Peter Fonseca

[Resumption of Debate on Address in Reply, January 31st, 2022]

Madam Speaker, it is a tremendous honour and privilege to be a voice for the residents and businesses of Mississauga East—Cooksville and to be able to speak in this 44th Parliament representing my great community.

My heartfelt thanks go to the constituents of Mississauga East—Cooksville for placing their trust in me from the year 2003, both in my provincial and federally elected roles. I am so thankful to my dedicated staff of Radhika Sriram, Natniel Solomon and Maheen Nazim, and to an amazing team of volunteers for their wonderful support throughout these years, and I send a big hug to my loving, lovely family of my wife Christina and my twin boys, Alexander and Sebastian. I thank them for their dedication, love and support, and, of course, for putting up with me. To my parents, who fled a fascist dictatorship in Portugal, as you would know, Madam Speaker, the country that you come from, and left there to make their life here in Canada, and who were received with open arms and so much opportunity for them to be able to build their lives, I thank Maria Fonseca and Joaquim Fonseca.

I would like to begin by acknowledging that we are gathered on the unceded territory of the Algonquin and Anishinabe in Ottawa and the Mississaugas of the New Credit in Mississauga. I did not get a chance last December to congratulate every member here, newly elected and re-elected, and you, Madam Speaker, on your re-election and role as Assistant Deputy Speaker. I have so much respect for all members and all those who work on our behalf. They are all truly amazing, talented, dedicated and passionate individuals who are all here to help make Canada an even better place than it is today.

As members of Parliament, we are all here for one reason: to represent our respective constituents and make our communities and country even better tomorrow than today, creating a healthier, stronger, more inclusive country that is a beacon for all. I know from the thousands of conversations that I have had with residents and businesses in my riding that there are top priorities that continue to be my North Star. They include protecting their health and providing for a better future for their families, including taking care of their aging parents and grandparents.

That is why we have taken bold action through the pandemic and since forming government in 2015. These bold actions include the Canada child benefit, increases to the GIS and OAS for seniors, investments in infrastructure and housing, and putting a price on pollution. These initiatives and so much more led to a stronger, resilient and resourceful Canada, a Canada that created well over a million jobs, a Canada that raised over a million people out of poverty, a Canada that showed it cared for everyone, including our indigenous people, ethnic groups, the LGBTQ2 community, seniors, families and small businesses. It is a Canada that does not and will not leave anyone behind.

In the last election, Canadians sent a clear message to parliamentarians. They want us to work together to put this pandemic behind us. They expect us to deliver results and solutions to the other challenges we face. Our government will continue to remain focused on moving Canada forward for everyone.

The Speech from the Throne comes nearly two years after the world was plunged into a once-in-a-century pandemic. Our plan will finish the fight against COVID-19, take strong climate action, make life more affordable, walk the shared path of reconciliation, put home ownership back in reach, create jobs and grow the middle class.

Our government completely understands that the rising cost of living is making it harder for Canadians to put food on the table and buy necessities. That is why we have a plan to make life more affordable for all Canadians. From $10-a-day child care to supports for low-income seniors, our government will be there for as long as it takes to ensure that no Canadian gets left behind. Our government's top priority has been to have Canadians' backs, supporting Canadians in fighting COVID and addressing the hardships it has placed on Canadians' health and finances. Now, as we work together to finish this fight against COVID-19 and get the job done on vaccines, our government will continue to be there for Canadians.

Thanks to the hard work of Canadians, we reached our target of one million jobs and more, restoring employment back to prepandemic levels. Now it is time to go well beyond a million jobs. We will continue to focus on ensuring that Canadians have access to good jobs and that our economy continues to grow.

We will also tackle housing affordability and supply in Canada. All Canadians deserve an affordable and safe place to call home. We cannot leave young families and middle-class Canadians behind. Our government will continue our work to make life more affordable for all Canadians, including through $10-a-day child care to help families access quality, accessible and affordable child care.

It saddens me that in Mississauga, Ontario, the province I am from, every day that the province delays signing up for this historic program, we are denying the right for those families to be provided with better access to high-quality, affordable, flexible and inclusive early learning and child care programs. Ontario is missing out on the community-based early learning and child care system that would make life more affordable for families, create new jobs, get parents and especially women back into the workforce, and grow the middle class, while giving every child a real and fair chance at success.

There are a few key takeaways from the Speech from the Throne. One of the top priorities for my constituents is to build a healthier today and tomorrow. When we started the year 2020, little did any of us think we would be facing COVID-19. Against this once-in-a-century pandemic, Canadians stepped up. We armed ourselves with our best weapon to defeat this invisible enemy: We went out and got vaccinated. I recall at the vaccination sites in my riding how proud people were to do their part to protect themselves, their family, our community, our country, and the world for that matter. There were tears of joy and national pride. How Canadians responded was no surprise. I want to give a big thanks to all of the residents of Mississauga East who got vaccinated, and to all our frontline workers, particularly those in health care, who provided the most selfless support to those who needed it the most.

Our government wasted no time in prioritizing the utmost important things our country needed, whether it was procuring the vaccines effectively or providing key benefits immediately to our residents who lost jobs because of the pandemic. The Conservatives questioned—

[Committees of the House, December 14th, 2021]

Mr. Speaker, I have the honour to present, in both official languages, the first report of the Standing Committee on Finance regarding Bill C-2, An Act to provide further support in response to COVID-19.

I want to say a big thanks to the extraordinary and tireless clerks and staff who made this all happen: Alexandre Roger, Philippe Méla, Isabelle D'Souza and Émilie Thiverge. I thank them so much on behalf of the committee.

[Geoff Scott, November 29th, 2021]

Mr. Speaker, I have sad news. Geoff Scott, a former MP who lived in my riding, passed away on August 5 in Mississauga Hospital after a short illness.

Geoff was a kind and loving husband, father and grandfather. He was larger than life and lived life to the fullest. Born on March 2, 1938, in Ottawa, he attended Glebe Collegiate and Carleton University, where he studied journalism. Geoff became the first journalist to report news from Ottawa and Parliament Hill, and later became president of the Canadian Parliamentary Press Gallery.

He was a master of political impressions, which he performed regularly with the National Press and Allied Workers’ Jazz Band. At one point, he was asked to do his impression of the Right Hon. Lester Pearson at a formal dinner in Ottawa. Afterward, Pearson came up to him and said, “Geoff, you sound more like me than I do!”

In 1978, he won a by-election in Hamilton-Wentworth, and became the Progressive Conservative MP for Hamilton-Wentworth for 15 years. He was famously expelled from China in 1992 for laying flowers for pro-democracy supporters. He remained interested in politics and worked to support the campaigns of many politicians of different political stripes. Geoff will be missed.

[Committees of the House, June 16th, 2021]

Madam Speaker, I have the honour to present, in both official languages, the eighth report of the Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs and International Development, entitled “Mandate of the Canadian Ombudsperson for Responsible Enterprise”. Pursuant to Standing Order 109, the committee requests that the government table a comprehensive response to this report.

[Portuguese Heritage Month, June 10th, 2021]

Mr. Speaker, in June, we celebrate Portuguese Heritage Month, a great time to recognize and celebrate the contributions of Canadians of Portuguese descent. Also, today, June 10, is Portugal day, commemorated both in Portugal and around the world by Portuguese in honour of the 16th century poet, Luís Vaz de Camões, whose prose captured Portugal’s age of discovery.

It is a special day of pride for me, both as a Portuguese Canadian and as a resident of Mississauga, a city with over 20,000 Luso Canadians. Canada is now home to one of the largest Portuguese diasporas in the world, with nearly half a million people of Portuguese origin calling Canada home.

This past year has been very difficult. Personally, I have seen many losses within our Luso community here and back in Portugal. We know we are all in this together, much stronger and closer than ever before.

Again, to our Luso community, Feliz Dia de Portugal. Viva Canadá. Viva Portugal.

[Budget Implementation Act, 2021, No. 1, May 26th, 2021]

Madam Speaker, I want to thank the hon. member and great friend for giving me the opportunity to speak to something that I am very passionate about.

When it comes to long-term care, we saw through this pandemic the tragedy in our long-term care homes, particularly here in Mississauga, but also in London and right across our province and across our country. We saw seniors not treated to the standards to which we believe Canadians should be treated, to have the dignity and respect. We have come forward with $3 billion to be able to assist and work with our partners, the provinces and the municipalities to be able to provide the level of care that we deem should be a standard and is vitally important. All Canadians feel the same way. It broke our hearts to see how seniors were treated in long-term care homes.

[Budget Implementation Act, 2021, No. 1, May 26th, 2021]

Madam Speaker, I thank the hon. member for the opportunity to thank our seniors. Our seniors have built our country, so through their hard work, through their sweat and tears they have built this magnificent country we have here in Canada.

That is why, since we formed government in 2015, we have worked with seniors and supported seniors. We increased the GIS at that time. We have brought more supports to the community for seniors. I am proud of the commitment we made to increasing the OAS for seniors aged 75 and over, when expenses do get higher as people get older be it for medications and other needs; that is the right direction. Our government will always have the backs of our seniors.

[Budget Implementation Act, 2021, No. 1, May 26th, 2021]

Madam Speaker, I cannot thank the hon. member enough for allowing me to conclude. What I want to say to every member in the House of Commons is that this is about helping protect Canadians' health, supporting our workers and businesses and giving assistance to those who have been hardest hit by this pandemic. Supporting this budget and Bill C-30 is what will really help Canada build back better.

As the member heard, it is very comprehensive. It is about taking care of our most vulnerable, assisting our businesses so they can bridge this pandemic and this difficult time. It is about helping our students and our seniors. This is the time to invest in Canadians. We know Canadians work hard and we are going to continue to invest in Canadians so that we will create those million jobs and build back better.

[Budget Implementation Act, 2021, No. 1, May 26th, 2021]

Madam Speaker, I live in Mississauga and I proudly represent my constituents of Mississauga East—Cooksville. I know how hard they work to provide for their families; protect their health and provide a better education for their kids, which we know are the keys to a better future; and to take care of their aging parents and grandparents. In short, they work to build and to dream. That is what Mississauga East—Cooksville is all about, and in turn, that is what the Canadian dream is from coast to coast to coast.

That is why, when a once-in-a-lifetime pandemic such as COVID-19 shook the very foundations of our health care, and social and economic systems, our government stepped up and ensured that we would do everything we could to help protect Canadians. As the Prime Minister often says, we have Canadians' backs, meaning we will be there for Canadians every step of the way to support them and to help them weather this storm. The actions we have taken have helped Canadians stay safe and buffer the worst economic impacts.

This third wave has hit hard, with further public health restrictions and regional lockdowns leading to many Canadians facing unemployment or reduced hours this last couple of months. As we work to finish the fight against COVID-19, we will continue to support Canadians through programs such as the Canada recovery benefit, a more flexible EI program and the Canada emergency wage subsidy, which continue to be lifelines for so many Canadians.

That is why we announced through budget 2021 that we will be maintaining flexible access to EI benefits for another year until the fall of 2022, fulfilling our campaign promise to extend EI sickness benefits from 15 to 26 weeks, extending the Canada recovery benefit by an additional 12 weeks until September 25, and expanding the Canada workers benefit to support low-wage workers.

These are historic investments that address the most pressing issues exacerbated by COVID-19, which are to put people first, create jobs, grow the middle class, set businesses back on a track, and ensure a healthier, greener and more prosperous Canada.

I would like to commend the Minister of Finance because Bill C-30 brings us to the next stage. It is a recovery plan for jobs, growth and resilience, the Government of Canada’s plan to finish the fight against COVID-19 and ensure a robust economic recovery that brings all Canadians along. The COVID-19 recession is the steepest and fastest economic contraction since the Great Depression. It has disproportionately affected low-wage workers, young people, women, and racialized Canadians.

The pandemic has laid bare long-standing inequities in our economy. Budget 2021 is an inclusive plan that takes action to break down barriers to full economic participation for all Canadians. It would establish a $15 federal minimum wage.

For businesses, it has been a two-speed recession, with some finding ways to prosper and grow, but many businesses, especially small businesses, fighting to survive. Budget 2021 is a plan to bridge Canadians and Canadian businesses through the crisis and toward a robust recovery. It proposes to extend business and income support measures through to the fall and to make investments to create jobs and help businesses across the economy come roaring back. Budget 2021 is a plan that puts the government on track to meet its commitment to create one million jobs by the end of the year.

Budget 2021 is a historic investment to address the specific wounds of the COVID-19 recession by putting people first, creating jobs, growing the middle class, setting businesses on track for that long-term growth, and ensuring that Canada’s future will be healthier, more equitable, greener and more prosperous.

The Government of Canada’s top priority remains protecting Canadians’ health and safety, particularly during this third, aggressive wave of the virus and its variants. Vaccine rollout is under way across Canada, with federal government support in every province and territory.

In my riding of Mississauga East—Cooksville, over 60% of adults have received their first vaccine, and this past weekend we began to inoculate kids 12 and over. I accompanied my 15-year-old twin boys, Alexander and Sebastien, to get their first shot through Trillium Health Partners Mississauga Hospital mass vaccination site this weekend.

I want to thank all the frontline staff, volunteers and emergency services for making the experience a friendly, efficient safe and secure one. We could see how proud, joyful, hopeful and, I have to say, patriotic people felt, that they were doing their part to safeguard themselves, their family members, their community and their country by getting vaccinated and helping shield us from this horrible virus. People are starting to be cautiously hopeful as vaccines roll out and we approach herd immunity. Canadians can dream once again of something approaching normality.

During last week's constituency week, I had the opportunity to meet with Mississauga and Peel Region's leadership team of elected officials, management and stakeholders to discuss long-term care and the continuum of care with a focus on our seniors and vulnerable populations. The COVID-19 pandemic has strained our long-term care facilities across the country and in my community of Mississauga East—Cooksville like never before. I want to thank the Minister of Finance for the well-deserved measures to strengthen long-term care and supportive care.

Many seniors have faced economic challenges as they take on extra costs to stay safe and protect their health. This 2021 budget proposes to provide $90 million to Employment and Social Development Canada, a government department responsible for social programs, to launch the age well at home initiative. This initiative would assist community-based organizations to provide practical support that helps low-income and otherwise vulnerable seniors to age in place, such as matching seniors with volunteers who can help them with meal preparation, home maintenance, daily errands, yardwork and transportation. This initiative would also target regional and national projects to help expand services that have already demonstrated results helping seniors stay in their homes. Funding would be provided over a three-year period starting in 2021-22. I am pleased to say that many non-profits and charitable organizations working with seniors across the country stand to benefit from this measure.

In addition, the 2021 budget proposes to build on work conducted by the Health Standards Organization and Canadian Standards Association in launching a process to develop national standards focused on improving the quality of life of seniors in long-term care homes. This budget would provide $3 billion over five years to Health Canada to support provinces and territories, ensuring standards for long-term care are applied and permanent changes are made; and, $41.3 million over six years and $7.7 million ongoing, starting in 2021-22, for Statistics Canada to improve data infrastructure and data collection on supportive care, primary care and pharmaceuticals.

We made a campaign commitment promising to increase old age security, OAS, benefits for seniors aged 75 and older. Many seniors are living longer and they are relying on monthly benefits to afford retirement. These funds would be delivered in two steps. The 2021 budget would support seniors by providing a one-time payment this August of $500 and increase regular OAS payments for pensioners 75 and over by 10% on an ongoing basis as of July next year. This would increase the benefits for approximately 3.3 million seniors, providing additional benefits of $766 for full pensioners in the first year and indexed to inflation going forward. This would give seniors more financial security later in life, particularly at the time when they face increased care expenses. In total, the two measures represent $12 billion over five years for our seniors in additional financial support, beginning in 2021-22; and at least $3 billion per year ongoing, to be delivered by Employment and Social Development Canada.

Budget 2021 invests in Canada's biomanufacturing and life sciences sector to rebuild domestic vaccine manufacturing capacity. It has a plan to put in place national standards for long-term care and mental health services.

Budget 2021 makes a generational investment to build a Canada-wide early learning and child care system. This is a plan to drive economic growth, increase women's participation in the workforce and offer each child in Canada the best start in life. Budget 2021 would invest almost $30 billion over the next five years and provide permanent ongoing funding, working with provincial and territorial and indigenous partners to support quality not-for-profit child care, ensuring the needs of early childhood educators are at the heart of the system. The goal is to reach $10 per day on average by—

[Government Policies, May 14th, 2021]

Madam Speaker, tomorrow, May 15, is the International Day of Families. What an appropriate time to observe the day, as our government has just announced the Canada child benefit young child supplement. Through this benefit, families could be receiving up to $1,200 per child under the age of six. This benefit will help 1.6 million families and over two million children.

During these very challenging times, since the start of the pandemic, our government has recognized that families have been largely impacted by the unpredictable expenses of COVID-19. This additional support will help pay for necessities such child care, food, medicine and clothing. I am proud of our government and its commitment to supporting families, from our children to our seniors, through affordable housing, the Canada child benefit and increases to the GIS and OAS, which have lifted over half a million children and seniors out of poverty.

To all our Canadian families and seniors, we will get through this together.