought forward, it is always taken to the appropriate authorities, but I agree with the member that a lot more work needs to be done to root this out. This is going to take a significant effort. It is an effort that should have started a long time ago, before our government was elected. We are going to continue that work because we believe in it. We have to get this done, and we will.