Debates of Feb. 11th, 2022

Health

[Marco Mendicino, Liberal, Minister of Public Safety]

Madam Speaker, just last night the Prime Minister had a conversation with the leader of the Conservative Party and all other leaders. Of course we do not agree on all of the ways in which we are going to get out of the pandemic, but the single golden thread that has run through our strategies is that we have to get people vaccinated. It is nice now to see that the Conservatives have finally realized that we can have disagreements but we cannot break the law. That is why it is important that we all encourage the members of these illegal blockades to go home.

No one is above the law. I would think the Conservative Party, which is a party that claims to be the party of law and order, would do the same thing.

[Michael Barrett, Conservative, Leeds—Grenville—Thousand Islands and Rideau Lakes, ON]

Madam Speaker, Canadians deserve a plan from the government on when it will end the federal mandates. Countries around the world and provinces across this country are making that decision. Even Canada’s top doctor has said it is time to return to normalcy. Like the minister said, nine out of 10 Canadians have been vaccinated. Is the goal from the government 100% before it reopens? If that is the case, the Liberals need to tell Canadians that life will not get back to normal until 100% of Canadians are vaccinated.

Canadians have done the hard work. It is the time for the government to do its work. What is the plan to reopen?

[Adam van Koeverden, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Health and to the Minister of Sport]

Madam Speaker, what my colleague from Leeds—Grenville—Thousand Islands and Rideau Lakes tends to like to ignore is that every person who gets vaccinated is one person fewer who is likely to experience severe outcomes, head to the hospital or, indeed, die from COVID-19. Canada is a big country and public health advice can vary across the country due to local epidemiological situations in various jurisdictions. As such, it is the responsibility of each government to take decisions that are most appropriate to the their local epidemiological context.

We also know Canadians want to finish this fight against COVID-19, and I would ask the member to encourage his community to continue to get vaccinated. I know there is a very high uptake in his community—

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

The hon. member for Manicouagan.

Seniors

[Marilène Gill, Bloc, Manicouagan, QC]

Madam Speaker, the federal government has finally realized that it is inhumane to reduce the GIS for the poorest seniors because of CERB.

It has introduced Bill C‑12, which will stop the reductions, but not until the July payment, even though seniors have been making sacrifices at the grocery store and even the pharmacy for the past year. Twelve months of daily sacrifices. This is crucial income for these seniors, but the government plans to keep reducing that income until the early summer.

How is it humanly possible to move so slowly?

[Darren Fisher, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Seniors]

Madam Speaker, we can all agree just how challenging this pandemic has been on seniors, and our government has been there from the start to support them. We committed to help seniors by issuing a one-time payment to those on GIS where it was reduced due to pandemic benefits. Additionally, as the member said, we introduced Bill C-12 to exclude any pandemic benefit for the purposes of calculating GIS going forward.

I urge the member and all those on the other side to put politics aside and support Bill C-12.

[Marilène Gill, Bloc, Manicouagan, QC]

Madam Speaker, the federal government should be better than that.

Six months will have passed between the point at which the government publicly admitted it had made a huge mistake in reducing the GIS for the poorest seniors in December and the point at which it will actually stop the reductions, in the payment to be sent out at the end of June.

The solution here is not complicated. All the government needs to do is stop cutting benefits for seniors.

How could this possibly take six months to implement?

[Darren Fisher, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Seniors]

Madam Speaker, low-income seniors rely on the different benefits that they receive and we know that they count on them to make ends meet. That is why we boosted GIS for seniors who need it most and we will deliver as soon as possible this one-time payment to seniors to compensate for any loss of GIS for taking a pandemic benefit. As soon as the minister was appointed, she worked with officials and took action. I have to say, I was proud during the economic and fiscal update when we announced this solution.

Housing

[Tracy Gray, Conservative, Kelowna—Lake Country, BC]

Madam Speaker, the Association of Interior Realtors recently reported that the selling price of a typical single-family home in Kelowna has jumped to more than $1 million. That is up from $760,000 just the year before. The Liberals' housing plan is hurting families by making housing unaffordable and has been a failure. Home prices inflated $240,000 in just one year.

Does the minister honestly believe that a $1-million home is affordable for the average Canadian family?

[Soraya Martinez Ferrada, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Housing and Diversity and Inclusion (Housing)]

Madam Speaker, I thank my colleague for her question. Since taking office, we have been wanting to address the critical issue of affordability and access to housing.

We were very clear in the throne speech. We are going to propose several initiatives, including the housing accelerator fund, a more flexible first-time homebuyer incentive and a rent-to-own program. We also plan to levy a 1% annual tax on the value of residential real estate belonging to non-residents or non-Canadians.

[Tracy Gray, Conservative, Kelowna—Lake Country, BC]

Madam Speaker, the Liberals continue to be unclear with Canadians when it comes to their idea to introduce new taxes on home sales. The CMHC backed a study into the supposed benefits of such a surtax but the minister responsible for CMHC says he does not back that study.

Why is his department studying policies he says he opposes and wasting taxpayer dollars on an organization that conducted the study that endorsed the Liberals in the last election? Unless it is about helping Liberal friends.

[Soraya Martinez Ferrada, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Housing and Diversity and Inclusion (Housing)]

Madam Speaker, I thank my colleague for her question.

I would just like to remind her that it is hard to take the Conservatives seriously on the issue of affordability and access to housing when they voted against a tax on non-resident foreign buyers. Just last week, the member for Calgary Centre reiterated her opposition to this measure.

The Conservative Party may not want to address the problem of foreign investors driving up the cost of housing, but we will. I would like to clarify that we will not be imposing a capital tax on—

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

The hon. member for Beauce.

The Economy

[Richard Lehoux, Conservative, Beauce, QC]

Madam Speaker, my question is for the Minister of Finance.

I am going to tell him a little secret. Constituents of mine who are struggling could not care less about the country's GDP when they are having a hard time putting food on the table. Many people have to choose between heating their homes and eating tonight.

A year ago, we were all cleaning our groceries. Now the groceries are cleaning us out.

When will the minister give us the tools and solutions to fight constantly rising “Justinflation” across the country?

[Randy Boissonnault, Liberal, Minister of Tourism and Associate Minister of Finance]

Madam Speaker, we cut taxes for the middle class twice and raised taxes for the 1%. The Conservatives voted against that.

We created the CCB, which is indexed to inflation. The Conservatives voted against that.

We came up with a plan and the funds to create a national early learning and child care plan for Canadians. The Conservatives voted against that.

[Tako Van Popta, Conservative, Langley—Aldergrove, BC]

Madam Speaker, Canada's economy needs to improve productivity, and for that we need to grow our workforce, with more highly skilled immigrants and more people with the skills, training and knowledge that employers require. However, here is the problem. People cannot afford to live in some of our economic-generating cities because of out-of-control housing inflation.

When will the government take concrete steps to curb inflation, increase the housing supply and get Canada back into a leadership position in the G7?

[Sean Fraser, Liberal, Minister of Immigration]

Madam Speaker, I thank the hon. member for his enthusiasm for immigration as a strategy to grow the economy. I look forward to tabling my plan with immigration levels for the next few years in Canada sometime next week.

He is right. We need to manage immigration in an appropriate way so the workers who come here to fill gaps in the labour force to maximize our economic potential have a place to live. With record labour shortages, despite the fact we have more jobs in Canada now than before the pandemic, immigration is going to be an important part of Canada's growth strategy. I look forward to working with our Minister of Housing to ensure the national housing strategy makes housing more affordable for Canadians, including those who come to Canada.

Fisheries and Oceans

[Lisa Marie Barron, NDP, Nanaimo—Ladysmith, BC]

Madam Speaker, last year B.C. commercial, recreational and indigenous fishers caught fewer fish in order to protect our salmon populations. They made big sacrifices that impacted their livelihoods to contribute to conservation efforts. However, a recent report confirmed that Alaskan commercial fishers caught an estimated 800,000 sockeye salmon bound for B.C.

Will the minister work with her U.S. counterparts to the Pacific Salmon Treaty, help Canadian fishers and allow stocks to recover?

[Mike Kelloway, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Fisheries]

Madam Speaker, this is obviously a very important topic to the Pacific coast and for all of Canada. We are going to continue to work with our partners to do deep dives to determine how we can best help this industry. We will continue doing that, as we always have, with our stakeholders in a collaborative and coordinated fashion.

[Taylor Bachrach, NDP, Skeena—Bulkley Valley, BC]

Madam Speaker, hundreds of fish harvesters on B.C.'s coast applied for employment insurance based on the eligibility criteria on the department's website. After they applied, the department changed the criteria on its website and now is rejecting their applications. These fish harvesters have borne the brunt of recent fisheries closures. After years with little or no income, many are just barely hanging on. Either the government failed to communicate the eligibility criteria or it changed the goalpost at the last minute.

Could the minister please inform the House which it is?

[Mike Kelloway, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Fisheries]

Madam Speaker, as on the east coast, where I am from, we understand the importance of helping our fishers through this troubled time. We were there during the pandemic, and we will continue to be there after the pandemic to ensure that people have the ability to stay afloat and stay on a good course. We will continue to work every step of the way with fishers to make sure we are there 100%.

The Environment

[Randeep Sarai, Liberal, Surrey Centre, BC]

Madam Speaker, this week we saw the Canadian Environmental Protection Act introduced in the Senate. CEPA is the cornerstone of federal environmental protection legislation in Canada, which aims to protect Canadians and the environment.

Can the Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Environment and Climate Change inform the House on how this bill will further protect our environment?

[Terry Duguid, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Environment and Climate Change]

Madam Speaker, I would like to thank the member for Surrey Centre for his environmental advocacy.

Bill S-5 would modernize the Canadian Environmental Protection Act for the first time in 20 years and has support from both industry and environmental organizations. CEPA will recognize, for the first time, that every individual in Canada has a right to a healthy environment. This legal right will lead to stronger environmental protections in tune with evolving science, especially for vulnerable communities exposed to harmful levels of pollution.

Health

[Todd Doherty, Conservative, Cariboo—Prince George, BC]

Madam Speaker, in 2006, the CRTC shamelessly said no to the Canadian Association for Suicide Prevention's request to bring a simple three-digit suicide hotline to Canada. It has been 427 days since my motion to bring 988 to Canada passed unanimously in the House. In that time, 4,600 Canadians lost their lives to suicide and over 117,000 Canadians attempted suicide.

What is the Liberals' plan if the CRTC heartlessly says no again?

[Élisabeth Brière, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Mental Health and Addictions and Associate Minister of Health]

Madam Speaker, our hearts go out to all the families and loved ones of those we have lost to suicide and to those who struggle with suicidal thoughts.

It is essential for Canadians to have timely access to suicide prevention, and in addition to working to fully fund a national three-digit mental health crisis and suicide prevention hotline, we are developing a pan-Canadian suicide prevention service. This initiative will provide access to crisis support whenever Canadians need it, and using the technology of their choice, it avoids—