Questions Passed as Orders for Returns  With regard to funding for homelessness support through Reaching Home, since March 2020, broken down by province and territory, and by program: (a) what is the total spent to date as a proportion of available funds; (b) what is the total number of applications; (c) of the applications in (b), how many were approved and how many were denied; and (d) of the applications denied in (c), what is the rationale for each denied application?

Broadcasting Act  Madam Speaker, my colleague spoke about the CBC and the fact that the CBC is no longer in local communities. I wonder if the member would be supportive of contributing more funding to the CBC and doing more to protect our cherished public broadcaster so that it does not have to minimize its participation in our local communities, but also does not have to resort to tandem broadcasting on our public platforms.

Business of Supply  Mr. Speaker, a lot of the concerns and issues the member raised brought something to my mind. When I look back at the last 10 months, the New Democrats were the ones who were able to get the wage subsidy up to 75%; the New Democrats were the ones who got historic sick days for Canadian workers; and the New Democrats were the ones who were able to keep the CERB at $2,000.

Business of Supply  Madam Speaker, I hope my colleague and neighbour from St. Albert—Edmonton will indulge me. I want to ask a question about supports for women. We know investment in small businesses that include women is at about 2.2%. Women are 51% of the population and about 2.2% of the investment.

Business of Supply  Madam Speaker, my question is regarding some of the supports we have had for small businesses. In my riding of Edmonton Strathcona, a number of small businesses have really suffered because they were not able to access the rent subsidy program. Like the member said, the program was improved and made much better in the second iteration, but it did not help those who needed the help going back to the beginning of the pandemic.

Taxation  Madam Speaker, the banks are making record profits, and big corporations and their CEOs have gotten richer during the pandemic. Instead of going after the ultrawealthy, instead of implementing a wealth tax and instead of shutting loopholes for offshore tax havens, the Liberals are now making the self-employed pay back the support they received in good faith through the CERB.

Health  Mr. Speaker, patients in ICUs in Alberta are being forced to share rooms, the use of oxygen is being limited and now the Red Cross has been called in and field hospitals are being set up: field hospitals in Edmonton, in Canada. Yesterday, the Ontario health minister defended the Ford government by saying, at least it is not as bad as Jason Kenney.

Business of Supply  Madam Speaker, like the member, I am very concerned about the care our seniors are receiving across the country, and certainly would welcome national standards that ensured that all seniors across the country receive the care that we know they deserve. One of the things that I think would provide the hope that she so desperately would like our seniors to have is knowing that, going into another pandemic, we would not be in this situation.

Business of Supply  Madam Speaker, the member's questions and comments are very important and very meaningful. He will know that my province of Alberta has the highest number of active cases of COVID-19 in the country. We have more than provinces that have much higher populations. In fact, today we have learned that the provincial government has asked for field hospitals in our cities to help with the COVID-19 stresses in Alberta.

Official Languages  Madam Speaker, I want to just make a point. The Campus Saint-Jean is more than just a vital French language, post-secondary institution in Alberta and Western Canada. It is also the cultural and socio-economic hub of the francophone community in Edmonton. The government has clearly stated its commitment to new investments to help train, recruit and attract teachers in immersion and second official language programs across Canada.

Official Languages  Madam Speaker, I stand today to ask for a response to a question that I asked earlier in the sitting. The mandate of the Minister of Economic Development and Official Languages outlines the government's commitment to Canada's official languages in minority settings and calls for investment in infrastructure to support minority communities, including schools.

Business of Supply  Mr. Speaker, I want to follow up on the comments my colleague just made about ensuring provincial governments have the ability to make decisions. She talks about the fact that Quebec has a wonderful child care program and does not need national standards and these sorts of things.

Business of Supply  Madam Speaker, one of my questions is around the Canada Health Act. I know my colleague is extremely knowledgeable about that act. When the transfer payments to provinces become so low, like they are now, and increasingly get lower and lower as we go forward, how does that impact our ability to ensure that Canadians across the country can access the same level of care and ensure that the different provincial jurisdictions do not privatize some services or chip away at that very cherished public universally accessible system?

Business of Supply  Madam Speaker, my colleague is a strong voice in our caucus. He is a leader in representing the people of Quebec in the House. I want to ask about long-term care. We have seen critical and devastating conditions across the country with respect to long-term care. We have seen too little action from the Liberal government.

Business of Supply  Madam Speaker, I would like to thank the member for his comments. I apologize for speaking in English. I will learn. My question is around the supports for our essential workers. We know how much they have done during this pandemic and how important they have been. However, one of the problems we are having in Alberta is that our provincial government will not actually take the money that the federal government has allocated to top up wages for essential workers.