44th Parl. 1st Sess.
February 28, 2022 11:00AM
- Feb/28/22 2:59:16 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I am very glad to hear my colleague speak about science. The science has been very clear, over the last year and a half, that what works is vaccination. Vaccination is not a punishment. Vaccination is protection. Almost 90% of adult Canadians have been vaccinated twice. We are very grateful to the scientists of this country and other places. They have provided us with vaccines that work and are effective.
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- Feb/28/22 2:59:46 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, in my home province of Saskatchewan, Premier Moe has announced the dropping of public health measures. He was regularly consulting with his chief public health officer while holding press conferences to keep citizens informed. Many other provinces have announced their own plans to drop provincial mandates while regularly consulting their chief public health officers.
This government has, for the last two years, been saying that it is listening to science, but the federal chief health officer has been inconsistent at best. When will the government drop the mandates?
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- Feb/28/22 3:00:31 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I am very pleased to speak about Saskatchewan. I want to congratulate my colleague, Health Minister Merriman, for all his hard work and collaboration over the last few months. We worked really well together on rapid testing, on PPE, on the Paxlovid treatment against COVID-19, and on vaccinations. I want to congratulate all the people in Saskatchewan for having been vaccinated in such large numbers.
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- Feb/28/22 3:01:02 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, over the last few days what we have seen is a brutal military assault by Vladimir Putin's regime in Russia on Ukraine, on democracy and on the international rules-based order that protects countries and civilians around the world. There are countless men, women and children who as we speak are being killed, who are displaced and who desperately need humanitarian assistance.
Could the Minister of International Development please share with the House and with Canadians what Canada is doing to provide humanitarian assistance to the people of Ukraine?
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- Feb/28/22 3:01:46 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I want to thank the member for Etobicoke Centre for his strong leadership and for advocating for the people of Ukraine. Canada is deeply concerned by the deepening humanitarian crisis in Ukraine that has been caused by President Putin, and we are monitoring the situation very closely on the ground. This is why our government has provided $50 million to support developing humanitarian aid and over $620 million in loan offers. Just on Friday, we announced that we would match, up to $10 million, the generous donations of Canadians to support Ukrainians through the Ukrainian Red Cross and the International Committee of the Red Cross, and we will do more.
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- Feb/28/22 3:02:22 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, it has now been eight months since a wildfire completely destroyed the community of Lytton in my riding. My constituents still need help to get back home.
Nearly two years ago, the government provided blank cheques without applications to select cities for housing projects under the rapid housing initiative in the major cities stream. What specific assistance will the minister provide to the village of Lytton to build purpose-built housing for vulnerable Canadians who lost everything?
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- Feb/28/22 3:02:56 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I appreciate the member's concern and advocacy for his community.
The rapid housing initiative has far exceeded its initial targets. We have delivered over 10,250 new, permanent, affordable housing units for Canada's most vulnerable individuals, including those experiencing homelessness and those who are at risk of experiencing homelessness.
The member opposite knows, from his time as my critic, that we have a number of programs in the national housing strategy for different kinds of housing needs across the housing spectrum. I am willing to work with him to address the needs of his community.
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- Feb/28/22 3:03:34 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, my riding of Brantford—Brant includes two first nation reserves, one of which is the largest in the country. It breaks my heart when I review reports like the ones released by the Chiefs of Ontario and the Ontario Drug Policy Research Network. They stated that opiate deaths have doubled among first nations people in Ontario during the pandemic.
The opiate crisis was recognized by every party during this past election. How many more lives need to be lost before the government starts taking the opiate crisis seriously?
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- Feb/28/22 3:04:11 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I share the member's deep concern for the mental health of all indigenous people who are struggling with so many crises that have led to increases of all kinds of substance use problems and disorders. We have been working closely with first nations communities on programs and supports that are indigenous-led and that will lead to better mental health outcomes and better health for indigenous people across the country.
I agree with the member opposite that we must do more, but it must be indigenous-led. That is the commitment of this government: to work with indigenous partners to ensure they have what they need.
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- Feb/28/22 3:04:51 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, the Equinor Bay du Nord project presents an opportunity for Newfoundland and Labrador to accelerate economic growth coming out of the pandemic. Every barrel of low-carbon ethically produced oil from our offshore displaces a barrel of high-carbon foreign blood oil coming from Russia and the Middle East.
On December 6, 2021, the Environmental Assessment Agency approved Equinor to proceed with Bay du Nord. Will the environment minister respect the process and approve this project, yes or no?
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- Feb/28/22 3:05:33 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, the approval of this particular project is currently with the Minister of Environment and Climate Change, and therefore I am not going to comment on the process. However, I will say that our commitment has been unwavering. In our commitment to support—
Some hon. members: Oh, oh!
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- Feb/28/22 3:05:52 p.m.
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I am going to interrupt the hon. minister.
I am going to wait until everything calms down before we start up again. We started off really well and we are near the end. Let us see if we can make it extend a bit.
Hon. minister, please proceed.
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- Feb/28/22 3:06:12 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, we remain committed to supporting energy workers in Canada and certainly to working with Newfoundland and Labrador specifically, with the Lower Churchill project, which will provide Newfoundlanders and Labradorians with clean energy for decades to come, and the offshore emissions reduction fund to help offshore workers.
We have been there and we will continue to be there, working strongly with Newfoundland and Labrador to advance the economic agenda of that province going forward.
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- Feb/28/22 3:06:44 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, public transit systems across Canada have been devastated by the pandemic. Effective public transit systems are essential for families, workers and communities.
Can the Minister of Tourism and Associate Minister of Finance explain what our government is doing to help rebuild public transit?
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- Feb/28/22 3:07:14 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, let me begin by expressing my full solidarity with the people of Ukraine.
The hon. member for Châteauguay—Lacolle is absolutely right. That is why our government is providing municipalities with an additional $750 million in funding for public transit. This funding will help fill some of the operational gaps caused by the pandemic.
This will include two important requirements. First, our provincial and territorial partners must match our contribution. Second, provincial and territorial governments must match the federal contribution.
This is good news.
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- Feb/28/22 3:07:57 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, Canadians are getting slammed by the rising costs of housing, gas and groceries, among other things. A new poll reveals that over half of Canadians do not feel they can keep up with the rising cost of living.
While most people are falling further behind, the ultrarich are getting richer using tax havens and loopholes. Where is the help for everybody else? Canadians would benefit from a cap on cellphone and Internet bills, from national pharmacare and from policies to cool the housing market.
When can Canadians expect that help from the government?
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- Feb/28/22 3:08:32 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, we absolutely understand the challenges that Canadian families face with affordability, and that is why our government has acted and continues to act. We created the Canada child benefit, which is indexed to inflation. Today, a single mother with two children will receive up to $13,600 from the CCB. We lowered taxes for the middle class twice and raised them on the wealthiest 1%. We provided seniors with a one-time payment of $500 last summer and are increasing the OAS by 10%. There is, of course, early learning and child care, which will be transformative for young families.
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- Feb/28/22 3:09:17 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, last week I met with Ilya and Liudmyla in my constituency office. They will soon be Canadian citizens and are excited to begin the next chapter of their lives. However, Liudmyla also told me that she is worried about her mom and her family, who are living in bomb shelters. In Ukraine, others are in long lines of refugees at the Polish border. Over 115,000 refugees are heading for safety in Poland. Thousands are also going to Romania and any EU country offering sanctuary. However, resources are being stretched to the brink.
Can the Minister of Foreign Affairs inform the House if Canada will provide assistance to countries opening their borders to the Ukrainian exodus?
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- Feb/28/22 3:10:04 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, Putin's war in Ukraine is an attack not just on the territorial integrity and sovereignty of Ukraine, but on the idea of democracy in Europe itself.
We started preparing more than a month ago to welcome newcomers from Ukraine to Canada. On January 19, we started a process internal to our department to process applications on a priority basis and have processed more than 3,800 already. We have also created new pathways for people who are already here from Ukraine to make it easier for them to stay and to work while they are here so they can support themselves. In the very near future, we are going to be announcing new measures to make it easier and faster for Ukrainians who are fleeing the war to find safety here in Canada.
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- Feb/28/22 3:11:02 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, there have been consultations among the parties and I think that if you seek it you will find unanimous consent for the following motion:
That this House reiterate the motion adopted unanimously on January 27, 2021 and call upon the new Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship, to, in the case of Raif Badawi, exercise his discretion under Section 5 of the Citizenship Act which authorizes him to grant citizenship to any person to alleviate cases of special and unusual hardship.
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