44th Parl. 1st Sess.
January 31, 2022 11:00AM
- Jan/31/22 4:13:25 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, I would like to thank my colleague for her speech. I would also like to thank my colleagues for their presence today and wish them a good session.
My colleague mentioned what is happening on Parliament Hill right now. It is troubling to see what is happening and to see people who are fed up with the situation. There is a sense of collective frustration, and we are all feeling it. Some demands are more legitimate than others: the right to protest, for example.
As I said earlier, this is an unusual situation, because there is no single leader representing everyone and issuing one specific demand. Rather, there are several. How do we negotiate and talk with them? What does my colleague think the government should do in this situation?
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- Jan/31/22 4:28:28 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, my father is also a truck driver, and I am extremely proud of him and what he does. I did not know that I had this in common with my colleague.
Like 90% of truckers and other Canadians, my father has had his three doses of the vaccine. Most of them have received two doses and will soon be getting their third. I think that the protest outside right now has swelled far beyond the scope of the truckers' initial demands.
I agree with my colleague that we need to set an example as members of Parliament. We need to show unity. When I see all these social divisions, I am deeply troubled. I think that this is our responsibility. However, it gave me pause to hear the Prime Minister say that the protesters were whining. I do not think that that is going to defuse the situation.
How does the hon. member suggest that we end this crisis?
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- Jan/31/22 5:26:30 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, I would like to wish you a happy new year. I believe this is the last day we are allowed to do that. I am really happy to be here and to get back to the work of Parliament. We have been looking forward to coming back, albeit under unusual circumstances, in a situation that we have not seen very often on Parliament Hill in recent years.
Let us get back to the throne speech, which I think is always a great opportunity for opposition members to see whether any priorities or proposals from opposition parties are included in the government's roadmap.
As I was driving to Ottawa, I listened to a podcast where the host talked about the meaning and importance of a throne speech. Strategists commented on their own experience. It seems to be a common and well-known practice to insert opposition party priorities here and there in a throne speech so that those parties will be consistent in their position, vote in favour of the throne speech and not bring down the government.
I was all set to “CTRL+F” the speech to see how many times the government talked about things like climate change, the environment, green finance, health, seniors, agriculture—which my colleague talked about—and employment insurance reform. I did not get a lot of hits. To be honest, I was very let down by how pointless the document in front of me was.
I think a throne speech should convey the government's overall plan for carrying out the mandate it was given in the election. This government was bound and determined to have an election despite the pandemic and the risk to people's health. The people voted for the status quo. They made their wishes clear. They gave the Liberal Party another minority government, so the government should obviously act accordingly and come up with a pretty substantial roadmap. There is a lot of work to do.
What we have here, though, is woefully short on substance, ideas and direction. It is a mere catalogue of general statements. This was why we had an election? This is what is supposed to get us through the next four years? Given the sparse priorities scattered throughout the speech, I have my doubts.
As I said, we are returning to the House under rather unusual circumstances, and I would be remiss if I did not address the subject. I understand that everyone is frustrated, for a variety of reasons, after nearly two years of this pandemic. We are all fed up, and honestly, no one more so than me.
However, seeing these divisions in society is deeply troubling to me. I do not always agree with what the government does, how it does it or the measures it chooses to bring in, but I believe that, as elected officials, it is our duty to some extent to show solidarity and call for unity when we see such divisions.
Health measures have been put in place for a reason, specifically to protect our health and to protect the most vulnerable and frontline workers. In my humble opinion, these measures are still necessary. If we want to defeat the virus, vaccination seems to be the best solution. Unfortunately, not everyone agrees.
I will give an example. Previously, when I addressed a somewhat delicate issue such as gun control on social media, I expected to receive my share of negative or more aggressive comments. Some issues are more divisive than others. However, now it is almost impossible to discuss anything without receiving a barrage of negative comments. I am not complaining, I am just saying that it is troubling to see such hostility, sadness and distress among the public, and not just on social media. We have seen it here in person on Parliament Hill over the past few days.
I would therefore like to take this opportunity to thank the many security officers who were on the Hill over the past few days to ensure everyone's safety. I have to thank them.
I believe that this call for unity and solidarity should be part of the government's plan. This also applies to my opposition colleagues. I truly believe that it is our role to inform the public as best we can, but above all to reassure the people we represent, to answer their questions, recognize their distress and provide the assistance they need.
Currently, throughout Canada and particularly in Quebec, there are people who would normally be receiving EI benefits. I appreciated my colleague's passion in pointing this out. For weeks, dozens of people have been calling my constituency office every day. I imagine my Quebec colleagues have experienced the same thing, because hundreds of people have had their cases frozen and are no longer receiving benefits. These people need help, as they no longer know who to turn to and are at the end of their rope.
These people called Service Canada many times and were told to call back later or apply for social assistance if they were not happy. People were told that they had to prove they were no longer able to pay their bills and they had applied to use a food bank, for example, for their file to be processed quickly.
Clearly, there is a lack of resources at Service Canada. These are honest workers, mostly seasonal workers in my riding who have worked all summer, who are entitled to receive these benefits and who count on receiving them. However, Service Canada is having a hard time processing all that. The government was able to put a system in place rather quickly to deliver the CERB to people who needed support. I find it hard to believe that they cannot bring in something similar or at least more resources.
My Bloc Québécois colleagues and I have lobbied the government and intervened in the media to change things and ensure that this problem is resolved right away. It makes no sense to leave people like that, without money for weeks on end. Processing delays are still too long, unfortunately, but I was pleased to read in the paper this morning that more resources will be assigned to Service Canada and that public officials may be able to make an extra effort to work with the MPs in every region of Quebec and resolve this issue quickly. I think people deserve to be treated with dignity.
I was also disappointed to see that the Speech from the Throne did not mention employment insurance in general or EI reform. The problem we are discussing right now is an ongoing problem and it needs to be resolved quickly. However, there are many other flaws in the EI program, including the spring gap problem, that the people of eastern Quebec have been waiting to see resolved for a long time.
It is a little disappointing that the government is not making this a priority. When I looked, I did not see a lot of words indicating that the government was going to do this reform or even initiate it. The Bloc Québécois has to keep coming back and putting this back on the table, which is what my colleague from Thérèse-De Blainville is doing on the parliamentary committee. We have no choice but to address it, because the problem has persisted for so long.
I know the pandemic makes it hard to govern normally and introduce major reforms or start big projects, but I would like to compare this situation with that of a politician I admire a lot. Barack Obama, the 44th President of the United States, was elected during a serious economic crisis. That did not stop him from being a visionary and wanting to take on big projects and major reforms, which is what he did. If he did that, then I refuse to believe that members of the House of Commons cannot also start working on other problems that our constituents have been facing for so long.
There are so many more things I would have liked to talk about, but this is the biggest issue my constituents are dealing with right now. Earlier I mentioned the collective sense of frustration and the fact that people are fed up with the pandemic in general. I hear from so many people about employment insurance, people who are really on the brink. One mother contacted me about her son, who is contemplating suicide because he does not know what else to do. He has to move back in with his parents, he is not making any money, he does not have a job right now because he is a seasonal worker. He needs these benefits.
People are in distress, and this is the public sentiment we are seeing. I think it is our responsibility to give them solutions. We promised them this. We were elected to do this.
I will end by saying that this is not just about EI. We are fighting multiple battles. My colleague mentioned some of them, such as the rising cost of living, which is having a devastating effect on seniors, who are not seeing their benefits increase accordingly. I am also thinking of health care workers, who are holding the health care system together, at least in Quebec, and who could really use a financial helping hand. It should not be that hard to transfer the money that has been requested for so long by all the premiers of Quebec and the provinces.
These are the battles that we will continue to fight. I am reaching out to the government and the opposition parties and asking them to fight these battles alongside us for the people we represent. I am showing good faith, and I hope they will do the same.
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- Jan/31/22 5:36:59 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, I thank my hon. colleague for his question.
Perhaps my remarks were misunderstood. I may not agree with everything the government does in general, but at least we agree on one thing: The health measures in place right now are legitimate. I always say that as much as I can to anyone who will listen when I am interviewed on television.
Yes, everyone is fed up, but the measures are in place so that we can get through this pandemic together. We believe that vaccination is the best way to do that, so I encourage everyone to comply with the health measures.
I was speaking with my colleague earlier. My father is a truck driver and is one of the 90% of truck drivers who are vaccinated. He does not necessarily support the movement going on outside right now, but we in some way understand the collective frustration. I think these people have a right to be heard and to demonstrate, but it is important to remember that health measures are in place for a reason: to protect our health.
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- Jan/31/22 5:39:01 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, I thank my hon. colleague for his question.
I agree that we can walk and chew gum at the same time. I think the government has shown some goodwill in that regard. There are a number of major projects under way, but the housing crisis is a recurring issue in big cities.
I represent a very large rural riding where there is a housing crisis too. In both 2020 and 2021, the Gaspé and Lower St. Lawrence regions saw positive net migration, which had not occurred for over 30 years. We are happy to welcome new people, but we have nowhere to house them. We do not have adequate services to offer them and our infrastructure is outdated.
I think the government has indeed been working hard, but more can be done, and we want to work with the government on that.
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Madam Speaker, I appreciate my colleague's very specific question. I would not want to speak about something I am not familiar with, as I have not read the bill she mentioned. However, I completely agree with her that we must address the issue of poverty.
I mentioned that the rising cost of living is having a devastating effect on so many people, especially the most vulnerable. I am thinking, for example, of seniors and middle-class families, who are dealing with the rising cost of living and inflation. We agree that we must do more for these people. Once I have read the bill my colleague mentioned, I will gladly discuss it with her.
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- Jan/31/22 5:53:00 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, I thank my colleague for her speech. She talked about gun control. I hear her talk about that topic often.
Unfortunately, I was unable to attend the vigil for the fifth anniversary of the Quebec City mosque shooting. Several events were organized by the mosque, in collaboration with Polytechnique. I was able to attend the webinar they hosted. It was heartbreaking to hear the speeches by the people who were directly affected by the shooting, people who were at the mosque that evening or in a classroom at Polytechnique and who said that since the mosque shooting, almost nothing has been done, despite the Liberal government's promises.
A list of banned weapons was drawn up. However, some similar weapons are not on the list and are not banned. An amnesty period is drawing to a close, and it seems as though this file has been forgotten. It has been shelved. In the meantime, the scourge of gun violence continues to grow across the country.
I hear the government say that it will work on this. Unfortunately, for five years, almost nothing has been done. What will the government do, and when will it do it?
I hear the Minister of Public Safety, who has no—
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