Debates of April 1st, 2022

Official Languages Act

[Joël Godin, Conservative, Portneuf—Jacques-Cartier, QC]

Madam Speaker, I would like to thank my colleague from Churchill—Keewatinook Aski, with whom I am privileged to sit on the Standing Committee on Official Languages.

This week, the committee was told that the francophone immigration target should be increased, because it is now only 4.4%. This is therefore a very important measure to include in Bill C‑13. Instead of having a short paragraph on immigration, we need to define it more precisely.

I have said this to my colleague, and I am repeating it to the House of Commons: I am reaching out, and I want to work with her, the Bloc Québécois and the party in power to improve this bill and make it a historic act that will be effective for the next 50 years.

[Laila Goodridge, Conservative, Fort McMurray—Cold Lake, AB]

Madam Speaker, my colleague pointed out that this bill really needs to be scrutinized from top to bottom in order to ensure that it promotes the French language.

There are francophones outside Quebec, living in every part of Canada, including my riding of Fort McMurray—Cold Lake. Could my colleague give examples of improvements to the bill that would help promote French outside Quebec?

[Joël Godin, Conservative, Portneuf—Jacques-Cartier, QC]

Madam Speaker, I commend and congratulate my colleague for her impressive French. Moreover, she is a Conservative member. We are all working together for all of the provinces.

I think that is important. We need to implement measures for the entire country. There are minority francophones in British Columbia, Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Alberta, Ontario and all of the Maritime provinces. Quebec's situation is obviously special, because it is the only province with a francophone majority.

I would like to remind my colleague that it is important that the bill contain some recognition of the fact that, of the two official languages, French is the only minority language across the country. This was a request made by the Quebec minister responsible for Canadian relations. Beyond this necessary recognition, we need to implement the appropriate measures.

[Julie Vignola, Bloc, Beauport—Limoilou, QC]

Madam Speaker, I am going to quickly piggyback on my colleague's question about a clause that would allow the Governor in Council to decide whether agreements with provinces, territories and even other states will be translated, into French or any other language.

We know that these agreements are typically written in English, with the exception of agreements with Quebec. Otherwise, the translation can be provided on request. Moreover, in the English version of the bill, there is a major error as the sentence is actually incomplete.

My question is this: How can we talk about equality when not everything is automatically translated into both languages?

[Joël Godin, Conservative, Portneuf—Jacques-Cartier, QC]

Madam Speaker, I appreciate that the Bloc Québécois recognizes that this bill is poorly written and that it contains a number of flaws.

There is a problem with translation. Both official languages merit respect throughout Canada. I am reaching out to the Bloc Québécois as well, because we need to work together to improve this bill so that it becomes an effective law that is capable of stopping the decline of French and protecting and promoting this language.

Alick Siu

[Paul Chiang, Liberal, Markham—Unionville, ON]

Madam Speaker, I am deeply saddened to announce the passing of Mr. Alick Siu. Alick was a long-time resident and proud ambassador for Markham—Unionville. He worked tirelessly and passionately on my federal campaign last year and was a policy chair for the Markham—Unionville Federal Liberal Association.

Alick served on the board of directors for various community groups, such as the York Region Parent Association, the Markham Arts Council, the Markham Public Library Board and the Unionville Residents Association.

Alick had a career as an IT professional and co-founded the Chinese Canadian Information Processing Professionals 30 years ago. He was a co-host and commentator on Fairchild Radio and 105.9 The Region.

Alick Siu was highly respected and recognized as a model citizen and community leader by our residents and IT professionals.

On behalf of the Markham—Unionville riding, I offer my sincere condolences to the family of Mr. Alick Siu. Alick will be greatly missed.

Vaccine Mandates

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

Madam Speaker, this week I met Cayle. He is from B.C. and made a road trip to Ottawa to speak up for his rights. He cannot fly here because Canada is the only country in the world that bans unvaccinated citizens from travel.

The Liberal ban on unvaccinated travel is especially egregious given that Canada is one of the largest countries in the world and Canadians rely on air travel far more for family, health and work reasons than any other people around the world. Conservatives have been urging the Liberals to follow the science on air travel, which has shown that airplane filtration systems and other measures make transmission extremely low.

Further, the new variants show that vaccinated people seem to transmit COVID similarly to unvaccinated people, and the government's rationale for banning air travel is fundamentally flawed. There is no justification for this serious infringement on the charter rights of Canadians.

Cayle and many other Canadians feel like second-class citizens in their own country. When will Cayle be able to fly again?

Sikh Heritage Month

[Chandra Arya, Liberal, Nepean, ON]

Madam Speaker, this Sikh Heritage Month let us all recognize and appreciate the important contributions the Sikh community has made and continues to make to Canada's socio-economic, political and cultural heritage.

Sikhism's core principles include equality, generosity, openness and compassion. I would like to recognize Gurdev Bal, Manjit Sandhu, Sanyogta Bhandari, Dr. Inderjit Singh Sambi, Harbhajan Sekhon and Dalip Singh Parwana, who have worked hard both inside and outside of the Ottawa Sikh Society.

I would also like to appreciate leaders like Kanwar Hazrah, Narinder Sra, Gurpal Grewal and Tejprit Dulat, who have worked hard for the Sikh community and beyond in Ottawa.

These leaders represent the true spirit of the Sikh community by being there for their communities through seva, which is selfless service.

Raymond Mason

[Niki Ashton, NDP, Churchill—Keewatinook Aski, MB]

Madam Speaker, our country has lost a champion. Elder Raymond Mason passed away peacefully on March 20.

Dr. Mason was a member of Peguis First Nation. He was a residential school survivor. Raymond spent three decades fighting for justice for residential school survivors and launched a class action lawsuit that resulted in a historic settlement in 2009.

His work remains unfinished. Elder Mason lamented how the original settlement left communities behind and, until the end of his life, continued to fight for survivors to be recognized and compensated.

He is survived by his wife Rhoda, his children, stepchildren, grandkids, step-grandkids and every life he touched and fought for.

Over the last number of years we have lost many survivors. Their children and grandchildren are carrying on their calls for justice and so must we. We must support communities seeking to search the grounds of the residential schools imposed on them to bring their children home. We must ensure communities have the resources they need to accomplish this work. There must be truth for there to be reconciliation.

Autism Month

[Élisabeth Brière, Liberal, Sherbrooke, QC]

Madam Speaker, as Autism Month begins, I would like to share the story of Emmanuel and his parents.

Emmanuel will soon be 20 years old. His autism spectrum disorder, or ASD, has always been challenging for his parents and the people who love him. When he was three, nobody knew if he would ever learn to talk. Through weekly adaptive intervention sessions, he learned to interact with others and become a little more independent, but he will never be able to live alone.

Emmanuel is charming, kind and intelligent in his own way. He works hard to adapt to the world around him. He lives with his parents. Their lives revolve around him. They would never have survived all these challenges without the help of dozens of people: their loved ones, devoted caregivers and specialized educators.

His parents truly need respite from time to time. Autisme Estrie looks after Emmanuel for 24 hours every two months. That allows his parents to continue taking good care of him and to love him just the way he is.

Thank you for thinking of all the silent voices of children and adults with ASD and of the people who love them.

Witchekan Lake First Nation

[Gary Vidal, Conservative, Desnethé—Missinippi—Churchill River, SK]

Madam Speaker, on Tuesday, March 29, Witchekan Lake First Nation and the FSIN held an honouring ceremony. It was to recognize the work that seven members of the Spiritwood RCMP did to make their community safer. Earlier this month, the Spiritwood RCMP found firearms and prohibited weapons along with more than 150 grams of illegal drugs, drug paraphernalia and cash when searching a home.

Chief Annie Thomas of Witchekan Lake spoke at the ceremony. She talked about how drug activity has impacted her community. She said, “We’ve seen the hurt in our communities and we’re burying more loved ones because of alcohol and drugs instead of natural causes like old age”.

It is fostering positive relationships like these that will help build a better path forward. I ask all members in the House today to join me in recognizing the work of both the RCMP members in Spiritwood and the leadership of the Witchekan Lake First Nation for working together to protect the people of their communities.

Éric Noël-de-Tilly

[Steven MacKinnon, Liberal, Gatineau, QC]

Madam Speaker, on February 20, a pillar of the student community at Polyvalente Le Carrefour passed away. Éric Noël-de-Tilly was a devoted history teacher who treated his students with unwavering respect and love.

Over the years, he passed on his passion for civic engagement to his students in order to teach them the meaning of democracy. Because of him, several hundred students participated in the 30‑hour famine. Today is the 30th edition of this event, and I will be there to honour the memory of this dedicated teacher.

Mr. Noël-de-Tilly is a citizen, a teacher, a role model and a colleague we will never forget. My thoughts are with his family, especially his four children. I offer them my deepest condolences, and I thank the entire Polyvalente Le Carrefour community for keeping his spirit alive.

Thank you for everything, Éric.

World Autism Awareness Day

[Pam Damoff, Liberal, Oakville North—Burlington, ON]

Madam Speaker, April 2 is World Autism Awareness Day, an opportunity to support, listen to and learn from those on the autism spectrum like Aiden Lee from my riding, their families and caregivers.

This year's theme is inclusive, quality education for all and calls to ensure that everyone has equal, accessible opportunities to learn. Our government created the Accessible Canada Act to ensure a barrier-free Canada that allows everyone to participate fully in their community, school and workplace and have an equal chance at success.

ErinoakKids in my riding of Oakville North—Burlington is Ontario's largest children's treatment centre dedicated to ensuring inclusive health and learning for children and youth with disabilities and their families, including autism. I am so proud of the work that it does in our community.

On World Autism Awareness Day and every day, let us commit to ensuring equity and inclusion in all aspects of society for everyone.

Diabetes

[Shelby Kramp-Neuman, Conservative, Hastings—Lennox and Addington, ON]

Madam Speaker, as a change of pace, I am excited to rise today and highlight a young man in my riding who is working to make a difference.

Brayden Morrison was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes at four years of age. Fifteen years later, he has taken it upon himself to climb for a cure. While finishing up his two-year power line technician program, Brayden will be dedicating each of his remaining hydro pole climbs towards raising money to help fight diabetes.

Brayden, whose family has been chosen as one of the 100 ambassadors of history families by the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation, said, “I dream of the day where I will be able to just wake up and live a normal, healthy life without needles, daily monitoring or insulin to survive”.

Thanks to young Canadians like Brayden, that day will come soon.

Disaster Assistance

[Dan Albas, Conservative, Central Okanagan—Similkameen—Nicola, BC]

Madam Speaker, earlier this week, the Prime Minister flew all the way to Vancouver to make a speech on his new climate plan. As is often the case with this Prime Minister, promises were made.

However, here is the thing. It is now five months since communities like Princeton in British Columbia were hit hard by devastating floods, and as we all know, this Prime Minister told the good people of Princeton that he had their backs and that he would be there for them. Well, the supports the Prime Minister promised rural communities for rebuilding have not been delivered. There is nothing. In another month, it will be half a year.

Why is this considered acceptable? How is it that, in a country like Canada, when a prime minister makes a promise to a small rural community, literally nothing happens for months on end?

The Prime Minister once said better is always possible. The people of Princeton and other British Columbian communities need to see better from this Prime Minister. What will it take to see that the promises he has made are kept?

Carbon Tax

[Warren Steinley, Conservative, Regina—Lewvan, SK]

Madam Speaker, once again, the Liberal government's hubris has been on full display. After heartlessly increasing the carbon tax today, the government's refusal to listen to hard-working Canadians, agriculture producers and small business shop creators shows just how out of touch the NDP-Liberal government truly is. This tax disproportionately affects Canadians in rural and remote areas and is a callous cash grab.

Plowing through with this carbon tax increase only puts more strain on already squeezed budgets in businesses throughout the country. While the government spins its tax increase, I have heard directly from families who have indicated that this increase on top of already soaring prices is unsustainable.

It is my constituents from Regina—Lewvan who are feeling the tightening of their budgets, and they are unsure what they can do about it. These are people who cannot get a third job because there are not enough hours in the day to do more work. That is a problem most Liberals have never seen. It is time for the government to finally do the right thing and scrap its carbon tax.

Casavogue

[Patricia Lattanzio, Liberal, Saint-Léonard—Saint-Michel, QC]

Madam Speaker, our government has always supported and promoted the important role that our SMEs play in developing our local economies.

I want to take this opportunity to acknowledge the 50th anniversary of a family-owned business located in the heart of Saint-Michel. Founded in 1972, Casavogue specializes in the sale of high-quality Italian furniture. Its 50 years of service have been characterized by the love of high-quality products that has been passed down from father to son.

The Territo family is truly passionate about home furnishings and their profession. They are always on the lookout for new products to offer, in unique collections at affordable prices. The furniture's refined design and their outstanding customer service have earned Casavogue the consumer choice award for several years running. The Territo family also believes in doing its part to support social causes, such as foundations that fight cancer.

I want to congratulate the Territo family and wish continued success to Casavogue.

Support for Ukraine

[Rachel Blaney, NDP, North Island—Powell River, BC]

Madam Speaker, I hosted many constituents in my riding at a round table to discuss how we could support Ukrainians seeking safety.

I want to thank all those who participated, especially Rob and Stefan from the Comox Valley Stands with Ukraine, Eugene from the Ukrainian Canadian Cultural Society, Dave from the Comox Valley Ukrainian Cultural Society, Susan from Christ the King church, and Thuy and Zeny from the Immigrant Welcome Centre, for coming and sharing all the work that they are currently doing.

I am so proud that the people of North Island—Powell River have come together to make a difference. I have been moved by the many fundraising events that we have seen across the region to support Ukraine. In these uncertain times, it is only the strength of our convictions that helps the world become a little safer. I heard very clearly from my constituents that a coordinated approach is needed.

Canadians want to be matched with Ukrainians who need help. If it is a room, a home or other resources, Canadians are ready. I encourage the government to take their leadership.

World Autism Awareness Day

[Marilène Gill, Bloc, Manicouagan, QC]

Madam Speaker, on April 2, the entire blue planet observes World Autism Awareness Day. These days, we speak more broadly about autism spectrum disorders, or ASDs. Autism is a neurodevelopmental disorder that primarily affects a person's ability to communicate and interact with others. Autism is not an illness. It is a condition.

This year, the 38th anniversary, the Fédération québécoise de l'autisme is encouraging us to support autism in all its diversity, not just on April 2, but for the entire month of April, to advocate for a world that is increasingly open to people with autism.

I would like to acknowledge the parents, families and friends of people with autism, as well as my children, Charlotte and Loïc, sister and brother to my little Ulysse, and my ex-partner Xavier, and to let them know that I understand what they are going through and I appreciate them.

Our children shine so brightly because of them and because of this day. They shine not because they are different but because they are unique. They are as unique as the love we have for them is strong. Let us shine together.

Natural Resources

[Stephanie Kusie, Conservative, Calgary Midnapore, AB]

Madam Speaker, the hypocrisy of the Liberal government knows no boundaries. Liberals have spent the last seven years destroying our natural resources sector, resulting in lost jobs, lost homes, loss of life and broken families. The outcome is a nation torn apart, with Canadians pitted against Canadians.

Now, as fuel costs surge and the world cries for energy, the government continues to put its foot on the throats of men and women, men and women who not only have spent years supplying our nation with clean, ethically sourced fuel, but who have also funded billions in programs over the decades in their will to contribute to a country they love so much.

Instead, the government will sit on the sidelines as Canada and the world continue to suffer, buying into an ideology that leaves our citizens distraught and discouraged and the world running on empty. There is no just transition.

Generosity in Surrey Centre

[Randeep Sarai, Liberal, Surrey Centre, BC]

Madam Speaker, I am very fortunate to rise in the House often to acknowledge the incredible acts of generosity of individuals and organizations in my constituency of Surrey Centre. Today is no different.

Today I would like to acknowledge Paul and Ruby Arora of Gagan Foods for their generous donations to the Surrey Food Bank, shelters and free kitchens. Their donation included four skids to the Lookout Society, four skids to the Muslim Food Bank and three skids to the Surrey Food Bank. It added up to 23 skids delivered to six local food banks and kitchens to support the people of Surrey. In addition, they sent a full truckload of juice and cookies to the Guru Nanak Food Bank in both Abbotsford and Surrey and a full truck to Guru Nanak's Free Kitchen in Vancouver.

I thank Paul and Ruby for their generosity and support for these important establishments in Surrey.

New Businesses in Orléans

[Marie-France Lalonde, Liberal, Orléans, ON]

Madam Speaker, on March 26, I had the pleasure of participating in the official openings of some new businesses in my riding of Orléans.

I want to congratulate Louise and André Chouinard, the new owners of a terra20 franchise, which sells sustainable products to promote a healthy lifestyle. Their new store on Tenth Line Road features an exclusive ecobar, where customers can purchase refillable bottles of cleaning and personal care products. This is an environmentally sound and sustainable solution.

The Natural Food Pantry also recently opened in Orléans. I want to thank manager Jennie Brousseau for her warm welcome.

The opening of that store was also an opportunity to participate in the launch of a new leading-edge green technology called TAGPod, the very first waste-free bulk food dispenser pilot project in the world. The Aggressive Good's TAGPod system, which was designed to reduce single use plastics, will revolutionize grocery shipping and make it more sustainable and easier for customers, while producing zero waste.

I congratulate them.

Taxation

[John Brassard, Conservative, Barrie—Innisfil, ON]

Madam Speaker, it may be April Fool's Day, but the tax hikes that went into effect less than 12 hours ago are no joke. This morning, Canadians woke up to higher taxes on everything from gas to groceries to home heating because of the 25% increase in the carbon tax. Everything moved by a truck will go up as producers and wholesales inevitably pass those costs on to the families and seniors who can least afford them.

Why is punishing Canadians financially at a time when they can least afford it acceptable to the NDP-Liberal government?

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

Madam Speaker, while the opposition has been fixated on April 1, on this side of the House we have been fixated on July 15. Do members know why? That is the date Canadian families will receive their climate action rebate cheques, and they will keep receiving them month after month after month. As we know, eight out of 10 families will benefit. We are fighting climate change and delivering on affordability.

Finance

[John Brassard, Conservative, Barrie—Innisfil, ON]

Madam Speaker, that is not according to the PBO.

A new Ipsos poll confirms how out of touch the NDP-Liberal government is with hard-working Canadians, and they applaud. We have an affordability crisis and, according to Ipsos, Canadians want a budget that addresses the cost-of-living crisis, not a radical, ideologically driven, activist, Leap Manifesto NDP-type budget that punishes families and seniors with higher costs just for eating, driving and heating their homes.

There was a time in this country when a Liberal Party led by Jean Chrétien and Paul Martin governed in a fiscally responsible way. What happened to that Liberal Party?