SoVote

Feb/1/22 2:09:24 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, as I regularly check in with constituents across Whitby, I have heard time and time again that home ownership continues to be less attainable, and affordable housing is increasingly difficult to find. That is why I was encouraged to see the Prime Minister appoint Canada's first-ever Minister of Housing, whom I had the pleasure of joining just two weeks ago to announce $10.3 million in funding for Durham region. This investment is part of our government's rapid housing initiative. It will support the rapid creation of 42 new affordable housing units and, specifically, it will support the expansion of the Otter Creek housing co-operative in Whitby. This will have a meaningful impact on lifting some of our most vulnerable citizens out of housing need, including seniors, individuals with developmental disabilities and those living with mental illness and addiction. Canadians deserve a safe and affordable place to call home, and I know that work is making an impact across Canada with investments like this in my community.

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Context: House Hansard - 21 - Feb/1/22

Mr. Ryan Turnbull (Whitby, Lib.)

Feb/1/22 5:24:44 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, I am happy to have the opportunity to speak to the Speech from the Throne today. I could definitely talk about the broad strokes and priorities of that speech, like moving faster on a path to reconciliation, taking bolder action on climate change, growing a more resilient economy and standing up for diversity and inclusion, among others. Each one of those priorities is certainly worthy of a fulsome speech itself, in my view. However, in light of recent events I would like to focus my remarks today on perhaps one of our most pressing challenges, which is finishing the fight against COVID-19. Nearly two years have passed since the international community sounded the alarm for what would become one of the greatest public health crises that we have ever known. Certainly in my life, I have never seen anything like this and many of us can say that. I am sad to say that COVID-19 has claimed over 5.6 million lives worldwide and the pandemic is not over yet. I cannot help but reflect on the incredible loss and grief people have gone through, and my heart goes out to them and their families. What we have seen from Canadians over the past two years is nothing short of remarkable. People across Canada have stepped up in every way possible, over and over again, to help each other out and do what is right to keep each other safe. We all know the many things we have done to help, and that includes getting vaccinated. There have been countless sacrifices made by everyone, without exception. People, families, children, businesses, organizations, governments and communities have all had to adapt and adjust, and those changes have been really challenging and hard. I fully acknowledge that. Business owners, children, seniors, frontline workers and others have made huge contributions to our response to COVID-19 as a nation, and it has definitely made a difference. It has saved many lives. Canada has 840 deaths per million people, which is much less than half of the EU, the U.K. and the U.S. In fact, it is one-third of the COVID deaths per million in the U.S., so we have saved many lives with all our efforts. Those efforts have not been futile. In fact, immeasurable hardships have been brought on by this pandemic. We are all tired, frustrated, fed up and even angry, and it is not over yet. Some of us feel like we are at a breaking point. We even want to shout and scream. We feel like there are whole dimensions of our lives that have been cut off. We miss our families. We want to take a vacation. We want to get together and celebrate again. We want to go back to the way things used to be. All of these feelings are completely understandable and even natural, given the circumstances and based on what we have all been going through together. However, there are healthy ways to cope and constructive outlets for those feelings, and there are unhealthy, unhelpful and destructive ways. To Canadians, I say their government is not the enemy and vaccinations are not the enemy. The virus is the enemy. The Minister of Health said that this week in the media, and it really struck me. We must not give in to the temptation to give up or to aim all of this frustration at the government, when it should be rightly placed on the circumstances. We must not let ourselves be overcome with hate and anger or lash out. I have to say that some of the activity we saw over the past weekend on display in our nation's capital was completely and utterly unacceptable, and there is no excuse or justification for it in this country. I never thought I would see this type of behaviour in our country, in our nation's capital, at the seat of our democracy on Parliament Hill. I am referring to symbols of hate and racism, including swastikas and Confederate flags being displayed. I am referring to disrespecting the memory of some of our national heroes like Terry Fox and the unknown soldier at the National War Memorial. As if these acts were not despicable enough, we also saw videos of protesters harassing shop owners and refusing to wear masks, and we heard accounts of protesters harassing workers at a soup kitchen and stealing food meant to feed the homeless. We also saw that protesters and trucks have shut down the downtown core of Ottawa, causing businesses, schools and even vaccine clinics to be closed. Let us not pretend that the people of Ottawa have not been impacted by all of this. Businesses have lost income, kids are not able to go to school and people's ability to access vaccines and health care has been impeded. That is not healthy. After the shockingly deplorable behaviour we witnessed in Ottawa this past weekend, we see the Conservatives trying to justify the fact that they supported this group by using the “just a few bad apples” excuse. In reality, we know many of the Conservative MPs encouraged this. They amplified the rhetoric. They served coffee and came out to show their support. They jumped on the bandwagon for political gain, and when it came time to call out the abhorrent behaviour we all witnessed and stand unequivocally against hate, violence, racism and intolerance, they were not so quick. I think we can agree the minimal amount of racism, hate and violence we must tolerate is exactly zero, and one cannot assist in fomenting anti-government sentiments and then not be guilty by association. I realize that many protesters were out expressing their points of view and assembling peacefully, which they have every right to do, and I hear them about wanting our freedom back. All of us feel the same way, but let me remind them what they have accomplished. In their opposition to lockdowns, they have essentially locked down a city from the freedom they say has been taken away from them, adding to the strain on the people of Ottawa and causing extensive cost and hardship to many people. I might add the people opposing lockdowns in the nation's capital is somewhat strange to me. It seems misplaced, because this is the seat of the federal government. Public health restrictions, lockdowns in particular, are imposed by provinces and territories. Perhaps what is most alarming is that opposition MPs lined up to support this movement, and the public was sold a bill of goods. First, it was that vaccine mandates at the border were supposedly going to disrupt the entire supply chain and lead to empty shelves, but we know that has not happened. In fact, the approximately 90% of truckers who are vaccinated have been delivering goods across our border and are keeping our shelves fully stocked. In fact, I am told there is no measurable impact on cross-border trucking traffic at this point. The United States, in fact, has the same vaccination requirement for truckers, so it is sort of a moot point at this point. Let us also remember that the Canadian Trucking Alliance, which represents the industry, does not support this Freedom Convoy, because the CTA represents the majority of truckers, who are already vaccinated. To top it off, the organizers of the current rally on Parliament Hill apparently have a proposal to dissolve or overthrow the government. Let us get this straight. These individuals want to overthrow a democratically elected government that is following through on the publicly proclaimed campaign commitments it was elected by the people of Canada to fulfill. Why? It is because a loud minority in this country does not like it. This is at a time when over 88% of eligible Canadians are vaccinated and just after vaccine mandates for federally regulated workplaces and cross-border travel by train, plane and ship have been implemented, which, as far as I know, last August had an over 80% approval rating in public opinion polls. It was clear that the majority of Canadians supported vaccine mandates and realized this was essential for defeating COVID-19. The public gave our government a clear mandate in the last election to follow through, and that is exactly what we are doing. I hear the voices of this small minority of Canadians who do not want to get vaccinated and think it is government overreach to require them to do so. However, the reality is that people have the choice to get vaccinated or not. The anti-vaxxers who the Conservatives are courting just do not like the consequences that come with that choice, but as we have learned since we were all kids, choices come with consequences. I think we can all agree we are in extraordinary circumstances, and public health experts around the world say the best chance we have to get back to normal, protect against future infection, blunt future waves and avoid lockdowns is to get those vaccination rates up as high as possible. People who have dedicated their lives to science and to protecting people's health have provided evidence that vaccines work. Allow me to summarize. People are fed up with their lives being turned upside down by a new virus that is highly transmissible, and a small number of them who refuse to get vaccinated, despite having every opportunity to do so, want everyone else to give them special treatment and accommodate them, instead of complying with the wishes of the majority. They want their rights and freedoms to be completely unlimited, and they want their decisions, no matter how harmful to others, to come with zero consequences. They also oppose lockdowns to the wrong level of government while simultaneously locking down a city in a province that is just about to reopen, all being organized by a group of people who say they want to overthrow a democratically elected government, which is busy fulfilling its promises for the majority of Canadians, because they claim to be the true patriots. Ironically—

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Context: House Hansard - 21 - Feb/1/22

Mr. Ryan Turnbull

Feb/1/22 5:35:45 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, while I certainly appreciate the question, I do not know how it pertains to the speech I gave. However, it does pertain to the Speech from the Throne, so I will do my best to answer it. I do not have a specific time and date, but I can say that our dairy industry is exceptionally important to our country, our food system and our supply chains. We are studying that at the agriculture committee, which I am very proud to be on and working with other members of other parties. I would certainly be willing to look into that and get back to the member.

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Context: House Hansard - 21 - Feb/1/22

Mr. Ryan Turnbull

Feb/1/22 5:37:43 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, yes, what my hon. colleague brings up is exceptionally important to this country and all Canadians. It is important to promote bilingualism and to ensure there is no loss of the French language. I think we need to do our best to protect it. I have been taking French lessons. I am not at a point where I feel confident enough to speak it yet, but I look forward to the moment when I begin to do that in the House.

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Context: House Hansard - 21 - Feb/1/22

Mr. Ryan Turnbull

Feb/1/22 5:39:29 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, I would like to respond to the member by saying that seniors are exceptionally important to me and my riding. I spend a lot of my time listening to their concerns and many of the vulnerabilities they experience, which often relate to housing insecurity. I definitely agree this is an area I am pursuing actively and have been doing so since I was elected in 2019. Certainly, there is more progress our government can make. I cannot speak to the specific issues in the member's riding or her constituents, but I certainly am working on all the ones that are relevant to my riding.

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