Employment  Mr. Speaker, it has been a devastating 12 months for Canadians, and it sounds like we are going to be in this for another seven months, if not longer. Three million Canadians remain out of work and remain on government support programs. We know that women’s workforce participation has been set back 30 years.

Employment  Mr. Speaker, I did not actually hear a plan for recovery for Canadian women. This week the Deputy Prime Minister and the Liberal government praised themselves for establishing a women's task force for recovery, an entire year after 1.5 million women lost their jobs in the onset of the pandemic.

Women and Gender Equality  Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister has presided over the largest decline of female workforce employment and has set us back 30 years. There are 500,000 women who remain out of work. In fact, 10 times as many men than women have re-entered the workforce during the pandemic and 100,000 women have stopped looking for work all together because there are no opportunities available to them.

Employment Insurance Act  Madam Speaker, I will note that the member did not dispute any of my claims or the claim that his Liberal government had not provided an end date or any hope or commitment for Canadians. I will refer him to the parents who tell me their little children are depressed, or the wives whose husbands have been laid off and whose self-confidence has plummeted to dangerous levels or the elderly who have been emotional with me on the phone, saying they do not want to spend their last few months or years on this Earth alone in a room.

Employment Insurance Act  Madam Speaker, it certainly is nice to see Winnipegers up today. I understand where the member is coming from. I really feel there is this loss of hope, this despair. People do not have a choice. They have no power. There is nothing they can do when their businesses are closing.

Employment Insurance Act  Madam Speaker, when I was the critic for immigration, I saw the vast mistreatment and the lack of dignity for new immigrants and newcomers. Again, the Prime Minister and the Liberals have provided no strategy and no plan on how to reopen our economy, how to return to our free lives, other than vaccinations, maybe by September, and maybe that is when we will reopen.

Employment Insurance Act  Madam Speaker, today the House of Commons is debating Bill C-24. There are two key components of the legislation. First, the legislation would increase the maximum number of weeks available to workers through EI up to a maximum of 50 weeks for claims that are established between September 27, 2020, and September 25, 2021.

Employment Insurance Act  Madam Speaker, I ask for unanimous consent to share my time with the hon. member for Carleton.

Employment Insurance Act  Madam Speaker, the hon. minister mentioned that she cannot stress enough the timely passage of this bill. I do hear her on that. She also mentioned there are labour market conditions her department has been monitoring since September, but likely before that, since the government instituted the CERB and the EI changes.

National Defence  Mr. Speaker, the public has just learned that in February a senior naval officer in the Canadian Armed Forces alerted the Liberal defence minister's office to an allegation of sexual misconduct against the chief of the defence staff, Art McDonald. In response, it is alleged that he was told to report his concern elsewhere.

Youth  Mr. Speaker, young Canadians and their parents are growing increasingly concerned about the alarming decline of job opportunities as a result of the government's response to the pandemic. Experts are saying that it will be a decade before opportunities for our young people return to pre-pandemic levels.

Business of Supply  Mr. Speaker, I really admire my colleague's public speaking abilities. They are fantastic. My question concerns, of course, her motion. I have a concern that research has not been done on the impact the top-up will have on low-income seniors who receive GIS. My concern is that this top-up to OAS may kick a number of seniors off the GIS, making them ineligible to receive it, or that there may be a clawback of it.

Business of Supply  Madam Speaker, in his remarks, the hon. parliamentary secretary referenced the struggles that seniors have gone through from isolation during the pandemic. We have all heard from our constituents about this, and we know that 96% of fatalities from COVID-19 have been among those 60 and older.

Pink Shirt Day  Mr. Speaker, today is Pink Shirt Day, a day to stand together against bullying. The pandemic has left millions of Canadians more isolated than ever, with many of us moving online to safely socialize. Unfortunately, bullying and harassment have also moved online, adding to the major mental health challenges already being faced by many Canadians, particularly children, during this difficult and unprecedented time.

Criminal Code  Mr. Speaker, I greatly appreciate the academic and legal vigour that my hon. colleague applies to his arguments. My question is about my colleague's personal beliefs. He mentioned that the government will expand or extend the Senate amendment of 18 months on review for mental illness to 24 months and then provide another year to consider whatever an expert panel recommends.