Matthew Green

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

With regard to the Large Employer Emergency Financing Facility (LEEFF), since the creation of the program: (a) how many businesses have applied for the LEEFF; (b) how many businesses have been eligible; (c) how many applications from businesses have been denied; (d) of the applications that were denied, how many were from (i) businesses convicted of tax evasion, (ii) businesses convicted of abusive tax avoidance, (iii) companies that have subsidiaries in tax havens; (e) have applications from companies under investigation in connection with the Panama Papers and Paradise Papers been accepted; and (f) what is the current total cost of the LEEFF’s expenses, broken down by economic sector?

[Ethics, July 20th, 2020]

Mr. Speaker, Canadians know that giving an apology is not the same as taking responsibility, yet the Liberals continue to refuse to take responsibility for this disturbing pattern of self-dealing that now sees the Prime Minister and the finance minister under an ethics investigation. It is as if the Liberals think the rules do not apply to them, that they get to do favours for their family, the wealthy and elite and get away with it with the magic words “I'm sorry”, but that does not cut it.

Will the Prime Minister finally take responsibility and agree to waive the cabinet confidentiality, attend the ethics committee and fully co-operate with the Ethics Commissioner's investigation into the WE Charity scandal?

[Further COVID-19 Measures Act, July 20th, 2020]

Madam Speaker, it is good to be back in the House with all the chuckles I hear today. Quite frankly, I get a chuckle any time I hear Liberals called socialists, when we have a corporatist party that continues to provide tax loopholes for the ultra-wealthy. We hear the Conservatives lamenting about the upcoming looming debt, the confusion around who creates value and who hoards wealth in the country.

If the Conservatives are so worried about debt, will they support the New Democrats' call for a wealth tax on the super, super rich, which would raise nearly $6 billion a year, and crack down on the estimated $25 billion in corporate taxes that we lose to tax havens each and every year?

If Conservatives are a law and order party, will they support law and order within our tax regime?

[Further COVID-19 Measures Act, July 20th, 2020]

Madam Speaker, we have heard a very compelling speech by the hon. member. However, it should be noted in the House that COVID does not simply impact those infected by it. Many people who are living on disability continue to get left out. I look to my riding of Hamilton Centre, where the disability tax credit program as proposed by the Liberals is still going to leave out the vast majority of the people in my province who are struggling to get by.

My question for the hon. member is this. How does she feel about the fact that the Prime Minister was prepared to place a $900-million bailout for his friends at WE, while people on disability continue to have to wait for support?

[Proceedings of the House and Committees, May 26th, 2020]

Mr. Speaker, the member brought up a very poignant and all-too-familiar heartbreak of seniors who have been left to die alone in long-term care facilities. I am reminded of my dear friend Mr. Lionel LeCouter, whom we lost just yesterday in a very similar situation, at a retirement centre in Hamilton where people were actually left to languish.

If we are still to go forward with the government's proposed position for the hybrid, what will the member and her caucus do to ensure that seniors who are languishing in our long-term care facilities and retirement homes are properly and well taken care of?

[Tourism Industry, May 26th, 2020]

Mr. Speaker, I rise on a point of order. There have been consultations among the parties and I believe if you seek it, you would find unanimous consent for the following motion: That the House recognize the increase in recent weeks in hate crimes and racism related to COVID-19 across the country, particularly toward those of Asian descent, and call on the government to take the necessary measures to stand against all forms of systemic discrimination and racism, including but not limited to hosting a federal-provincial-territorial meeting to discuss the rise in hate crimes in Canada; coordinating collective efforts and identifying best practices to counter this trend; helping to create and properly fund dedicated police hate crime units in every police department in Canada; establishing national standards for identifying and recording all hate incidents and their dispensation in the justice system; and working in collaboration with non-profits to facilitate the reporting of hate crimes.

[Social Development, May 26th, 2020]

Mr. Speaker, in my statement, I shared the very tragic story of Mr. Rodriques. Noted professor of law and medicine, Amir Attaran, publicly stated, “I am appalled that the Liberals, who talk a fine line against racism, won’t make it a legal requirement to collect data on racial minorities and COVID, when they are at greatest risk. “See no evil” is [the Prime Minister's] choice—and it’s racist.”

Will the government make it a legal requirement to collect race-based data related to COVID-19?

[Leonard Rodriques, May 26th, 2020]

Mr. Speaker, today I rise to honour all the health care workers who have lost their lives serving this country on the front lines of the COVID pandemic. According to journalist Nora Loreto, of the 6,000 Canadians who have died from COVID-19, over 5,000 are linked to residential care facilities, close to 86%. We know from the unions representing these workers that a significant portion of these workers are racialized.

I rise to honour Leonard Rodriques, a personal support worker and member of Unifor, whose family says his death was due to a lack of PPE at his workplace. He was buying masks from the dollar store because his workplace was not providing him with PPE. After he was denied the personal protection from his workplace, he was sent home. He tested positive, and when symptoms worsened he went to the hospital. A few hours later, he was discharged from the hospital, and he died two days later. The story of Mr. Rodriques cannot be forgotten. We must begin to collect race-based data related to COVID-19.

[Proceedings of the House and Committees, May 26th, 2020]

Mr. Speaker, the member's question is critically important. Like I said, to borrow the Liberal term, there is much work to be done.

Members will recall that the first iteration of the Liberals' support was the mismatch of EI, which was undefined and certainly did not provide for the most vulnerable. As New Democrats, we fought for the universal application of $2,000 to be provided to every single person in this country. What did the Liberal government do? It provided means testing that filtered very vulnerable people out: people who might have made a little money or been sole proprietors of their businesses and not paid out in the dividends that were required by the government.

To make matters worse and add more confusion, we had senior members of the Liberal Party telling everyone to apply. Our assertion from day one has always been getting more help to more people more quickly, instead of designing programs that are obsessed with filtering people out.

[Proceedings of the House and Committees, May 26th, 2020]

Mr. Speaker, I can appreciate the legalistic terms that will be used. I am talking about the spirit and intent of running government using all the aspects that we need to ensure that Canadians get what they want. I will note the heckling that is happening right now. There is a certain spirit from the Conservative caucus that we need to get back to work. I would assert that we have been working. We have accomplished so much as a small caucus. In fact, if there was an opposition to be had, it would be had right here by working for Canadians day in and day out.

I can certainly appreciate the reactionary response from the Conservative caucus. They would prefer to cherry pick the people they have come here. This group would adhere to free speech. I see I am out of time. I am sure I will be able to elaborate on my free speech in a future question.