Rachel Blaney

[COVID-19 Protests, February 7th, 2022]

Mr. Speaker, as I walk through this occupation, I often reflect as the veterans' spokesperson for the NDP on the people who fought for us, who fought for other countries, stand up and speak out against any kind of oppression of the people who fought for the freedom to have a protest in this country.

I read an article today which spoke about veteran who was so upset to see people parking on the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. He went there to take pictures of those licence plates to make sure that they were removed and that those people would be held accountable.

Right now in our nation's capital, both that monument and the aboriginal monument are surrounded by fences to protect those monuments for the very people who fought for us to have the privilege to stand in the House.

I am wondering if the member could talk about where the line is to stand up against people who are causing concerning violence and doing things that we should all be appalled by.

[COVID-19 Protests, February 7th, 2022]

Mr. Speaker, the people of Ottawa are being terrorized by the ongoing convoy. Health care workers are being harassed, retail workers have been assaulted and small businesses have had to shut down.

People do not feel safe in their own city. It is completely unacceptable. At times of crisis, Canadians expect their prime minister to show leadership, but there has been no help to de-escalate this situation.

Will the Prime Minister finally meet with municipal leaders and come up with a plan so Canadians can feel safe?

[Parliamentary Staff, February 4th, 2022]

Mr. Speaker, there have been consultations and I hope that, if you seek it, you will find consent for the following motion. I move:

That the House express its gratitude to all parliamentary staff who continue to do the indispensable work needed for Parliament to function efficiently and safely through these difficult circumstances.

[Veterans Affairs, February 4th, 2022]

Mr. Speaker, veterans continue to wait for their disability supports. The backlog of applications is long and has been for years, and the minister is not committing to extend temporary workers past March 31. The list of veterans still waiting for help is far too long, and without these much needed workers, it will only get worse.

Where is the commitment from the Prime Minister to support our veterans? These temporary workers must be made permanent to honour Canada's commitment to those who served our country.

When will the minister stand up for those who stood up for us?

[Economic and Fiscal Update Implementation Act, 2021, February 2nd, 2022]

Mr. Speaker, I really appreciate having the opportunity to ask my colleague a question. I am really disappointed in the House today listening to the member for Winnipeg North talk about something that he clearly does not understand.

The reality is that a few days ago, a senior in this country was put into the ICU because they could not get their GIS after it was clawed back. It meant that a member of our community, of our country, could not get the medication for their type 2 diabetes and could not feed themselves in a way to stay healthy. They went into the ICU and last night they died. That is a human being, a senior in this country, who worked hard to build our country and did nothing wrong. Like every other working Canadian who lost their job, they applied for the only money they could to make ends meet. I really hope the government will listen to Campaign 2000, which is requesting, desperately, a small payment in advance so that seniors do not have to wait more months.

I am wondering if the member could talk about how long seniors have to wait for the government to take seriously the deaths among seniors that are due to its decisions.

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

Madam Speaker, I was really interested to hear about the member's issues around agriculture in his riding. I know in my riding there are a lot of farmers as well.

I live in a rainforest, and we are seeing drought like we have never seen before. It is very important that, as we are having these discussions, we make sure the solutions for funding from the federal government look at climate change and the impacts it is going to have on that sector.

People from one of the farms in my riding took me out and showed me they had dug a very deep hole. It had become its own little ecosystem. It filled with water from the winter months, and during the drought, the farm was able to use the water from that enormous hole to look after watering plants during temperatures over 40 degrees.

Would the member agree we need to have a regional approach that really recognizes the different ecosystems our farmers are farming in?

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

Madam Speaker, during the member's speech, I heard her speak a lot about housing and affordability. I want her to know that the housing costs of the people of North Island—Powell River have gone up in some communities by 65% to 70% in the last year. It is absolutely astonishing.

I want to let the member know that we have a lot of small rural and remote communities are desperately seeking housing for seniors because as they age, they are being forced out of their communities to much larger communities where they do not have the social infrastructure. I think of communities like Texada and Cortes Island. I think about Port Hardy, which has raised a significant amount of money, but because they cannot get the federal government to stand up and help out with any of these resources, they continue to have to send people they have known for 40 or 50 years away to larger communities.

I am wondering if the member will stand up to the government and say that it needs to see housing as a real priority, not just another talking point.

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

Madam Speaker, I am incredibly proud to be here representing the tremendous people of North Island—Powell River.

I am curious if the member could talk to the House about the fact that so many working seniors who lost their jobs because of the pandemic and applied for the only support that was available, just as every other working Canadian did, lost their guaranteed income supplement as a result. We have seniors who are losing their homes. We have seniors who cannot afford to pay for medication or food.

I wonder this: Will the member join my call to have this payment given to seniors across the country today?

[Questions Passed as Orders for Return, January 31st, 2022]

With regard to Guaranteed Income Supplement (GIS) recipients who have received payments from any support program related to COVID-19 and have experienced a reduction in GIS or become ineligible for GIS: (a) on what date did the government become aware of the risk of a GIS reduction or loss by recipients; (b) how many internal memos, presentations or other similar documents have been prepared by the government on the risk of GIS ineligibility; (c) of the documents in (b), what are their titles and dates; (d) how many meetings were held between ministerial offices and departments, including the (i) date, (ii) name and title of participants, (iii) format (in-person, Zoom, etc.); and (e) how much correspondence has been received by the government on the issue of recipients who experience a reduction or loss of their GIS?

[Questions Passed as Orders for Return, January 31st, 2022]

With regard to the Guaranteed Income Supplement (GIS), broken down by province and region and constituency: (a) how many Canadians experienced a reduction in their GIS in 2021, as a result of receiving income from a COVID-19 related financial support program, such as the Canada Emergency Response Benefit; (b) how many Canadians have applied for a reassessment of their GIS since their assessments were released in July 2021; and (c) how many GIS reassessment applications for 2021 have been successful, or are still in the process of review?