44th Parl. 1st Sess.
February 9, 2022 02:00PM
Mr. Speaker, the pandemic has been very hard on seniors, and the government has been there to help them.
We are helping seniors with a one-time payment to seniors whose benefits were affected by pandemic support measures. Today we introduced Bill C‑12 to exclude pandemic benefits for the purposes of calculating GIS.
We are calling on all parties, including the Bloc Québécois, to support us and pass this bill quickly to prevent any future reduction in GIS for low-income seniors. Our government will continue to be there for seniors.
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- Feb/9/22 3:05:09 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, seniors are suffering as a result of the cuts to the guaranteed income supplement. Some of them are going hungry, selling their possessions and even losing their homes. These people cannot wait until late spring for the federal bureaucratic machine to get moving.
The Prime Minister proved with CERB that he can get cheques out quickly when he really wants to. If the Prime Minister was able to make CERB payments to millions of people within 10 days of them applying, he has the capacity to provide support to the most vulnerable seniors before the end of spring.
What is stopping him from taking action?
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- Feb/9/22 3:05:47 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, we have been there for Canadians, including seniors, for the past two years with unprecedented support. We have supported them with extra money during this pandemic, because we know it has been very difficult.
Yes, because of that money, some seniors risk losing the benefits they need this year. That is why we will soon be sending a one-time payment and why we introduced a bill yesterday with proposals aimed at solving this problem once and for all. We expect the other parties that care about seniors to support us.
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- Feb/9/22 3:06:32 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, two weeks ago the ethics committee, including all Liberal committee members, unanimously agreed that a tender should be postponed in order to stop the Liberals from secretly collecting the mobility data of Canadians until MPs could be sure that the privacy rights of Canadians were not being violated.
However, in an unbelievable move yesterday, the entire Liberal caucus, including the same members who voted for it, voted against stopping the RFP. What a disgrace. Why would the Prime Minister vote against the committee's recommendations to make sure that the privacy of Canadians was protected?
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- Feb/9/22 3:07:06 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, unlike the Conservative Party, we believe data, science and evidence need to inform our response to COVID-19. It is crucial to inform policy and decision-making.
The Public Health Agency of Canada has used de-identified data without personal identifiers to inform the government's response to the pandemic. We have also publicly provided the data to Canadians to keep them informed. We remain focused on Canadians' health and safety and we continue to uphold the privacy standards they rightfully expect.
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- Feb/9/22 3:07:45 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, why was this vote so important yesterday? It was because the Liberals, with their “no” vote, have signalled that they will continue collecting this data without the consent of Canadians. If we connect the dots, we see a pattern of the Liberals using the distraction of a pandemic as an opportunity for massive expansion and overreach to abuse the rights and freedoms of Canadians, including their privacy rights.
Would the Prime Minister at least provide a coherent reason for why he thinks it is a bad idea to pause this tender until we can ensure that Canadians' privacy protection rights are protected?
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- Feb/9/22 3:08:25 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, we are fighting a global pandemic right now, and every step of the way we have been informed by science and data to do that. Yes, we have been protecting Canadians' privacy rights, which are always important, but we will use the tools we have to keep Canadians safe and defend their rights and values.
Unfortunately, we see the pattern of the Conservative Party, which tried to scrap the long-form census and is constantly against data and evidence and pushes back against science and data.
We will be informed by the facts and by science in what we do.
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- Feb/9/22 3:09:05 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, yesterday at the public safety committee, I asked Toronto's deputy chief of police if the Liberals' plan to spend a billion taxpayer dollars on a firearms buyback would have any effect on improving public safety. His answer, which has been echoed by law enforcement across this country, was that gun buybacks don't work.
My question is for the Prime Minister: Why is he ignoring law enforcement experts? Why will he not scrap this ineffective, wasteful ideological scheme?
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- Feb/9/22 3:09:40 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, to be crystal clear right now, the Conservative Party of Canada is is asking us to bring back, to re-legalize, assault weapons. That was something that was debated during the election campaign that they are trying hard to forget.
We banned—
Some hon. members: Oh, oh!
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- Feb/9/22 3:09:56 p.m.
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Order. I want to remind the hon. members to watch their language.
I am going to have to ask the hon. member to stand and apologize or withdraw.
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- Feb/9/22 3:10:42 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I will say that—
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- Feb/9/22 3:10:45 p.m.
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I am not asking for a long diatribe. I am asking for an apology.
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- Feb/9/22 3:10:45 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I will not give you one. I apologize for saying that he lied, but in 1977—
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- Feb/9/22 3:10:57 p.m.
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No, that is over. That is it. Now, please sit down. You apologized. That is all we need.
The Right Hon. Prime Minister, please continue.
Let us give the hon. member for Sturgeon River—Parkland the opportunity to hear his answer.
The Right Hon. Prime Minister.
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- Feb/9/22 3:11:28 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, last year we banned 1,500 different models of assault-style weapons in this country. The Conservative Party is proposing to reverse that ban. They do not think it will keep Canadians safe. Well, we had an election which included that, and they were soundly rejected in that argument.
Canadians want to see their communities safer. That is why we are for strengthening gun control, while they, unfortunately and inexplicably, are for weakening it.
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- Feb/9/22 3:11:31 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, the interruption of trade resulting from a localized outbreak of potato wart has significantly impacted the economy of P.E.I. and many of my constituents. From small multi-generational family farms to large producers and from packers to processors and shippers, nearly every islander has been affected by this issue.
I know our government has been working diligently on this file, and yesterday was a huge step forward. Can the Prime Minister update the House on how the government is progressing toward the resumption of exports of the best darn potatoes in the world?
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- Feb/9/22 3:12:06 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank my colleague from Malpeque for his question, his hard work and his continued advocacy for islanders.
Restoring market access for P.E.I. fresh potatoes to the U.S. and supporting P.E.I. farmers continues to be a top priority for our government. Thanks to the work of two of our colleagues who went to Washington, and their science-based approach, the export of table stock potatoes to Puerto Rico can now resume.
We will continue to defend our farmers and to push for a science-based approach until potato exports are completely restored.
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- Feb/9/22 3:12:47 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, on August 13, the Prime Minister announced mandatory vaccination at the federal level. On August 15, he called a useless election. On February 8, the cat was let out of the bag.
Contrary to what he has been saying since the beginning of question period, two members of his own party are denouncing his party's decision to knowingly adopt a divisive approach that stigmatizes people strictly for electoral purposes. As Emmanuelle Latraverse said so well, “the Prime Minister can say he is following the science, but it is pretty clear that it is all relative”.
Why has the Prime Minister turned his back on Canadians? When did he make the decision to divide, stigmatize and conquer?
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- Feb/9/22 3:13:30 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, during the last election, we presented Canadians with a very clear vision of how we could get through this pandemic.
That included vaccine mandates for all those who wanted to board a plane or a train and for employees of the federal public service. Canadians had their say on those issues during that election, and the vast majority voted for members of parties that supported these vaccine mandates. That is the reality. It was very important for this country to be able to move forward with a clear mandate to end this pandemic through vaccination, and that is exactly what we have done.
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- Feb/9/22 3:14:16 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, the member for Louis-Hébert was much clearer.
We cannot end this pandemic without leadership. We cannot end this pandemic by dividing and stigmatizing Canadians. We cannot end division by hiding and refusing to take responsibility. The Prime Minister was in hiding, and it was not until one of his own members of Parliament, the chair of the Quebec Liberal caucus, spoke out about his Machiavellian election ploy that he came out.
Will the Prime Minister admit he made a mistake, apologize to Canadians for the decision he made, and work with the party leaders to put an end to the division and the protests?
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