Sean Casey

[Election of Speaker, October 3rd, 2023]

Mr. Chair, I would like to begin by acknowledging that we are on the traditional unceded territory of the Algonquin people who have lived on these lands for millennia. We recognize the enduring presence of first nations, Métis and Inuit peoples on this territory.

It is with great humility that I rise to offer my candidacy as the Speaker of the House of Commons.

I have been in the workforce for 34 years. One half of that time has been spent as a litigator. When I was called to the bar of Prince Edward Island in 1989, the presiding judge, Mr. Justice Gerard Mitchell as he then was, reminded me that as a member of the bar, I was an officer of the court and that my first duty was to the court. It was not to my clients, not to my firm, but to the court. Throughout my legal career, there were professional differences, robust debates and aggressive cross-examinations, but the respect for the administration of justice, the professional code of conduct and the rule of law transcended everything.

I offer this comment not to say that we need more lawyers in this House, as for God's sake we have enough already, but to say that the level of respect for Parliament and the office of the Speaker has taken an incredible beating in this session of Parliament, especially in question period, and it does not need to. A vigorous and relentless prosecution of an issue is not made stronger by the repeated flouting of the rules of this place or by defying the Speaker. It denigrates this institution and all of us, its temporary occupants.

I believe it is time for a reset, and the election of a Speaker in the middle of a parliamentary session is a historically unique opportunity to do just that. We can do better and we must. If individual members are willing to be part of a collective effort to restore public confidence in the way we treat each other and the rules of Parliament, then I would be honoured to lead that cause. If, on the other hand, members are comfortable with the current state of decorum and level of respect for the office of the Speaker, please do not vote for me.

I was first elected to Parliament in 2011 and proudly took my seat as an MP for the third party. We were in the Centre Block at the time. I spent four years as a member of the third party, then four years as parliamentary secretary to three different ministers, and the last four years as chair of standing committees. This variety of experience informs my perspective and approach to everything I do and makes it less difficult for me to put myself in the position of the MPs I am talking to. I submit this experience to the House.

The events of September 22 were unfortunate, embarrassing and hurtful. A good man, with a deep respect for all of us and for this place, acknowledged his mistake and gave up a role that he took extremely seriously as a servant of the House.

I would like to take this opportunity to thank the hon. member for Nipissing—Timiskaming for his service and to welcome him back to caucus.

It will now be up to the next Speaker to make sure that this never happens again and that the proper procedures and protocols are adhered to. It will also be important that the new Speaker reach out to the communities that were hurt, including Jewish Canadians.

I am ready to accept members' advice on how to lead this outreach.

I want to thank my wife Deirdre and my family for their unwavering support in this pursuit.

I am immensely grateful to the voters of Charlottetown, who have sent me back to Parliament four times to be their voice. Quite frankly, after all the good wishes I received in the riding on the weekend, I really wish they were eligible to vote.

I will bring a breadth of experience, tough love, progressive discipline and a quick wit to the role of Speaker. If hon. members share my view that these are the key ingredients for Parliament at this point in our history, then I humbly ask for their support.

If I may, tomorrow is my mom's birthday and I know she is watching. Happy birthday to her.

[Committees of the House, June 21st, 2023]

Madam Speaker, I have the honour to present, in both official languages, the 15th report of the Standing Committee on Health, in relation to Bill C-284, an act to establish a national strategy for eye care.

The committee has studied the bill and has decided to report the bill back to the House with amendments.

I would like to congratulate the sponsor, the hon. member for Humber River—Black Creek, for being perfectly impatient in guiding the bill to this stage, and committee members for their thoughtful and thorough consideration of the bill and amendments.

[Big Day of Giving, June 12th, 2023]

Mr. Speaker, on May 24, the Queen Elizabeth Hospital Foundation held its second annual Big Day of Giving in Prince Edward Island.

The Big Day of Giving is a fundraiser for critical health care equipment and an opportunity to share stories from health care workers and patients across the island. This year's fundraising focus was on cancer care, mental health and addictions, and neonatal care.

I am honoured to inform the House that this year's Big Day of Giving produced a whopping $861,000, over $210,000 more than last year. This will help to pay for 14% of this year's equipment needs at the hospital. This resounding success speaks to the remarkable generosity of islanders and their dedication to our community.

I offer my heartfelt thanks and warm congratulations to all who helped to organize and deliver such a memorable event. I also offer much gratitude to each and every selfless donor. This is yet another example of what makes P.E.I. great and what makes me so very proud to serve them in this place.

[Budget Implementation Act, 2023, No. 1, June 6th, 2023]

Mr. Speaker, it is a difficult question. For the CERB program to have integrity, there need to be checks at the end of the day to determine eligibility. It is my firm belief that the CRA should be acting with compassion with respect to collection efforts. It is my understanding that it is.

The record of this government, particularly with the onset of Bill C-22, is one where people with disabilities have made and will continue to make better progress than they have under any other government. However, compassion in collection efforts is absolutely critical. I do not think they should be wiped out.

[Budget Implementation Act, 2023, No. 1, June 6th, 2023]

Mr. Speaker, the member is right. Canada really does have an affordable housing crisis. We have indeed invested in a lot of programs to address that. There is still a lot of work to be done because it is true, the statistics cannot be denied. We continue to work hard to develop and finance good programs to try to make a difference.

I think it is very important for everyone here, the members from all parties, to work together to give advice and collaborate. We all have the same goals. We must recognize that it is a real problem; we have invested in possible solutions, but it is still a problem, I agree.

[Budget Implementation Act, 2023, No. 1, June 6th, 2023]

Mr. Speaker, as someone who was here in the tail end of the decade of darkness and witnessed the Harper government run deficit after deficit after deficit, attempting to cut its way to economic growth and exhibiting a period of economic growth that was the worst since the Great Depression, I really am loath to buy into the idea that austerity and cuts can get us to prosperity. Those cuts were disproportionate in our part of the country. They struck us particularly hard. I will make absolutely no excuse and absolutely no apology for the philosophy of this government to invest in Canadians and especially in our regions.

[Budget Implementation Act, 2023, No. 1, June 6th, 2023]

Mr. Speaker, it is indeed a genuine pleasure for me to be able to be here to speak to the substance of Bill C-47, the budget implementation act. I say this because so much time has been spent dealing with whether we should now adjourn the House or adjourn debate, or whether one member or another of the Conservatives should now be heard. We have spent time sitting mute during a lengthy filibuster at the finance committee, where there was a detailed elocution on the fishing of eels, or seeing members insist that the bells ring for 15 minutes at the end of question period before a vote. These are not the reasons why the good people of Charlottetown sent me to Parliament. They sent me to be the voice of Charlottetown here in Ottawa and to speak to substantive issues such as those presented in the legislation, Bill C-47, so I am particularly pleased to be here and have the opportunity to carry out that role.

Before we can look forward, it is important to know where we are at currently. I would like to, of course, bring a Prince Edward Island perspective to this debate. I will start by highlighting a recent report from the Public Policy Forum entitled “The Atlantic Canada Momentum Index”. This report outlines the progress made across the Atlantic region over the last decade.

Members may also be interested to know that just today there was an op-ed in the local newspaper, penned by former Progressive Conservative prime minister Brian Mulroney, talking about the remarkable progress that has been made in our region since he was prime minister and was overseeing the establishment of the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency.

Going back to the “Atlantic Canada Momentum Index”, the report outlines the progress made across the region over the last decade, looking at 20 key indicators. In particular, I want to highlight the great work that has been done in Prince Edward Island. In the 2015 to 2022 period, 17 of the 20 indicators experienced an improvement in P.E.I. These are things such as housing, immigration, business investment, and R and D spending. Prince Edward Island had the highest and best performance of all of the Atlantic provinces. This is fantastic news for Islanders. It demonstrates that real progress is taking place.

The Conservatives do not like when we trumpet positive economic news about the region. The common critique we hear is that we are saying that things have never been so good. There is no denying that there are significant challenges. We have made positive growth, but Canadians and Islanders face significant challenges. When I talk to people in Charlottetown, whether while door knocking or when at the farmers' market on the weekend, the three challenges they want to talk about are the cost of living, health care and climate change. Undoubtedly, as a government, there is much more to do. We cannot sit on the sidelines. That is why the budget implementation act and budget 2023 have been brought forward, specifically to make sustainable steps to address these challenges.

I want to talk for a minute about the grocery rebate and its importance. It is undoubtedly more expensive to put food on the table. Islanders have had to carry the burden of some of the highest inflation rates in the country. Aside from one month, Prince Edward Island had the highest inflation rate in Canada every month for two years, from March 2021 to March 2023. This is in large measure because of the disproportionate dependence on home heating oil and the increase in price in that regard.

In Charlottetown, the median after-tax household income is $58,000, so in general, Islanders have to pay more but earn less. We know that the burden of inflation is impacting the pockets of many people across the country. That is why the government has responded in this budget, and in this budget implementation act, with the grocery rebate to support those most in need.

For 11 million low- and modest-income Canadians, the grocery rebate will provide eligible couples with two children an extra $467, single Canadians without kids an extra $234, and seniors an extra $225 on average. It is absolutely unfathomable that with all of the stories of hardship I hear, especially from seniors, we have these procedural, partisan games blocking those payments. It is my sincere hope that people will come to their senses and accept the reasons they have been sent here, that debate in a substantive way will proceed on Bill C-47 and that it will get to a vote and get to implementation so that people who need that money in these inflationary times will be able to get it. I hope other priorities will not stand in the way of that progress.

We know that many Canadians have had to choose between putting food on the table and other necessities. One thing that is often on the back burner is dental care. In 2018, more than one in five Canadians reported avoiding dental care because of the cost. With the recent increased cost of living, we can assume even more Canadians cannot access dental services due to cost.

That is why in the fall of 2022 we introduced the Canada dental benefit. Since December, over 300,000 Canadian children have accessed dental care services. To build on this, in budget 2023, our government will invest $13 billion over five years in the Canadian dental care plan. The plan will provide dental coverage for uninsured Canadians with annual family incomes of less than $90,000, with no copays for those with family incomes under $70,000. This includes seniors, children and people with disabilities.

I have heard seniors in my riding, after hearing coverage of the budget, asking when the dental care plan will start and when they can start to access it. The news is out there and people are looking forward to it. There is absolutely a need, especially for seniors who are struggling, and quite frankly we need to get on with it.

In addition to budget 2023, the budget implementation act demonstrates a clear effort to address the cost of living by supporting those in need. I mentioned earlier how often I hear from seniors who are having a hard time and how very frustrated they will be if the grocery rebate is further delayed.

One other measure that has been taken, not for seniors on the lower end but for those in receipt of federally regulated pensions, is adding some flexibility to the payments under those pensions. That will help those in the middle class among retired people. That is important in my area, because Prince Edward Island is the only place in Canada outside the national capital region that has a national headquarters of a federal government department, that being the Department of Veterans Affairs. We have a disproportionate number of retired federal servants. This matters to them and it needs to go forward.

The last thing I will touch on before wrapping up is the tools deduction. In P.E.I. we have among the lowest vacancy rates in the country. For apartments it is 0.9% and for bachelor apartments it is 0%. For love or money, one cannot find a bachelor apartment in Prince Edward Island. One of the measures in the budget implementation act is to give a break to tradespeople. We need to show as much love to tradespeople as possible, because with 1,500 vacant construction jobs in Prince Edward Island, there is a major bottleneck in getting the houses built that we need.

In conclusion, I would like to highlight that Prince Edward Island has experienced positive growth and momentum in recent years. While we have made progress, the cost of living, health care and climate change continue to be major concerns of Islanders and Canadians. I encourage all of my colleagues to help address these shared challenges and to focus efforts on the things that matter to our constituents, not partisanship and not procedural games. Let us support Bill C-47, the budget implementation act.

[Committees of the House, May 31st, 2023]

Mr. Speaker, I have the honour to present, in both official languages, the 14th report of the Standing Committee on Health, in relation to Bill C-293, an act respecting pandemic prevention and preparedness.

The committee has studied the bill and, pursuant to Standing Order 97.1(1), humbly requests a 30-day extension to consider it.

[Multiple Sclerosis, May 3rd, 2023]

Mr. Speaker, approximately one in 400 Canadians lives with multiple sclerosis. MS can happen to anyone, without warning. Canada is home to many world-leading MS researchers. New scientific discoveries, like the research that identified the Epstein-Barr virus as the leading risk factor for developing MS, are within our grasp and can change the outcome of the disease. Canada has one of the highest rates of MS in the world. Let us prioritize and fund the research that shows so much promise. Families living with MS are eagerly awaiting the passage and implementation of the Canada disability benefit and an El sickness benefit that takes episodic illness into account.

Today, in honour of MS Awareness Month, I am wearing a carnation to show my solidarity with the MS community. I ask my fellow parliamentarians to join me to support MS Canada's quest to accelerate MS research and legislation that will have a life-changing impact on those living with multiple sclerosis.

[Committees of the House, April 26th, 2023]

Mr. Speaker, I have the honour to present, in both official languages, the following two reports of the Standing Committee on Health.

The committee's 12th report concerns the main estimates 2023-24.

In addition, I present the 13th report, in relation to Bill C-252, an act to amend the Food and Drugs Act, on the prohibition of food and beverage marketing directed at children.

The committee has studied the bill and has decided to report the bill back to the House with amendments.