SoVote

Dec/2/21 11:47:41 a.m.
Watch

Madam Speaker, I will be splitting my time today with my hon. colleague from Mississauga—Erin Mills. It is an absolute privilege to be back here in the House to bring the voice, perspective and views of the good people of Kings—Hants. Of course, this is the second time I have had the privilege of being elected as the member of Parliament for Kings—Hants, and although it is not my first time speaking in the 44th Parliament, I want to take the opportunity to thank the residents of Kings—Hants for placing their confidence in me to be their voice and their member of Parliament. All members of the House will certainly appreciate that when we get into public life, there has to be people in our corner. First and foremost is our family, so I would like to take the opportunity to thank my fiancée Kimberly. She is my rock. There are challenges when we need to be in Ottawa and are having busy nights on the road meeting constituents, so I thank her. To my mom, my grandmothers and my entire family, I have the best support system one could ask for. I could not be here without them. I also thank my campaign manager, Kristina Shannon. She and I went to high school together. She has had work experience with Premier McNeil in Nova Scotia. Dale Palmeter, before her, worked on my campaign in 2019. Without them, I would not be the member of Parliament standing here in the House. I also want to thank all the volunteers, and not only those on my team, whom of course I am very thankful for. Democracy relies upon volunteers getting behind candidates of all stripes to contribute to something bigger than themselves. To the volunteers for the candidates in Kings—Hants and indeed across the country, I give my thanks for their work and commitment to democracy. I want to quickly describe Kings—Hants to my colleagues and to Canadians who might be watching. It is largely a rural riding. The area of Kings—Hants, and East Hants particularly, includes communities that I would describe as suburban. They are about 40 minutes outside of Halifax. There are some large rural townships, but also areas that are extremely rural, where there could be a kilometre between houses. I call it a mini Canada. There are three indigenous communities: Sipekne'katik, Annapolis Valley First Nation and Glooscap First Nation. We are home to the highest tides in the world. We have a burgeoning wine sector too, so to members of Parliament and Canadians who enjoy a nice glass of wine, please consider supporting the Nova Scotia wine industry. It is very robust. We are also what I would call the agriculture heartland of Atlantic Canada. We have the most supply-managed farms east of Quebec, a number of horticulture-based businesses and are known for the Annapolis Valley apple. Of course, we have Acadia University, which has drawn significant alumni and people from across the world and indeed across the country. There is also the Michelin plant in the Annapolis Valley and of course Halifax Stanfield, which is just outside the perimeter of Kings—Hants but is indeed a major employer in the area. Finally, we are the birthplace of hockey, in Windsor, Nova Scotia. The Speech from the Throne is a document that, as my colleagues would know, is very broad in nature. It puts out the principles the government hopes to achieve in the days ahead. I want to take some time to highlight things I heard on doorsteps and that I hope parliamentarians in the House will work collaboratively to help advance in the days ahead. First and foremost is labour and immigration. Our government was there throughout the pandemic to make sure there were supports in place for small businesses and individuals. The fact that 101% of the jobs we lost during the pandemic have been returned is a marquee element that shows we have been successful in that domain, and especially successful given the pandemic and the challenges of immigration over the past two years. As we have heard in the House, across the country labour is a major issue, and I know the government will be focused on this in the days ahead. One area of particular interest to me is the seasonal agricultural worker program. Over 1,500 people from countries such as Jamaica and Mexico come to the Annapolis Valley, and particularly to Kings—Hants, to support the agriculture sector every day. In our platform, there was a commitment to an express entry program and the ability to reduce administrative red tape. This will not only help the employees coming from their countries of origin, but also help the employers in the farming community. As a member of Parliament, I will be working closely with the government to help implement this in the days ahead. Let us talk about housing. We know that housing is a major challenge in urban communities, but indeed it is in rural as well. One of the silver linings of the pandemic is that, during the height of it, many individuals, who are working-class professionals, who have families, chose to move from urban locations to rural parts of our country. That is extremely beneficial for the long-term demographic outlook of rural communities across Canada, but it has put a pressure on our housing supply. I will give one example. I remember in the 2019 election, I was on the Hants shore. It is an area that largely has an older demographic. There were a number of houses that were for sale, and they had been for sale for quite some time. There is no real estate available on the Hants shore right now, and housing prices are up 40%. I know our government will be working hard on this issue, but I do want to highlight that this is not just a Government of Canada issue. This is going to require all three levels of government between the federal, provincial and municipal leaders. We know that indigenous communities have to be part of that conversation, the private sector and indeed non-profits in terms of the work that we have to do. Let us talk about climate change. I just mentioned that Kings—Hants is home to the highest tides in the world. What a constant, every day reminder of the important work that needs to be done. Over the past two elections this has been a predominant theme. I have heard from my constituents the need for the government to do more and to move hard in that direction. On the heels of COP26, we know that there has to be more work to be done to be able to protect 1.5°C of global warming. The forest fires in western Canada combined with the flooding that we have seen in British Columbia, but not just British Columbia, as they are also in my province of Nova Scotia and indeed in Newfoundland and Labrador, I think is a reminder for all Canadians, indeed all parliamentarians, that we need to be collectively working in this regard. Our government has promised and has mentioned in the Speech from the Throne caps on the oil and gas production and the emissions associated with such, the elimination of fossil fuel subsidies and the development of EV vehicles. These are going to be crucial in the days ahead for us to be able to meet our target. As a member of Parliament, what I intend to focus on is the way we can work with the agriculture community to help reduce their emissions. Farmers are doing incredible work, but at the same time, we need to be able to do more. That is where I will put my focus. I also think we need to be mindful of how we can draw private sector investment in and how the government can make that happen because government investment in subsidy can only go so far. I mentioned I have three indigenous communities. We just had the Speech from the Throne delivered from the first indigenous Governor General in Canada's history. I want to particularly focus on indigenous housing, infrastructure and investment in social programming. I look forward to building relationships with chiefs and council that are there and to be able to move that forward. In my view as a parliamentarian, the two biggest challenges we will all face in the 44th Parliament, those that will be on the heels as we work our way out of this pandemic, will be twofold: One, growing our economy to make sure that the expenses we took on during the pandemic are sustainable when coupled with the investments the government is planning in the days ahead; and, two, addressing climate change and reducing emissions. Both of those require real attention to investments on how to grow the economy. I want to mention agriculture. As I said, it is the backbone of the economy in Kings—Hants, and I would argue it is the backbone of the economy in Canada. One in eight jobs in Canada are tied to the agriculture sector. It is a $130-billion industry. We have tremendous opportunity to be able to expand that to not only feed Canada but the world. I look at things like the Barton Report and the ways that government can move ahead. That is where I will be putting my attention. I am pleased to see that there was a commitment around business risk management. To help drive the wine industry in Canada, we have put $101 million in that. That will matter in Kings—Hants and supply managed farms. We were there for farmers at the height of the negotiations of the new CUSMA. We will be there to make sure that they are protected in the days ahead. Two quick points I would say before I finish are, first, the importance of child care, and what that is going to mean to the people in Kings—Hants, and indeed to people across the country, to get parents back to work and help make sure that it is affordable. Finally, we need to work on ways that we can increase interprovincial trade and reduce barriers in light of global protectionism.

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Context: House Hansard - 9 - Dec/2/21

Mr. Kody Blois

Dec/2/21 11:58:40 a.m.
Watch

Mr. Speaker, I am glad that the member and I share an understanding of the importance of the agricultural sector to the entire country. On the question on fertilizer reduction, I have had conversations with Fertilizer Canada about ways we could move that forward. We know that the work being done by Environment and Climate Change Canada right now, as it relates to carbon offsets, is going to be an important part of that. We have to work as a government to bridge that gap between recognizing the work farmers are already doing, while at the same time, asking them to be a part of the solution and do even more. I certainly want to highlight that there was $130 million in the last budget for this, whether it was in business risk management, being there for our dairy farmers or some of the initiatives around climate and agriculture. Those are all important measures, and I look forward to working with the member to advance them in the days ahead.

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Context: House Hansard - 9 - Dec/2/21

Mr. Kody Blois

Dec/2/21 12:00:31 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, Canada is the fourth-largest producer of oil and gas in the world. Although the Bloc member, whose goal is to create sovereignty for Quebec in this country, may not recognize its importance, oil and gas are 25% of Canada's exports. Our government is focused on ways we could reduce emissions associated with production in the oil and gas sector. We do not have the ability to control production elements. That is a provincial domain. He should respect that as a member of the Bloc. They certainly call for it a lot in the House. We are focused on reducing emissions, and we recognize that a transition will happen, but it is not going to happen overnight. We are committed to Canadians workers and to being able to move both climate and our economy forward together.

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Context: House Hansard - 9 - Dec/2/21

Mr. Kody Blois

Dec/2/21 12:02:12 p.m.
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Re: Bill C-2

Mr. Speaker, the member hit has it right on the head. Our government was there throughout the pandemic and continues to be there with the introduction of Bill C-2, which would support the hardest-hit businesses across the country. We did put the program in place to end on December 31, 2022. The fact of the matter is, that is something we could look at. Our fiscal framework will be challenged because we have just gone through the pandemic. We do have to focus on supporting small businesses, but I will leave that for the Minister of Finance to ultimately make her decision.

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Context: House Hansard - 9 - Dec/2/21

Mr. Kody Blois

Dec/2/21 12:03:13 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I rise on a point of order. While I certainly respect the point of order just raised by the member for Kingston and the Islands, I would have to fundamentally disagree. I would point him to the historians who have seen that it was based in Nova Scotia. He and I can take this outside the House. I certainly appreciate him raising it for the Hansard.

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