John Nater

[COVID-19 Pandemic and Other Matters, July 22nd, 2020]

Mr. Speaker, the lack of compassion from the Minister of Public Safety is, quite frankly, galling. This individual has contacted his office and the Prime Minister's office on multiple occasions and yet has failed to receive a response on this matter. We are talking about a young woman suffering with thyroid cancer, and the minister is showing no compassion to her British fiancé.

Will the minister commit today to following up on compassionate grounds?

[COVID-19 Pandemic and Other Matters, July 22nd, 2020]

Mr. Speaker, when my constituent contacted the minister's office, she was told that there was nothing he could do and that she should instead contact my office.

Now, I am happy to take over the running of his department, but until that time, will he do his job and ensure that those in compassionate situations are able to reunite with their loved ones?

[COVID-19 Pandemic and Other Matters, July 22nd, 2020]

Mr. Speaker, I will be splitting my time with the member for Edmonton—Wetaskiwin.

Many families continue to be separated from their loved ones due to the necessary border closures, but while we continue to hear of foreign nationals finding loopholes to sneak across the borders, many family members are still separated from their loved ones. This includes Sarah Campbell from Stratford, whose British fiancé is unable to come to Canada. It was bad enough they had to cancel their wedding, but now, after her recent diagnosis with thyroid cancer, her fiancé is unable to join her here in Canada. Her pleas to the Minister of Public Safety have been met with apathy.

Will the minister commit to providing guidelines to allow for the entry of those in long-term relationships on compassionate grounds?

[Questions Passed as Orders for Returns, July 20th, 2020]

With regard to physical distancing and other safety measures for ministerial vehicles and chauffeurs during the COVID-19 pandemic: (a) what specific measures have been put in place to ensure the safety of drivers, including whether (i) ministers are required to wear masks in the vehicles, (ii) there is an occupancy limit to the vehicles, (iii) specific seats within the vehicles may not be used, (iv) there is a prohibition on others, including ministerial exempt staff, riding in the vehicles, (v) any other measures have been made to limit close physical contact between drivers and ministers; (b) on what date was each measure listed in (a), (i) put into place, (ii) amended, (iii) rescinded; and (c) have any ministers required their drivers to drive outside of the National Capital Region since March 13, 2020, and, if so, what are the details of each trip, including (i) date of trip, (ii) destination, (iii) purpose of trip, (iv) number of occupants in the vehicle, (v) whether a minister was in the vehicle, (vi) specific safety precautions taken?

[Questions Passed as Orders for Returns, July 20th, 2020]

With regard to inmates released early from federal correctional institutions as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic: (a) what is the total number of inmates who were released early; (b) what is the breakdown of (a) by (i) institution, (ii) length of sentence; and (c) how many of the inmates released early were serving sentences related to (i) murder or manslaughter, (ii) sex offences, (iii) other violent crimes?

[Supplementary Estimates, 2020-21, June 17th, 2020]

Mr. Speaker, I rise on the same point of order.

On behalf of the official opposition, I want to thank everyone who supports our work as members of Parliament.

I think when all of us took our seats here in the 43rd Parliament, we did not exactly foresee how this Parliament would unfold. I want to thank all those who have supported us as parliamentarians so far, certainly the Parliamentary Protective Service, the food service and staff, and the clerks and interpreters at the table. Certainly, given the context, the IT staff have been exceptional in supporting us as parliamentarians, as well as the cleaning and janitorial staff who keep all of our offices and this building clean as we do our duty.

I also want to thank, on behalf of all members of Parliament, the staff who serve us in our offices here on Parliament Hill, but also in our ridings. They have done exceptional work for each of us, from every party, at this time when we are facing some challenging situations.

To echo what the government House leader said about our pages, it was unfortunate that we did not get to meet this crop of pages as much as we would have liked, but I think their lasting tribute to this Parliament was that wonderful rendition of O Canada, which I think will echo for all of us here.

Finally, I would like to thank all of our families. None of us could do the job that we have as parliamentarians without the love and support of our families back at home and all they do for us, so I thank them.

To all of my colleagues, I hope everyone has a wonderful summer, supporting constituents, serving our communities and serving this great country that we all love.

[Questions Passed as Orders for Returns, May 25th, 2020]

With regard to the usage of the government's Challenger aircraft fleet, since December 1, 2019: what are the details of the legs of each flight, including (i) date, (ii) point of departure, (iii) destination, (iv) number of passengers, (v) names and titles of passengers, excluding security or Canadian Armed Forces members, (vi) total catering bill related to the flight?

[Canadian Dairy Commission Act, May 13th, 2020]

Mr. Speaker, I heard the member for Huron—Bruce say the word “baffling”, and I have to agree with him that this is baffling.

I have heard some of the comments from the Minister of Agriculture that these business risk management programs continue to exist for farmers and farm families, but they ignore the reality on the ground that all of us rural MPs are hearing about from the farmers. They say the business risk management programs are just not working.

I am reminded of a famous Ike Eisenhower quote: “Farming looks mighty easy when your plow is a pencil, and you're a thousand miles from the corn field.” That seems to be the impression we are getting right now from the government. It is an Ottawa-knows-best approach that ignores the realities on the ground.

Does the member for Huron—Bruce have a comment on that?

[Canadian Dairy Commission Act, May 13th, 2020]

Mr. Speaker, the minister says that those programs are there for farmers, but the fact of the matter is that they are not. Only about 30% of farmers are actually enrolled in those programs, and of that 30% so many are not able to access the funding through that program, or if they are, they have it clawed back in future years.

It is very simple. The Liberals committed to a full review and reworking of these programs. Will they do that? Will they do it, especially now, when we are in a pandemic and farmers are at the front lines? They are the ones who are feeding us on a daily basis. They are feeding our country, and they are feeding the world.

Could the Liberals at least commit to a review of these business risk management programs, which they agreed to a number of years ago?

[Canadian Dairy Commission Act, May 13th, 2020]

Mr. Speaker, one of the concerns I hear all the time from farmers in my riding, particularly in the non-supply-managed commodities, is the concern with the business risk management programs. When the government introduced the Canadian agricultural partnership to replace Growing Forward 2, there was a commitment to have a complete review and reworking of the business risk management programs.

Here we are, a few years later, and that still has not happened.

Could the minister commit today that the government will undertake a full and comprehensive reworking of the business risk management programs, so they better support farmers in the non-supply-managed commodities?