Debates of Feb. 1st, 2022

Resumption of Debate on Address in Reply

[The Assistant Deputy Speaker (Mrs. Alexandra Mendès), Liberal, Alexandra Mendes]

Order. It is my duty pursuant to Standing Order 38 to inform the House that the questions to be raised tonight at the time of adjournment are as follows: the hon. member for Regina—Lewvan, The Environment; the hon. member for Kenora, Regional Economic Development; the hon. member for Mégantic—L'Érable, Health.

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

Madam Speaker, I ran to be an MP because I love Canada. I love our country. My ancestors fled tyranny and war-torn eastern Europe over 130 years ago to come to the Canadian prairies for the freedom and opportunity it represented. Their hard work and sacrifice created a better life for all of those who followed, including me. I am motivated every day to honour them, to do right by them and my constituents, and to contribute to a united and prosperous Canada, glorious and free.

However, since I was elected over two years ago, I have grown increasingly concerned over the state of our national unity. Whether it has been the alarming rise of western alienation or Quebec separatism, or the increasing divide between urban versus rural, or the division on the COVID-19 pandemic, national unity seems to be at an all-time low. It is understandable in many ways, given the terrible two years it has been for all of us.

Thirty thousand Canadians have tragically died of COVID-19, and thousands continue to suffer from long COVID. Thousands more have suffered from delayed surgeries. Few families, including my own, have been left untouched by the cruelty of COVID-19. As a result, millions of Canadians, and I have heard this first-hand, are terrified of COVID.

They feel that it would be a death sentence to them or their loved ones. Many will never recover from this fear. I have spoken to them first-hand. Many constituents of mine have said that they will never take their masks off again in public or feel comfortable in large crowds, or even travel ever again.

Thankfully, with incredible human ingenuity, COVID vaccines were developed at warp speed and rolled out worldwide to billions of people in a matter of months, saving hundreds of thousands of lives. Thanks to the extraordinary health care workers, thousands of sick Canadians were supported throughout this pandemic.

However, I do believe we have reached a point where we must make serious investments in transformative change and take the best practices from around the world for our health care system so that we will all be better prepared for a future pandemic. Every expert is telling us that this will not be the last one. There are more to come. We will go through this again. It is just a matter of time.

The data tell us that during normal times, on average, our health care capacity operates at over 100%. Hallway medicine, eight-hour EI wait times, months for MRIs and critical surgeries for hip and knee replacements, and many other issues have been around longer than I have been alive. We know that our health care system experiences tremendous strain during flu season, let alone during the tsunami of sick people from COVID over the past two years. This is why governments say that they have needed to take extreme and extraordinary measures. It was because our health care system cannot handle everybody getting sick at one time.

We were told we are all in this together, and we all stayed home. We all remember “two weeks to bend the curve”, yet two years later, we continue to live extremely restricted lives. As a result, hundreds of thousands of businesses that depend on public gatherings have closed, representing countless family dreams and all the jobs they supported being completely wiped out.

Untold damage has been done to our mental health and the development of our children. The deadly impact of isolation on our elderly is immeasurable. There is increased alcohol and drug abuse, divorce, and depression. The list of the impacts of this goes on and on. As a representative of nearly 100,000 people, I have heard of these traumas first-hand. I have dealt with sobbing, threats, screaming and pleading, and their stories have haunted me. To describe the last two years in one word, I would say “trauma”. We have all experienced trauma, and millions of Canadians are at the end of their rope. They cannot take this anymore.

The result of that is right outside this building. Honestly, from that perspective, I do not find all that is going on right now outside very surprising. It is like a pressure release valve has exploded after the last two years. I do want the truckers and all those who support the convoy to know that I hear them. I seem them, and I care about them and all of our freedoms.

Watching the footage online of that convoy making its way across Canada, passing families of all cultural backgrounds along highways and overpasses, and the gatherings of tens of thousands of people on Parliament Hill, I have never seen so many Canadian flags waving in the wind. As a patriotic Canadian, I have to say it made me quite emotional. It makes me emotional now.

I acknowledge, though, and this is important, that some people are angry. I denounce the evil people who seized this opportunity to display their ignorance and their hatred, and I denounce them fully. However, many more, thousands more, are expressing their patriotism for their country. They are expressing hope for the future and the excitement for change, which is honestly giving them the will to keep going and persevere through this incredibly difficult time.

They just want to be heard by their government and have them look at other jurisdictions and what is happening in the U.K., the Netherlands, Ireland, Norway and many other advanced nations. They are opening up, moving past mandates and learning to live with this. We can do it, too. We have some of the highest vaccination rates, if not the highest vaccination rates, in the world. We have rapid tests. We have all put the work in. We have all the tools we need, and now is the time to move forward.

To be honest, I fear that we may never get back to normal, especially when I see the hatred that has developed between Canadians. Treating each other with dignity, compassion and respect seems to have been forgotten long ago. I have to say, on a personal level, I understand the frustrations of some vaccinated Canadians toward unvaccinated Canadians. I hear them, too. I see them and hear from them. I get it.

However, I want to share a couple of stories with everyone. When I was door-knocking during the last election, I met a single woman about my age. She was on her front step and her young son was clinging to her leg as she shared her story with me. She was a social worker. She said last year she received a hero of the year award for going above and beyond as a social worker to help the most vulnerable in our community.

This is when she started to cry in front of me. She said that this year no one would talk to her. She said that she was going to be fired from her job. Do members want to know why? It is because she was too afraid to get the COVID vaccine. She was too afraid. She believed it in her bones and there was no convincing this woman otherwise.

When the Province of Manitoba brought forward its strong mandates, there were articles in the local paper about nursing staff suddenly seeing a lot of anger, rage and tears from new people coming into get the jab. It seemed that some people in the public were surprised to learn this. Honestly, I did not find it very surprising that people who were forced against their will to get the vaccine, with their jobs hanging over their heads and who believed with every fibre of their being that it was not right for them for whatever reason, were angry and crying.

I have talked to these people. They have reached out to me. I have made the time. They are my constituents and I have heard them out. They described to me their experience of getting the jab, so to speak. It was as if it broke them. It ripped away part of who they were and of everything they believed this country is. It took away their agency and their bodily autonomy. That is what mandates do to people. That is the reality. Of course, there were tears and rage. These are human beings.

I will remind everyone that for the first year and a half of the pandemic, it was this Prime Minister who said there were vaccines for all those who wanted them. He must have said it a thousand times. With the drop of a hat he called the election, and within days of that he was yelling into a microphone at a Liberal rally, and saying that people had the right not to get vaccinated, but they did not have the right to sit next to someone who was. He said that. Shame on him for dehumanizing people that way.

Canada is fracturing and the Prime Minister is winning votes on it. Whether it is the east versus west, urban versus rural, left versus right or now the pandemic, he has been dividing Canadians for six years. Uniting the country, leading freedom over fear, should be the number one priority of the Prime Minister. To be honest, I am beginning to doubt we can ever unite Canadians again, that we will ever get back to normal, and that people can make their own personal health choices and still be equal.

During a particularly low day recently, and I think we have all had those over the last two years, I heard a story that gave me some renewed hope and motivation. I will share it with everyone. It is about President John F. Kennedy. In 1961, JFK had a decision to make. He wanted to call a news conference and tell the world that the Americans were going to the moon. This was a very risky decision for his reputation, because technically there was no way forward. The technology did not exist and it had never been done before.

He needed to make a decision, so he went to the most brilliant aerospace engineer in America and asked him what it would take to go to the moon. The engineer responded with five words: The will to do it. The rest was history after that.

What is it going to take to heal the trauma and division? What is it going to take to bring Canadians together again? What is it going to take to unite this country? It will take the will to do it. It will take courage and conviction. The will to do it will deliver the glorious and free Canada that we all rightfully deserve. I, for one, will work day and night to deliver that to my constituents and all Canadians.

[Taleeb Noormohamed, Liberal, Vancouver Granville, BC]

Madam Speaker, I would like to thank my hon. colleague for her speech and for our ongoing wonderful working relationship in committee. The member spoke about the importance of vaccination and the value it has provided us in a path toward freedom, as she refers to it. She also expressed some other concerns.

Could the member share with the House how she reconciles the views that folks have right now about not getting vaccinated with the fact that we have mandatory vaccination for children in many provinces across the country in order for them to attend school?

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

Madam Speaker, I have enjoyed working with the member. We are setting some really important issues right now.

Over the last two years, particularly since the Prime Minister called the unnecessary $600-million election that further divided Canadians, I have been concerned, as I am sure he has been as well, about the hatred from all sides. There is not nearly enough communication. I think it was a recent poll that said 20% of Canadians think unvaccinated people should go to jail. We are pushing this so far. I am seeing it. I have been door knocking for years, and during the election I saw so much hate, so much division and lots of tears.

I appreciate the member's question, but I would say that we need to move forward and recognize we have done an astounding job. We have one of the highest vaccination rates in the world and we need to move forward.

[Bonita Zarrillo, NDP, Port Moody—Coquitlam, BC]

Madam Speaker, I want to talk again about the care economy and elevating the traditional work that belonged to women for many years.

If the needed investments in health care transfers had been increased instead of cut by the Conservatives and then not restored by the Liberals, we would have had a stronger health support system to support COVID alongside cancer and pediatric surgeries, which cannot be done right now. If we do not invest in the care economy in a way that increases health care transfers, as the premiers are asking for, we will not be able to weather any other health crises.

Do the Conservatives support greater health care transfers to the provinces?

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

Madam Speaker, I congratulate the member on her first election.

Absolutely, I do. As I mentioned in my speech, we need more investment in health care and we need transformative change. We need to be looking at best practices around the world. We are seeing other countries with far better surge capacity than we have in Canada.

As I said, this is not the last pandemic and this is not the last wave. We need to prepare our health care system to have that surge capacity so that we do not need to do what has been done to people for the last two years and so that governments can no longer default to telling people they have to stay home for two years because our health care system cannot work. I do not want to hear that excuse anymore.

I want to see transformative change so that we can usher in an era of health care that truly supports everyone. No more eight-hour ER wait times. No more waiting two years for a hip replacement. No more shutting down the economy because we cannot handle a surge. We need to build a robust health care system.

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

Madam Speaker, right in the middle of a pandemic, the health care system was compromised in Quebec and all the other provinces.

In the 1970s, health transfers covered 50% of health care spending. They were cut back and now they cover 22%. Quebec and the Canadian provinces all agree that health transfers should be increased from 22% to 35%, and yet nothing is being done.

The health care system was already strained; with the pandemic, it will take years to recover.

Does my colleague not think it is time to increase health transfers?

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

Madam Speaker, I certainly support investments in health care, and greater investments seem to be needed. However, there is one point I want to make. I believe I read that Canada has one of the most expensive health care systems per capita in the world. Why are we spending so much and getting so little? Why are people waiting eight, 10, 12 or 14 hours in an ER? Why are they waiting years, in normal times, to get a hip and knee replacement or an MRI?

We need to invest, look across the globe for best practices and transform our health care system to be more competitive and to better serve all Canadians.

[Richard Lehoux, Conservative, Beauce, QC]

Madam Speaker, I am pleased to rise in the House today to respond to the government's Speech from the Throne.

As I stand here, I wonder why we are responding to yet another throne speech.

The Prime Minister decided to call an election for no reason during a global pandemic, when Canadians needed us to be here in the House to find solutions and bring us out of the pandemic.

I was disappointed again when I listened to the throne speech. It used so many words to say nothing. I was stunned to see how short on substance the last two throne speeches were. Still, I am here today because I believe I can make a difference in my riding, Beauce, whose residents trusted me to represent them by giving me a second term. I sincerely thank them.

As the House knows, the Beauce region is a hotbed of entrepreneurship. Our rural community is full of dynamic, ingenious people. We work together to strengthen our community, but we often feel forgotten by this government.

The government continues to ignore one of the worst problems of all: cell phone coverage. Technology is more advanced than ever in 2022, yet people in my riding have a hard time getting service in municipalities like Saint‑Martin and many others. There is nothing in the throne speech about how the government intends to solve this problem. Moreover, now that the Prime Minister has finally released the ministerial mandate letters, I can confirm to the House that the minister in question has received no instructions to do anything about it.

When will this government understand that this is not only a matter of fairness, but also a matter of public safety? In the community of Saint‑Victor, a resident was stung by a bee and went into anaphylactic shock. As he lay unconscious, a friend of his had to climb to the top of a hill to call 911. Once the ambulance arrived, it also had difficulty contacting the Saint-Georges hospital because the signal was so weak. In this case, this person was extremely lucky not to lose his life.

This should serve as a reminder to the government that it still has a lot of work to do on this issue. It may well say that cellphone bills must be reduced, but it is also necessary to have equitable basic service in all regions and not create two classes of citizens.

I would now like to draw attention to another urgent issue that the government has not yet addressed in this speech. My constituency offices are inundated daily with calls from citizens pleading for help. These citizens are running out of patience as they wait for answers from Service Canada. Criminals have stolen their identities and are applying for benefits on behalf of other people. There have been so many cases of fraud since the government funding programs were created during the pandemic. I agree that these programs were necessary to get us through this pandemic, but when is the government going to show some real leadership and fix this problem?

My staff are getting calls from people in tears because their EI or GIS payments had been stopped after being targeted by fraudsters. These Canadians deserve to have their files processed quickly. They cannot wait months to get answers from an investigator when they are not able to pay rent or put food on the table. The government has done something in recent days by reassigning Service Canada employees to this issue, but pulling officials off other important files to address a major problem seems like a band-aid solution to me. Quebec is an epicentre of fraudulent activity, and this has been going on for months. The government's inaction in recent months is unacceptable.

The Department of Employment and Social Development and the Department of Citizenship and Immigration have the same problems as Service Canada. Officials are exhausted. Files are taking longer and longer to get processed. There is a chronic labour shortage in my riding, where the unemployment rate is below 4%. My riding is constantly looking for more workers in all sectors.

Businesses in my riding rely heavily on the temporary foreign worker program. The problem is that these businesses are unable to get the workers they need, workers they have already recruited. These businesses are drowning in paperwork, and when that is finally completed, they still face long wait times.

The effects of this labour shortage are felt every day. Take for example Olymel, a company in my riding. It is short roughly 200 workers right now. This major shortage is causing serious delays in hog slaughtering, which has repercussions on producers and on the land because producers have to keep the hogs much longer than planned and may even have to euthanize some of them if they cannot be slaughtered in a timely manner.

Businesses in my riding are always trying to grow their operations with new advances in automation and robotics, but government funding is simply not there to help businesses achieve their full potential.

Many businesses in my riding will have to close their doors if the labour shortage is not adequately resolved, and many others might ship their activities overseas.

The fact is that no matter the percentage changes in percentage or the policies the government puts in place for the programs, the problem is that the government is failing to address the unacceptable delays. We need real action from the government to get rid of the excessive red tape and to streamline the application process in every area.

As many of my colleagues know, I would love to be able to discuss agriculture and agri-food. Unfortunately, agriculture is not mentioned in the throne speech. I believe that is a huge mistake on the government's part.

These sectors have been and will continue to be significant economic drivers in our country. We should be promoting these sectors, not using them as a bargaining chip on the international stage.

I hear about these problems every day from my constituents. We have to do what is required for our citizens and solve these problems. These are not partisan issues. I have had these conversations with several ministers on different occasions, but nothing changes. This government needs to get its priorities straight.

I will continue to stand up for the people of Beauce every day and every time I have the opportunity to rise in the House. I will ask the hard questions and, above all, I will hold the government to account.

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

Madam Speaker, I first want to congratulate my esteemed colleague for his down-to-earth speech. When I listen to him, I understand why we often agree despite our fundamental differences of opinion, in particular about the future of Quebec.

My colleague spoke about several subjects that I would also like to address, but I will focus on cell tower coverage. He told us about an emergency where someone had to climb a tree to call 911. They were lucky.

In one area of my riding, in Saint‑Édouard‑de‑Maskinongé, there was one unfortunate death that occurred because of the lack of cell service. There is also a problem in the Lac-Souris area. Even people in the Pointe-du-Lac area in Trois‑Rivières have poor cell coverage. That is unacceptable.

I believe that we should create a specific program to address the issue of funding for cell towers once and for all so we can eliminate dead zones in cellular coverage.

I would like to hear what my colleague has to say about that. Does he believe that we could work together to move this file forward?

[Richard Lehoux, Conservative, Beauce, QC]

Madam Speaker, I thank my colleague for his question. It is very germane.

I could have named off all 40 municipalities in my riding. I have visited them many times. There are issues with cell coverage in almost every rural municipality. Yes, there should be a program, but the government should also show that it is firmly resolved to send a clear message to the CRTC, the national organization that must ultimately regulate these companies, which are located in various parts of the country. Yes, we need programs to support them, but the minister to whom the CRTC reports also needs to send a clear signal so that we can resolve this issue once and for all. I asked the minister some questions earlier. People are saying that cell phone bills are too costly. I understand that urban centres are complaining about this issue, comparing themselves to other big cities in Canada and abroad, but I think we need to start with ensuring adequate coverage in all of our communities across Canada.

[Laurel Collins, NDP, Victoria, BC]

Madam Speaker, health care is in crisis, and in my riding of Victoria, many of my constituents are struggling to access primary health care. There are 100,000 people in the capital regional district who do not have a family doctor, and we are losing multiple walk-in clinics as physicians retire or move on.

Decades of health transfer cuts have had devastating impacts on our province's capacity to address issues in our health care system. We have seen that acutely during this pandemic. Premiers across the country are asking the government for health transfer increases.

Does the member agree we need to increase health transfers now more than ever, and that the government needs to show leadership and work with the provinces and territories to tackle wait times, improve access to primary care, and ensure we recruit and train doctors and other health care professionals to identify the gaps in our health care system?

[Richard Lehoux, Conservative, Beauce, QC]

Madam Speaker, I thank my colleague for that great question. During the election campaign, I think our party was clear about its commitment to increase health transfers unconditionally. I believe the government really needs to help all Canadian provinces so as to improve health care everywhere. I think that is worth emphasizing. There are problems in big cities, but there are problems in my riding and everywhere else too. It is hard to recruit doctors and maintain adequate services. The solution is financial support, so that is what the government should be doing.

[Damien Kurek, Conservative, Battle River—Crowfoot, AB]

Madam Speaker, representing a largely rural constituency, I have certainly heard about the challenges concerning the rural-urban divide. I am wondering if the member could comment further on that.

[Richard Lehoux, Conservative, Beauce, QC]

Madam Speaker, I thank my colleague for his question.

The problem seems to be getting worse over time. I think immediate intervention is crucial to minimizing the growing rural-urban divide. I have never had anything against urban communities and big cities, but I think our governments and the federal government in particular should pay special attention to supporting rural communities across Canada.

[Ryan Turnbull, Liberal, Whitby, ON]

Madam Speaker, I am happy to have the opportunity to speak to the Speech from the Throne today. I could definitely talk about the broad strokes and priorities of that speech, like moving faster on a path to reconciliation, taking bolder action on climate change, growing a more resilient economy and standing up for diversity and inclusion, among others. Each one of those priorities is certainly worthy of a fulsome speech itself, in my view. However, in light of recent events I would like to focus my remarks today on perhaps one of our most pressing challenges, which is finishing the fight against COVID-19.

Nearly two years have passed since the international community sounded the alarm for what would become one of the greatest public health crises that we have ever known. Certainly in my life, I have never seen anything like this and many of us can say that. I am sad to say that COVID-19 has claimed over 5.6 million lives worldwide and the pandemic is not over yet. I cannot help but reflect on the incredible loss and grief people have gone through, and my heart goes out to them and their families.

What we have seen from Canadians over the past two years is nothing short of remarkable. People across Canada have stepped up in every way possible, over and over again, to help each other out and do what is right to keep each other safe. We all know the many things we have done to help, and that includes getting vaccinated.

There have been countless sacrifices made by everyone, without exception. People, families, children, businesses, organizations, governments and communities have all had to adapt and adjust, and those changes have been really challenging and hard. I fully acknowledge that. Business owners, children, seniors, frontline workers and others have made huge contributions to our response to COVID-19 as a nation, and it has definitely made a difference. It has saved many lives.

Canada has 840 deaths per million people, which is much less than half of the EU, the U.K. and the U.S. In fact, it is one-third of the COVID deaths per million in the U.S., so we have saved many lives with all our efforts. Those efforts have not been futile.

In fact, immeasurable hardships have been brought on by this pandemic. We are all tired, frustrated, fed up and even angry, and it is not over yet. Some of us feel like we are at a breaking point. We even want to shout and scream. We feel like there are whole dimensions of our lives that have been cut off. We miss our families. We want to take a vacation. We want to get together and celebrate again. We want to go back to the way things used to be. All of these feelings are completely understandable and even natural, given the circumstances and based on what we have all been going through together.

However, there are healthy ways to cope and constructive outlets for those feelings, and there are unhealthy, unhelpful and destructive ways. To Canadians, I say their government is not the enemy and vaccinations are not the enemy. The virus is the enemy. The Minister of Health said that this week in the media, and it really struck me. We must not give in to the temptation to give up or to aim all of this frustration at the government, when it should be rightly placed on the circumstances. We must not let ourselves be overcome with hate and anger or lash out.

I have to say that some of the activity we saw over the past weekend on display in our nation's capital was completely and utterly unacceptable, and there is no excuse or justification for it in this country. I never thought I would see this type of behaviour in our country, in our nation's capital, at the seat of our democracy on Parliament Hill. I am referring to symbols of hate and racism, including swastikas and Confederate flags being displayed. I am referring to disrespecting the memory of some of our national heroes like Terry Fox and the unknown soldier at the National War Memorial.

As if these acts were not despicable enough, we also saw videos of protesters harassing shop owners and refusing to wear masks, and we heard accounts of protesters harassing workers at a soup kitchen and stealing food meant to feed the homeless. We also saw that protesters and trucks have shut down the downtown core of Ottawa, causing businesses, schools and even vaccine clinics to be closed. Let us not pretend that the people of Ottawa have not been impacted by all of this. Businesses have lost income, kids are not able to go to school and people's ability to access vaccines and health care has been impeded. That is not healthy.

After the shockingly deplorable behaviour we witnessed in Ottawa this past weekend, we see the Conservatives trying to justify the fact that they supported this group by using the “just a few bad apples” excuse.

In reality, we know many of the Conservative MPs encouraged this. They amplified the rhetoric. They served coffee and came out to show their support. They jumped on the bandwagon for political gain, and when it came time to call out the abhorrent behaviour we all witnessed and stand unequivocally against hate, violence, racism and intolerance, they were not so quick.

I think we can agree the minimal amount of racism, hate and violence we must tolerate is exactly zero, and one cannot assist in fomenting anti-government sentiments and then not be guilty by association. I realize that many protesters were out expressing their points of view and assembling peacefully, which they have every right to do, and I hear them about wanting our freedom back. All of us feel the same way, but let me remind them what they have accomplished. In their opposition to lockdowns, they have essentially locked down a city from the freedom they say has been taken away from them, adding to the strain on the people of Ottawa and causing extensive cost and hardship to many people.

I might add the people opposing lockdowns in the nation's capital is somewhat strange to me. It seems misplaced, because this is the seat of the federal government. Public health restrictions, lockdowns in particular, are imposed by provinces and territories. Perhaps what is most alarming is that opposition MPs lined up to support this movement, and the public was sold a bill of goods. First, it was that vaccine mandates at the border were supposedly going to disrupt the entire supply chain and lead to empty shelves, but we know that has not happened. In fact, the approximately 90% of truckers who are vaccinated have been delivering goods across our border and are keeping our shelves fully stocked. In fact, I am told there is no measurable impact on cross-border trucking traffic at this point. The United States, in fact, has the same vaccination requirement for truckers, so it is sort of a moot point at this point.

Let us also remember that the Canadian Trucking Alliance, which represents the industry, does not support this Freedom Convoy, because the CTA represents the majority of truckers, who are already vaccinated. To top it off, the organizers of the current rally on Parliament Hill apparently have a proposal to dissolve or overthrow the government. Let us get this straight. These individuals want to overthrow a democratically elected government that is following through on the publicly proclaimed campaign commitments it was elected by the people of Canada to fulfill. Why? It is because a loud minority in this country does not like it.

This is at a time when over 88% of eligible Canadians are vaccinated and just after vaccine mandates for federally regulated workplaces and cross-border travel by train, plane and ship have been implemented, which, as far as I know, last August had an over 80% approval rating in public opinion polls. It was clear that the majority of Canadians supported vaccine mandates and realized this was essential for defeating COVID-19. The public gave our government a clear mandate in the last election to follow through, and that is exactly what we are doing.

I hear the voices of this small minority of Canadians who do not want to get vaccinated and think it is government overreach to require them to do so. However, the reality is that people have the choice to get vaccinated or not. The anti-vaxxers who the Conservatives are courting just do not like the consequences that come with that choice, but as we have learned since we were all kids, choices come with consequences. I think we can all agree we are in extraordinary circumstances, and public health experts around the world say the best chance we have to get back to normal, protect against future infection, blunt future waves and avoid lockdowns is to get those vaccination rates up as high as possible. People who have dedicated their lives to science and to protecting people's health have provided evidence that vaccines work.

Allow me to summarize. People are fed up with their lives being turned upside down by a new virus that is highly transmissible, and a small number of them who refuse to get vaccinated, despite having every opportunity to do so, want everyone else to give them special treatment and accommodate them, instead of complying with the wishes of the majority. They want their rights and freedoms to be completely unlimited, and they want their decisions, no matter how harmful to others, to come with zero consequences. They also oppose lockdowns to the wrong level of government while simultaneously locking down a city in a province that is just about to reopen, all being organized by a group of people who say they want to overthrow a democratically elected government, which is busy fulfilling its promises for the majority of Canadians, because they claim to be the true patriots.

Ironically—

[The Assistant Deputy Speaker, NDP, Carol Hughes]

The hon. member has used up all his time. I tried to give him some signals, but I know he was quite into his speech. I am sure the hon. member will be able to address additional comments during questions.

Questions and comments, the hon. member for Essex.

[Chris Lewis, Conservative, Essex, ON]

Madam Speaker, through you to the member for Whitby, the Speech from the Throne addressed the fact that the dairy industry would receive compensation as it was very much affected by the CUSMA deal.

Can the member update the House as to when our dairy industry can expect a fixed date from the government, along with the amount it can expect when the budget comes down?

[Ryan Turnbull, Liberal, Whitby, ON]

Madam Speaker, while I certainly appreciate the question, I do not know how it pertains to the speech I gave. However, it does pertain to the Speech from the Throne, so I will do my best to answer it.

I do not have a specific time and date, but I can say that our dairy industry is exceptionally important to our country, our food system and our supply chains. We are studying that at the agriculture committee, which I am very proud to be on and working with other members of other parties. I would certainly be willing to look into that and get back to the member.

[Denis Trudel, Bloc, Longueuil—Saint-Hubert, QC]

Madam Speaker, I would like to ask my colleague a question about the survival of French in Quebec and Canada.

I have been in Parliament for two years now, and this issue is very close to my heart because the percentage of francophones in Quebec is less than 80%. In Montreal, the proportion of people whose first language is French is about to fall below 50%. This is unheard of.

I have heard a lot of rhetoric in Parliament over the past two years. We talk about how we are going to save the French language. Liberal members even voted to recognize Quebec as a nation with French as its only official language, but then the government turns around and appoints a Governor General who speaks only English.

We know that the CEO of Air Canada, which is subject to the Official Languages Act, does not speak French. We recently learned that the majority of CN's board of directors do not even speak French, even though the company is also subject to the Official Languages Act.

Yesterday the hon. Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship held a press conference in English only. This makes no sense for a department that is so critical to the survival of French in Quebec.

Does my colleague agree that it is time to add targeted measures in the next Official Languages Act to save the French language in Quebec?

[Ryan Turnbull, Liberal, Whitby, ON]

Madam Speaker, yes, what my hon. colleague brings up is exceptionally important to this country and all Canadians. It is important to promote bilingualism and to ensure there is no loss of the French language. I think we need to do our best to protect it.

I have been taking French lessons. I am not at a point where I feel confident enough to speak it yet, but I look forward to the moment when I begin to do that in the House.

[Jenny Kwan, NDP, Vancouver East, BC]

Madam Speaker, I would like to go back to the issue of seniors. I raised a question with the member's colleague, the member for Vaughan—Woodbridge, regarding the problems my constituents in Vancouver East are faced with. There are seniors who are facing eviction and getting the runaround from officials who are telling them to contact Service Canada to send in a form, which we all know will not help the situation. His response was to contact the parliamentary secretary. I did one better. I contacted the minister about these issues and so far there has been no resolution.

The reality is this. It seems the government is not going to bring in any measures to help seniors at least until May. In the meantime, seniors in my riding are getting evicted and are absolutely desperate. I am asking the member about advocacy for seniors in his own riding, as well as across the country. Will he ask his government to fix this problem now?

[Ryan Turnbull, Liberal, Whitby, ON]

Madam Speaker, I would like to respond to the member by saying that seniors are exceptionally important to me and my riding. I spend a lot of my time listening to their concerns and many of the vulnerabilities they experience, which often relate to housing insecurity.

I definitely agree this is an area I am pursuing actively and have been doing so since I was elected in 2019. Certainly, there is more progress our government can make. I cannot speak to the specific issues in the member's riding or her constituents, but I certainly am working on all the ones that are relevant to my riding.

[Sean Casey, Liberal, Charlottetown, PE]

Madam Speaker, it is a pleasure to rise in the House. As this is my first opportunity to present a full speech, please allow me a couple of minutes to thank the good people of Charlottetown for the honour of representing them here in the House of Commons for the fourth time. I was first elected in 2011; they saw fit to elect me once again, and for that I am grateful and humbled.

I am also extremely grateful to the army of volunteers it takes to run a successful campaign. I have been blessed to have a solid core of people who have supported me in those volunteer roles since my first election in 2011. At the risk of missing someone, I am only going to single out my campaign chairs, Emily MacDonald and Spencer Campbell. Spencer has been with me since the very first campaign, and I certainly would not be here but for their leadership and for the other lifers around the table who have supported me over the last 10 years in my campaigns.

I am thankful for the love and support of my parents and my partner Deirdre. Without them, there is absolutely no way it would be possible for me to get through the marathon we endure to get to this place or for me to be sitting here.

Part of my motivation for getting into politics 10 years ago was the treatment of my province and of the country by the then Conservative government, which was led by Stephen Harper. He cancelled plans for a third subsea cable that would assure energy security for Prince Edward Island. We fixed that. He increased the age of eligibility for old age security for seniors. We fixed that. He closed offices of the people who served veterans. He closed district offices and slashed hundreds of positions of people who served veterans, including those at the national headquarters in Charlottetown and right across the country. We fixed that. He tore up agreements that had been achieved under then minister Ken Dryden for a national child care program and replaced them with payments of $100 a month to parents. We fixed that.

This throne speech indicates that we continue on the progress that has been made since 2015 on building a resilient economy and a cleaner and brighter future for our kids. Of the key themes in the throne speech that resonated in my riding during the campaign, there is probably none more prominent than housing. It is a major priority in Prince Edward Island; it is absolutely a major priority in Charlottetown.

Housing is a human right. Every Canadian deserves a safe, accessible and affordable place to call home. During the campaign, I heard from many constituents about the impact Canada's housing crisis has had on them. Our government has a plan to increase housing affordability and make home ownership a reality for more Canadians. Since 2015, with the implementation of the national housing strategy, we have helped more than one million Canadians find a safe place to call home, but there is still so much to do.

Here in Prince Edward Island, there is an investment of $40.7 million in the Canada-P.E.I housing benefit that was announced to support low-income households. There are over 22,00 households in P.E.I. that will receive assistance for affordable housing under this benefit. Other examples that I am particularly proud of are three buildings that were financed under the retail construction financing initiative, with a $19.2-million low-cost loan for residential buildings in Charlottetown. Investments like these are sometimes met with scorn from those who are extremely concerned about the plight of low-income Canadians and low-income islanders, because that particular program is designed for those who are at or above the median income, and that is the model.

What I will say about the rental construction financing initiative and the particular investment in my riding is that the minute those units were constructed, they were filled. The national housing strategy addresses needs at various socio-economic strata across the country and on the island. One in particular that was directed to low-income islanders was something called Martha's Place, which was finished in 2020. It is a real model of how the national co-investment fund is supposed to work.

Here is how Martha's Place came together. It is a development that has rent geared to income, so 25% of what someone makes is their rent. It came together because the Province of Prince Edward Island donated the land, the city of Charlottetown waived the property taxes, the Sisters of St. Martha contributed $1 million and the federal government came in with a low-cost loan of $11.5 million. Now there is a rent-geared-to-income project in the riding on a transit route. It is something that is absolutely critical and something, quite frankly, that we need to see more of. It is my hope that under the initiatives in the throne speech toward housing, we will soon be in a position to announce something under the rapid housing initiative as well as further projects under the national co-investment fund to promote partnerships like the one that I just described.

Something else that resonated significantly in the riding during the campaign was with respect to child care. Throughout the pandemic, many parents have struggled to re-enter the workforce due to limited access to affordable and flexible child care. The Speech from the Throne commits to building the first-ever Canada-wide early learning and child care system, after almost getting there on the eve of the arrival of the Harper government. Child care fees are expected to be cut in half by the end of 2022, which will save families thousands of dollars.

Here in Prince Edward Island, we have already seen the beginning of those reductions. The standard for government-run early childhood centres last year was $34 a day. In Prince Edward Island, that has already been reduced to $25 a day, and those reductions will continue through the life of the program. Here on P.E.I., within the next two years we are going to see 452 new early learning and child care spaces that offer high-quality, affordable programming. The child care agreements, as we know, have been signed by all provinces, except Ontario, and all three territories. It will certainly make life more affordable for Canadians, but it will also create new well-paying jobs and ensure that every child has a fair shot at success. Investments in child care will build on the success of the Canada child benefit, which, over the past five years, has provided tax-free support to over three million Canadian families and lifted 300,000 children out of poverty.

I have a quick anecdote with respect to the Canada child benefit. A major employer here on Prince Edward Island is the Department of Veterans Affairs. The payroll is in excess of $100 million a year. It is widely seen as a major contributor to our economy. The Canada child benefit contributes that same $100 million a year, but the difference between the payroll at the national headquarters of Veterans Affairs Canada and the Canada child care benefits that are put into the pockets of parents every single month is that the latter are not taxable. That is meaningful, progressive policy that will help us through the pandemic and into the 2020s.

[Brad Vis, Conservative, Mission—Matsqui—Fraser Canyon, BC]

Madam Speaker, I would like to thank the hon. member for his discourse here today, and I have to say that I do miss him at the human resources committee.

The member talked a lot about some of the positive things that we have seen or that he has seen coming from the Liberal housing strategy, but Prince Edward Island, like most other regions of this country, has seen drastic increases in the cost of single-family homes and condos. What would the hon. member state in respect to his government's failure to account for the challenges that Canadians are facing in affording a market residence?