Paul Manly

[Economic Statement Implementation Act, 2020, April 12th, 2021]

Madam Speaker, it is an honour and privilege to rise today from the traditional territory of the Snuneymuxw First Nation and to serve the community of Nanaimo—Ladysmith in the traditional territories of the Snaw-Naw-As, Snuneymuxw, Stz'uminus and Lyackson First Nations.

There are many things that I would have liked to see covered in the fall economic statement, but first I want to address some concerns about the Canadian response to the pandemic. The countries that have done a good job of beating the spread of COVID-19 have all had a national approach. During an adjournment proceeding debate about the need for a more coordinated national effort, the response I received was that the government did not want to create a constitutional crisis.

More than 23,000 people have died. The economy has been driven into the ditch. We have racked up the deficit to astronomical heights. About 180,000 small and medium-sized enterprises across this country are on the verge of closing permanently. Millions of Canadians are financially stressed. We have a mental health crisis and a shadow epidemic of intimate partner violence and murder. I am hearing more about suicides. We are in the third wave of the pandemic, with new records being set for daily case counts. We have another series of lockdowns in Canada's biggest provinces and people are fed up. Our governments have done a poor job of working together to fight this pandemic, but at least we have managed to avoid a constitutional crisis. We are on the yo-yo “close, open, close again” plan rather than a “get to zero” plan, and it has been a huge mistake.

During the early days of the pandemic, members of Parliament worked together to get programs in place to help Canadians get through the economic lockdown. Early in the pandemic, the Green Party called on the government to look at what other countries were doing to successfully stop the spread of COVID-19, save lives and protect the economy, including mask mandates for indoor spaces, widespread testing and limiting travel. Multiple times, starting at the beginning of the pandemic, the Green Party advocated for the government to invoke the Emergencies Act and use the provisions meant for public health emergencies. It is a very reasonable and well-written piece of legislation, and it was drafted at a time when the government was not dealing with an emergency.

Invoking the Emergencies Act would have allowed the government to create a federally coordinated response with the provinces to close the border, mandate quarantines for people returning to Canada, control interprovincial and inter-regional travel, and create green zones for opening the economy and red zones to control areas where there was community spread, with lockdowns. These are all things that were done in New Zealand, Australia and a list of other countries, and they successfully stopped the spread of the virus. However, our calls to invoke the Emergencies Act were rebuffed.

When the variants arrived in Canada, we called for an emergency debate and for the development of a strategic plan to deal with the strains that are more virulent. There was no dice. Now we have three highly contagious variants spreading rapidly across the country.

Our dysfunctional federal system also affects our action on climate change, or lack thereof.

[Petitions, April 12th, 2021]

Mr. Speaker, it is an honour to table this petition initiated and signed by my constituents in Nanaimo—Ladysmith.

The petitioners call on the government to take the following actions: to recognize housing unaffordability and homelessness as twin national crises; to redefine affordable housing to better reflect the economic realities of Canadians; to remove tax exemptions for real estate investment trusts; to increase regulation of foreign investment in residential real estate; to create an empty home tax for a residential property; to prioritize funding for non-profit and co-operative housing; to require covenants on taxpayer subsidized affordable housing units to ensure they remain affordable; and to create national standards to establish rent and vacancy controls.

[Infrastructure, April 12th, 2021]

Mr. Speaker, from 1938 to 1974, the Bank of Canada provided very low-interest loans to the federal and provincial governments for public infrastructure projects. Since 1974, the federal government has been borrowing from private banks and foreign lenders instead. The interest paid on those loans is $1.3 trillion. That is $1.3 trillion taxpayer dollars paid to private banks and foreign lenders.

Will the government start using the Bank of Canada again for public infrastructure funding?

[Petitions, March 26th, 2021]

Madam Speaker, in the second petition, the petitioners are concerned about the erosion of human rights in Poland. They are asking the Government of Canada to urgently condemn stigmatization, violence and persecution of women, ethnic minorities and LGBTQIA2S+ persons in Poland; to raise the matter of human rights in Poland at the ministerial level; to call on Poland's government to uphold its obligations under international human rights law and conventions; to engage bilaterally and multilaterally, including with the Equal Rights Coalition, to protect human rights in Poland; and to support civil society groups defending human rights in Poland, including through Canada's feminist international assistance policy.

[Petitions, March 26th, 2021]

Madam Speaker, I have two petitions that I am pleased to present today with signatures from across Canada.

The first petition was initiated by constituents in Nanaimo—Ladysmith. The petitioners are concerned that only a small portion of B.C.'s ancient old-growth trees remain, and they are concerned about continuing logging of these old-growth ecosystems. They note that old-growth forests are instrumental in keeping carbon out of our atmosphere and for flood and fire mitigation.

The petitioners are calling on the Government of Canada to request that the Minister of Environment and Climate Change work with the provinces on protecting valley bottom, high-productivity old-growth forests with large trees, and to introduce federal legislation that protects old-growth forests.

[Gender-Based Violence, March 25th, 2021]

Madam Chair, we have heard some really horrific statistics during this debate. My friends who work for Haven Society, an organization that deals with gender-based violence, said that during the pandemic there was an eerie silence in our community. The fact that the phones were not ringing told them there was a serious problem.

This is not a women's issue. This is a men's issue. Toxic masculinity is a men's issue and is something that needs to be addressed with peer-to-peer work and the bystander approach of not standing by but ensuring that men speak up, talk to young men and boys, and talk to each other.

Could the hon. member could comment on that and the kind of programs that need to be implemented and funded to ensure that this toxic masculinity ends?

[Business of Supply, March 25th, 2021]

Mr. Speaker, I agree with the member for Esquimalt—Saanich—Sooke and I would like to see our debating something else, but the sexual assault scandal in the military has brought forward stories in my riding from women who have dealt with sexual assault in the military. A woman who was in the forces for 20 years lost her career because she made a complaint, and her son was assaulted on the base because she had made that complaint. She asked how women who are sexually assaulted in the military can bring forward complaints when we see that the complaints against General Vance have not been taken seriously. She wants to know who women are supposed to report to and if these complaints will be taken seriously, because her complaint was not taken seriously by the RCMP or by the military and she was reprimanded.

[Business of Supply, March 25th, 2021]

Madam Speaker, one of the things that the sexual misconduct scandal has done is trigger people. A woman in my riding spent 20 years in the military. She was raped. Her son was assaulted on the base because of her reporting. She lost her job. She lost her career, and she wants to know what the process is. Who does she report to? How do people deal with these kinds of things in the military and the police forces, when they are not taken seriously and when they see impunity in this system?

I would like to get the member's comments about how women are supposed to deal with impunity in our Canadian Armed Forces and in the RCMP. We have a legacy of this.

[Business of Supply, March 25th, 2021]

Madam Speaker, when the WE Charity scandal broke, one of the things we asked the government to do was immediately pivot and put these funds into the Canada summer jobs program so small businesses and non-profits that needed help could hire students who also needed help.

Could the hon. member comment on the lack of the government's pivoting at this moment to use those funds in a way that would have helped Canadians when they needed help the most?

[The Environment, March 24th, 2021]

Mr. Speaker, if Vancouver Island old growth were a banquet table, there would only be crumbs remaining.

The first nations have only recently been invited to share in some of the small economic benefits from logging the last of these ancient ecosystems. We cannot expect first nations that are struggling with the legacy of colonization to engage in the lengthy administrative processes necessary to protect endangered ecosystems without serious government support.

Canada is a climate laggard. We have the worst record of the G7 countries for emissions increases. People are fed up with government inaction. On Vancouver Island, land defenders are taking direct action and gearing up for another war in the woods, much like the campaign to save Clayoquot Sound, which became an international movement in 1993.

The Liberal government could avoid an international black eye by stepping up to protect endangered old growth ecosystems now. I hope it will do so.