Debates of Feb. 1st, 2022

Resumption of Debate on Address in Reply

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

We will have to leave it at that.

Resuming debate, the hon. parliamentary secretary to the government House leader.

[Kevin Lamoureux, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Leader of the Government in the House of Commons]

Madam Speaker, it is a pleasure to rise today to address the very important issue of the government's throne speech, a plan to take Canadians in all regions of our vast land through the pandemic—

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

If I may interrupt, we have a point of order.

[John Nater, Conservative, Perth—Wellington, ON]

Madam Speaker, I am seeking the guidance of the Chair. My understanding of Bosc and Gagnon is that a member may only speak to a motion once. My understanding is that the member has spoken three times now to the same motion. I am seeking clarity from the Chair on whether or not this is an oversight, or whether there are so few Liberals willing to defend their record that the member has to get up for a third time on the Speech from the Throne. I am just seeking clarity.

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

A member has the opportunity to speak to the main motion, the amendment and the subamendment. The hon. parliamentary secretary has not addressed the main motion.

[Kevin Lamoureux, Liberal, Winnipeg North, MB]

Madam Speaker, I hope this will not be taken from my time and we will reset the clock. It does not surprise me that my Conservative friends do not necessarily want to hear what I have to say, but I will tell members that they should listen closely, because if they listen closely, they might get a better sense of the type of direction they want to consider taking.

The member for Sarnia—Lambton asked where we go next in a question she put earlier today. That is a very important question. From the beginning, through the throne speeches, remarks from the Prime Minister and budgetary and legislative initiatives, we have been very clear about what the Government of Canada's priority has been as of 19 or 20 months ago: dealing with the pandemic. We are at a point in time where we are hoping to see strong leadership from all sides of the House to get us through the pandemic. To indirectly answer the question the member from the Conservative Party asked, one of the best things we can do is encourage the public and our constituents to get fully vaccinated.

Sitting on the government benches, I am observing how the Conservative members have been approaching this issue. There is an interesting story, and I would like to quote from it. It is significant because it is from the former leader of the Progressive Conservative Party, former prime minister Brian Mulroney, when he was interviewed on CTV. Former prime minister Brian Mulroney told CTV's Question Period a few Sundays back that the leader of the Conservative Party, at least for now, should go further and show any unvaccinated MPs the door, removing them from his caucus. He said, “That's leadership.” That is a direct quote from the former Progressive Conservative prime minister.

He goes on to say, “Who am I to argue with tens of thousands of brilliant scientists and doctors who urge the population desperately to get vaccinated?” He also said, “Look, you're not the leader to follow, you are the leader to lead, and if you think this is in the national interest, Canada's interest, you get your members of Parliament in line, and they have to support what you're doing.”

If we listen to what the former prime minister said and we understand and appreciate, as he indicated, the science and the health experts, we have an appreciation of just how important it is for people to be fully vaccinated. A vast majority, 86% or more, are fully vaccinated, not to mention those over the age of 12 who have received one shot. However, we still have Conservatives within the official opposition questioning this and adding fuel to those who believe they do not have to get vaccinated, sending mixed messages to the public. I think that is at a great cost. On the one hand the Conservatives say that it is time we move on, yet if we follow them, whether their behaviour inside the House or the statements they make on Twitter, they send very confusing messages.

From the beginning, we have been very consistent. Our number one issue 19 or 20 months ago was the pandemic and working with willing partners, including provincial governments, indigenous leaders, non-profit organizations, private companies and people in general from all regions of the country, to take a team approach and build a national consensus on the types of things that we needed to do as a government in order to take on the pandemic. Through that consultation and those efforts that engaged so many Canadians, we are where we are today.

A great deal of thanks and appreciation can be expressed to all Canadians who understood their responsibilities through this very trying time. Whether they were health care workers, taxi drivers, people who work in manufacturing plants or long-haul truck drivers, people stepped up and did what was necessary, whether providing services or staying at home in isolation, but at all times listening to what public health officials were saying and understanding the science of what was taking place in our communities. As a direct result, Canada is in an excellent position.

Looking at the third quarter reports, we see that our GDP grew by 5.4%. That is better than the United States, Japan, the U.K. and Australia. That is, in good part, because Canadians did what they needed to do in order to position Canada well when we had the opportunity to get out of the pandemic.

We have now seen 108% of the jobs that were lost due to the pandemic return. I compare that to the United States, our dearest friend to the south, where it is approximately 84%. For years, when I was in opposition, I used to be critical of the then Harper government talking about trade deficits. We would get trade deficit after trade deficit, year on year. In fact, when Stephen Harper assumed office, there was a trade surplus. When he left office there was a trade deficit. I understand that today we have a trade surplus that is at a 13-year high. These things are happening because governments of all levels and Canadians understood what we needed to do by coming together to make a difference. Those jobs matter. They are very important.

Just the other day, I had the opportunity to get a better overall understanding of the pork industry once again in the province of Manitoba. Maple Leaf Foods is an excellent example of doing what is necessary to ensure there is a high element of food security in our country. It contributed by continuing to operate, even during the pandemic, by taking the necessary measures to protect the industry.

Maple Leaf today is actually growing in the province of Manitoba. The best bacon in the world can be found right in Manitoba, and we are selling it throughout the world, not only because of an outstanding company that has demonstrated its ability to meet and get to market, but also because of the workforce that it employs and their responsible attitude in ensuring that those jobs would continue and ultimately grow because of the quality of work that they provide.

This year we are going to see an additional 350 jobs at that one company. That will bring up the total employment just in Winnipeg to 1,900 jobs. That is not to mention the around 1,500-plus jobs in the community of Brandon, Maple Leaf jobs. The hog industry is doing quite well in the province of Manitoba. If we go to Neepawa, HyLife is another shining example of a successful company that is exporting Manitoba world-class product.

Those are direct jobs in those industries. It does not speak to the indirect jobs that are created by these companies. In the parking lots there are hundreds of vehicles and those vehicles have to be purchased from someplace. The employees live in houses, condos and apartments in communities that require furniture. They require food and restaurants, and that feeds the economy, not to mention our farming communities.

Our agricultural community continues to grow and in many ways prosper. In good part, that is one of the reasons we are able to continue to grow our economy. Relatively speaking to the countries that I have already referenced, we are doing quite well, but there are areas that do need to get special attention, for example, the issue of health care. The greatest challenge in health care today, and yesterday when I used to be the health care critic, is not just money. It is how we manage the changes that are necessary to provide the quality health care services that Canadians expect, and they want the federal government to play a role in that.

We in the Liberal Party understand, for example, long-term health care facilities. The opposition members say it is all provincial jurisdiction. They can make that statement, but there are Liberal members of Parliament who are responding to what Canadians want. They want to see some form of national health care standards for long-term care for our seniors. That is something we believe in. On this side of the House, Liberals also believe in the need to invest in mental health. Apparently, the Conservatives do not. There is an expectation that governments will work together. We saw that through the pandemic. When governments work together, we can accomplish so much more.

This is a Prime Minister who has been committed to doing that, even though what one sees constantly coming from opposition benches on the floor of the House of Commons is character assassination, a focus from opposition to try to tear down the personalities of members who make up the caucus, as opposed to contributing to the overall positive debate. Constructive criticism, too, I must suggest, is a valid thing. I was in opposition. I like to think we contributed to that too.

However, no matter how cynical and negative the Conservative Party has been, we have remained focused on ensuring we are developing and bringing forward the programs that are going to make a difference in the lives of Canadians through a very difficult time.

As a result, we experienced some programs that have ultimately led to the survival of some of our industries. There are actually more businesses today than there were prepandemic. I like to think that has a lot to do with what the government came up with in terms of programs. During this difficult time, people needed a lifeline, and most often we will find that the lifeline came from the federal government, a government that believed in supporting businesses both small and big.

We did that through programs such as the wage subsidy, the rent subsidy and the loan support programs, all catered to support our small businesses and workers in Canada. We brought that out early in the game when the pandemic hit, because we recognized how important it was, in many ways, to keep these businesses viable and to prevent them from going bankrupt.

In the throne speech and back in October, the Prime Minister and the minister made reference to the need to carry on some of these programs, to have a lockdown program. That is why, shortly after the election, not only did we talk about it but we brought in legislation. In fact, that was the first piece of legislation we brought in, Bill C-2. That was to ensure the benefits for small businesses. On the one hand, we have those in the opposition who talk about the importance of small businesses, but when it came time to support small businesses, at least back in December, what did they do? They voted against Bill C-2.

Not only did they vote against that legislation, but during part of the debate they brought in motions to try to filibuster the legislation to prevent it from passing, yet they like to say they are friends of small business. Think of the millions of dollars, hundreds of millions, that the Government of Canada has provided to small businesses over the last 19 months or a year and a half. That is one of the reasons we are in the position we are in today. Relatively speaking, compared to other countries, we are doing exceptionally well.

That is because of the resilience of our small businesses, entrepreneurs and Canadians in general who have responded so well to the need to address the pandemic and to play the role we all needed to play, so that, at the end of the day, we were in a position to continue to grow the economy, support our middle class and allow things to get better quicker.

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

Madam Speaker, the member opposite mentioned health care capacity, and that is the crisis. The government has been forcing the provinces to do more with less since it was first elected, but funding is not the only issue. People go to the hospital because they do not have family doctors, and there are not enough licensed doctors to go around. There are hundreds of qualified new Canadians and specialists who come to Canada, but they cannot practise because of the jurisdictional rules and because the federal government has not found a way to streamline them into jobs, so they are stocking shelves at Staples or working as PSWs instead of doing what they were trained to do and what they came to Canada to do.

How does the member propose that the federal government home in on the real problem and help Canadians get over being locked down and locked in because of restrictions?

[Kevin Lamoureux, Liberal, Winnipeg North, MB]

Madam Speaker, I wish I had another 20 minutes to answer that question. It is truly amazing. We have to realize that is from a Conservative Party perspective, and we need to look at what we have done in the last five years.

Historic amounts of transfers are going to the provinces for health care. We have identified areas and tagged money to support that. The recognition of immigrants' credentials is a very serious issue, and we constantly raise that with provincial stakeholders that are ultimately responsible, but maybe there are other things. We have a very progressive Minister of Immigration who is looking at ways to ensure that we can take advantage of getting more people who could contribute to our health care system. That is also an important aspect. The federal government, in the last number of years, has been very proactive on the health care file.

[Martin Champoux, Bloc, Drummond, QC]

Madam Speaker, to listen to my colleague, the Parliamentary Secretary to the Leader of the Government in the House of Commons, one would think that everything is fine and that the Liberal government is doing a perfect job. In fact, things seem to be going so well that I have to wonder why the Nobel Foundation has not yet considered awarding all of this year's Nobel prizes to the Liberal government in power.

Earlier, I heard my colleague talk about how well businesses are doing in Manitoba, and I am very happy to hear that. It is encouraging.

In Quebec, on the other hand, we are experiencing a horrendous labour shortage and having a hard time finding workers. In addition, businesses are facing enormous hurdles when they go to hire foreign workers to fill positions. The backlogs keep piling up, and these businesses are being penalized by this government's neglect and complacency, especially when it comes to immigration.

I also heard my colleague mention consensus. The Quebec and provincial premiers have reached a consensus on health transfers. They are all calling for an increase in transfers to cover up to 35% of expenditures. The current issue that health care systems are facing is a lack of funding. The federal government is not paying its fair share and instead wants to interfere with health care management, which is a provincial jurisdiction.

When will the government realize that? I look forward to hearing what my colleague has to say about that.

[Kevin Lamoureux, Liberal, Winnipeg North, MB]

Madam Speaker, I would refer the member to the Canada Health Act in terms of the federal government's role and suggest that he listen to what residents in good part, including residents in his own riding, have to say regarding some of the valuable contributions the federal government can make with respect to health care. Further, he should recognize that historic amounts of money are flowing to the provinces from Ottawa to support health care. This government was also able to continue signing health care accords with individual provinces, which is something that Stephen Harper was not able to do. We were able to accomplish that.

Manitoba and Quebec have a lot of things in common. I look at the aerospace industry and the issue of supply and demand. These are very important industries and communities that get a great deal of support from Ottawa, and I see that as a positive thing. However, they also have another thing in common, and that is the need for workers. As I said, we have a very proactive Minister of Immigration. I suspect we might now even have record numbers of international workers coming to Canada to fill those jobs. If we fail to meet the demand for those jobs, it takes away from our economy and that is one of the reasons—

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

The hon. member for London—Fanshawe.

[Lindsay Mathyssen, NDP, London—Fanshawe, ON]

Madam Speaker, I have listened to this member a lot, and he tries to defend what his government has done to reduce the spread of COVID-19. He just spoke a long time about the recovery of the Canadian economy. I certainly agree with him, in that we know the way through this is by ensuring that—

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

Can I ask the hon. member to turn her screen on, please?

[Lindsay Mathyssen, NDP, London—Fanshawe, ON]

Madam Speaker, I am trying, but it is locked, I think.

I am not sure what is going on. I keep pushing the button.

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

I apologize, but I do not think we can proceed without the screen on, so I will have to give the question to another member.

The hon. member for Calgary Skyview.

[George Chahal, Liberal, Calgary Skyview, AB]

Madam Speaker, I want to thank the hon. member for Winnipeg North for talking about many important issues, such as the response of our government to the COVID-19 crisis in supporting workers and businesses during this difficult time.

I remember during the financial crisis the lack of support from the previous Conservative government. We saw, unfortunately, the loss of many businesses. In the housing crisis, many people lost their homes during that difficult time. I think it is more important to support workers and diversify our economy while supporting a strong plan for housing in Canada.

Would the member elaborate on the government's support of affordable housing and the national housing program?

[Kevin Lamoureux, Liberal, Winnipeg North, MB]

Madam Speaker, one thing my prairie colleague and I share is a very strong passion for economic growth in our Prairies. We work quite closely together to ensure that takes place as much as possible.

Housing is a very important initiative. This is a government that brought forward a national housing strategy a number of years ago. It was the first of its kind. We have seen a number of programs put into place to ensure that we can speed up some of that housing, especially during the pandemic.

I am encouraged by some of the other things we are starting to see, whether it is the rapid housing initiative or the first-time homebuyer incentive. The Minister of Housing wants to work with Canadians to have a study done on how we can ensure there is more housing accessible to all Canadians, and I look forward to that particular report.

[Ed Fast, Conservative, Abbotsford, BC]

Madam Speaker, the member spent much of his time disparaging the official opposition. Yes, this is politics, and I understand that, but what was most offensive about his remarks were the suggestions that the opposition does not care about mental health and that the previous government did nothing about mental health. In fact, it was one of our Conservative members of Parliament, the member for Cariboo—Prince George, who brought forward a proposal to establish a national suicide hotline. It passed unanimously in the House over a year ago, yet the government has failed to implement that very worthwhile proposal.

When can Canadians expect that suicide hotline to be in place?

[Kevin Lamoureux, Liberal, Winnipeg North, MB]

Madam Speaker, I know that Health Canada, and in particular the Minister of Health, are very keen on that idea, as the motion itself passed with unanimous support. I think all members of the House support the idea of a national suicide line, and I believe it is just a question of time. Whether it is with the CRTC, things have to be done to put something of that nature into place. It is ironic that both questions from the Conservative Party have been on health care, when that is the party that seems to want to say that Ottawa should have nothing to do with health care.

[Gord Johns, NDP, Courtenay—Alberni, BC]

Madam Speaker, I find it amazing that this member is now up for the third time on the reply to the Speech from the Throne, given there are over 100 members on that bench who have not spoken on it.

I am going to follow up with my friend, the member for Abbotsford, who just asked about the three-digit hotline. This member says the government is keen on it, but that is not good enough. The House voted unanimously to support moving toward a three-digit hotline to support people living with mental health issues. It is not about being keen.

Is his government committed to following through with the motion that was passed unanimously in the House of Commons? It is going to save lives. Right now, we have a suicide crisis. It is the second leading killer for young people under the age of 34.

Will the government respond and follow through with the direction of the House of Commons?

[Kevin Lamoureux, Liberal, Winnipeg North, MB]

Madam Speaker, I am somewhat surprised that both the Conservatives and the NDP are a little upset that I am speaking. One member of the NDP has spoken for 14 hours on a budget matter, and the Conservatives did likewise. I respect that. At the end of the day—

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

Resuming debate, the hon. member for Edmonton Riverbend.

[Matt Jeneroux, Conservative, Edmonton Riverbend, AB]

Madam Speaker, I will not be ceding any time back to that member.

It is an honour to stand in this place. I do not believe I have to split my time, but perhaps somebody could confirm that. I will continue on. It is an honour to speak to the Speech from the Throne and to also spend some time sharing the election, sharing the number of volunteer hours and taking that opportunity to thank so many.

I will just read a few names into the record. We had a very active core team, many of whom have been with me through five elections. I regret that I have not been able to mention a lot of their names in this place until today. They are Andrew Marklund, Bruce Foy, Bruce McLaughlin, Bryan Kim and his whole team, Deanna and Jason Bischoff, Elizabeth Hughes, Erin Allin and her wonderful partner Connor, Ivonne Martinez, James and Amanda Kadavil and their two lovely boys, John Whitmore, Karamveer Lalh, who is our EDA president, Mazhar Butt, who did a tremendous job of handling our CFO duties, Michelle Chen, Nancy Bishay, and Bieri Beretti, Norman Lorrain who did our signs, Pat Maru who sat at the front desk, Sami Alam, Scott Reith, Shaina and Bill Anderson, Sia Saffa, my good buddy Sohail Quadri, Varun Chandrasekar, and of course Vera Fedor, whom we could not have run the election without. She consistently shows up at our front office again and again, and it means the world to me to have a friend like her. Those are the volunteers.

From a family perspective, none of us is able to be in this place without our family. I was able to celebrate my 13-year-old little girl. She turned into a teenager right before my eyes. I have been doing this for 10 years now. I feel she has grown up with me, either on the campaign trail or at public events. Lily Jeneroux means the world to me. I was happy to be home to see her, even briefly, before she became a teenager to join her other sister in the teen years. I have two girls in their teen years, and that is all I have to say about that. Molly Jeneroux is 14. I am hearing that I am a brave guy from the other side of the House. I will leave the comments at that.

For them to put in these 10 years with me makes me think about how much this job impacts them in their lives, in their school and with their friends. With everything we have had to do to get me to Ottawa, and then often leaving on Sundays and not coming back until later in the week, I miss a lot of opportunities at home to see them. It is certainly something that we all have to weigh every time we run in an election. To me, they are the real motivation for continuing to do this job: It is to make this country a better place for them.

If having two teenage daughters was not enough, I also have a two-year-old son. Actually, this Saturday he will be entering his terrible twos. I am not sure how I planned having teenage daughters and a two-year-old son, but he has really been through some of the darkest days of COVID. He has really been able to shine a light in our home. I see so much hope in little baby Hugh, who is not so much a baby anymore. I am fascinated by just watching him carry on about his day, playing with his cars and trucks. It is really neat to revisit fatherhood in a different form, all over again.

Then, of course, there is my amazing spouse, Elizabeth Clement. She is a surgeon. She spends a lot of time in the hospital and on call. Our lives often diverge, but when we are able to we coordinate our schedules. I find she is busier than I am in a lot of ways. She is certainly someone I admire. I am so lucky to be able to spend my life with her. Sometimes I think she forgets I am a member of Parliament, because she is so busy saving lives on her end. I think she often looks at me and wonders, “How many lives did you save today?” I like to think I have saved lives, but she is truly the one who is great in our family.

Those thanks aside, I want to talk about three things that I think are important and have been working on and, having been elected for just over six years now, want to continue to advocate. As members know, we are inundated with many ideas and many people bring up many different things that they think we should be working on, so to really dive into those things that we think are important takes a lot of focus and concentration.

The first thing is the Father's Day on Parliament Hill event that we do for men's mental health every year. The NDP member for Courtenay—Alberni has been a real champion with me on that, as well as the member for Richmond Hill from the government side. Between the three of us, we have found a unique friendship in being able to address this issue that I think connects with so many Canadians and make it a non-partisan issue. We were able to raise awareness for the many men who are suffering from suicidal thoughts and those who have been impacted by postpartum depression after the birth of a baby. Every time we do the event in June on Father's Day, my inbox gets filled with mail from people who are sharing their stories about what our event has meant to them.

We are now going into our fifth year. I have not connected with the member for Courtenay—Alberni about it and may be shocking him in the House now, but obviously we will do the event again. I would love it to be in person as we have done in the past, as we have done the last two as virtual events. Going into the fifth year of doing this with our partners in the Mental Health Commission of Canada and the Movember Foundation, we have been able to move the needle to stamp out the stigma for men to talk about suicide, because 80% of men die by suicide, and we are seeing those high numbers in really young men, men under the age of 40 in a lot of cases. The importance of this event makes it something that I will continue to work on in this Parliament. I hope to continue to stamp out that stigma and allow men to continue to talk about their feelings, to be that modern man in a lot of ways and not be afraid to address the suicidal thoughts in their lives.

The second thing I would love to address is that a really good friend of mine, Jakob Guziak, a little boy I have come to know quite well, was diagnosed with SCID, which is severe combined immunodeficiency, just 10 days after his birth. SCID causes an inability to fight off most types of infections, including bacterial, viral and fungal infections. Jacob needs some gene therapy support, and there is a gene therapy out there that could significantly impact Jakob's life, but it costs $2 million. His mother Andrea and father Kamil have been absolutely dedicated to getting him that help. Again, every chance I get, I will support them and fight alongside them to push for that therapy so that he can get the support he needs.

Lastly, we had a very historic moment in the last Parliament when we passed a bill for compassionate bereavement leave, thanks to a lot of members' help from the other side and the NDP. We had some champions for this legislation, which was great, but we need one more step. We need the provinces to adopt the legislation so that bereavement leave is consistent across the provinces and not just for federal agencies and commissions. I will commit to continue to work to get the provinces on board so that everybody can receive compassionate bereavement leave if they so desire.

On that note, it is a privilege to stand in this place and an honour to share this place with so many hon. members. I know it gets heated from time to time, but I find that there are a lot of friendships to be made across the aisle if we take the opportunity to reach out and talk to some of our colleagues.

[John McKay, Liberal, Scarborough—Guildwood, ON]

Mr. Speaker, I consider the member one of my friends across the aisle, and we work well together on the Canada-U.K. committee. As a person who has been here for 24 years, I would say to him that my youngest daughter was seven years old when I started. She is now 31. It does get better.

[An hon. member]

Speak for yourself.