Paul Lefebvre

[Natural Resources, February 25th, 2020]

Mr. Speaker, as I have said, Line 3 is complete and in service in Canada. We did the hard work necessary on TMX, and construction is under way, creating thousands of jobs. There has been over $8 billion in new petrochemical projects. Thousands of jobs are linked to those projects.

These are real investments in our energy sector, and real results for Canadians and Alberta workers.

[The Economy, February 25th, 2020]

Mr. Speaker, our government has been steadfast in its support for the hard-working men and women in our oil and gas sector. It is why we approved the Line 3 replacement project and why we always supported Keystone XL, where construction will soon begin in the U.S.

Let us remember that there were thousands of good, well-paying jobs that we created in Alberta and B.C. because we did the hard work to get TMX right. We believe in the workers, the sector, the families, and we have their backs.

[Natural Resources, February 24th, 2020]

Mr. Speaker, as I already said, we support the sector. We approved Enbridge's Line 3 project, which created thousands of jobs. This project is under construction.

We approved Keystone XL and continue to support it. Construction is finally starting in the United States.

As for TMX, the pipes are in the ground. We support this project because we worked hard to make it happen.

Thousands of jobs are being created in Alberta and B.C. We will continue to support the sector and the creation of good jobs.

[Natural Resources, February 24th, 2020]

Mr. Speaker, we did the hard work necessary on TMX, and construction is under way, creating thousands of jobs.

There have been over $8 billion in petrochemical projects and thousands of jobs linked to those projects in Alberta alone. These are real investments in our energy sector and real results for Canadians and Alberta workers. These are jobs. We will continue supporting the workers and those jobs.

[Natural Resources, February 24th, 2020]

Mr. Speaker, the important work of growing our economy and protecting our environment goes beyond any single project. The government is committed to working with Alberta and the resource sector to make sure good projects move forward.

Our government approved the Line 3 replacement project, and that is done. That is why we always supported Keystone XL, with construction soon beginning in the U.S.

As we speak, there are thousands of good, well-paying jobs that have been created in Alberta and B.C., because we did the hard work to get TMX right.

We believe in the workers in the sector, we believe in their families and we have their backs.

[Greater Sudbury Police Service, February 21st, 2020]

Mr. Speaker, Sudburians recently joined more than a dozen police officers for an informal one-on-one Friday afternoon chat at a South End coffee shop. Once things got brewing, no topic was off limits.

Maintaining community trust can be a challenge for police.

Fortunately, in Sudbury, our police are part of our community. They work, live and play here.

I commend the efforts of Constable Mickey Teed of the Greater Sudbury Police Service. He helped launch Coffee with a Cop in order to give members of the public an opportunity to talk with police, share some stories and ask some questions that they would normally not get a chance to ask.

As the local MP, I am happy to report that more Coffee with a Cop get-togethers are planned for other parts of Sudbury. Together, let us continue building bridges between cops and community.

[Business of Supply, February 18th, 2020]

Madam Speaker, that is an important question. Our government has already reduced the number of hours required, but I understand workers’ anxiety about premiums and access to benefits.

With respect to the 15 weeks of benefits that are currently offered, the government wants to extend the period to 26 weeks. That was in our election platform, and that is what stakeholders such as the Canadian Cancer Society told us was needed. They clearly asked us to extend the period from 15 weeks to half a year. That is where the number 26 comes from. It will make a big difference for people who are suffering. My father got cancer while he was employed. He had a hard time, because he was only allowed 15 weeks off. Increasing the benefit period to 26 weeks would help a lot. We hear what is being said today in the House, and we will see if we can do more, but the government wants to propose what we campaigned on. We want to make sure we can offer 26 weeks of benefits.

[Business of Supply, February 18th, 2020]

Madam Speaker, with respect to EI and the situation in Alberta, as the member is aware, we have also been working on TMX and bringing it forward. As the parliamentary secretary in the last Parliament, I was working hard to make sure that this project moved forward in the right way. We are seeing it develop and continuing. This is creating thousands of jobs in Alberta and British Columbia.

Another project is Line 3. The Canadian side has been approved, we approved it, we are in support of it, and we are now in talks with the U.S. to make sure that extension is provided.

Also, there is Keystone XL. I was in Washington last year at a mining conference and I took the opportunity to talk with governors and senators in the U.S. about the issue of Keystone and where it was at, because on the Canadian side it had been approved and ready to go, but it was basically on the U.S. side.

As well, there is LNG. Three weeks ago, I was in Kitimat at the Roundup conference in Vancouver. I told my team that I wanted to visit the LNG plant in Kitimat to show support. I spoke with the Haisla First Nation chief as well as the mayor of Kitimat and did a tour of the LNG plant.

We are working hard to have these projects advance and create good jobs. There are billions of dollars of investment in Canada that would create thousands of jobs. We realize that and that is what we are working hard towards.

[Business of Supply, February 18th, 2020]

Madam Speaker, I am very pleased to rise today to speak about the employment insurance program.

I will be splitting my time with the member for Windsor—Tecumseh.

Our government is proud of this long-standing program that has offered support to Canadians in times of need for 80 years. When a Canadian loses their job through no fault of their own, the EI program is there. When a mother or father needs to care for their newborn child, or when someone needs to take care of a gravely ill family member, EI is there.

Since its creation in 1940, EI remains a pillar of Canada's social safety net. Today, I would like to talk about our continued support for workers through the employment insurance program.

Since 2015, our government has made a series of changes to the employment insurance program that benefit Canadian workers across the country. For example, we reversed the 2012 changes to the employment insurance program that specified the types of jobs that unemployed workers were expected to search for and accept. The long-standing requirements that claimants must search for and accept available work while on employment insurance will continue to be upheld. This change took effect on July 3, 2016.

In 2016, we also helped workers living in the regions most affected by low oil prices. We did that by temporarily extending the duration of EI regular benefits for all eligible claimants by five weeks in 15 targeted regions. Up to a maximum of 20 additional weeks were provided to long-tenured workers.

That same year, we announced that as of January 1, 2017, the waiting period for EI benefits would be reduced from two weeks to one week. Today, I am able to say that as of October 1, 2019, approximately 5 million claimants combined have benefited from this change.

Reducing the waiting period from two weeks to one week relieves the financial burden on claimants when they need it most.

In addition, about two-thirds of claimants return to work before they exhaust all of their weeks of benefit entitlement. As a result of the waiting period reduction, these claimants gain one extra week of benefits. In fact, it is estimated that this puts an additional $650 million in the pockets of Canadians annually.

The reduced waiting period applies to regular, sickness, maternity, parental, compassionate care, family caregiver, and fishing benefits. This means that Canadians in all workplaces are benefiting. The package of changes to the EI system does not stop there.

The new measures put in place also include eliminating new entrant and re-entrant rules to increase access to EI benefits, making permanent the working-while-on-claim rules and simplifying job search responsibilities for claimants. Let me provide a little more detail.

First, we amended the rules to eliminate the higher eligibility requirements that restricted access for new entrants and re-entrants to the labour market. Under the previous rules, new entrants and re-entrants to the labour market had to accumulate at least 910 hours of insurable employment before being eligible for employment insurance regular benefits.

As a result of the changes we have made since July 3, 2016, those who enter or re-enter the workforce are subject to the same eligibility requirements as other claimants in the region where they live, namely from 420 to 700 insurable hours.

Also, we made changes to working-while-on-claim rules, which help claimants stay connected to the job market and allow them to earn some additional income while receiving benefits. These improvements, which took effect August 2018, are that the 50¢-for-every-dollar-earned rule became a permanent part of the employment insurance program, and that the working-while-on-claim rules were extended to now apply to sickness and maternity benefits.

We are also helping seasonal workers through a new pilot project announced in August 2018. This pilot project provides up to an additional five weeks of EI regular benefits to eligible seasonal claimants in 13 targeted regions. It is estimated that 51,500 seasonal workers will benefit from this initiative each year.

Finally, we are supporting adult learners through skills boost. EI claimants now have more opportunities to go back to school to get the training they need to find new jobs without fear of losing their EI benefits. During our last mandate, we also improved conditions for workers.

Many Canadians are struggling to balance work, family and other personal responsibilities. That is why we brought in amendments to the Canada Labour Code to ensure a better work-life balance and to strengthen labour standards protections in federally regulated private sector workplaces.

In 2017, our government introduced legislation to give federally regulated workers the right to request flexible work arrangements, such as flexible start and finish times. Subsequently, in 2018, we introduced further amendments to support even greater flexibility in the workplace. Among these changes are new breaks and leaves, including personal leave of up to five days with three days' pay. This new leave can be used for, among other things, medical appointments or sick days, or to take a dependant to a medical appointment.

We also introduced leave for victims of family violence of up to 10 days with five days paid, and leave for traditional indigenous practices of up to five days unpaid.

Access to many existing leaves, including critical illness ?leave and reservist leave, was also improved by eliminating length of service requirements.

Also, changes were made to increase annual vacation entitlements, so that workers have more downtime to spend doing the things they love. These legislative changes came into force on September 1, 2019.

We know that many employees struggle to balance the demands of work and family due to lack of time and scheduling conflicts. These changes to the Canada Labour Code will provide better work-life balance.

Without a doubt, we are taking the necessary steps to support hard-working Canadians. The situation of every Canadian is unique with different family and work needs.

By making employment insurance benefits more flexible, more inclusive and easier to access, and by modernizing labour standards, we are providing hard-working Canadian families with more options to better balance their work and life responsibilities.

[Sudbury Secondary School Achievements, February 7th, 2020]

Madam Speaker, success in math depends on how much one practises and on how one is taught.

Earlier this month, Ontario's Education Quality and Accountability Office awarded Sudbury Secondary School the Dr. Bette M. Stephenson Recognition of Achievement award for student success in mathematics. The school teaches key math concepts repeatedly. It is called “spaced practice” or “spiralling”. Seventy-one per cent of students say that spiralling helps them retain information.

I want to congratulate Principal Heather Downey and her devoted staff, including Crystal Gibbs, Jeanette Lankshear, Clinton Jameus and Ryan Wilson, on the impact of their efforts at Sudbury Secondary School.

Your efforts have been recognized.

Their student-centred approaches to teaching and learning math are making a real difference. Keep up the great work.