Michelle Ferreri

[Passport Canada, May 9th, 2022]

Mr. Speaker, a report from October 2021 states that the government was bracing for a surge of passport applications. Fast forward to seven months later and clearly it did not brace well enough.

Wait times have become so outrageous that people are offering a service to wait in line for passport renewals. One of my constituents was recommended by Service Canada to line up at 1:00 a.m. Constituents are also being charged extra processing fees, meaning that a $160 10-year passport is now costing Canadians $315.

If the Liberals knew, why are Canadians paying the price for the Liberals' inability to prepare?

[Health, May 5th, 2022]

Mr. Speaker, our country is in a mental health crisis. The first hurdle to getting help is to seek it out, but the people who have the courage to ask for help are being denied that help. People are literally dying waiting for help.

The Liberals promised $4.5 billion via the Canada mental health transfer during the election campaign, which was promised to start in 2022, yet in the recent budget there is nothing, zero, for the Canada mental health transfer. Why?

[Passport Canada, May 2nd, 2022]

Mr. Speaker, poor planning has resulted in unacceptable wait times for Canadians to get a passport. The Liberal government is profiting from Canadians' desire to travel yet offering less service. It knew this need was coming yet clearly was not prepared, and now Canadians are paying the price. Passport Canada is charging a $45 transfer fee, plus an additional $110 fast processing fee. All these unnecessary processing fees are making a 10-year adult passport $315 instead of $160.

Why are Canadians paying for the Liberals' inability to plan?

[Douro Minor Hockey, May 2nd, 2022]

Mr. Speaker, can members imagine a place where everyone is included, regardless of gender, religion, political or socio-economic status. Can they imagine a place where children learn the value of teamwork and hopefully learn that tough losses are often the best lessons. Can they imagine a place where communities are strengthened, relationships are built, fundraisers happen and important stories are shared. If members have not guessed yet, this place does exist. It is called a community centre.

I grew up in Douro, Ontario, home to one of the best community centres in this country. It was recently named as one of the four finalists for Kraft Hockeyville, where $250,000 is up for grabs. Douro Minor Hockey is hoping to use the money to meet the needs of its growing and diverse community.

This is how inclusion and empathy start, at the grassroots level, with a community centre saying it invites and includes everyone. I am very proud of my progressive community of Douro-Dummer. Voting happens on only one day, May 6, so I encourage everyone to log on to krafthockeyville.ca and vote as many times as they can.

[Economic and Fiscal Update Implementation Act, 2021, April 28th, 2022]

Madam Speaker, my question is with respect to the 12,000 independent travel advisers across Canada, primarily women, who we know have suffered very much during this pandemic. They have not yet been included in any of the economic statements.

My question to the member opposite is why, when they have met with multiple members and been promised to be included in relief funding, they have not been. Why?

[Housing, April 26th, 2022]

Zack has a job offer in my riding of Peterborough—Kawartha, but he cannot find affordable housing. This is a common theme across the country. There are a lot of job vacancies, but no housing. How can we fix the employment crisis when we have a housing crisis?

People need a place to live. It is a basic human need. How is Zack supposed to pay off his student debt if he cannot accept job offers? Will the housing minister continue to roll out one failed program after another, and is Zack the latest victim of his housing policy failures?

[The Budget, April 25th, 2022]

Mr. Speaker, I guess where I am coming from is that to acknowledge that everybody is happy with the budget, that it is a great budget and that things are going great is pretty insulting to the thousands of emails that I have from constituents.

I am curious to know, with housing, if the member opposite thinks the housing program is so great, why has the Prime Minister acknowledged that young homebuyers should just give up on home ownership?

[The Economy, April 7th, 2022]

Mr. Speaker, every day the Liberal government tells us how much money the Liberals have spent to help people. Do they know how insulting this sounds to people who are suffering, such as the 12,000 independent travel advisers, all women, who have been left out of financial supports? How does that sound to Diane, a senior who cannot afford her $430 propane bill? How does it sound to 30-year old Chelsea, who will never afford a home? What about Brian, who cannot afford to run his farm?

Will the government actually have Canadians' backs in today's budget, or will it just be more debt and “Justinflation”?

[The Economy, April 7th, 2022]

Mr. Speaker, every day the Liberal government says, “We have got Canadians' backs”. Do they realize how insulting this sounds to people who are suffering? Work happy while people suffer—

[Questions Passed as Orders for Returns, April 5th, 2022]

With regard to the requirement for fully vaccinated travellers to have a recent negative COVID-19 test before crossing the land-border or face a $5,000 fine: (a) was this decision based on any scientific research, other than political science, and, if so, what specific scientific studies or data was it based on, and what are the specific website locations where the studies and data is located; (b) has the government conducted a cost-benefit analysis of maintaining the test requirement, either molecular or antigen, and, if so, (i) who conducted the analysis, (ii) what were the findings; and (c) what specific criteria or metrics must be met (i) at the land border, (ii) on flights from travellers from the United States, (iii) on flight from other international travellers, before the antigen test requirement for returning travellers is dropped, and on what dates does the government anticipate meeting each of these metrics or criteria?