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House Hansard - 3

44th Parl. 1st Sess.
November 24, 2021 02:00PM
Context: House Hansard - 3 - Nov/24/21
Mr. Daniel Blaikie (Elmwood—Transcona, NDP)
  • Nov/24/21 3:43:26 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, it is a pleasure to rise for the first time in this Parliament. I want to thank the voters of Elmwood—Transcona who saw fit to return me here to represent them. Under Standing Order 52, I want to request an emergency debate on a crisis that is developing for tens of thousands of Canada's most vulnerable seniors who have seen their guaranteed income supplement clawed back as a result of collecting pandemic benefits last year. What does this mean for those seniors? We have heard so many heart-wrenching stories from across the country of seniors who simply cannot make ends meet. They are not getting the pandemic benefits anymore. They already lived on a shoestring budget, and having their GIS benefit cut means they cannot make rent. We are hearing from folks who are being evicted. They are being escorted out of their apartments and do not know where to go. Putting all the good moral arguments for supporting our most vulnerable seniors aside, we know that it will be more expensive to serve those seniors on the street than it would be to maintain them in their homes. I believe if more members here understood this better, we could get the government to act on it. We did raise this at the earliest opportunity here in the House, but we also raised it at the earliest opportunity outside the House, at the beginning of August. We raised it in the election. We raised it subsequently in letters, phone calls and conversations with ministers in the government. Today is our first opportunity to raise it in the House, and we believe it would be appropriate to have an emergency debate, as these seniors are being taken out of their homes, so that we can stop this as soon as possible and help those who have already been evicted come back home.
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