Tracey Ramsey

[Business of Supply, September 27th, 2018]

Mr. Speaker, I think the member should perhaps ask his own benches that, but transportation is incredibly important to rural communities and to communities across our country.

If the member is not experiencing the crisis in housing in his region, he should count himself fortunate. As I said in my statement, I did not ever imagine that it would reach my region, with its very small rural communities. I have five municipalities in my region. We are in Windsor-Essex, which is a very affordable place to live, by all accounts, but my fear is that it will touch every corner of Canada.

I would challenge the member, because most communities have vulnerable people who are struggling for housing. They may not be people we see every single day, but I believe that there are people out there in every corner of Canada today who are struggling for the right to affordable housing. The affordable piece is so important, because there may be housing, but people may be unable to access that because they are receiving a very small amount of money monthly. If they are widowed, if they are seniors, or if they are young people, the ability right now to get a good job or to live off a pension is very difficult.

[Business of Supply, September 27th, 2018]

Mr. Speaker, I am so proud to rise to speak to our NDP motion from our wonderful colleague, the member for Saskatoon West.

Canada is facing an unprecedented housing crisis. Housing prices are exploding. I see it in my riding of Essex in all the small communities. What is happening in Toronto is starting to come down to southwestern Ontario. The cost of homes are becoming unaffordable for families. Bidding wars are happening, changing the entire affordability of homes, but also putting so much out of reach for young people and young families that want to fulfill the dream of owning a home and having something stable for themselves. We see rents increasing. There are competitions for rental units now, something we had never seen down in our region. It is really starting to come to us in a big way.

I certainly recognize that this has been an extreme challenge for Vancouver, Toronto and larger cities, but this is reaching rural Ontario and rural Canada. It is no longer just a housing crisis in big urban centres. This is impacting everyone.

We are talking about rural communities where there is very little access to transportation. There are fewer opportunities for employment. Not being able to find affordable housing or rental space is a challenge most folks cannot overcome. Unfortunately, they end up leaving communities where they have grown up, where their family, friends and support base are, because they are simply priced out of living in the towns they grew up in. That is unacceptable.

There is such a long wait-list for non-market housing, and the homelessness rate is increasing as well. There has been quite a conversation going on in Windsor about the increase in homelessness on our streets. In our municipal elections, there have been folks talking about the way to address this. What we think of as big city issues around homelessness, affordable housing, affordable rental units, and availability are becoming issues for everyone in Canada. That is certainly true in my riding of Essex.

Action on the housing crisis is needed now. The lack of affordable and adequate housing is very troubling, but it is unacceptable that in a country as wealthy as ours, we have all of these people with so much wealth desperate for affordable housing. Housing is a right.

There are measures taken by the government, but it does not seem to understand the urgency of this situation for people who are struggling to afford their homes, or to even find a home that is affordable.

I think of my wonderful legislative assistant, Melanie Sanderson, who is spending her last days with us here in the House. She is moving out to B.C. with her husband, Matt and her one-year-old daughter Violet to join the B.C. government. She will be missed horribly. A hard part of her leaving and going to this wonderful new opportunity has been trying to find housing. In Victoria, trying to find affordable housing for a young family is next to impossible. It is completely out of reach. They find themselves in a situation where they are going to have to live with some family members for a while.

This is what is becoming the reality for this generation and the next generation of families in Canada. They have to seek alternatives to housing because there are no affordable rental units available. There certainly are no affordable homes available. They are being priced out of what in the past was something it was accepted that families would do. When I was married and had a young family, people would get a home. It is a step in life. One goes to school, has a family and a home. That step is being removed entirely for our next generation. That step has been pulled out from under them by the government and its lack of action.

The idea that there is some type of housing support that is coming before the next election, before many years beyond this, is ridiculous. Families are not fooled by that. They hear the words of the government. They hear the intention, but they are not seeing it backed up by action and the resources necessary to make it a reality. That worries me for so many families across Essex who are struggling to find housing. We simply do not have enough affordable housing, and it is a challenge to find space. With the cost of real estate going up, if we do not start investing in affordable housing, in co-op housing, in housing that will help people at their most vulnerable, even shelters, then what are we doing?

This is simply a broken system. Addressing the concerns of Toronto is not good enough in Canada. We need to address the concerns of rural Canada from coast to coast to coast, including our indigenous communities. We need to have a plan that will address everyone's concerns, not a small number of people who certainly are suffering under the issue of affordable housing, there is no denying that.

It really is disheartening to see all of this funding being pushed way far out. It is very difficult for people who hear the words of the government and have some hope, who think that the government hears that they are struggling for housing, yet nothing ends up happening. There are no resources to come to Essex, to come to southwestern Ontario, to come to regions that desperately need it. What the government is presenting as its housing plan is simply not acceptable.

I want to go back a bit and talk about housing as an investment. Safe and consistent affordable housing brings dignity to the lives of people. A safe home is also a bedrock for families. It is where families can focus on finding a good job, getting education, raising their families and so much more. That is what I want for families in my riding of Essex.

I will tell members a little about Windsor-Essex and the low income we have there.

In 2013, a national household survey showed that our low-income population was at a rate of 18.3%, compared to 13.9% across Ontario and 14.9% nationally. We are well above these averages. Therefore, we already have a very vulnerable population in our region.

In a 2010 study, in Windsor, 33.3% of low-income households were located in very low-income neighbourhoods. This is the highest percentage across Canada. Poor housing options are a vicious cycle that is almost impossible to break out of, especially for our youth.

We could have a conversation about the challenges that face our youth, such as affordable education and finding good jobs in our communities. To then face the ultimate challenge of not even being able to have a roof over their head is something that is driving young people in my region out of their home communities and away from their families, which is heartbreaking.

I want to say that gender also plays a role. We are here celebrating gender equity this week across Canada. There is no place that economic division in Canada is split more widely than it is among gender lines. The inequality is all the more striking when we talk about housing statistics. In 2010, a study found that in Windsor-Essex 41.8% of female-led, lone-parent families lived in poverty. That is more than three times the general population for our region.

We have a crisis of poverty in our region. We have one in four children living in poverty in Windsor-Essex. Housing is such a basic right for people, regardless of their income. However, those who are the most vulnerable are the ones who suffer the most when we do not have a comprehensive strategy to ensure that people have a roof over their heads in our country.

Seniors are living on fixed incomes. I think about Jim in my riding who is living in co-op housing. Jim has a small pension. He was living in co-op housing when the current government raised the GIS, which he also is receiving. It raised the GIS by such a small amount, and on the heels of that happening the co-op housing raised his rent. Therefore, Jim ended up with $5 extra a month to go and have a Tim Hortons coffee. It is unacceptable. Our most vulnerable, our seniors, our senior women are filling our shelters because they are homeless. They have nowhere to go. Affordable housing is completely out of their reach. They are receiving the bare minimum. Many of them are widows. Because many of our manufacturing facilities have closed in southwestern Ontario, they have pennies on the dollar of their husbands' pensions. Keeping their home is paramount to their health, and to the health of all of our communities.

We owe Canadians the right to housing in our country.

[International Trade, September 27th, 2018]

Yesterday, U.S. president Donald Trump signalled that the NAFTA renegotiations are not going well, and he threatened once again to tax Canadian cars. Ericka and Jason are auto workers who live in Belle River, in my riding. Like tens of thousands of other auto workers, they are very concerned about these repeated attacks. They are worried that their jobs will be lost if Canada fails to secure a better NAFTA.

My question is for the Prime Minister. Is NAFTA dead in the water, and what is his plan to defend Canadian jobs if the U.S. moves ahead with auto tariffs?

[Business of Supply, September 25th, 2018]

Mr. Speaker, I would really like to thank my colleague from London—Fanshawe for all of her hard work to advocate for and speak for veterans in the House when they feel they have been mistreated by the previous Conservative government and the current Liberal government. I commend her on her work. She is deeply respected in the veterans community. Her voice is desperately needed in this conversation today.

The Liberals have failed veterans. They failed to meet their target to have an adequate number of case managers to even help veterans, as my colleague mentioned. Beyond the lack of front-line services, veterans have to wait longer to find out if they qualify for benefits, and this growing backlog is unacceptable.

The Liberals are going back on their election commitment and are failing to live up to the service standards, while not spending money approved by Parliament to help veterans. The money is there. However, it is not being spent by the Liberals. As the opposition, the Liberals blasted Stephen Harper for doing the exact same thing.

Could the member for London—Fanshawe comment on the hypocrisy of this?

[International Trade, September 25th, 2018]

Mr. Speaker, Canadians expect the Liberals to secure a new NAFTA that defends our jobs in key sectors. A new poll shows Canadians also want a deal that defends access to affordable prescription medications, but according to reports, negotiators are considering U.S. proposals that would lead to higher drug costs for Canadians and for public drug plans.

I think of my constituent, Cheryl. Every year she must pay thousands of dollars out of pocket for heart and blood pressure medication. Will the Prime Minister commit that NAFTA 2.0 will not raise the cost of drugs for Canadians?

[International Trade, September 19th, 2018]

Mr. Speaker, I am sorry but that is an extremely poor response when we know that only $11,000 has flowed out of the money that the member is speaking about.

I want to give kudos to our WindsorEssex Economic Development Corporation. Stephen MacKenzie, who is the CEO, Marion Fantetti, Rakesh Naidu, Wendy Stark, Lana Drouillard and Lee McGrath are an amazing team. They attended, along with me, an event that was held by the Canadian Association of Moldmakers over the summer. Some 250 people came on two days' notice to talk about the impact in our region of the steel and aluminum tariffs.

They did a survey and 10% to 99% of their steel and 50% to 100% of their aluminum purchases are from the U.S. They need exemptions, and they are not able to get them from the government. They are asking that the processing of requests be timely, that they do not wait up to six months. Also, information on programs and services needs to be clear and consistent.

Ultimately, the New Democratic Party is calling for a national tariff task force. Our country is in a crisis under the Trump tariffs. Windsor-Essex is feeling the brunt of that. Will the Liberals join us, strike this task force, and talk about how we can use the money that we are collecting to—

[International Trade, September 19th, 2018]

Mr. Speaker, I rose in the House on April 19, which was 12 days before the U.S. tariffs on aluminum and steel came down. It was a very difficult time, but it pales in comparison to where we find ourselves today. I want to remind members that we are talking about 146,000 direct and indirect good-paying steel and aluminum jobs across our country, many of which are in my riding of Essex, certainly in southwestern Ontario in Windsor-Essex.

At that time the Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Foreign Affairs was reassuring us that they were going to be able to achieve this permanent exemption. They felt that they were working hard on it and were working hard to make this become a reality. As we know, 12 days later, we were slammed with the steel and aluminum tariffs which for the last five months we have really been suffering under greatly. Working people across our country are losing their jobs. Small business owners in my region are faced with closing their doors.

This reassurance did not come to pass and it is deeply unfortunate. It is incumbent on the government to continue the efforts to get a permanent exemption. I know that the government has tried to remove this and extract it from NAFTA, but to say that these things are not connected is simply fooling Canadians because these things are all deeply connected to the difficult times we are having with the United States right now.

In the NAFTA negotiations we have to have a conversation about the steel and aluminum tariffs and the impacts as well as the looming threat of a 25% auto tariff which is quite considerable.

The Liberals' failures are hurting workers and industries across this country. The Prime Minister all but promised he would secure a deal with former President Obama on softwood lumber but that did not happen. With regard to the CPTPP, the Liberals promised a progressive renegotiation, yet what we see is anything but progressive. In fact, “progressive” has been removed from the Prime Minister's mandate letter to the new Minister of International Trade Diversification.

In CETA, the Liberals promised new markets and support for Canada's supply-managed sectors, but one year into CETA and Canada's trade imbalance with the EU is growing and our support is not reaching our dairy farmers and our other supply-managed sectors.

The Liberals pledged to secure a good deal for Canada under NAFTA. Time is running out and Canadians are deeply worried.

On U.S. tariffs, again the Liberals pledged to secure a permanent exemption, but obviously this did not happen. Now our auto sector is very concerned that it will be faced with the same job-killing tariffs.

It is clear that the Liberals' trade strategy is not delivering the results they promised for working Canadians. Canada has roughly collected $300 million in retaliatory tariffs in the surtaxes that have been imposed on U.S. goods after President Trump's imposition of the steel and aluminum tariffs and our reciprocal tariffs.

Two billion dollars was promised by the Liberals to support these sectors and it is simply not reaching them. The amount that has reached them is $11,000. I am going to repeat that because someone asked me today if I had omitted a zero. I have not. Some $11,000 has been paid out. I have businesses in my riding that are desperate. Workers are worried about whether they are going to have a job to go to tomorrow. The government is failing at delivering this package to them. It is failing in giving them support.

The New Democrats have called on the government to establish a national tariff task force. This is exactly what we need to do at this critical time in our trading relationships to support workers across this country.

[Take Back the Night, September 19th, 2018]

Mr. Speaker, for too many women across Canada, gender-based violence is a part of their reality. To this day, the stigma and the threat of retaliation have prevented women from speaking out against their abusers. Too many cases have been shrouded in darkness. Women come together to provide support for one another and raise their united voices against harassment and gender-based violence.

In Windsor-Essex, our “Take Back The Night” event is happening this Friday. Take Back The Night is a grassroots organization focused on uniting women to stand together, refusing to be silent about gender-based violence. Events will be hosted in communities across Canada and in over 30 countries globally. Women across the country will come together to support each other's struggles, be inspired by the strength of survivors and to remember the women we have lost to violence.

I invite women from across Canada and my colleagues in this House to join in their local events. This Friday, I look forward to seeing women raise a candle high and adding their voice as we take back the streets and take back the night for all women.

[Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership Implementation Act, September 18th, 2018]

Madam Speaker, I have a lot of respect for the member opposite, but I am very disappointed in her today to not even mention auto, to not talk about the vibrant auto community in Whitby or Oshawa. Unifor Local 222 president Colin James represents 21,000 members. I am talking about the harm to auto, the loss of jobs to auto, how many people will be out of work who will not be able to enjoy Whitby in the way that she described it because of the CPTPP.

The member spoke about the tech industry. I will read a quote from committee, which heard from Jim Balsillie, the former CEO of the Canadian company Research In Motion. He said, “there's nothing in TPP that is specifically advancing any Canadian companies.” Canada would be a “colossal loser” under the TPP.

I want to go back to auto. I hope the member has done the work on this, representing auto workers. I would like her to explain to the House the interpretation of the CPTPP rules of origin and the connection to auto jobs being threatened in her riding of Whitby. I will note that the automotive parts manufacturers are predicting 20,000 jobs lost across our supply chain in Ontario.

I would ask her to explain to the House her interpretation of the rules of origin and why she thinks the CPTPP is good for auto.

[Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership Implementation Act, September 18th, 2018]

Madam Speaker, my colleague is on the trade committee. We have sat there since the election and I have enjoyed our time there. He, like I, spent a very long time travelling with the trade committee across Canada. We heard from over 400 witnesses on the original TPP. There is very little difference between the CPTPP and what was the original TPP. That is certainly true for the Dairy Farmers of Canada, which when it heard the news that we had signed on to the CPTPP, called it “a sombre day” for the 221,000 Canadians who depended on the dairy sector for their livelihood.

The president of the Dairy Farmers of Canada, Pierre Lampron, stated:

On the one hand, the Canadian government has repeatedly stated that it wants a vibrant, strong, and growing dairy sector that creates jobs and fosters investments; on the other hand, it continues to carve out pieces of our domestic dairy market, first through CETA, and now through the CPTPP.

It is interested in another thing, and I will ask of my colleague today. I think we all recognize that the dairy sector is present in a majority of our ridings. This is a huge political conversation we are having. Therefore, the Dairy Farmers of Canada is interesting in hearing how MPs will explain these concessions to the dairy community in Canada. That is my question to the member.