Debates of Dec. 11th, 2024

Poppy Fund

[Mike Morrice, Green, Kitchener Centre, ON]

Mr. Speaker, I present a petition that notes that the Kitchener-Waterloo Poppy Fund administers the poppy campaign every year to fund initiatives for veterans. That includes emergency assistance, comfort for those who are hospitalized, bursaries and more. The petitioners note that the federal government already provides mailing services, such as letters to Santa, for free, but they note that the KW Poppy Fund spends $23,000 in mailing costs every year to distribute poppies. They note that its capacity to support veterans is lessened by that because, before they can provide a single dollar to a veteran, it needs to pay those mailing costs.

The petitioners call on the Government of Canada to do three very reasonable things: first, determine how much it might cost for the federal government to cover the cost of mailing poppies; second, consult with Canada Post and Royal Canadian Legion to do a cost-benefit analysis of waiving mailing fees for poppy sales; and last, take into consideration how chapters of the Royal Canadian Legion support veterans and their dependents through discussion of this possibility.

Bangladesh

[Salma Zahid, Liberal, Scarborough Centre, ON]

Mr. Speaker, I would like to table a petition signed by members of the Bangladeshi community.

The petitioners draw the attention of the government to the fact that former members and supporters of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party, BNP, are unfairly facing immigration challenges due to false narratives being spread by political opponents. They ask the government to review how IRPA is being applied in these cases, base admissibility decisions on individual circumstances and not on broad political affiliation, and grant public policy consideration on a humanitarian basis under relevant legislation.

Gaza

[Charlie Angus, NDP, Timmins—James Bay, ON]

Mr. Speaker, this petition comes from the great people of northern Ontario and is signed by 4,518 people.

The State of Israel is carrying out a campaign of genocide against the people of Palestine through indiscriminate military actions against the civilian population, which have killed and maimed more than 100,000 people and have destroyed the physical and social infrastructure of Gaza. Many of the weapons used in this genocide are supplied to the State of Israel by the United States and other NATO countries.

Nickel is an important raw material used in the manufacture of these armaments, and 40% of the nickel consumed in the U.S. originates in Canada. Canadians do not want the natural resources of this land or the labour of our people to contribute to this campaign of terror and mass murder. The government of Canada has banned new contracts for the sale of armaments to Israel.

The petitioners call upon the Government of Canada to institute a ban on the sale of nickel to Israel and to those armament manufacturers that supply Israel. They also would like for us to require purchasers of Canadian nickel to certify that they will not resell Canadian nickel to Israel or to arms manufacturers supplying Israel.

Taxation

[Michael Cooper, Conservative, St. Albert—Edmonton, AB]

Mr. Speaker, I rise to present a petition. Petitioners are calling on the Liberals to scrap their unfair capital gains tax hike. Petitioners note that it would make Canada less competitive and have adverse impacts, including limiting access to affordable housing options, straining health care resources, exacerbating financial challenges for farmers and compromising the retirement savings of Canadians.

Nuclear Waste

[Marcus Powlowski, Liberal, Thunder Bay—Rainy River, ON]

Mr. Speaker, I would like to present a petition on behalf of the organization We the Nuclear Free North with 817 signatures. The signatories express their serious and heartfelt concerns regarding the safety of the transportation and storage of nuclear materials through and in their communities in northern Ontario.

Although the decision has already been made, the signatories asked me to present this petition calling on the government to immediately direct the NWMO to stop the siting process for a deep geological repository.

Lebanon

[Garnett Genuis, Conservative, Sherwood Park—Fort Saskatchewan, AB]

Mr. Speaker, by popular demand, I will limit myself to just one petition today.

This petition is from people in the Canadian Lebanese community who are very concerned about the impact of Hezbollah's actions on the people of Lebanon. They note how the conflict between Israel and Hezbollah, which was started by Hezbollah, has had terrible consequences for the Lebanese people. They note that Hezbollah is a terrorist Iranian regime proxy that acts to serve that regime's ideology against the wishes of the people of Lebanon.

Hezbollah has refused to abide by UN Security Council resolution 1701 by refusing to disarm and refusing to allow the Lebanese government, and the Lebanese armed forces, to take back control of Lebanese territory. The Lebanese people want an end to the colonial domination of their territory by the Iranian regime.

Therefore, residents call on the Government of Canada to seek the immediate disarmament of Hezbollah, the end of aid by the Iranian regime to Hezbollah and other terrorist organizations, and the restoration of Lebanon's sovereignty with all Lebanese territory being governed by an elected, sovereign Lebanese government.

City Charters

[Julie Dabrusin, Liberal, Toronto—Danforth, ON]

Mr. Speaker, people in my community have been deeply concerned by instances of provincial overreach into the actions and decisions by our city council, most recently with decisions regarding bike lanes, but also in the past relating to elections and public transit.

Members from my community of Toronto—Danforth have signed a petition asking for the Government of Canada to review how the federal government can support the creation of city charters for large metropolitan areas, such as the City of Toronto, so as to better delineate the authorities between the province and the city.

[Gord Johns, NDP, Courtenay—Alberni, BC]

Mr. Speaker, on a point of order, I would like to ask the House if I could have unanimous consent to table this important petition on mental health.

[Garnett Genuis, Conservative, Sherwood Park—Fort Saskatchewan, AB]

Mr. Speaker, on that same point of order, may I ask for consent to extend the time available by five minutes so more members could table their petitions?

[Kevin Lamoureux, Liberal, Winnipeg North, MB]

Mr. Speaker, on that same point of order, I think there would be leave to allow members who have one petition to table the opportunity to do so.

[The Deputy Speaker, Chris d'Entremont]

Members are seeking unanimous consent to allow an additional five minutes for members to table one petition each. Is it agreed?

[Some hon. members]

Agreed.

Mental Health Care

[Gord Johns, NDP, Courtenay—Alberni, BC]

Mr. Speaker, I greatly appreciate the collaboration in the House right now, especially when it comes to e-petition 5166, which is a privilege for me to table today. The petition has been signed by over 500 people from across Canada and was initiated by Jade Dulle, a mental health advocate who biked across Canada this summer to hear from people who have lived experiences with mental health challenges and to raise awareness about barriers to mental health care.

The petitioners highlight the prevalence of mental health disorders in Canada and the lack of a national framework for mental health care. They are also calling on the Government of Canada to collaborate with the provinces and territories to finally develop a universal mental health care system that would ensure all Canadians receive support for their mental health concerns and to commit to adequate federal funding to facilitate its successful implementation.

Insecticides

[Elizabeth May, Green, Saanich—Gulf Islands, BC]

Mr. Speaker, this petition deals with the concerns of constituents that we are, globally, losing our pollinators. Bees are essential for agricultural production and biodiversity. The petitioners specifically call on the Government of Canada, for the sake of our bees and for food security, to follow Europe's lead, adhere to the precautionary principle and ban the use of neonicotinoid insecticides in Canada.

Basic Income Guarantee Program

[Sean Casey, Liberal, Charlottetown, PE]

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to present a petition on the subject of a basic income guarantee demonstration project in the province of Prince Edward Island. In November 2020, the Special Committee on Poverty in PEI recommended immediate negotiations with the Government of Canada to implement a basic income guarantee demonstration project for Prince Edward Island. This particular idea has the full support of all the political parties on Prince Edward Island. It would be of significant benefit to Canada, as poverty is a social determinant of health.

Therefore, the petitioners call on the Government of Canada to begin immediate negotiations with the Government of Prince Edward Island to develop and implement a basic income guarantee demonstration program in the province of P.E.I. that would be administered, monitored and evaluated for at least five years.

Housing

[Blake Desjarlais, NDP, Edmonton Griesbach, AB]

Mr. Speaker, I am honoured to rise to present a petition on behalf of concerned Canadians who are demanding action in the face of renovictions. They are calling on the government to impose a moratorium on renovictions and other methods of displacing tenants in pursuit of higher profits, invest in affordable housing operated by non-profit housing providers to ensure there are affordable housing units available for our most vulnerable and stop providing billions of dollars in handouts to corporate landlords who are buying up the existing affordable housing, evicting people and raising rents.

Falun Gong

[Frank Caputo, Conservative, Kamloops—Thompson—Cariboo, BC]

Mr. Speaker, it is always a pleasure to rise on behalf of the people from Kamloops—Thompson—Cariboo.

These petitioners draw attention to the House of Commons to the treatment of Falun Gong, which is a traditional Chinese spiritual discipline. The petitioners are concerned about the treatment of Falun Gong practitioners and request that Parliament pass a resolution to establish measures to stop the Chinese Communist regime's crime of systematically murdering Falun Gong practitioners for their organs, amend Canadian legislation to combat forced organ harvesting and publicly call for the end of the persecution of Falun Gong in China.

Foreign Interference

[Kevin Lamoureux, Liberal, Winnipeg North, MB]

Mr. Speaker, I have a very important petition, signed by many Canadians, asking for the leader of the Conservative Party to get a security clearance. Petitioners highlight the issues of extortion and murder taking place and all forms of foreign interference. They ask that the leader of the Conservative Party take it upon himself to be more responsible and get the security clearance. That is a very important issue, and I suspect petitioners are curious as to why he might not be doing that. Maybe it is that he is hiding something from his past.

Questions on the Order Paper

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

Mr. Speaker, the following questions will be answered today: Nos. 3125 and 3130.

Question No.3125—

[Michelle Ferreri, Conservative, Peterborough—Kawartha, ON]

With regard to the cap imposed by the government on the percentage of for-profit spaces as part of its Canada-wide Early Learning and Child Care Agreement with Ontario: (a) is the government going to accept the request from the province of Ontario to remove the cap, and, if not, why not; (b) if the answer to (a) is negative, how does the government justify removing the cap for certain other provinces, including New Brunswick; (c) what is the government's reaction to reports that the Peel Region had to turn down 2,000 child care spaces as a result of the cap; and (d) what is the government's estimate of the number of child care spaces throughout Ontario that have had to be turned down or otherwise not brought to fruition as a result of the cap?

[Élisabeth Brière, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Families]

Mr. Speaker, through budget 2021, the Government of Canada is investing more than $27 billion over five years (2021-22 through 2025-26) to build a Canada-wide early learning and child care, ELCC, system with provinces and territories, PTs. When combined with other investments, including in indigenous early learning and child care, IELCC, up to $30 billion will be invested in support of ELCC over the same period. The goal is for families in Canada to have access to regulated ELCC for an average cost of $10 a day by March 2026.

On March 27, 2022, the governments of Canada and Ontario entered into the mutually agreed-upon Canada–Ontario Canada-wide early learning and child care agreement to deliver on average $10-a-day child care for Ontario families by the end of March 2026 and support the creation of 86,000 new licensed spaces by the end of 2026.

As per section 2.1 of the agreement, Canada and Ontario committed to a number of objectives and targets related to access to ELCC.

Ontario commits to using federal funding to increase the net number of licensed spaces for children under age six by flowing funds by the end of fiscal year 2025-26 to support the creation of 76,700 spaces, from 2019 levels, by March 31, 2026, and 86,000 child care spaces, from 2019 levels, by December 31, 2026.

In creating these child care spaces, Ontario commits that federal funding will be exclusively used to support licensed child care and that federal funding will be used predominantly to support the creation of not-for-profit child care spaces to ensure that the existing proportion of not-for-profit licensed child care spaces for children age 0 to 5 will be maintained or increased by the end of this agreement.

For further clarity, at the end of this agreement, the proportion of not-for-profit licensed child care spaces for children aged 0 to 5 compared to the total number of licensed child care spaces for children aged 0 to 5 will be 70% or higher.

In addition, as noted by the Government of Ontario in its March 28, 2022, news release announcing the Canada-wide agreement, the agreement includes the “protection of all for-profit and non-profit child care spaces, helping to support predominantly female entrepreneurs across the province who provide high-quality child care services.”

Ontario will receive approximately $10.2 billion in federal investments to support its commitments as per the agreement, including commitments to support the creation of 76,700 new affordable child care spaces and lower child care fees to an average of $10 a day by March 2026, and creating a total of 86,000 spaces by December 31, 2026. This $10.2 billion of federal funding is in addition to other federal investments such as approximately $765 million through the Canada-Ontario early learning and child care agreement, 2021 to 2025; close to $150 million through the Canada-Ontario early childhood workforce funding agreement, 2021 to 2022; and over $135 million through the 2023-26 Canada-Ontario ELCC infrastructure agreement. In total, Ontario is scheduled to receive over $11.3 billion in federal funding between 2021-22 to 2025-26 to support child care in the province.

On August 15, the Government of Ontario announced a new parent fee cap of $22 a day along with a new cost-based funding formula for child care operators enrolled in the Canada-wide ELCC system, both of which will come into effect in January 2025.

On October 21, Jill Dunlop, Ontario Minister of Education, wrote to the Minister of Families, Children, and Social Development to note the high interest of for-profit providers in some service system managers in Ontario to join the Canada-wide ELCC system. In this letter, Minister Dunlop highlighted challenges in creating child care spaces in particular regions due to the 70-30 ratio of not-for-profit to for-profit spaces that Ontario committed to uphold in the Canada-Ontario Canada-wide ELCC agreement. The Government of Canada and the Government of Ontario are in ongoing discussions to support the successful implementation of the Canada-wide ELCC agreement.

Canada-wide ELCC agreements predominantly support not-for-profit, public and family-based child care providers, but given the unique ELCC landscape in each province and territory, the Government of Canada recognizes that licensed for-profit providers also play a role. Provincial and territorial early learning and child care systems vary in terms of the proportion of ELCC spaces that are not-for-profit or for-profit.

While Ontario and Canada agreed to keep the proportion of not-for-profit child care spaces at 70% or higher, in New Brunswick, the ratio of for-profit providers is higher than not-for-profit. Under the Canada-New Brunswick Canada-wide ELCC agreement, New Brunswick committed to creating predominantly not-for-profit child care spaces, e.g. 2,000 of the 3,400 spaces to be created. All new child care spaces created are part of the province’s designation system, which ensures high quality standards and includes a market fee threshold to control fees charged to parents.

Due to the high demand and challenges faced in creating not-for-profit child care spaces in rural areas and in francophone settings in New Brunswick, additional flexibility was agreed to, allowing for the creation of a limited number of additional designated spaces in the for-profit sector in rural areas and francophone settings and as part of New Brunswick’s target to create 3,400 designated child care spaces by March 2026, as per the Canada-New Brunswick Canada-wide ELCC agreement.

Question No.3130—

[Scott Reid, Conservative, Lanark—Frontenac—Kingston, ON]

With regard to the Expression of Interest published by the Correctional Service of Canada (CSC) for the commercial leasing of a building at Joyceville Institution: (a) what is the specific nature of the unidentified “steel clad structure” to be leased under this Expression of Interest; (b) what type of commercial activities does the steel clad structure have the potential to accommodate; (c) how many offenders would the commercial operation be required to employ; (d) what would be the hourly rate paid by the lessee to the CSC per offender hour worked; (e) what would be the hourly rate received by the offender per hour worked; (f) what types of vocational training and industry-approved certification for offenders would the lessee be required to provide; (g) what are the estimated costs of providing security for commercial activities undertaken within the prison, and who will be responsible for these costs;

(h) what scope of work and specific repairs have been identified for the “fit up” to the “as is” buildings that the lessee would be responsible for; (i) what are the current estimated costs for the “fit up” to the “as is” buildings that the lessee would be responsible for; (j) what specific measures will the CSC take to ensure that any commercial activities undertaken on this property will remain cost-neutral to taxpayers; (k) what is the calculated or estimated monthly market rent that would be charged to the lessee; (l) what are the calculated or estimated monthly costs for utilities that would be charged to the lessee; (m) what are the calculated or estimated total monthly expenses for rent, utilities, and cost recovery that would be charged to the lessee; (n) what specific federal, provincial, and municipal regulations and statutes will the lessee be required to comply with; (o) what is the current estimated market value of the steel clad structure;

(p) what is the current estimated market value of the beef stock barn and paddock; (q) what is the current estimated market value of the cattle chute; (r) since 2022, what specific list of maintenance, repairs, and improvements have been conducted by the CSC on the buildings, including any new or upgraded equipment or technologies that have been added to the steel clad structure, beef stock barn and paddock, and cattle chute; (s) since 2022, what funds have been spent on maintenance, repairs, and improvements to the steel clad structure, beef stock barn and paddock, and cattle chute; (t) since 2022, what funds have been spent on utilities, procurement disbursements and fees, consultant fees, travel, inspections, assessments, building condition reports, as well as drafting, translating, and publishing the Expression of Interest for the steel clad structure, beef stock barn, paddock, and cattle chute; and (u) what is the calculated or estimated cost of disposal or divestment of the buildings?

[Jennifer O'Connell, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Public Safety]

Mr. Speaker, with regard to part (a), the steel-clad structure was constructed in 1958. Minor additions were added to the building in 1973 and 1975. A major addition and alteration work was completed in 1987 which included the basement, refrigeration facilities, loading facilities and exterior cladding. The building was previously leased and operated as an abattoir but is currently vacant.

With regard to part (b), it was previously leased and operated as an abattoir. The building has the potential to accommodate commercial activities that benefit not only the offenders in CSC’s custody, but also the community as a whole.

With regard to parts (c) to (e), the number of offenders required for employment would vary depending on the type of operation. The hourly rate paid by the lessee to CSC per offender hour worked and the hourly rate received by the offender per hour worked would be according to CSC inmate pay levels or work release minimum wage.

With regard to part (f), the types of vocational training and industry-approved certification for offenders that the lessee would be required to provide would be dependent on the type of operation.

With regard to parts (g) to (i), the calculated or estimated costs would be dependent on the type of operation and would be the responsibility of the lessee.

With regard to part (j), specific cost-recovery measures would be included in the lease and would be dependent on the type of operation to ensure that any commercial activities undertaken on this property will remain cost-neutral to taxpayers.

With regard to parts (k) to (m), the calculated or estimated costs would be dependent on the type of operation and would be the responsibility of the lessee.

With regard to part (n), this would be dependent on the type of operation. The lessee would be responsible for ensuring that all federal, provincial and municipal regulations governing the nature of their business are adhered to.

With regard to parts (o) to (q), CSC does not have estimations for the current market value of these buildings. The market values are only determined during the disposal process, lease or sale, and there are no disposals currently planned for these buildings.

With regard to part (r), since 2022, the work completed at the steel-clad structure includes the repair of the roof penetrations, power washing and disinfection of the building, replacement of the overhead doors, repairs of the stairwell retaining wall, LED light upgrades of outside wall packs, emergency light and exit signs upgrades, replacement of the interior steel door, replacement of the door and lock hardware, an accessibility study, replacement of the building heaters, replacement of the plumbing fixtures. No work has been completed since 2022 on the beef stock barn and paddock, and cattle chute.

With regard to part (s), since 2022, $153,216.79 has been spent on maintenance, repairs and improvements to the steel-clad structure, beef stock barn, paddock and cattle chute.

With regard to part (t), since 2022, $4,809.30 has been spent on utilities and $898.08 for drafting, translating, and publishing the expression of interest for the steel-clad structure, beef stock barn, paddock and cattle chute.

With regard to part (u), the disposal costs for sales vary widely depending on factors like building type, condition, legal fees, and compliance requirements, typically ranging from $75,000 and $250,000 per transaction, making each case unique in its final cost assessment.

Questions Passed as Orders for Returns

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

Mr. Speaker, if a revised answer to Question No. 3107, originally tabled on December 9, 2024, and the answers to Question Nos. 3122 to 3124, 3126 to 3129, 3131 and 3132 could be made orders for returns, these returns would be tabled in an electronic format immediately.

[The Deputy Speaker, Chris d'Entremont]

Is that agreed?