Statements by Members
Buongiorno, signor Presidente. The Liberals have had eight years to make our streets safer and they have made things worse. The Liberals and their soft-on-crime policies most recently allowed a man previously arrested for assault to reoffend and assault an innocent senior. An 89-year-old elderly woman was attacked, unprovoked, in January while simply walking along the sidewalks in Toronto in broad…
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Mr. Speaker, I am not doubting that we need to take care of our children. Our children are our future. I have no doubt of that. My question is, do we have enough staff to support these child care centres and do we have enough spaces? I have not personally seen any evidence of that. We need to ensure that all this documentation is provided to all members of this House so that we can also ensure tha…
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Madam Speaker, my concern with this bill is this: As a young widow, I had two young children, and I had no choice but to work to ensure they had a home to live in and food on the table. However, unfortunately I did not have the type of job that was nine to five, so I had difficulties finding a day care that was open as early as six o'clock in the morning, and some nights as late as 10 o'clock at n…
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Mr. Speaker, I do not think the member understood what I was saying. I am not against child care. The Conservatives are not against child care. However, what about the individuals like our grandparents who have to give up their opportunity for retirement to help raise their grandchildren? What about myself, when I was left as a young widow and did not have the choice of $10 day care? My hours were…
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Mr. Speaker, I enjoy working with my hon. colleague on the status of women committee. We should learn from what Quebec is doing. I have no issues with that at all. However, we also need to ensure that, province by province, we are all different. Each province has different needs, and we need to ensure that each province will at least adhere to the principles that we know will protect our children …
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Madam Speaker, I rise today on behalf of my constituents of King—Vaughan. Bill C-35, an act respecting early learning and child care in Canada, sets a vision for a Canada-wide early learning and child care system committed to ongoing collaboration with provinces and indigenous people to support efforts to “establish and maintain”. Just over 52% of Canadian children younger than six years were in l…
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Madam Speaker, I rise today to present a petition about our children. Children are our future and the killing of children is always wrong. Without our children, we have no future. I stand here on behalf of my constituents today to demand that we stop the killing of our children. It is always wrong.
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Mr. Speaker, I have an easy response to that. I have no confidence in the government, because as a senior, I see there is no responsibility taken by the government to ensure seniors can live their retirement as they planned.
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Mr. Speaker, the Liberals' fall economic statement outlines an agenda on how to support Canadians struggling with the cost of living, where, theoretically, no one is left behind. Guess what. Canadian seniors were left behind. In a document with almost 40,000 words, seniors were only mentioned 16 times. Statistics Canada indicates that the population of seniors is expanding six times faster than th…
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Mr. Speaker, what is despicable is the fact that the Liberals decided that being a senior starts at the age of 75. How would he explain to seniors between the ages of 65 and 74 why they are not getting the benefits—
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Mr. Speaker, I think it is my turn.
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Mr. Speaker, heating is important in this country. We live in a country where winter is the predominant season. Whether the increase happens this year or next year, it is going to happen, and the people in Newfoundland and Labrador cannot afford it.
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Mr. Speaker, I think what we need to do is go back to understand what our parents raised us with. They always expressed to us that we cannot make a dollar and spend a hundred. It does not work that way. We have to plan for the future. For our seniors, what is important is that they did work. They raised their four or five children. They should not be penalized. They should have the opportunity to …
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Mr. Speaker, I am a little confused. I do not understand the question. I did not speak about cutting at 65. I spoke about the fact that the Liberals have implemented that seniors get that extra bonus at the age of 75. When is the retirement age? Is it 65 or 75?
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Mr. Speaker, I think what we have to do is understand that there is a point where seniors require that minimum amount. What is that minimum amount? It is going to depend on the individual and their lifestyle, but what is important is that, when a partner is gone, that pension is lost. It should be retained.
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With regard to government statistics on court-imposed sentences for those convicted of crimes which carry a maximum possible sentence of 10 years or more, broken down by type of crime or criminal code violation, and by year in which the sentence was given, since January 1, 2016: (a) how many people were convicted; (b) what is the breakdown by length of sentence, including those sentenced to (i) no…
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Mr. Speaker, in only one month, 1.5 million individuals used the food bank. The fact is that a lot of seniors now depend on the food bank for survival. Unfortunately, due to the Liberal government's careless spending practices, life for people who founded this country is no longer affordable. For our seniors, who raised us, fed us and cared for us, will the Liberal government show compassion and s…
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Madam Speaker, I volunteer in several long-term care homes. I have a lot of experience volunteering in them. I also had the opportunity to speak recently with the CEO of UniversalCare. One of the most important things he mentioned was the lack of staff. He has applied numerous times to have people come over from other countries who are nurses and PSWs qualified to assist us in these homes. Unfortu…
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Mr. Speaker, seniors are the lifeline of our country. The Liberals need to respect our seniors, show some compassion and understand that, with the cost of inflation and the tripling of the carbon tax, we will see more and more families struggle to survive. Daily, I continue to hear stories of struggling seniors forced into shelters because they cannot afford housing costs or their heating bills, o…
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Mr. Speaker, in my past life in a financial institution, I experienced many robberies and was also involved in a shooting. When speaking to police officers, a lot of times the problem was that the guns used were illegal and the crimes by these robbers do not match their sentencing, because we are too soft on crime. How can we change that so we can encourage police officers to do their jobs to the …
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Mr. Speaker, there is nothing in the fall economic statement that addresses single senior women. There was a report from the CBC. I am sure colleagues have all read it. It was about two women, one in Nova Scotia and one in Toronto, who are still living in their cars and unable to afford housing. What does the government plan to do to help single female seniors to have the retirement they so much d…
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Mr. Speaker, I have a question for the hon. member. You spoke about facts, targets, housing benefits and the most vulnerable Canadians. Can you please explain this to me? This morning, the Auditor General of Canada, in paragraphs 20 to 24, made some comments on that. I am going to read paragraph 20 to you. It states: [A]lthough 5 years have gone by since the launch of the federal government’s Nati…
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Mr. Speaker, Canada's seniors are struggling to survive. Denise, a senior living in Halifax, Nova Scotia, has been employed since she was 16 years old. Denise's income includes a job, old age security and her Canada pension, yet Denise is forced to live in her car as she is unable to afford housing. When will the Liberal government show some compassion, give our seniors some relief and cancel its …
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Madam Speaker, seniors are more intelligent than the government gives them credit for. Seniors are worse off today than they were seven years ago. Our seniors built this country and deserve better. With a 40-year inflation high and skyrocketing food prices, the Liberal government has implemented a failed plan that will force our seniors to use food banks and choose between eating and heating. The …
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Mr. Speaker, first-time homebuyers in Canada are giving up on the idea of ever owning a home due to the housing crisis. The average cost of a detached home in my riding of King—Vaughan is $1.8 million. Canadians are already struggling with their budgets. Buyers are not able to qualify for a mortgage. This is due in part to the high interest costs by the Bank of Canada. The qualification process us…
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Madam Speaker, coming from the banking world, I have to say there are security measures in the financial institutions to watch for money laundering. I remember it very clearly. The thing I would like some clarification on and would like the hon. member to explain is that in the banking system one bank cannot speak to the other bank, even though we know there are illegal transactions going on. Can …
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Mr. Speaker, Canadians are struggling because of the inflation caused by the Prime Minister. More Canadians are turning to their local food banks for support. Senior usage of food banks has increased 30%. According to the CEO of a Toronto food bank, nearly triple the number of people visited the food bank in June 2022 compared to June 2019. These Liberals have caused the cost of living crisis. Wil…
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Madam Speaker, my hon. colleague spoke about the CRA. Could he please explain to the House how he is ensuring that terrorists in this country are not funnelling money to support other countries? What is the CRA doing about that?
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Madam Speaker, here is my concern. In my riding of King—Vaughan, we have 41,000 acres of farming, nurseries and tree farms, which help with carbon capture. The region is also home to the Holland Marsh, which is a recognized producer of a significant percentage of vegetables grown in the province. Unfortunately, the high cost of the added carbon tax, which has increased operational costs for all ou…
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Madam Speaker, I see the member's passion and I respect that. I have a question for him. Canadians are spending 43% of their income on taxes and 35.7% on basic necessities. Could the member help me understand something, because I guess I am a bit of a numbers person? Are we giving them all of these benefits to pay for the increase in taxes? Is that how we are helping the individuals who really nee…
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Madam Speaker, September 30 is the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation. I would like to recognize Kalley Armstrong. Kalley is the owner and founder of Armstrong Hockey, a skills development program that works with indigenous youth on the ice and promotes the benefits of hockey outside the rink. Kalley draws her inspiration from her late grandfather, George Armstrong, Toronto Maple Leafs lege…
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Mr. Speaker, Frank, a father in my riding of Vaughan, is struggling to support his family of four. He currently works two jobs to put food on the table and gas in his car. These are not luxury items, and the struggle to afford the necessities is taking a serious toll on his mental health and well-being. Will the government cancel its planned tax increase for Frank and all Canadian taxpayers?
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Madam Speaker, all I am saying is that CERB was a program that had to be implemented given the circumstances, but the program did not stipulate the conditions. Unless we can provide clarity on any funds that are delivered to individuals, we cannot administer programs and expect individuals to pay the consequences after they are over.
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Madam Speaker, last week I visited an organization in our community called Reena, which provides housing for people with disabilities. It has created an environment where people with disabilities can share their experiences. There are staff there who will help and assist them. One of the things it does is that it has programs to assist with funding. The funding is not always enough, because some o…
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Madam Speaker, if I understood the question correctly, we need to ensure that the program that is going to be implemented at the federal level offsets or coordinates with the provinces. We cannot give money with one hand and expect to take it back with the other. That is not going to help. In our province alone, we have programs for individuals with disabilities. Unfortunately, due to the cost of …
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Madam Speaker, I rise today to speak to Bill C-22. However, before I do so, I would like to begin by saying that working alongside Canadians with disabilities and helping parents with children who have disabilities have been a passion of mine my entire life before I entered politics. For the past eight years, I have volunteered with the Township of King, the municipality I live in, as part of its …
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With regard to government statistics on court-imposed sentences for those convicted of crimes which carry a maximum possible sentence of 10 years or more, broken down by crime or criminal code violation, and by year in which the sentence was given, since January 1, 2016: (a) what percentage of those convicted were given the maximum sentence; and (b) how many people were (i) convicted, (ii) given t…
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With regard to Veterans Affairs Canada providing service dogs to certain veterans with post-traumatic stress disorder: (a) since January 2020, how many dogs have been provided to veterans; (b) is there currently a backlog of requests for dogs, and, if so, how many requests are backlogged; (c) what is the average time between when a request is received and when the veterans receive the dogs; and (d…
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Madam Speaker, many of the residents in my riding are struggling to make ends meet. Helping special-needs children and giving the required assistance has had an emotional and financial impact. Care centres are having to severely cut hours. The current government has failed our most vulnerable citizens, who are urgently attempting to stay afloat. When will the government stop punishing Canadians, s…
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Mr. Speaker, I am honoured to rise today in the House to recognize Italian Heritage Month. Over 40,000 Italian Canadians live in King—Vaughan, and I am a proud ancestor of an Italian Canadian. In the 1950s, my grandfather immigrated to Canada and worked as a bricklayer for many years to support his family. He came to this nation with nothing but the clothing on his back and a few dollars in his po…
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Mr. Speaker, I would like to ask the member for Winnipeg North if he could explain to seniors in my community who are living below the poverty line, who have had to take a line of credit on their property in order to stay in their home, why they were, in effect, told by the previous minister of seniors, “Why do you not just sell your house and move on?” What kind of a response is that to someone w…
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Madam Speaker, I have a question for my colleague. You mentioned the workforce, and you mentioned immigration, which I think is—
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Madam Speaker, I apologize. I would like to know about the comments the member made about immigration and housing. We do need a workforce and we do need immigration, but we have a lack of housing and a lack of affordability. How will the member's government ensure that we have enough housing supply and affordability to accommodate the immigration that will be coming to our country to help our work…
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With regard to the $5,000 First-Time Home Buyer's tax credit, broken down by fiscal year since 2018-19: (a) what is the total number of individuals who claimed the credit; and (b) what is the breakdown of (a) by province or territory?
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With regard to companies that went bankrupt after receiving the Canada Emergency Wage Subsidy (CEWS): (a) how many companies that received CEWS have since gone bankrupt; (b) what is the total amount of CEWS funding received by the companies in (a); (c) how many of the companies in (a) owed back taxes to the Canada Revenue Agency when they were sent the CEWS payments; (d) what was the total amount …
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Madam Speaker, Canadians are lining up for days attempting to renew their passports so they can reunite with their families after two long years. A constituent in my riding is feeling desperate. She is trying to visit a dying family member in the United States and is getting nowhere. Time is of the essence. If we fail to plan, we are planning to fail. Will the government have compassion and fix th…
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Mr. Speaker, I would like to acknowledge and recognize my constituent Angela, who lives in my riding. Angela's son Luka was diagnosed with autism at the age of four. The mental health stress on Angela's family, as well as on many other families across our country, is compounded by many challenges. They are navigating the many disconnected services and long wait-lists for much-needed care for their…
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Madam Speaker, Laura, a nurse in my riding, has worked long hours to guarantee the health and well-being of our community during the pandemic. She was upset to learn that renewing her passport would take several months. Her credit card was charged, but her passport was nowhere to be found. Our health care providers have given up a lot to keep our communities safe. When is the government going to r…
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Madam Speaker, I have a question. Maybe the hon. member could help me understand. I am coming from the mortgage business in my previous life. If we look at page 45 in the budget book, the Liberals put out an example of how the tax-free savings account would work for first-time homebuyers. I have done the math. I have done everything possible for today and for 2027. As of today, that plan would all…
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Madam Speaker, I would like to reiterate the fact that the Liberals gave a one-time payment of $500 to seniors, some of whom did not require it, instead of investigating who were the most vulnerable. That should have been the reason for giving the $500, to ensure that the most vulnerable have the money to survive.
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