Mike Morrice

[Canada Disability Benefit Act, September 20th, 2022]

Mr. Speaker, I want to thank the member for Port Moody—Coquitlam for her strong advocacy, both for Canadians with disabilities and for a guaranteed livable income.

As she rightly points out, Canadians with disabilities need immediate support. In addition to moving forward and improving Bill C-22, we need to press to ensure that the benefit is funded as urgently as possible and press for emergency supports in the interim. As of now, though, the Canada disability benefit is not in the supply and confidence agreement with the governing party and the NDP, and important items that are, such as dental care, are being moved on more quickly as a result.

Could the member share her advice for what all members can do to get all parties to put funding the Canada disability benefit at the top of the priority list?

[Canada Disability Benefit Act, September 20th, 2022]

Mr. Speaker, I thank the member for Thérèse-De Blainville for supporting the principle of this bill. I also want to thank her for endorsing our letter, which shows cross-party support for the Canada disability benefit.

We know that respect for provincial jurisdictions is particularly important to her. Does she have any advice for the members of the House who want to get this benefit passed as quickly as possible with the support of the Bloc Québécois?

[Canada Disability Benefit Act, September 20th, 2022]

Madam Speaker, I thank the minister for her efforts to ensure Bill C-22 is the first bill debated in this fall session. She said earlier that no person with a disability should live in poverty. Everyone in this chamber would agree with that. However, we also know that this bill has no specificity about the amount of the benefit, who will be eligible for it and what will be done to prevent clawbacks.

I wonder if the minister could share with us what she will do to ensure no person with a disability, regardless of their age, is living in poverty in this country.

[Her Late Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, September 15th, 2022]

Mr. Speaker, with our parliamentary leader unable to attend this morning, it is my honour to rise on behalf of the Green caucus to mark the passing of Her Majesty, Queen Elizabeth II.

Before I begin, I, too, want to acknowledge the tragic loss of life in James Smith Cree Nation and let that entire community know that we are thinking of them.

With her reign of over 70 years, the longest of any British monarch, Her Majesty was a true example of living a life of service. I would like to express our condolences to her family and all of those who loved her.

Reflections on the life of the late sovereign tend to centre on the word “duty”. It was the decision of her late uncle to reject the call of duty and follow the call of love that led her father, King George VI, to the throne. It was his untimely death in 1952 that threw a young woman, a newlywed at that, into a life of service and duty. The personal cost to her and her family can never be fully known, no matter how many Hollywood treatments her life inspires.

As a constitutional monarchy, our system of government acknowledges Her Majesty the Queen as our head of state. That close connection binds all members of the Commonwealth. Of course, there are many political questions that remain to be discussed. Today is not that day. Today, we honour and mourn a remarkable woman who loved this country and its citizens, the late Queen Elizabeth II, who set a standard that is unparalleled.

My seatmate and colleague from Saanich—Gulf Islands had wished to be here this morning and I know she has cherished various encounters with the royal family. Although she did not meet with the Queen, the Queen's husband, the late Duke of Edinburgh, Prince Philip, and his son, now the King, were very active in the conservation of nature and environmental causes. Her Majesty shared those concerns.

What endeared her to so many of us were her playful encounters. The Prime Minister just referenced her quips that he made her feel old, as in 2015 at the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in Malta, when she poked fun at him for publicly making her feel ancient.

Personally, I think it is fabulous that Noel Coward so loved the Queen and the Queen Mother for their mischievous senses of humour.

As we reflect on the Queen's life and the road ahead, let us hold the duty of reconciliation with indigenous people across the country.

[Order Respecting the Business of the House and its Committees, June 23rd, 2022]

Madam Speaker, my understanding is that right now we are not actually debating the motion, but the closure on the motion. I understand that we are also on the last day of the standing orders of our current approach. I would appreciate hearing from the government House leader a reasonable explanation of why he feels closure is necessary at this time.

[Housing, June 22nd, 2022]

Madam Speaker, I think it is important to note that it is true that the federal government is not doing nothing, and organizations like oneROOF are doing incredible work. The projects she mentioned are important projects that are benefiting people in my community every day, but what I think is also really critical for her to understand is that the trend is going the wrong direction. It is insufficient. It is not nothing, but it is insufficient.

Specifically, as I mentioned, we tripled the number of unhoused individuals in my community in the last three years alone. This is a time when the governing party has had the opportunity to do more, and it has not. I am sure this is not only in Kitchener this is happening, but certainly, if the parliamentary secretary wants to, she can come downtown and see people who are living in tents as a result.

My question is the same. While I appreciate what has already been done, and the rapid housing initiative is important, I would like to see her do far more.

[Housing, June 22nd, 2022]

Madam Speaker, I appreciate the chance to come back to my question to the Minister of Housing from a couple of weeks ago on the housing crisis in this country, and specifically those who are experiencing homelessness and living unsheltered. I had asked the question because decades of underinvestment in both housing and mental health and addiction support are hitting my community hard. As one example of what this looks like, over the past several months an encampment has grown in downtown Kitchener to now upwards of 50 people living in tents in the downtown. My community is reeling.

At the time, I was told the solution was the reaching home program. It is part of Canada's homelessness strategy. It supports the goals of the national housing strategy, and the aim is to reduce chronic homelessness by 50% by 2027-28. Just last summer, the Parliamentary Budget Officer reviewed that plan, and here is what he had to say about it. I quote:

...we project that in the absence of additional spending the number of households in housing need would have increased to approximately 1.8 million households with a $9.3-billion aggregate affordability gap by 2025-26.

Turning back to my community, this seems like an example of the increase that the PBO was expecting. In 2018, there were 333 people experiencing homelessness in Waterloo Region. Going fast-forward to our most recent point-in-time count study last fall, we see that it tripled. There are now over a thousand people experiencing homelessness in Waterloo Region, 412 of whom are living unsheltered, for example in tents downtown. The rest are in emergency shelters or in transitional housing. There might be the hidden homeless, or people in institutions such as a hospital or a domestic violence shelter. It is clear in my community, and from the PBO's report in other communities across the country, that these plans are not working.

We also need to be clear that the encampment downtown is not only the result of insufficient federal funds for housing. It is the result of mental health as well. Despite using the right words—for example, we can all agree that mental health is health—the reality is that the funding is not there. In the last election campaign, the governing party promised billions in a new Canada mental health transfer to the provinces. When it came time for the 2022 budget, though, there was not a cent budgeted for this transfer; instead, it got a three-line mention to stay tuned for more.

The fact is that we cannot expect municipalities to take on the housing and mental health crises on their own. They need support from the provinces and, yes, the federal government as well. I appreciate that the parliamentary secretary is with us this evening. She is a person I respect. I wonder if she would be willing to join me to meet people at the encampment in downtown Kitchener. Most importantly, will she share this: Will the federal government step up? If so, what would that look like?

[Criminal Code, June 22nd, 2022]

Madam Speaker, I appreciate that the Minister for Women and Gender Equality and Youth and the governing party have moved quickly.

I wonder if she could offer her insights in response to comments recently reported in the media by Kerri Froc, chair of the National Association of Women and the Law, who shared concerns that Bill C-28, as written, may be too difficult for prosecutors to prove. What are the minister's comments on that?

[Persons with Disabilities, June 22nd, 2022]

Mr. Speaker, here we are again. Last June, the government introduced a bill to implement the Canada disability benefit days before Parliament rose and then called an election.

This June, the government introduced the exact same bill. It has been 20 days and we have yet to debate it once. Nine other bills have been prioritized since.

Canadians with disabilities continue to disproportionately live in poverty across the country. They want to see emergency supports. They want to see action.

Does the current government understand that simply introducing a bill does nothing to help Canadians with disabilities today?

[Criminal Code, June 21st, 2022]

Madam Speaker, I would like to thank the member for Rivière‑du‑Nord for his speech. The group PolyRemembers has some concerns about Bill C‑21, including the fact that it does not ban assault weapons outright.

How important does he think it is that this be added before the bill is passed?