Debates of Feb. 15th, 2022

Government Business No. 7—Proceedings on Bill C-12

[George Chahal, Liberal, Calgary Skyview, AB]

Mr. Speaker, I appreciate the hon. colleague's assessment and question.

The previous Conservative government did actually increase the age of retirement for seniors, which we rolled back. Our minister has been open to having conversations and discussions on this. The most important thing on this issue is to get money back to those seniors. It is tax season. They have to file their taxes and we want to make sure that those seniors who were impacted get support, ongoing and through this pandemic.

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

Mr. Speaker, I tried to stay calm while my colleague from Calgary Skyview was delivering his speech, but it certainly was not easy.

I keep hearing people talk about how hard they worked to fix things for seniors as fast as possible. Are the Liberals seriously trying to make us believe that, when we sounded the alarm in July 2021?

Right in the middle of the election campaign, I took action. I wrote to ministers. I was told that, because of the election, it was a transitional period and there was nothing they could do. They were not too worried about it during the campaign because they were all having a great time with their pointless election.

Now they keep telling us how great the government is because it is acting fast to save seniors. They keep telling us how great this bill is, this bill they are going to make us vote on a few hours from now even though it will not come into force until July. This is February. At this very moment, seniors are cutting how much they spend on food.

I hope the member is embarrassed to be handing us those lines. I hope he can explain why it is so urgent that we vote on this now when it will not come into effect until July because their computer system is not functional.

[George Chahal, Liberal, Calgary Skyview, AB]

Mr. Speaker, I did not hear a question from the hon. member but I will answer some of the comments.

Our government stepped up. In my riding of Calgary Skyview, we stepped up to support seniors with the Vista seniors housing project across from Akram Jomaa Islamic Centre. That is government working in collaboration and partnership with other orders of government and community organizations to provide seniors with critical supports like affordable housing, so I am proud of my government's work.

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

Mr. Speaker, can I get clarity from the member on when the first payments will go out to seniors, based on this bill?

[George Chahal, Liberal, Calgary Skyview, AB]

Mr. Speaker, our government has committed to quick passage of the bill and to provide supports for seniors as soon as possible. It is important, as this legislation is passed, that we can move forward and be able to do that.

[Sonia Sidhu, Liberal, Brampton South, ON]

Mr. Speaker, I thank the member for Calgary Skyview for sharing his time with me. I am pleased to rise today virtually to support Bill C-12, an act to amend the Old Age Security Act, a bill to support seniors in Canada presented by my colleague from Brampton West, the Minister of Seniors.

The issues the bill raises are some that I have heard about from my constituents. Last year and earlier this year, I had a number of important meetings with many different organizations that serve seniors in Brampton, such as members of Brampton's local CARP, United Achievers' Club, Young at Heart, Roots Community Services and some seniors clubs.

Most importantly, I spoke with hundreds of seniors at their doors in my riding of Brampton South. All of them spoke to me about the importance of supporting seniors and recognizing that they were hit hard by this pandemic. They know very well how we can play a positive role in their lives through supporting the physical, social, financial, health and well-being of seniors.

That is why today I will be happy to share my perspective on why we need to pass this bill as soon as we can so that we can continue to support seniors across the country. Bill C-12 excludes income received from the recovery benefits, the caregiving benefit, the sickness benefits and the lockdown benefits from being included in the calculated amount of the guaranteed income supplement, an allowance that will be coming to seniors at their set monthly rate starting this July.

From the beginning, it was made clear to Canadians that these pandemic programs were meant as income replacement for people who had lost their jobs or who had their hours reduced because of the pandemic. It was also clear that this would be considered as income. As a result, some seniors who got these benefits saw a reduction in the GIS allowance benefit. We recognize that this came as unexpected to some seniors.

We have heard their concerns and this bill will help resolve this issue by exempting pandemic benefits from the calculation of GIS or allowance benefits. We will ensure we do not penalize seniors for taking the pandemic benefits they needed to help make ends meet. We know that our government's compassionate approach has helped seniors and all Canadians get through some very tough times.

Some working, low-income seniors still need pandemic support from the government. This is why, as a first step, the government committed in this economic and fiscal update to provide a one-time payment to compensate for the full amount of the reduction. It will be automatic, tax-free and come in the same way seniors normally receive their benefits.

Coming even earlier than planned in April, this will prevent financial hardship for these seniors. Eligible seniors will not need to take any action. This targeted, one-time payment will go to over 200,000 GIS and allowance recipients who received pandemic benefits in 2020 and who faced a reduction or loss of GIS benefits. We are determined to make this right. As a next step, this bill is making a simple adjustment to the Old Age Security Act that will prevent this GIS reduction from happening again.

The substance of this bill is shorter than 100 words. It does not need any further delay, study or analysis, so let us pass the bill quickly to take away the worries of low-income seniors.

We are proud of our record when it comes to supporting seniors. One of the first actions this government took was to restore the age of eligibility for OAS to age 65 after it was raised by the Conservatives. That move tried to push seniors into staying in the workforce longer, which seniors did not appreciate or ask for. What they actually asked for was a secure retirement.

When the pandemic began, we invested an additional $9 million into the New Horizons for Seniors program, supporting local projects that serve seniors. Later, seniors received an additional $20 million from this program. Some of these projects, including those in our community, reduce social isolation, improve digital literacy and help seniors maintain a social support network.

We have also implemented changes that will specifically help low-income seniors, like raising the basic personal amount for taxes when this measure is fully implemented next year. It will benefit 4.3 million seniors, almost half a million of whom will see their federal taxes reduced to zero. That will benefit many seniors.

The government has provided one-time payments to help get seniors through the pandemic, and we will see a permanent 10% increase for those over the age of 75 coming this summer. This is the first real adjustment since 1973. This helped nearly 900,000 low-income seniors and has lifted 45,000 seniors out of poverty. The government has worked hard to ensure income security for seniors who have spent their lives helping to build this country. We enhanced the CPP by 50% for future retirees. We are the party that created OAS, the CPP, the RRSP and the GIS, which serve as the cornerstones of the Canadian retirement system.

We know that we have more to do as well. We are working with the provinces to improve the quality and availability of long-term care homes. This one is especially important to me. Some members may remember that one of the first long-term care homes in the country that needed support from the armed forces was in my riding of Brampton South. The Health Standards Organization and the Canadian Standards Association have both released their draft reports for recommendations on this issue. Like many Canadians, I am eager to see the final results later this year.

Our government is also exploring the establishment of an aging at home benefit as well as assisting other community-based organizations that help seniors to age in place.

If we ask seniors in any community, they will tell us that they want to stay in their homes with their families longer. We are working to provide seniors with a single point of access for government services, as well as working to define elder abuse and make the appropriate adjustments to the Criminal Code. We know that elder abuse, including in care homes, needs to be called out and addressed.

I remember the night before the omicron wave, I visited the Flower City Seniors Centre together with the Minister of Seniors. I remember speaking with Christine, the facility manager, about the support we are providing for seniors. I asked her about the feedback she is hearing from seniors in Brampton. Seniors want this pandemic to be over and while they want issues like the one we discussed today to be addressed quickly, they are grateful for the support we have given them.

Together, I look forward to continuing the work with the minister, locally and nationally, on supporting seniors. We all have to continue this work.

This bill is essential. Seniors across the country need this support urgently and there is no reason for delay. I encourage all colleagues to support the bill.

[Peter Fragiskatos, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of National Revenue]

Mr. Speaker, my hon. colleague is modest, so she did not point out the incredibly important work she has done to advance diabetes research in Canada. London is home to Sir Frederick Banting. Of course, those who know anything about the history of diabetes will know the important work that he did to advance insulin. So many have benefited from that.

Where I am going with this is that I wonder if the member could outline for us the way that a measure like this will help not just seniors but the seniors living with diabetes whom she has helped for so long.

[Sonia Sidhu, Liberal, Brampton South, ON]

Mr. Speaker, the hon. member is very passionate about the diabetes issue too. I thank him for this passion. He is a great member of his riding.

We can all agree with how challenging this pandemic has been for seniors and we know that we are always there for our respectable seniors. We are helping seniors by issuing an one-time payment to those on GIS allowance to reduce the loss due to pandemic benefits. We all want Bill C-12 to be passed.

I am also grateful to all members of the House for supporting this bill and I am hoping we will pass the bill quickly, so our seniors can get—

[The Deputy Speaker, Conservative, Chris d'Entremont]

Questions and comments, the hon. member for Kelowna—Lake Country.

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

Mr. Speaker, the government says this is really important. It is clear that this legislation is to fix errors from former legislation that the government put forth. I know it is something I have heard about extensively in my riding of Kelowna—Lake Country from seniors, who were affected by the errors made in the legislation. They said how they affected them.

My question to the hon. member is this. If this was so important for the government to fix, why did we have an election in the summer? Why did it take the government two months to be recalled, and why did it wait so long for this legislation, Bill C-12? Why did it wait so long? Why was it not one of the most important pieces of legislation that was brought forth as soon as the House resumed?

[Sonia Sidhu, Liberal, Brampton South, ON]

Mr. Speaker, to the contrary, our government did not wait to provide support to seniors. That is why one of the first things the government did in this Parliament, as part of the fall economic statement, was to announce that funds would be given to compensate for the full amount of the reduction. A one-time support for seniors was announced before, for example.

I also know that the Minister of Seniors began working on this the very day she was appointed to her position.

I just want to talk about this bill so that we can help our vulnerable seniors. With this bill, individuals would receive a $1,200 one-time payment from when the GIS was reduced by $100. We want to get back on track and make sure that seniors get that payment, so let us pass this bill. It is urgent to make sure this issue is resolved and that seniors get the benefit.

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

Mr. Speaker, I agree with my colleague from Berthier—Maskinongé. I found it frustrating listening to my Liberal colleagues earlier as they told us that we need to rush this through, that they are there for seniors, that they are going to take care of seniors and that they are going to solve the problem. We warned the Liberals about this a year ago.

When it comes to the vulnerability of seniors, housing is a major challenge and one of the biggest indicators of poverty. Right now in Quebec there is a shortage of 50,000 social housing units to deal with this crisis. This shortage is a direct result of the federal government's withdrawal from social housing for the past 30 years.

I often rise in the House to talk about this issue. I asked the minister about it on Monday and told him that major investments are needed. The province, as well as cities like Montreal and Quebec City, are waiting for investments. This is affecting thousands of people, and our seniors are the most vulnerable when it comes to housing.

When will the government tackle the housing crisis head-on, as it has done with the current health crisis, and fix the problem?

[Sonia Sidhu, Liberal, Brampton South, ON]

Mr. Speaker, we take housing seriously. During the campaign last summer, our government introduced an ambitious plan to increase home ownership, as well as to make the overall housing market more affordable. That included helping cities to increase supply, building affordable housing and converting office spaces into housing, as well as stopping excessive profits from the housing market. These will not only help seniors, but all Canadians. We are looking forward to continuing this work.

[Stephanie Kusie, Conservative, Calgary Midnapore, AB]

Mr. Speaker, I will be sharing my time with the hon. member for Kenora.

I cannot start my speech today without giving some recognition. On this side of the House, we have talked about a plan forward out of this pandemic. We have talked about ending the mandates, so I cannot start today without recognizing my hometown, which I am so proud of: Calgary, Alberta, Canada. Calgary City Council, led by Dan McLean, today announced an end to the mask mandate on March 1 in alignment with the Province of Alberta, so I thank Dan McLean. Dan, of course, is the councillor for Ward 13. It is a ward in my riding, and I am so very pleased and proud of him and city council today for taking that brave action toward advancing Canadians and ending this mandate. I thank them so very much.

As the shadow minister for employment, future workforce development, disability and inclusion, a key portfolio in ESDC, and along with the incredible critic for seniors in my party, the member for Hastings—Lennox and Addington, I feel completely obliged and compelled to speak about the matter before us today, Bill C-12, and the reason we are having this debate.

When I heard about Bill C-12, it seemed to me that the situation was familiar and I gave it a bit of thought. When the pandemic hit, the government issued a series of benefits: the CERB and the CRB. Lo and behold, unfortunately when the GIS payments were issued there was a necessity to claw them back. This was a result of the government's lack of competency with the administration and overpayment of the CRB and the CERB, by giving funds to those who were not entitled to them. This is no small matter. It affects 90,000 low-income seniors across the country who are struggling to put food on the table and to heat their homes. They certainly do not need this problem at this time.

I understand that the government has allocated a large sum of funds to this: around $700 million. Yesterday in the House, it actually released the date on which these low-income seniors could start to see these funds. It is April 19. The Liberals were not willing to release that information to me at committee, so I am glad they have finally come forward with it in the House, and have announced a date when seniors can expect to see these funds. They would not give me a date when I pressed them at committee.

As I reflected upon this situation, it occurred to me that this was not the first time we had seen this. In fact, oops, they did it again. Where has this happened before? Where have we seen this lack of administration and competency before? I am going to go all the way back to the beginning of the pandemic and Bill C-2, where we as an opposition tried very hard to work with the government to get Canadians the benefits they deserved.

Our current interim Leader of the Opposition was involved in those negotiations, as was the member for Carleton, who was acting in the capacity of shadow minister for finance at the time. He had the good measure to recognize the lack of oversight that was occurring with the government asking for unlimited spending. I am very fortunate that he saw that and pointed it out.

What happened after that was that we had to come back to the House and amend Bill C-2 as a result of the government's incompetence and mismanagement again. We saw that the Canada emergency wage subsidy came too late. The Canada emergency commercial rent assistance did not work, because it required the approval of landlords as well as a 70% revenue reduction. As well, not a single business received funds from the government's large employer emergency financing facility. We saw it there with Bill C-2.

We saw it again in May of 2020, when the CBC reported that Canadians who did not qualify for CERB were getting it anyway and could face consequences, such as the ones we saw with the GIS, which thank goodness are finally being addressed today.

However, it does not end there. We saw it again with maternity benefits, whereby Canadian women who were pregnant could not receive the CERB or the CRB, again as a result of government error and an oversight. We saw the errors of the government once again having a significant impact on Canadians who needed those benefits at that time.

I wish I could say it ends there, but it does not. In fact, it goes on to Bill C-24, where we had to come back and close loopholes that allowed international leisure and other non-essential travellers to claim the Canada recovery benefit, but that made individuals required to quarantine or self-isolate under the Quarantine Act during the two-week benefit period ineligible to submit a claim.

Do we see the trend here that I am referring to? It is the incompetency of the government again and again. Here we are again with Bill C-12, referring to the errors of the government that deeply impacted Canadians. I wish I could say it ends there. It does not.

In November, 2021, we found out that organized crime knowingly and actively exploited federal pandemic benefits. Where did these funds potentially go? I will tell you. They went to illegal firearms. Check the borders, boys. They also went to human trafficking and prostitution. Once again, the errors and mismanagement of the government caused problems for the House. They caused delays to those who needed benefits, resulting in new legislation. The House had to consider taking the time of everyone here, taking us away from other important issues and away from work for our constituents, to come back here and fix the government's errors once again.

I know members know what I am going to say. It does not end there. Now, we are finding out that there are problems with the auditing. Even though the government was aware in June, 2020, and by July 2020, it recognized $442 million in double payments, we will not see this auditing be completely done and rectified until 2023. That is three years after the Liberals first recognized that this problem existed.

Again and again, we are seeing the government's incompetence have a significant effect on the lives on Canadians and on everyone who works in the House and wants to focus on other legislation. Unfortunately, we are called back again and again to fix the errors of the government.

It does not end there. Just five days ago, we found out that the federal government sent nearly $12 million in Canada emergency response benefit payments to people with foreign addresses in the first seven months of the pandemic. It is overwhelming the number of—

[Some hon. members]

Oh, oh!

[The Deputy Speaker, Conservative, Chris d'Entremont]

I know there are questions and answers coming up after. I know we are really waiting to ask those questions. I cannot wait to hear the bit that is going to go on. If we can just finish up on this one, there is a minute or so for the member to finish her speech.

The hon. member for Calgary Midnapore.

[Stephanie Kusie, Conservative, Calgary Midnapore, AB]

Mr. Speaker, they are just excited about the turkey meatballs, and I do not blame them. I do not know which part of that they are more excited about.

My point is that these are significant problems that have had serious consequences for individuals, never mind leaving cold, hungry seniors sitting in their basements alone by themselves. This incompetency has had far greater effects, which we are seeing here today in the direction of this nation, that I do not have the time to get into, such as Ukraine, as a result of not having a clear, coherent foreign policy, and such as the problems we have seen with the truckers and the convoys, which have resulted in the necessity for the Prime Minister to believe that he has to invoke the Emergencies Act rather than take a number of steps before.

In conclusion, Bill C-12 is unfortunately not the first time Canadians have been made to suffer the incompetence of the Liberal government. Sadly, I do not think it will be the last.

[Mark Gerretsen, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Leader of the Government in the House of Commons (Senate)]

Mr. Speaker, toward the end of the member's speech, in the last few sentences, she referenced the need for the Prime Minister to invoke the Emergencies Act. I am curious if she agrees with that as a proper measure and if she plans to vote for it. There will be a debate on that, as required by the legislation, in the House. Is she planning to vote in favour of it? Is it the right action to take, or does she agree with the protests that are going on outside?

[Stephanie Kusie, Conservative, Calgary Midnapore, AB]

Mr. Speaker, I believe in diplomacy. I believe in engagement, and I believe in having the courage to have conversations with Canadians, something the Prime Minister does not. It should have never been brought to this place, and it is absolutely squarely on the shoulders of the Liberal government and its leader, the Prime Minister.

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

Mr. Speaker, my colleague is always passionate, and when she talks about diplomacy, she has the credentials to go with it because she worked in diplomacy for years.

I am interested in hearing what the member has to say about the incompetence of the government in terms of the number of times it brought legislation forward that was in error or needed fixing. In many cases, it was not fixed, and people were falling through the cracks. I am interested to hear her comment on that.

[Stephanie Kusie, Conservative, Calgary Midnapore, AB]

Mr. Speaker, I am so grateful to be on the same team as the member for Sarnia—Lambton.

Canada has not had a foreign policy strategy direction in six years and it is the result of simple values and principles that the previous administration had at the top, from which everything flowed: democracy, justice and the rule of law. These things have been forgotten under the government. Unfortunately, how one does something is how one does everything, and we are seeing the same lack of planning, direction, values and principles at the top in this situation as well.

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

Mr. Speaker, the word that comes to my mind is “wow”. It is truly incredible. I was in opposition when Stephen Harper was prime minister. He increased the age of retirement from 65 to 67 and introduced closure over 100 times in four years in a majority government.

On this legislation, it is not only the government but also an opposition party saying that the bill is really good, and that it is important and we should pass it. The Conservatives, in its coalition with the Bloc, say we should hold back and wait until next week. Who knows how long they want to wait?

Does the member not recognize that this bill would ensure that seniors get money in their pockets? Why is she trying to deny seniors hard cash in their pockets and purses?

[Stephanie Kusie, Conservative, Calgary Midnapore, AB]

Mr. Speaker, the reason we are here is because the government took money from seniors. Had it not taken money from seniors, we would not be in the House debating this bill today.

[René Villemure, Bloc, Trois-Rivières, QC]

Mr. Speaker, there is some lively back-and-forth this evening.

Bill C‑12 has its merits, obviously. However, there are two categories of seniors whose fate has not been clarified.

When it comes to inflation, seniors in my riding of Trois-Rivières are telling me every day that the money is coming a bit late. What I want to know is whether we are going to treat these people fairly, meaning with equity, or whether we are just going to treat everyone the same, meaning with equality, by which I mean mistreat them equally.

[Stephanie Kusie, Conservative, Calgary Midnapore, AB]

Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague for the question.

I think that the most important thing is that the government continues to ignore the biggest problem Canada is facing. I think that my colleague from the Bloc and I agree on that point. I am talking about inflation.