Debates of June 18th, 2021

Public Safety

[Joël Lightbound, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness]

Madam Speaker, we want to thank Amnesty International for its report. We will certainly take the time to read through it.

I do want to make a few reminders. Immigrant detention is a measure of last resort. It is used only in certain circumstances. Furthermore, long-term detention is used only when the individual in detention poses a danger to the public, when alternatives to detention do not adequately mitigate that danger, when there are doubts about the individual's identity, or when it is unlikely that the individual will show up for their legal hearing.

All detention decisions are reviewed by a member of the Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada.

Indigenous Affairs

[Vance Badawey, Liberal, Niagara Centre, ON]

Madam Speaker, the COVID-19 pandemic hit businesses across Canada hard. Now, as we move into recovery, it is crucial that we support communities through the reopening process. This is particularly important for indigenous businesses that often face barriers such as accessing capital or broadband Internet.

Could the minister please provide an update on the current supports for first nations, Inuit and Métis businesses?

[Marc Miller, Liberal, Minister of Indigenous Services]

Madam Speaker, on Wednesday our government announced $117 million to renew the indigenous community business fund to support local businesses and economies. The first round of this initiative helped fund over 1,000 first nations, Inuit and Métis-owned businesses.

We recognize that indigenous businesses, particularly community-owned micro-businesses such as beaders and craft workers, face unique challenges due to their size and have been disproportionately affected by the pandemic. This distinctions-based fund will relieve financial pressure for businesses, sustain jobs and keep doors open through the economic recovery.

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

Madam Speaker, Elder Eliza is a constituent of mine and a residential school survivor. She and her daughter applied for their status cards and were promised it would take six months to review. It has now been nearly three years. Every time they call Indigenous Services Canada for an update, they are left on hold for hours and given the runaround, time and time again. Perhaps it is because the minister has only 10 people at the call centre to process thousands of status card applications.

Elder Eliza feels this delay is just another form of mistreatment and disrespect of indigenous peoples. Will the minister ensure Elder Eliza and her daughter receive their status cards before the third anniversary of their application on July 7?

[Marc Miller, Liberal, Minister of Indigenous Services]

Madam Speaker, I would ask the member to forward that information to my office and reach out. We will do our utmost to expedite that process.

Employment Insurance

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

Madam Speaker, months ago I wrote to the Minister of Employment asking her to immediately address her department’s discriminatory policy. It is preventing some pregnant women who have lost their jobs because of the pandemic, through no fault of their own, from claiming EI maternity benefits.

Maternity leave is a sacred right of motherhood in Canada for millions of women. These women have paid into EI for years, and it is unfair that they will be forced back into the job market within weeks of giving birth. I have met with these women. They are real. They are stressed. They need our help.

The minister has the power to fix this. Why has she not?

[Carla Qualtrough, Liberal, Minister of Employment]

Madam Speaker, our government is very committed to supporting new mothers and parents who face unique challenges from the COVID-19 pandemic. We launched the CERB and provided support to more than eight million Canadians, introduced a credit of 480 hours to increase access to maternity and parental benefits and set a minimum benefit rate of $500 a week.

In budget 2021 we would be investing $3.9 billion into changes that would make EI more accessible and simpler for Canadians. This would include maintaining uniform access to EI benefits and a 420-hour entrance requirement for EI claims. We have had the backs of new mothers. I am looking forward to conversations around modernizing EI, and—

[The Assistant Deputy Speaker, NDP, Carol Hughes]

The hon. member for Renfrew—Nipissing—Pembroke.

National Defence

[Cheryl Gallant, Conservative, Renfrew—Nipissing—Pembroke, ON]

Madam Speaker, the defence minister has been without honour from the start.

First he let the Prime Minister destroy Vice-Admiral Norman, then he falsely claimed he was the architect of Operation Medusa. He took the honour out of the operation to combat sexual misconduct in the military, and now he has put the honour of our country at risk by claiming he did not know about our soldiers being ordered to train war criminals, when the report about it was sent three years ago.

Why won’t the Prime Minister do the honourable thing and fire this minister?

[Anita Vandenbeld, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of National Defence]

Madam Speaker, I am very disappointed by the viciousness of the tone in the House we have seen yesterday and today. I would like to review the track record of service to Canada and Canadians of this Minister of National Defence. He has over two decades of service in the Canadian Armed Forces, including four tours of duty, with three in Afghanistan, for which he was awarded the Order of Military Merit, the Meritorious Service Medal, the NATO Service Medal and others. He also served for over a decade as an officer in the Vancouver Police Department. I thank the Minister of National Defence for his service.

Public Safety

[Garnett Genuis, Conservative, Sherwood Park—Fort Saskatchewan, AB]

Madam Speaker, when the Speaker makes a ruling, it is binding on this House. The Speaker is the lawful authority, and the Speaker's rulings carry force of law. The Speaker has clearly ruled that any parliamentary committee has the right to send for unredacted documents. That ruling has force of law.

I have a simple question for the government members. Will they follow the law, or do they think that they do not have to follow the law?

[Patty Hajdu, Liberal, Minister of Health]

Madam Speaker, on this side of the House we will never play games with national security. Canadians expect us to be mature and appropriate in the way that we treat documents of this nature. I will quote Stephanie Carvin, associate professor at Carleton University.

She said, “This bulldozer approach to national security is misguided, dangerous and will result in a less transparent system overall. ” Do members know who last quoted her? It was the member for Selkirk—Interlake—Eastman just a few moments ago.

Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship

[Yves Perron, Bloc, Berthier—Maskinongé, QC]

Madam Speaker, on Wednesday, the federal assistance that farmers are receiving to cover the costs of quarantine for their temporary foreign workers was cut in half.

Ottawa was giving farmers a reimbursement of up to $1,500 to apologize for forcing them to cover the costs of quarantine. Now, the federal government has cut that amount to $750, but farmers still need to bring in workers, and quarantine is still mandatory. The health measures have not changed. The costs have not changed either. The only thing that has changed is that Ottawa is no longer doing its part.

Will the Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship immediately reverse those cuts?

[Peter Schiefke, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Immigration]

Madam Speaker, we worked closely with our Quebec counterparts on this and many other files.

More than 34,000 foreign workers have already arrived in Canada for the 2021 growing season, including more than 14,000 in Quebec. These results speak for themselves, and we will continue to provide Quebec with the workers it needs to support its economic recovery.

[Yves Perron, Bloc, Berthier—Maskinongé, QC]

Madam Speaker, when the minister announced $1,500 to help cover the cost of worker quarantines, she gave farmers her word. She said, “This program will be available as long as the Quarantine Act is in force”. Quarantine is still mandatory. There is no logical reason for her to cut this financial assistance in half.

Will the minister keep her promise to farmers and put an end to the cuts as long as quarantining is mandatory?

[Peter Schiefke, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Immigration]

Madam Speaker, our government doubled the number of temporary foreign workers in Quebec from 11,000 in 2015 to 23,000 in 2019.

Last year, despite the pandemic, we brought in the second-most temporary workers ever, and we will be bringing in even more this year.

In addition, we have already brought more than 8,500 skilled workers into Quebec this year. We will keep working with the Government of Quebec to support its economic recovery.

Housing

[Ziad Aboultaif, Conservative, Edmonton Manning, AB]

Madam Speaker, Canada’s housing market is the latest victim of Liberal incompetence. Their first-time home buyer program has only allocated $178 million since its creation. That is just 14% of its budget. The minister’s program has only helped 9,800 applicants in two years.

This is a national crisis affecting millions of Canadians, and it is the highest price increase since 2006. When will the minister realize this and admit his program is not working?

[Adam Vaughan, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Families]

Madam Speaker, I would point out to the Conservatives that every single measures we put in place to fix the housing crisis in this country has been opposed by their party, including the measures to help first-time buyers access the homes of their choice. Examples of this include the tax on vacant properties and offshore speculation, the disclosure requirements under beneficial ownership, the first-time home buyer plan itself and even the modifications to allow more people to be qualified.

Every single step of the way, the Conservatives say no. That leaves us with the status quo, a status quo they created. They are the problem, not our government. Our government has invested $72 billion in addressing the situation. Change is happening, and change will be—

[The Assistant Deputy Speaker, NDP, Carol Hughes]

The hon. member for Port Moody—Coquitlam.

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

Madam Speaker, StatsCan released a new housing price index for May. New home prices have increased 11.3% year over year, and this is the largest increase since November 2006. Prices for lumber and other products increased 17.9% from the previous month. It has more than doubled year over year.

Can the Prime Minister explain why he has implemented such incredibly poor economic policies leading to increased inflation and higher home prices, effectively crushing the dreams of young Canadian families looking to buy their first home?

[Adam Vaughan, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Families]

Madam Speaker, the reality is that our government is the first government in a generation to address the housing crisis in this country, not only from the perspective of affordable housing, but also of housing affordability. The investments we have made in the national housing strategy, now $72 billion, include supports to broaden the supports to the rental housing market being built in this country, as well as creating clear access and bridges to home ownership if that is the choice Canadians make.

Inflation is presenting a serious challenge. We are working to make sure we achieve on our housing goals because Canadians expect us to deliver on the right to housing. They also expect us to deliver a budget that supports this. Why did the Conservatives opposed all these changes?

[Ted Falk, Conservative, Provencher, MB]

Madam Speaker, last week, Conservatives brought forward a motion that called on the government to address Canada’s housing affordability crisis. We laid out common sense solutions to help Canadians achieve their dreams of home ownership, but the Liberals voted against it. Today, Stats Canada is reporting the largest increase in new home prices in 15 years. Increasing inflation and out-of-control Liberal deficits are only exacerbating the situation.

Why are the Liberals pushing home ownership further out of reach for young Canadians?

[Adam Vaughan, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Families]

Madam Speaker, I have to say that listening to the Conservatives talk about housing is really quite astonishing considering they did not do it the entire time they were in office.

The measures we are taking to create and sustain housing affordability are critically important to Canadians, but the pamphlet, or postcard, they produced last week as a budget proposal, which included, for example, the proposal to collapse the entire national housing strategy overnight, makes no sense whatsoever.

When they proposed to temporarily suspend ownership opportunities they think are too generous for foreign offshore owners, they did not even put a time limit on that. Is it a day, a month or a week? It was a pamphlet with slogans. I live in a province that is governed by a Conservative government that uses slogans. It does not work. We need real policies and—

[The Assistant Deputy Speaker, NDP, Carol Hughes]

The hon. member for Markham—Stouffville.

Science and Technology

[Helena Jaczek, Liberal, Markham—Stouffville, ON]

Madam Speaker, unlike the Harper Conservatives, who defunded scientific inquiry, our government understands how essential it is to have a strong and resilient research and science ecosystem.

Canadians are at the forefront of cutting-edge research into scientific issues. Would the Minister of Innovation, Science and Industry update the House about recent investments that the government has made to help scientists conduct their research and spur innovation during this pandemic?