Debates of Feb. 15th, 2022

Agriculture and Agri-Food

[Kody Blois, Liberal, Kings—Hants, NS]

Mr. Speaker, I have the honour to present, in both official languages, the second report of the Standing Committee on Agriculture and Agri-Food in relation to the motion adopted on Monday, February 14, 2022, regarding the illegal blockades at Canada's border crossings.

The House of Commons Standing Committee on Agriculture and Agri-Food calls for the immediate end of the illegal blockades at Canada's border crossings. At a time of severe strain to our supply chains, the blockades are interrupting millions of dollars of daily trade between Canada and the United States and are negatively impacting Canadian agriculture and agri-food industries, including producers, manufacturers and processors. All governments must play a leadership role in keeping these vital trade networks open for the thousands of agriculture businesses and workers who depend on them.

Vaccine Mandates

[Arnold Viersen, Conservative, Peace River—Westlock, AB]

Mr. Speaker, I am presenting a petition from Canadians from across the country who are opposed to and want to end the COVID-19 mandates. The petitioners state that throughout the pandemic, truckers have served Canadians and they are heroes, but now they are being subjected to a vaccine mandate, impacting the supply chain. They say the Prime Minister has politicized the vaccine and insulted Canadians who disagree with him. Moreover, petitioners comment that it is the sacred duty of the Government of Canada to guard against discrimination and guarantee the freedom of all Canadians.

The petitioners are calling on the House to immediately end all COVID vaccine mandates implemented by the federal government regulating employees, truckers and travellers. They are calling for an end to all COVID mandates and restrictions.

Afghanistan

[Heather McPherson, NDP, Edmonton Strathcona, AB]

Mr. Speaker, today I am honoured to rise to present a petition on behalf of many Canadians, in particular, many Afghan Canadians, who are deeply concerned that the Government of Canada has failed to meet its obligations to the people of Afghanistan. Today marks six months since Kabul fell. This is six months that Afghans have struggled under a brutal Taliban regime.

The signatories to this petition call upon the Government of Canada to do more to resettle the promised 40,000 Afghan refugees. They urge the government to work with the Afghan-Canadian community to increase resettlement, remove barriers and increase channels for Afghans to come to Canada. Canada must act urgently. Six months is too long.

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

Mr. Speaker, on the day the Prime Minister called a federal election, Afghanistan's capital fell to the Taliban. In the chaos of that evacuation, many of our brave Afghan allies were left behind. My constituents call on the Government of Canada to partner with the Veterans Transition Network and others to launch an immediate evacuation effort for our remaining allies left in Afghanistan and to safeguard them from Taliban retribution.

Pensions

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

Mr. Speaker, the second petition I am presenting today is from Canadians who also hold citizenship in the U.K.

Approximately 127,000 Canadians receive state pensions from the United Kingdom. While British expats living in some countries, notably the United States, receive annual inflationary increases, the pensions of those residing in Canada are frozen. My constituents are calling on the Government of Canada to ensure any future trade agreement between Canada and the U.K. includes a provision to unfreeze the pensions of British expats living in Canada.

Okanagan Rail Trail

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

Mr. Speaker, I am proud to rise today to present a petition on behalf of my constituents from Kelowna—Lake Country, including many who are employed by our largest private sector employer, KF Aerospace.

The petitioners state that the Okanagan Rail Trail serves as an important recreation and commuter path for pedestrians and cyclists across the region. Seven kilometres of the trail remaining incomplete poses a safety risk as users have no option other than to divert onto a busy highway. To summarize, the completion of the Okanagan Rail Trail will be an important link to provide a more healthy activity space for residents and visitors in the Okanagan.

The petitioners are calling upon the federal government to expeditiously complete the federal commitments to the Okanagan Indian Band and Duck Lake Indian Reserve No. 7 to complete the Okanagan Rail Trail.

[The Speaker, Liberal, Anthony Rota]

I want to remind hon. members that in presenting petitions they are allowed to rise once, and they can present all the petitions at once, but they are not allowed to get up multiple times to present petitions.

Questions on the Order Paper

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

Mr. Speaker, I would ask that all questions be allowed to stand at this time, please.

[The Speaker, Liberal, Anthony Rota]

Is that agreed?

[Some hon. members]

Agreed.

Motion That Debate Be Not Further Adjourned

[Mark Holland, Liberal, Leader of the Government in the House of Commons]

Mr. Speaker, in relation to the consideration of Government Business No. 7, I move:

That debate be not further adjourned.

[The Speaker, Liberal, Anthony Rota]

Pursuant to Standing Order 67.1, there will now be a 30-minute question period.

I invite members who wish to ask questions to rise in their places, or use the “raise hand” function, so the Chair has an idea of the number of members who wish to participate. It looks like there will be a few. I would encourage members to be as concise as possible, so we can get to the many members.

The hon. member for Calgary Shepard.

[Tom Kmiec, Conservative, Calgary Shepard, AB]

Mr. Speaker, it is disconcerting to see the government moving again to shut down debate in the House. I thought we were being very reasonable when we moved the amendment to have just a little more transparency and accountability at a parliamentary committee of the House so we could consider this issue. For 21 months, seniors have been dealing with this problem. There are 204,000 Canadians affected by this. All we were asking for was to be able to look at the details.

I would ask the government what the rush is to try to ram this through House now. The government is trying to get its way without our side having a chance to at least look at the details and question the minister. The Senate is not going to consider it, as it is not sitting right now. The other place would not be able to consider the bill even if we rush it through, so what is the harm in just a little more consideration, a little more introspection? Can we not all do a little better on this one?

[Kamal Khera, Liberal, Minister of Seniors]

Mr. Speaker, we all agree that the passage of this bill is so important, and we need to get it passed as soon as possible. We know how difficult this pandemic has been for those most vulnerable.

This bill is short, concise and clear. Bill C-12 would exempt pandemic relief benefits from the calculation of GIS or allowance benefits in July 2022, so seniors who took pandemic benefits last year would have that security and surety that their GIS would not be impacted. In fact, this bill is the exact product of much collaboration between parliamentarians and parties already. I have spoken to all my critics, who agree on why we need to move forward with this quickly. I hope we do just that.

[Alain Therrien, Bloc, La Prairie, QC]

Mr. Speaker, this is a bit of a paradoxical situation. The changes for pensioners will not be in effect until June.

We wanted those changes to be implemented as quickly as possible, and we wanted to be sure. The government took its sweet time deciding to change the parameters, and the problem will not be fixed until June.

When we ask why things have been taking so long, the government says there is no time to talk about it. It says we have to get this done ASAP, which means gagging the opposition. That way, the government can say it is doing things as fast as possible, but the problem still will not be fixed until June.

We could have taken a week to better understand the reasons for this unalterable delay. That would have made absolutely no difference. Meanwhile, many, many seniors are waiting for these payments so they can buy groceries, pay rent and live with dignity.

Why muzzle the opposition when it was willing to talk about it here and in committee all week? That is unacceptable.

[Kamal Khera, Liberal, Brampton West, ON]

Mr. Speaker, all members agree with the need to move quickly. I have personally had conversations with members from all parties on this. I know we all agree, and we understand why this is urgent. They have shared their concerns on the one-time payment as well.

I can tell the House that, when I got appointed to this role, we moved very quickly to work with officials and the Minister of Finance to make a major investment in the financial and economic update. As the hon. member knows, we announced yesterday that we will be moving forward with that two weeks earlier, in April, for those in dire need. I will have an opportunity to work with parliamentarians to get that support even sooner and earlier in March.

Let me bring colleagues back to this particular bill. Ensuring that this does not happen again is what Bill C-12 is about. I really hope we can put aside partisanship just for one second and ensure that those most vulnerable seniors have that security moving forward.

[Heather McPherson, NDP, Edmonton Strathcona, AB]

Madam Speaker, I just have to ask this, and it is very similar to other questions that have been asked in the House today: Why did it take the government so long?

What do I say to the seniors in my riding who raised this with us in August. I know the NDP brought this to the minister in August. In August, the government knew that it had made a mistake and that there were serious problems. My staff has had to deal with seniors who have lost their homes, who no longer can pay for their medication and who are at risk of losing their lives because of the government's mismanagement of this. To say that it is acting with speed and as fast as possible just seems so incorrect.

We brought this to the government in August. Why did it take so long? Why are we sitting here in February and dealing with this?

[Kamal Khera, Liberal, Brampton West, ON]

Madam Speaker, let me just first assure the hon. member that the day I got appointed was the day we started moving, actually very quickly, on this. We worked extremely hard and quickly with our officials and, of course, the Minister of Finance, to move quickly on putting forward a major, significant investment in the fiscal update.

Of course, as I shared with the hon member, we are making this investment. It will be delivered actually ahead of schedule, as soon as possible, on April 19. Service Canada will have an opportunity to work with members of Parliament to help constituents in dire need to get the support even sooner. Let me again point to the urgency of this particular bill. Bill C-12 focuses on making sure that this issue does not happen again.

I hope we can all work together. We disagree on many things in this House, but I think we have an opportunity to showcase to Canadians how we can work together and move this quickly to ensure those most vulnerable seniors have the support moving forward as well.

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

Madam Speaker, thank you very much.

Minister, back on December 16th—

[The Assistant Deputy Speaker, NDP, Carol Hughes]

Members are to address questions and comments through the Speaker and not directly to the minister.

The hon. parliamentary secretary.

[Darren Fisher, Liberal, Dartmouth—Cole Harbour, NS]

Madam Speaker, on December 16, the minister received her mandate letter. I remember thinking it was a very aggressive letter, and the minister said to me, “I am going to accomplish this”. There is an awful lot to accomplish. I have to say that the minister has accomplished a great deal in a very, very short period of time.

Some members are suggesting that they want time to study this at committee. Minister, this is a five-line bill that is very, very simple. It speaks to exactly what has been asked by all opposition parties in the House. Maybe, minister, you could just outline how little is actually in this bill and why this is something that does not necessarily need to be studied.

[The Assistant Deputy Speaker, NDP, Carol Hughes]

The hon. parliamentary secretary has been around for some time, and he knows that he is not to address questions directly to the minister.

The hon. Minister of Seniors.

[Kamal Khera, Liberal, Brampton West, ON]

Madam Speaker, I want to thank the hon. member for all of his hard work on this file as well, and the work that we have been able to do, indeed, with all parliamentarians to move very quickly.

When it comes to Bill C-12, it is a very short, concise and clear bill. What this bill would do is to exempt pandemic relief benefits from the calculation of GIS or allowance benefits, so seniors who took pandemic benefits last year will have the security and surety that their GIS will not be impacted.

It is a short bill. Indeed, it was done in collaboration with all parties. I have spoken personally with all of my critics on this from different parties. They all agree and know the urgency in moving forward. That is exactly what we are doing.

I was at committee yesterday, and we spent a fair amount of time speaking specifically on this, but I look forward to answering members' questions to make sure we can move forward as quickly as possible.

[Marilyn Gladu, Conservative, Sarnia—Lambton, ON]

Madam Speaker, I am very disheartened to see that the Liberals are continually trying to avoid parliamentary process. The Conservatives brought a reasoned amendment that said we recognized this was an important issue, and we would be willing to amend it at committee. I have been calling for a resolution since March of 2021.

The government knows the bank accounts of the people who got GIS and the bank accounts of the people who got CERB. It can certainly put the money in the accounts and reconcile it later, as it has done for 800,000 people who received benefits illegally and for people who lived in foreign countries who received benefits. It is ridiculous that when it is not going to be paid out until June of 2022, the government would be forcing Parliament to avoid due process once again.

Can the minister tell me why?

[Kamal Khera, Liberal, Brampton West, ON]

Madam Speaker, I first want to correct the record because the member is talking about two different things.

Folks got pandemic benefits in 2020. That is why in 2021, as we know, we put in a major investment in the financial and economic update to make sure we could fully compensate those seniors, and that is exactly what we are doing. In fact, we are moving forward on it as we speak, as I announced yesterday. Bill C-12 would ensure that this does not happen again, and that is exactly why we are moving quickly on this. I have spoken with all senior critics in all parties, and they know the urgency of this.

It is important to remember that this is a very short, simple and clear bill. We have held all-MP briefings on this bill in both English and French, and of course I have had discussions. I was at committee yesterday and spoke at length about this particular issue.

We can spend time on issues that we disagree with and on the approach, but this is something that we all agree on. Seniors are worried. They deserve us putting aside our differences and focusing on taking away their worries about their GIS reductions moving forward. I hope that we can work on this and move as quickly as possible.