Debates of May 6th, 2022

Employment Insurance

[Richard Lehoux, Conservative, Beauce, QC]

Madam Speaker, with the inflation rate at a 30-year high, Canadians are struggling to make ends meet. To make matters worse, Service Canada cannot keep pace with EI claims and fraud cases.

Many of my constituents have not received a cheque since November due to delays in fraud investigations. These are Canadians who have no money left and cannot wait any longer. The mental and physical well-being of these Canadians is at stake.

When will the government add the resources needed to finally reduce these interminable delays?

[Rachel Bendayan, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Tourism and Associate Minister of Finance]

Madam Speaker, I thank my colleague for the question.

I would like to draw his attention to our budget, which contains concrete measures to help Canadians. I just mentioned the one-time payment for all Canadians having difficulty accessing affordable housing. We are also bringing in measures to help Canadians buy their first home.

I hope the Conservatives will vote in favour of the budget, because it is going to help Canadians.

Agriculture and Agri‑Food

[Bernard Généreux, Conservative, Montmagny—L'Islet—Kamouraska—Rivière-du-Loup, QC]

Madam Speaker, inflation is affecting everyone and every sector. The price of diesel is verging on $3 a litre. It is awful. The impact is real, and it is especially hard on farmers who rely on fuel for transportation and for their farming equipment. They were being choked by Liberal taxes, and now they are being suffocated by them. The government blames external factors, but in reality, the government is responsible.

Will the government do what it promised and truly help farmers?

[Francis Drouin, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food]

Madam Speaker, I thank my colleague for the question.

The war in Ukraine is a major cause of inflation and it is serious. My heart goes out to the farmers.

The Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food recently made announcements about measures to help farmers pay the fees tied to these price increases. We are working on the issue of fertilizers, because we know that it is important for the farmers. It is important to get fertilizer into Canada, so that has been done. We are now working with the sector to ensure that the fertilizers are available at a fair price.

Taxation

[Mel Arnold, Conservative, North Okanagan—Shuswap, BC]

Madam Speaker, only the NDP-Liberal government could be capable of killing two economic drivers with one blow. The proposed surtax on vessels would destroy capital investments in the charter boat industry, kill jobs and drive investment out of the country. Without new charter vessels coming into the market here, tourists will choose to go elsewhere to spend their vacation dollars, further crippling Canada's tourism recovery.

Does the finance minister understand that her high-tax regime will do nothing but kill jobs in the manufacturing and tourism sectors?

[Terry Beech, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance]

Madam Speaker, to make sure that we have the resources needed to invest in Canadians and help our economy continue to recover from the pandemic, we are ensuring that the wealthiest pay their fair share. Our government is introducing a luxury tax that would apply on the sale of new luxury cars and aircraft with a retail price over $100,000 and new boats over $250,000.

We are currently studying this measure at the finance committee, and will continue to work with Canada's entrepreneurs and businesses to grow our economy and to make life more affordable.

Housing

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

Madam Speaker, with the average price of a starter home in some parts of metro Vancouver now reaching the $1-million mark, many people are giving up hope of ever owning their first home. It just keeps getting harder all the time. To quote the Vancouver Sun, “Young, educated, urban Canadians have many reasons to be angry with Ottawa for the ways it has worsened the housing crisis.”

After so many failed housing programs, why should Canadians have any confidence in the government’s latest iterations of failed programs?

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

Madam Speaker, I thank my colleague for his question.

We are well aware of the fact that Canadians across the country think that their dreams of home ownership are out of reach and next to impossible to achieve.

In the most recent budget, we presented practical measures, namely $200 million to develop and expand rent-to-own programs, a tax-free savings account, a two-year ban on sales to foreign buyers and, of course, a homebuyers' bill of rights, which we are developing in co-operation with the provinces and territories.

We are dedicated to—

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

Order.

The hon. member for Manicouagan.

Telecommunications

[Marilène Gill, Bloc, Manicouagan, QC]

Madam Speaker, Valéry Bélisle, a young woman from my riding, got in a serious car accident about 70 kilometres from the closest cell network. She had to extricate herself from the car on her own and wait on the side of the road for 30 minutes before a good Samaritan, Tony Jean, who I sincerely thank by the way, stopped and drove her to the hospital. The Minganie RCM in Manicouagan has no cell coverage for 420 kilometres, and this is the result.

How many more accidents will it take before the minister puts pressure on the CRTC to finally grant the contracts necessary to complete—

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

Order.

The hon. parliamentary secretary.

[Stéphane Lauzon, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Rural Economic Development]

Madam Speaker, I thank my colleague for her question.

We know that Internet and cellular connectivity is very important for our safety in Quebec, in rural areas and on Route 138. The accident was most unfortunate. I am pleased that the victim was not seriously injured.

As we speak, no other government has done as much as we have for Internet connectivity. The Internet is now also available with a cell network, and we will work on this until it is completed.

[Marilène Gill, Bloc, Manicouagan, QC]

Madam Speaker, it is unacceptable that in 2022, people in distress, like Valéry Bélisle, still cannot reach emergency services. The lives of tourists, the Innu, and the people of Havre-Saint‑Pierre and Natashquan should not be a secondary consideration.

Ottawa is responsible for telecommunications. It has an obligation to make this an essential service that is accessible everywhere. The CRTC is a year late in announcing who will be awarded the contract for setting up the cell network. Why?

Can the minister finally announce who is getting the contracts for providing cell coverage along Route 138, between Sept‑Îles and—

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

Order.

The hon. parliamentary secretary.

[Stéphane Lauzon, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Rural Economic Development]

Madam Speaker, we know there is a problem on Route 138, but this same problem exists all over Canada.

During the pandemic, we realized just how important it is to have Internet and cell coverage all across the country. We have already made an exceptional commitment to get Quebec connected to the Internet with a 98% connectivity rate by September 2022, in partnership with the Government of Quebec.

Work is ongoing, and we will continue until we have built an Internet network and a cell network.

Health

[Melissa Lantsman, Conservative, Thornhill, ON]

Madam Speaker, our airports are becoming famous for long lines, for continuous flight delays and for changing departure times. That is because the government is still imposing out-of-date, unscientific restrictions on travellers.

Yesterday, Toronto's airports called for their elimination so that staffing actually goes where it is needed. Other countries have dropped these restrictions, while ours are expected to stay over the summer.

Will the government stop trying to make our airports famous with their incompetence, and scrap the ineffective restrictions and vindictive mandates?

[Omar Alghabra, Liberal, Minister of Transport]

Madam Speaker, as a traveller myself, and I know many of my colleagues here travel regularly, we are experiencing long lines and delays at airports—

[Some hon. members]

Oh, oh!

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

I am going to have to ask the minister to start over. I could not hear the answer to the question.

[Omar Alghabra, Liberal, Mississauga Centre, ON]

Madam Speaker, Transport Canada officials have been working with CATSA, the Canadian Air Transport Security Authority, leadership to ensure actions are taken to resolve the staffing issues leading to these delays.

I am meeting with the CEO of CATSA on Monday to discuss this. We are witnessing delays across all sectors of our economy that are a result of increasing demand imbalance in our economy. We are working with our partners to ensure that we respond to all of these delays and ensure that all resources necessary are available.

We want to make sure that travellers who want to travel—

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

The hon. member for Thornhill.

[Melissa Lantsman, Conservative, Thornhill, ON]

Madam Speaker, regarding the decision to cling to restrictions and mandates, why is it such a secret?

Will the minister tell the House, finally, what specific advice he is getting to keep them, when he got it last, and when he is going to get it next?

Will he table that advice in the House for all Canadians, or will he continue to hide it from Canadians while they are stuck in line at Pearson?

[Jean-Yves Duclos, Liberal, Minister of Health]

Madam Speaker, the evidence is not secret. Everyone knows that vaccines save lives. In the United States, 165,000 lives would have been saved just during the omicron crisis if they had had a better vaccination uptake. One hundred and sixty-five thousand lives in the omicron crisis: that is 50% more people than in any one of our ridings in the House.

[Dan Mazier, Conservative, Dauphin—Swan River—Neepawa, MB]

Madam Speaker, I think the government has forgotten about its federal mandates, because every province is removing theirs. These mandates are preventing essential federal workers from doing their jobs.

I spoke to an employee from the Canadian Food Inspection Agency who was barred from providing the essential service of food inspection because the government would not let them.

The Liberals do not care about science. They only care about division. When will the government end its outdated mandates?

[Mona Fortier, Liberal, President of the Treasury Board]

Madam Speaker, from the beginning of this pandemic, we made a commitment to Canadians that we would protect their health and safety. We have done that. We will continue to do that, and we have put in place measures to protect workers and our communities. As circumstances change, we adjust these measures.

We are currently reviewing the mandates, and we will come back to the House to report when these mandates will be reviewed.