44th Parl. 1st Sess.
February 16, 2022 02:00PM
- Feb/16/22 2:15:01 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, recently a constituent of mine in Parry Sound—Muskoka told me the nightmare she experienced trying to access parental benefits after she spent weeks in SickKids hospital with her newborn. She sent her paperwork for parental benefits to Service Canada in late August 2021. She delivered her baby in September, and only yesterday finally received her benefits. Service Canada officials, at every step of the way, told her that they were overworked and were still learning how to deal with COVID. This was late 2021, two years into the pandemic.
In a riding like mine, where many seasonal workers and folks rely on the EI program, the excuse that Service Canada is still learning how to work with COVID is just simply not good enough. At a time when restaurants and businesses are reopening and learning how to live with COVID-19, it is time for the government to do the same and ensure the services delivered to the people who need them are done in a timely fashion.
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- Feb/16/22 2:54:43 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, two-thirds of Canadians want to see COVID restrictions and mandates lifted. We have among the highest vaccination rates in the world, but Canadians are still living under restrictions that many other less vaccinated countries have lifted. Canadians want a plan for ending restrictions, and they are incredibly disappointed that the NDP and Liberals blocked our Conservative motion asking for one.
If 32% of the vote is good enough for the Liberals to form government, why is 90% not good enough to lift mandates?
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- Feb/16/22 2:55:14 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, for two years Canadians have been there for each other, and all of us together have followed the science. We made sure that people got vaccinated, we made sure that people have access to rapid tests, and every step of the way, we will be ensuring that we are doing exactly what is necessary, both to keep people safe from COVID and also to get back to the things we love as quickly as possible.
This week I was pleased to see the lifting of a number of restrictions around international travel. We are going to continue to monitor the situation carefully and ensure that we follow the science as we keep Canadians safe.
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- Feb/16/22 2:57:49 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I believe the member opposite misspoke. I think it is actually 100% of Canadians who are tired of this COVID pandemic, tired of having to be restricted and tired of being impacted by this pandemic around the country and around the globe. We all want to get through it. However, the way to get through it is by following science, by keeping each other safe, by being there for each other. The way through this pandemic is not to engage in illegal blockades that are harming their fellow Canadians.
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- Feb/16/22 3:10:18 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, let us look at what he did. When he had the opportunity as the head of government to take action to deal with COVID‑19, he chose to play politics. He called an election in the middle of a pandemic, which allowed him to divide Canadians and stigmatize those who do not think like him.
He imposed a vaccine on truckers without any scientific evidence. He demonized and ridiculed some of his citizens instead of listening to what they had to say. He stayed in hiding instead of facing this situation and then he accused others of not doing their job.
Enough is enough. When will the Prime Minister apologize to Canadians for politicizing this crisis?
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