Karen Vecchio

[Economic Statement Implementation Act, 2020, February 2nd, 2021]

Madam Speaker, it is an honour to be here in the House to continue with this debate. I have been listening to the comments from all sides here, especially many of those of the members of our Conservative caucus on the concerns that we are seeing in western Canada.

I am going to attach on to some of the discussion after question period of my colleague from Calgary Midnapore. She was talking a lot about the transportation industry and the most recent closures and lockdowns when it comes to coming into Canada, the international travel ban and the impact that it is going to have on airlines. I wanted to take that one step further, because there are people who are booking these tickets, and I am sure many members across the chamber have had people from the travel and tourism sector contact their offices.

I want to read this letter into the Hansard, so that people can understand what is happening to businesses that are part of travel and tourism. This letter comes to us from Marion Rose. I have known Marion for a number of years. Twenty-five years ago she hired my best friend to be a travel agent there, and it is a very respectful company. She started off her letter by asking about my family. She then continued:

Elgin Travel & Cruises has been in business now for 32 years at the Elgin Centre and have been a huge contributor to our community. In March of this year we employed seven full time staff. As you are aware, once COVID hit, we were virtually out of business and, as no one is travelling or can travel with the present “avoid all essential travel” advisory and the 14 day quarantine in place.

Just to remind members she is talking about the impacts of that back in March of 2020. We are now 10 months later, and there still has not been any work for this recovery. Continuing with her letter, she says:

This however does not mean that we are not working, as clients are still being repatriated, cancellations for bookings throughout 2020 and now into 2021 are being processed and either rebooked for the second time or insurance claims filed. Our staff are still working 40 hours a week just to process the above. The Wage Subsidy to the end of August was a welcome assistance to allow us to keep our staff. However with the new reductions, and still at over 100% decrease in sales, we are flailing.

This letter was written to me back in November. This was from three months ago today, today being February 2, and the government still has not stepped up. We know that it has just put forward a new program and applications started on February 1, but I am talking about a business that in March 2020 was closed down. By the time this company is looked at and the government provides the supports, this company may not be there.

These are the types of challenges that Marion Rose from Elgin Travel has shared with me. She is working very closely as one of the independent travel agencies that are across Canada talking about this, and we have to understand the impact of this and the impact to these livelihoods.

In my case, I look at the demographics of the people who are working in that sector. We know that over 85% are women or members of the LGBTQ community. We have to look at the fact that we have talked about a she-recovery. I say there is no recovery, so I ask how this could be a she-recovery. This specific group has not been looked at.

Yes, the government is going to be looking with high priority at issues of travel and tourism, but my concern is that money has not come out of the door yet, and it is going to be a year. These workers have looked at some of the travel restrictions that we have coming into Canada and the impact that is going to have on them, and they are just asking for a break.

I have spoken to many other members of our community, and because I have such a short period of time, I wanted to talk about some of the things that have been changed with the rent subsidy. I understand that the rent subsidy has changed, and now small businesses are able to apply, but I do not know if the government has considered the following scenario.

What if someone who is a hair designer is working, but they do not have that lease agreement? They are being asked to pay $500 to $700 a month so that they can rent a chair, but that chair is not open to the public because no one can come to their facility. However, they still have to pay that rent.

As well, those who are making less than $30,000 and who may not have a CRA account, are still having to pay for a lease. The government is supposed to have a simple tax return, and so many of these small businesses with small incomes are still doing it on their personal tax returns and not through CRA. What we have done by doing this has closed them off as well.

I am so pleased to be able to speak here, and I hope the government will start getting it right, because we are going to continue to lose more businesses in this country.

[Oil Tanker Moratorium Act, January 29th, 2021]

Mr. Speaker, we would request a recorded division.

[Oil Tanker Moratorium Act, January 29th, 2021]

Mr. Speaker, I thank the member for Kingston and the Islands. Yes, I know that is liked. However, the fact is that what we have actually seen is the huge disconnect between the economy and the environment, so I would ask that we have a more balanced approach.

We have talked about Bill C-69 and Bill C-48 of the 42nd Parliament many, many times. We know that the current government has put through policies that are stopping any of the oil sands work that is being done and not focusing on what we need to do here. We are a country with great resources, and it is very important that we ethically source these resources and then get them out for export.

We are a country that currently is bringing in our fuel from places like the U.K., and I still cannot fathom that, as well as from Algeria, Venezuela and Saudi Arabia. We should be looking at what we have in our own backyard. Knowing that it is ethically sourced and knowing that we can do a great job here in Canada, we should be doing made-in-Canada projects.

I respect the members who are talking about this bill and talking about what we can do on the west coast. This has very important impacts on knowing what we need to do to keep on with our environment. When we speak about first nations and indigenous people, we have to understand that many indigenous groups are asking for work like this to be done. They recognize that the environment can be used with environmentally friendly methods.

I hope we can have an honest discussion where we try to find a balance between the economy and the environment, unlike what we are doing right now.

[Oil Tanker Moratorium Act, January 29th, 2021]

Mr. Speaker, I have had an important time here, listening to this debate, and listening to the members of the government and of other opposition parties talk about why Bill C-48, or this bill, Bill C-229, should not be reversed.

Regarding some of the issues and decisions that were made by the previous government, we have seen an incredible negative impact on many of our communities throughout Canada. Specifically, the previous speaker, the deputy House leader, was talking about how we want to focus on western alienation, trying to make this a political matter.

As a member from southwestern Ontario, I can say that I too am very concerned about the direction we are going. In our own communities, we are talking about things such as Line 5. Line 5 is a pipeline that continues to come from Michigan into southwestern Ontario. It provides all of the natural fuels that we need, including propane. On the propane issue, we saw back in 2018-19, when there were some problems with getting fuel by train, our farmers were running out, the people in Quebec were running out, and the east coast was running out of propane to fuel and heat their homes.

These are types of concerns I have because the types of policies we are putting forward today sometimes do not look at the bigger pictures and some of the negative impacts. I have heard and really do appreciate all of the great comments made on the environment because I believe that we do need to make sure that we are leaving this country and this globe better for the future.

At the same time, I am very concerned with some of the decisions that we make that put a trap and handcuffs on our own economy. These are the things that we have to have a balanced approach to. For all the other members who are speaking to this, yes, I hear them and members of the Conservative Party hear them, but we are trying to find a balanced approach where, as our former minister of the environment used to say, the economy and the environment can go hand in hand.

[Canada—United Kingdom Trade Continuity Agreement Implementation Act, January 29th, 2021]

Mr. Speaker, I rise on a point of order. The previous speaker from the Green Party commented that he was not able to ask questions regarding his concerns and noted that a member was not in the chamber at the time. I recognize that we are all working together because we understand that we want to get the bill through, and we want to have debate. We are aware of the time, so let us all work together and get this done.

[COVID-19 Emergency Response, January 29th, 2021]

Mr. Speaker, it is great to hear from the parliamentary secretary, but I have heard from the owners of numerous start-ups who started off in 2020, and they are continuing to be denied these business supports for COVID-19.

Markus, a constituent in Elgin—Middlesex—London, opened a new business called The Icebox. Markus contacted my office regarding the federal government, which did not revise criteria for small businesses despite the Province of Ontario making these necessary changes.

Will the finance minister commit to revising the eligibility criteria of COVID-19 supports for businesses, and stop disqualifying business owners who are trying to survive under these public restrictions?

[Questions Passed as Orders for Returns, January 25th, 2021]

With regard to the government’s responses to Order Paper questions Q-1 to Q-169, and broken down by each response: what is the title of the government official that signed the required Statement of Completeness for each response?

[Irish Heritage Month, December 11th, 2020]

Madam Speaker, there will be a lot of Irish folks in my community who will really appreciate that.

Is there a recipe for green beer? That is all I need to know.

[Questions Passed as Orders for Returns, December 9th, 2020]

With regard to government departments and agencies refusing to deem processing requests made under Access to Information and Privacy Act (ATIP) an essential service during the pandemic: (a) which department and agencies have deemed processing ATIP requests and producing responses an essential service and continue to process requests; (b) which departments and agencies refused to deem processing ATIP requests and producing responses an essential service; (c) for each department and agency in (b), did the minister responsible approve this refusal or decision and, if so, on what date did the minister approve the refusal or decision; and (d) of the departments in (b), which ones have resumed processing requests and producing responses and on what date did this the resumption occur?

[Criminal Code, December 2nd, 2020]

Madam Speaker, throughout the entire country we are seeing issues within our long-term care homes, and we have seen throughout this pandemic what is happening. When we are looking at medical assistance in dying, all of the factors that are bundling up on our seniors are making life look hopeless.

I am a person of hope. Sometimes I call myself a Pollyanna. I always believe there has to be a light at the end of the tunnel. I do not think the government is providing enough light to make sure people know we can do better.