Emergency Debate
Mr. Speaker, I would like to add my voice to those who are thinking of Alberta during the most recent outbreaks. I spent five years of my life there, and in 2013, when I was personally evacuated, I saw first-hand what a good neighbour looks like. There was hardly a person I knew who was not picking up scrap from their neighbour's yard and making sure they had groceries and were taken care of. Howe…
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Madam Speaker, I want to start by thanking my colleague for championing the issue of support for families and individuals with diabetes since I have known her, when we were both elected in 2015. The families I speak with talk often about the serious burden that exists to manage diabetes for themselves or their children, but we do not often hear about the importance from an economic point of view, …
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Mr. Speaker, the hon. member accuses our government of having our hands in the pockets of Canadians. We have put, through CERB, direct income supports into the pockets of nine million middle-class Canadians. We have, from the very beginning, been supporting Canadians with programs, and not just CERB. If we go back several years, there was the Canada child benefit, which stopped child care cheques …
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Mr. Speaker, it is incredulous that the Conservatives would describe election goodies as things like supporting women so they can take part in the economy when COVID-19 is over. It is ridiculous that they think investments that will grow the green economy and put people to work is something beyond what the government should be focused on. It is incredible to me that they think supporting young peo…
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Mr. Speaker, from the very beginning, the Conservatives have been arguing that it was too expensive to support Canadians. My neighbour, who told me she could buy groceries because she had to access CERB when she lost her job, does not think that these were too expensive. Business owners in my community, who were able to keep the doors open and workers on payroll because of the supports we advanced…
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Mr. Speaker, the hon. member was at the same finance committee meeting I attended earlier this week with the governor of the Bank of Canada, who dispelled the very myth the member continues to perpetuate. I do not know what it is about the Conservatives. During an unprecedented public health and economic emergency, they refuse to acknowledge that the Government of Canada should step up and be ther…
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Mr. Speaker, it is extraordinary for the hon. member, of all people, to accuse me of being out of touch. It was our government that advanced supports such as CERB during people's time of need, which allowed them to keep a roof over their heads and food on the table. It was our government that, during their time of need, advanced programs such as the wage subsidy, which kept more than five million …
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Mr. Speaker, with respect, I live in a province that continues to rely on coal. I want to thank our premier for his commitment to accelerate the phase-out of this form of energy usage. With respect to the use of coal, I would point the hon. member to the fact that supports are being administered today through regional development agencies to help communities that are phasing out coal. I look forwa…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Madam Speaker, long story short, vaccine equity is actually very important. Ensuring that we limit the outbreaks in hot spots around the world and across our country will prevent further mutations from happening that could be vaccine resistant. I am going to work to ensure that racialized communities and frontline workers have access to vaccines, so that we do not just protect their health, but we…
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Madam Speaker, I cannot hear. I think the member continues to interrupt. Can I continue?
Read full speech →Government Orders
Madam Speaker, I used the example of Nova Scotia not to gloat about the quality of life we have enjoyed, but to show folks that there is a different path should they choose the responsible course of action. By the way, I would point out that my sister lives in the member's constituency and—
Read full speech →Government Orders
Madam Speaker, I will point out that my sister actually lives in his—
Read full speech →Government Orders
Madam Speaker, it is a pleasure, as always, to participate in debate in the chamber, albeit virtually. Of course, the reason I am here virtually is a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, which has recently thrown my home province of Nova Scotia into a lockdown that will last at least a couple of weeks. The past year and a half or so has been immensely challenging. Families have struggled to find child…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Madam Speaker, I will agree with the hon. member that the variants present an immense risk to populations and communities across Canada, but I would urge him to tone down the soaring rhetoric to try to score political points. I will point out that the vast majority of spread in Canada is the result of community spread. I will point out that we restricted non-essential travel from the beginning of …
Read full speech →Government Orders
Madam Speaker, before I begin, I want to thank my colleague for her question. I hope that she will not mind if I answer in English. It is essential that we listen to experts over the course of the development of our pandemic response, including on the deployment of vaccines. The federal government has put funding in place to support the development of vaccines and, indeed, the procurement of vacci…
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Mr. Speaker, there is no question the emergency measures we put forward to support Canadians during an unprecedented public health and economic crisis have been expensive, but doing too little would have been far more expensive. I point the hon. member to the report of the IMF, which indicates that, had we not put forward these measures, our deficit would be of the same scale, but our economy woul…
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Mr. Speaker, with respect to my friend, his argument is self-defeating. On the one hand, he says we should be spending more. On the other, he says we are spending too much. The reality is that we have made targeted investments from the very beginning of this pandemic to make sure that businesses could keep their doors open and have workers remain on the payroll. Going forward, our recovery plan is…
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Mr. Speaker, with great respect, if the hon. member is worried we will build back bigger, I can reassure him that we will build back with bigger growth. We will build back with bigger prosperity. We will build back with bigger job numbers. The chief economist at RBC has described the upcoming year as one of profound economic recovery. The reality is that we have put measures in place that are goin…
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Mr. Speaker, let me correct the record. I will remind the hon. member that in 2015 when we raised taxes on the wealthiest 1% so we could cut them for the middle class, the NDP voted against it. When we implemented the Canada child benefit, improved finances for nine out of 10 families and stopped sending child care cheques to millionaires, the NDP voted against it. When we increased investments in…
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Mr. Speaker, we have made a number of supports to help businesses from the very beginning, whether it is the wage subsidy, the regional relief and recovery fund or the emergency business account. We realize there continues to be challenges for certain businesses, but we have made investments to ensure their communities can open up safely and are continuing to make investments, as he mentioned, in …
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Mr. Speaker, we are very aware of the situation. I want to thank my colleague for raising the important issue. When we created the emergency relief programs, our government sought to support as many Canadian businesses as possible, as quickly as possible. At the same time, we knew that all of these programs needed to be designed so we could ensure their integrity, as we also ensured they were reac…
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Mr. Speaker, I thank my hon. colleague for her ongoing advocacy for the people of Brampton. The uptick that we have seen in case numbers in her community and, frankly, across parts of the country is deeply concerning. I would point to the fact that we have invested billions of dollars now to expand EI sickness benefits and implement the Canada recovery sick benefit so families do not need to choos…
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Mr. Speaker, with respect, the hon. member neglects the importance of the measures that we have put in place to keep businesses and households afloat through this pandemic. As we move forward, we are going to continue to make the kinds of investments that will specifically target job creation and economic growth, including hiring incentives for business owners, low-cost financing that will allow t…
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Mr. Speaker, we will take the hon. member's suggestion under advisement. I will point out, however, that Canada entered this pandemic with the lowest debt-to-GDP ratio in the G7. The pandemic created immense costs, and not responding was simply not an option to keep food on the table for households and workers on the payroll. As we emerge from this pandemic, it is essential that we continue to man…
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Mr. Speaker, I will not take lessons on economic management from the member who was part of a government with the single worst economic growth record since the Great Depression. The reality is we have been there to support Canadian workers and businesses from the beginning, and we will continue to be there for Canadian workers and businesses through to the end of this pandemic. The one thing for w…
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Mr. Speaker, from the very beginning of this pandemic, I have been taking questions on our support for Canadians, and every single time the Conservatives ask a question, they seem to be focused on the dollars we spend rather than the people we have helped. From the very beginning, we have advanced benefits that have supported nine million Canadians to help them keep food on the table. Over five mi…
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Madam Speaker, I would like to remind the hon. member of the threat that was raised by the former Governor of the Bank of Canada, Stephen Poloz, when he appeared before the finance committee. He indicated that the risk of deflation and the downward pressure on the economy is far greater, and that the right thing to do in the moment is to ensure that the federal government provides the kind of supp…
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Madam Speaker, I would like to take this opportunity to thank the thousands of small business owners who have done the right thing to protect the public's health by closing their doors when it was necessary to prevent the spread of COVID-19. Indeed, that strong public health response is what will enable us to rebound successfully. I will remind the hon. member that in the months of February and Ma…
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Madam Speaker, the hon. member seems to think that our pandemic response has been too expensive. I will remind him that one of the most important things we can do to contribute to a growth-oriented recovery is preserve the jobs that we have now. If he thinks our measures are too expensive, I would like to introduce him to a small business owner in my community who was able to keep the doors open b…
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Madam Speaker, I would like to point out that for the first time in our nation's history, we are moving forward with a national plan to ensure that every family in Canada has affordable access to early learning and child care opportunities. We know from Quebec's leadership that this is going to not only improve the learning outcomes for young children in our communities, but allow more women to ta…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank the minister, whom I have the pleasure of serving in the capacity of her parliamentary secretary as well, for her leadership in particular on the consultation process in advance of this budget. One of the things I heard while taking part in that process of consultation was the importance of recognizing the disproportionate negative impact that COVID-19 has had on…
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Mr. Speaker, there is a lot to unpack in that question. First and foremost, when it comes to the cost of our measures and the risk of interest rates going up, I would point out that there is a severe cost of not taking action and making the kinds of investments that we have made. In particular I would point to a recent IMF report, which indicated that in the absence of the government's pandemic re…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Speaker, I thank my hon. colleague for her question. I hope she does not mind if I reply in English. I disagree that this budget is paternalistic toward our provincial partners. In fact, when it comes to child care, full credit goes to the Province of Quebec for leading the way on this, years prior, to show that we could make these kinds of investments that would pay for themselves. On the est…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Speaker, we are at a pivotal moment in the history of our nation. How we respond as we continue to fight COVID-19, and as we plan to emerge from the crisis that it has created from both a public health and economic point of view, will dictate what Canada looks like not just next month or next year, but 10 years and 20 years from now, when my five-year-old daughter is ready to join the workforc…
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Madam Speaker, I thank the member for his generous comments toward the finance minister on her remarkable achievement as the first woman in our nation's history to table a budget Canada's House of Commons. I note that the member has outlined some of the measures he does support, but I find it curious. Over the course of our pandemic response, there are certain rather obvious policies that the Cons…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Speaker, there is no such abandonment of the commitment to national pharmacare in budget 2021. Although it may not be fully implemented in the document, the commitment made in the previous throne speech remains. The reality is that the budget actually flags specifically our intent to work with provinces and territories to advance national pharmacare. However, the allegation that there has been…
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Mr. Speaker, the member's argument rests upon the premise that our pandemic response has somehow been too expensive. If he thinks our measures have been too expensive, I would like to introduce him to my neighbour, who told me that she was able to feed her kids and pay her rent because she collected CERB when she lost her job. I would like to introduce him to a small business owner in my downtown …
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Mr. Speaker, the hon. member's world view is patently ridiculous when he outlines it in that question. The reality is, he sees the cost of our response but not the value and the measures we have advanced to support Canadian households and businesses. He ignores the fact that inaction in the face of this once-in-a-century public health and economic emergency would have had a cost that was far great…
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Mr. Speaker, at the outset of the pandemic we made a decision that we were going to be there for households and businesses. When it came to workers, we did not discriminate against them on the basis of who their employer was. With the Canada emergency wage subsidy, we have now ensured that more than five million Canadians have remained on their employers' payroll, which allows them not only to mai…
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Mr. Speaker, the hon. member uses the language of epiphany is an attempt to paint me, and by extension the minister and our government, as some kind of radicals. I will reassure him there is nothing radical about investing in measures that will protect the environment and create jobs at the same time. There is nothing radical about supporting women in the economy, so my daughter has the same oppor…
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Madam Speaker, I thank the hon. member for his continued advocacy for small businesses since the outset of the COVID-19 pandemic. From the very beginning of this public health emergency, our approach has been to support households and businesses to help them weather the storm, so they can contribute to the economic recovery on the back end of COVID-19. That included measures such as the Canada eme…
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Madam Speaker, the Conservatives do not seem to be willing to contemplate the true cost of inaction. I would point the hon. member to a recent report of the IMF. It indicates that, had the government not taken action, the scale of the federal deficit would have been roughly similar, but the Canadian economy would have suffered enormous job losses. This would have created economic scarring that wou…
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Madam Speaker, it is curious to me that the Conservative Party, at every opportunity, seems to register complaints about the cost of our pandemic response without reflecting, as well, on the cost of inaction. We know that the pandemic created immense costs for Canadian households and businesses. That is why we put forward programs, like the Canada emergency response benefit, to keep food on the ta…
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Madam Speaker, that demonstrates the Conservatives' lack of willingness to recognize the cost of not taking action to support Canadian households and businesses through this pandemic. I point the hon. member to the testimony of a representative from the OECD at the finance committee just yesterday, where he indicated that Canada's healthy fiscal position put us in a great position to respond to th…
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Madam Speaker, I thank the hon. member for his question. I will apologize in advance, because I am not familiar with the very specific issue he has raised around pyrrhotite. I would be happy to take more detail from him on the back end of question period, should he wish. However, I will note, in particular, that we have made significant investments, including the ability to repair and retrofit aff…
Read full speech →Adjournment Proceedings
Madam Speaker, I will point out for my friend and colleague opposite that the question he intended to ask was about the timing of the budget, and I am pleased as well to share that the budget will be tabled this Monday. On the issue of the timing of the budget, I know he registered some complaints about the fact that there was no federal budget last year, and that should come as no surprise. All p…
Read full speech →Adjournment Proceedings
Madam Speaker, it is absolutely false that the Conservative Party supported CERB at the outset of this pandemic. In fact, their leader continues to comment negatively about this program that kept so many households fed during the worst of this pandemic. If he is concerned about the public health response, just hours ago that member and his entire caucus voted against Bill C-14, after delaying it f…
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Mr. Speaker, with great respect, all members of the House, regardless of party, appreciate the nature of the immense tragedy that has fallen across Canada and impacted families and communities from coast to coast to coast. When we look forward to what may come out of this pandemic, we have the opportunity to make investments to cure some of the social deficits that we have been living with for gen…
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Mr. Speaker, since the hon. member mentioned our plan to put a price on pollution, I congratulate his party on finally embracing the need to price carbon as well. Unfortunately, the Conservative plan is actually going to cost Canadian households more and do less for our environment. When it comes to the fiscal track Canada is on, I would remind the hon. member that the COVID-19 pandemic created im…
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Mr. Speaker, with respect, no funds went from the government toward the WE Charity. The question seems a bit misguided, frankly. The Conservatives seem more focused on trying to create political problems for the government than serving the interests of Canadians. Canadians should be reassured that from the very beginning of this pandemic we have focused on having their backs and nothing else. As w…
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