Sean Casey

[International Women's Day, March 8th, 2021]

Mr. Speaker, today on International Women's Day, we celebrate the accomplishments and leadership of women in Canada and around the world, and we recommit ourselves to moving forward to a future in which everyone has an equal chance to succeed. We know that when we invest in women's and equality-seeking organizations, we are helping to build a stronger and fairer Canada.

Recently, I announced almost $1 million in combined funding for two organizations in the great riding of Charlottetown, the P.E.I. Coalition for Women in Government and the Women's Network. This funding will help these organizations to continue to advance gender equality, which lifts up all islanders. I send congratulations and thanks to Sweta Daboo and Jillian Kilfoil for their leadership.

Since 2015, our government has invested over $4 million in P.E.I. to empower a strong and vibrant women's movement. As we continue to navigate this pandemic, I am proud to be part of a government committed to an inclusive recovery that advances gender equality and supports those who need it most.

[Committees of the House, February 26th, 2021]

Madam Speaker, I have the honour to present, in both official languages, the second report of the Standing Committee on Human Resources, Skills and Social Development and the Status of Persons with Disabilities concerning Bill C-220, an act to amend the Canada Labour Code with regard to compassionate care leave. The committee has studied the bill and has decided to report the bill back to the House with amendments.

[Black Cultural Society of Prince Edward Island, February 19th, 2021]

Madam Speaker, here in Canada's smallest and nicest province we have a vibrant Black community supported by the Black Cultural Society of Prince Edward Island.

The organization has taken some major steps forward in recent months. Its first-ever executive director, Tamara Steele, was recently named one of 33 Black Canadians making change now by Chatelaine magazine, and it is not hard to see why. Under her leadership, the Black Cultural Society of P.E.I. launched a camp for female-identifying youth of colour to be and grow together, petitioned the P.E.I. legislature for a racially focused review of provincial legislation and co-organized a huge Black Lives Matter march. The organization recently launched a Black business directory including caterers, photographers, dance instructors and clothing designers, all contributing to the island's culture and economy.

I thank Tamara and the Black Cultural Society of P.E.I. for their hard work preserving the island's Black history, promoting racial equity, and creating programs and partnerships to further the success of the Black community on P.E.I.

[Order of Canada, January 25th, 2021]

Mr. Speaker, on December 31, a Charlottetown constituent was named to the Order of Canada.

In his forties, he walked away from a secure government job to invest everything he had into a bankrupt cookware company. That company, best known by its brand Paderno, went on to tremendous success and provided stable year-round careers for a growing number of families in Prince Edward Island over the last 35 years.

His involvement with Atlantic Beef Products is also a story of resurgence. The beef plant was a major drain on government coffers when this constituent became chairman of the board. After building a strong team and then a strong brand, Atlantic Beef flourished. It is profitable and is providing meaningful employment to Islanders.

His commitment to his community was on display when he led the capital fundraising campaign for the Queen Elizabeth Hospital, which raised $23 million in 2010. This would not have been possible without the support of my mom, Joan, and I could not be more proud of my dad, Jim Casey, on his appointment to the Order of Canada.

I send my congratulations to my dad.

[Committees of the House, November 27th, 2020]

Mr. Speaker, I have the honour to present, in both official languages, the first report of the Standing Committee on Human Resources, Skills and Social Development and the Status of Persons with Disabilities regarding the Main Estimates 2020-21. Our committee has considered the votes referred to it by the House and reports the same without amendment.

We had no fewer than four ministers appear on the estimates. We want to thank them, the hard-working public servants who support them, and the members of Parliament for their work in this regard.

[Resumption of Debate on Address in Reply, September 24th, 2020]

Madam Speaker, I respectfully disagree with my hon. colleague. We set a target with respect to the protection of oceans, which we met. We will continue to strive to meet the targets.

With respect to the announcement in the throne speech of enshrining into legislation the 2050 targets, this is yet another indicator of how very seriously this government does and must take our climate targets. The record of the government with respect to meeting its oceans protection targets is an excellent example of what we are capable of and what we want to be accountable for. It is that accountability that underpins the decision to enshrine into legislation the 2050 targets.

[Resumption of Debate on Address in Reply, September 24th, 2020]

Madam Speaker, I thank my colleague for his question.

During the pandemic, I believe that there was unprecedented collaboration between the provincial and federal governments. I am convinced that this will continue. The Government of Quebec and the federal government did a good job of protecting their citizens. The areas of jurisdiction of the federal government, the Quebec government and the provincial governments are certainly being respected. I am certain and confident that this will continue.

[Resumption of Debate on Address in Reply, September 24th, 2020]

Madam Speaker, I would like to thank my hon. colleague for the passion he brings to international human rights. This is a positive contribution to all of the discussions we have in Parliament.

I would respectfully submit that the government has done an admirable job in protecting Canadians from the coronavirus right down the line, including the funds that have been rolled out and the acquisition of PPE. We can be rightly proud of the public servants and decision-makers, who have done such an excellent job in having Canadians' backs through the pandemic.

[Resumption of Debate on Address in Reply, September 24th, 2020]

Madam Speaker, I wish to advise that I will be sharing my time with the hon. member for Sherbrooke.

I appreciate the opportunity to address yesterday's throne speech and how it will impact the good people of Charlottetown, who I am so proud to represent.

I would like to begin by recognizing some people who have really shone through the pandemic. It is probably apt to begin with our public service. The public service in Canada has developed and tweaked programs on the fly that have been immensely successful in keeping Canadians safe and attending to their immediate needs. The efforts that have been made and the excellence that has been displayed merits our appreciation.

Closer to home, there are a couple of people who I also want to single out.

Back in the early days of the pandemic, I had the honour to attend a public meeting on a variety of issues. One of the constituents there was an infectious disease specialist, Dr. Greg German. Dr. German informed the people there that Prince Edward Island was ready to face the pandemic, that it was well equipped in terms of personal protective equipment and that there were protocols in place for testing. This has all completely borne out. Dr. German and his team are to be complimented for what we see now, which is a very significant increase in the testing capacity on Prince Edward Island.

Also, our chief public health officer for Prince Edward Island, Dr. Heather Morrison, has absolutely worked tirelessly to keep islanders safe, and the proof is in the pudding. On Prince Edward Island we have had very few cases of COVID. We have had no hospitalizations, no deaths and no community transmission. This is in no small measure due to the tireless efforts of Dr. Morrison. I salute her and all those who have done such a great job in keeping us safe in Prince Edward Island.

Back in the early days of the pandemic, there was outright fear. The pandemic was and is frightening. I would say that in the early days, fear was probably our greatest enemy, but I think it is also fair to say that it was a powerful motivator. It was fear that kept so many people on guard and tuned in to the daily briefings. It was fear that kept us vigilant, but that is no way to live and so we adapted. Personal protective equipment was sourced and shipped. The Canada emergency response benefit was implemented. Wages were subsidized. Money was sent to support the provinces, and the army was called in to assist at-risk seniors within our long-term care system. We adapted and we learned, and as a result, we have largely avoided the nightmare scenarios that we have seen in other countries.

We now know that it is within our ability to fight this thing, and because of that we have far less reason to be afraid. I would humbly submit that as we enter the second wave, complacency is now our biggest threat. Where fear makes people act, complacency makes them indifferent, and during a pandemic, that can be lethal. The truth is that we have been complacent about many things for some time now. It was complacency that chipped away at our social safety net, and it was complacency that created the truly horrifying situations recorded in the armed forces' report on the long-term care homes they were sent to assist.

Complacency leads to austerity. It is a philosophy that tells us we simply cannot do any better and that we should quit while we are behind. I remember the devastating impact that austerity had on Atlantic Canada during the Harper years. Nationally, it brought us not only increased inequality but also anemic growth. In yesterday's throne speech we heard that now is the time for action, not complacency and certainly not austerity.

I want to talk about something that was mentioned in the throne speech that is extremely important for Prince Edward Island and all seasonal economies, and that is the employment insurance system.

Yesterday, we heard the government's pledge to take action to reform the EI program. This is something that will be very well received in Prince Edward Island and is long overdue. I have seen first-hand men and women in the seasonal economy disadvantaged by decisions that in no way reflected the realities on the ground. One in particular that hits very close to home is the October 2014 decision taken by the Harper government to divide Prince Edward Island into two EI zones.

The result of this in a place that is as densely populated and as closely knit in Prince Edward Island is that it pit workers against one another. It pit islanders against one another, but it also did something even worse than that. It incentivized dishonesty. It incentivized people who were in one zone to have their residence listed as being in the other zone for the purpose of survival. This is something that has been rectified on an interim basis by the measures our government has taken with respect to EI. The result of the interim measures that have been taken and that will be in place for the next year is that seasonal workers and those who need the EI system across Prince Edward Island will be treated equally.

The announcement in the throne speech to reform the EI system will hopefully result in that interim measure being made permanent in a meaningful way. I will personally be advocating for public input into the measures that will be coming forward. I believe that the disastrous 2014 changes on Prince Edward Island were brought on completely without input. It is only with the people directly affected that we will achieve the right result. Employment insurance is a 20th century idea in desperate need of 21st century reforms.

We need to be completely cognizant that we are in the recovery phase. We talk about building back better, but quite frankly, that is a conversation for next month or next year. We cannot skip ahead. We have to find our feet before we can start building, but when we do, I believe that the reforms to the EI system and the Canada emergency response benefit have started a very important conversation in this country around universal basic income. I believe that universal basic income should be part of the ongoing conversations. Poverty and inequality are far too prevalent in this country despite our wealth as a nation. We have an alphabet soup of poverty reduction measures: OAS, GIS, employment insurance, Canada emergency response benefit, social assistance, workers' compensation benefit, Canada child benefit and HST rebates. All of these things constitute our social safety net. All of these things have their own rules and their own bureaucracy to make sure they get into the right hands.

There has been much written about the need to have this streamlined. This experiment that has been forced upon us as a result of the pandemic is an indicator of the potential of this idea. I believe Prince Edward Island will be uniquely positioned to serve as a pilot for such an initiative. Again, this is a conversation to be had once we find our feet.

I want to finish by offering a few comments with respect to the real existential threat in this country and that is the threat of climate change. There is plenty of room for debate on how to combat a problem that is so immense that its fallout will be measured in geological time. Here is what the government plans to bring to the table: a working plan to exceed Canada's 2030 climate goal; legislation to give Canada's goal of net-zero emissions by 2050 the weight of law; thousands of jobs retrofitting homes and buildings, which will have the added bonus of cutting energy costs; and investments to reduce the impact of climate change disasters such as floods and wildfires.

I see my time is at an end, Madam Speaker. Thank you very much for affording me an opportunity to offer some insights with respect to the throne speech. I look forward to the questions from my colleagues.

[COVID-19 Pandemic and Other Matters, July 22nd, 2020]

Madam Chair, I will be sharing my time with the member for Mississauga—Erin Mills.

Prince Edward Island has a seasonal economy. The dominant sectors are farming, fishing and tourism. Workers in these sectors produce world-class food and experiences that land on the plates and in the hearts of millions every year. They take pride in their work, and with good reason.

In 2014, the Harper government made the political decision to divide Prince Edward Island into two employment insurance zones. As a result, seasonal workers in the Charlottetown zone have to find more work to receive less EI benefits than their fellow islanders in the other zone. This has unnecessarily pitted seasonal workers against each other and created a system that incentivizes dishonesty. Despite seven years of advocacy for change, a review of these EI zones has either never taken place or has taken place without any public input. Now, in the midst of a global pandemic, the seasonal workers are scrambling to rack up enough hours to qualify. If they fail, they will face a long and cold island winter with no income.

Will the minister commit to helping these seasonal workers by reverting P.E.I to one zone and providing additional emergency supports?