44th Parl. 1st Sess.
March 1, 2022 10:00AM
- Mar/1/22 2:49:14 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, many Canadians are struggling to find affordable housing, including those in my riding of Kitchener South—Hespeler. The need for affordable housing has been highlighted during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Last week, I had the honour of speaking at a virtual open house for one of our government's rapid housing initiative programs in my riding of Kitchener South—Hespeler. Could the Minister of Housing and Diversity and Inclusion please tell the House how our government is building more affordable housing in Kitchener South—Hespeler and across Canada?
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- Mar/1/22 2:49:46 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I want to thank the member for her very strong advocacy on the issue of affordable housing. Recently in the member's riding, we announced $8.2 million to create 42 new, permanent, affordable housing units for seniors and women at risk of, and in fact experiencing, homelessness. This is real action. It means 42 Canadians now have the housing that they need and a safe place to call home. This is yet another example of the national housing strategy at work in communities from coast to coast to coast.
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- Mar/1/22 2:50:24 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, Canadians have been plagued with backlogs throughout this pandemic, everything from immigration applications, to GIS payments, to parental benefits. Yesterday, the President of the Treasury Board said in the House that 99% of public servants are vaccinated.
I have a simple question for the minister. How many unvaccinated federal employees did she have to fire to get to 99%?
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- Mar/1/22 2:50:55 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, as I said yesterday, vaccines are the best way to bring this pandemic to an end. Public servants stepped up and 99% got their first dose, 98.7% got their second dose.
Public servants are responding to the need of making sure Canadians are safe and healthy during this pandemic. Those who need accommodation are being treated, and we will continue to make sure that these public servants are respected.
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- Mar/1/22 2:51:36 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, yesterday in question period, the health minister praised the Province of Saskatchewan on its COVID-19 efforts. As of Monday, all COVID-19 restrictions have been lifted in my province. Businesses can fully open and smiles can be shared between the people of Saskatchewan once again. Canada has some of the highest vaccination rates in the world.
When will the health minister follow the lead of the science-backed provincial health authority and lift all federal mandates?
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- Mar/1/22 2:52:07 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, a word that comes to my mind is “gratefulness”. I am grateful for our relationship with Minister Merriman and the entire Government of Saskatchewan, who have been there to help the people of Saskatchewan get through this crisis, and I am grateful to the millions of people in Saskatchewan who made the right choice and got vaccinated.
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- Mar/1/22 2:52:33 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, Beauce borders the United States.
Mr. Quirion, a voter in my riding, has informed me of the unfair treatment he continues to experience at the border. His son lives a few minutes away in Maine, but he can seldom visit him because of the current border measures. He is fully vaccinated but is still required to provide a rapid test just for a one-day visit. The closest testing site to his son is more than an hour's drive away.
When will the government present a plan to permanently end these mandates for vaccinated individuals?
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- Mar/1/22 2:53:12 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, as we have said all along, our government will continue to follow the advice of scientists and public health experts.
The good news is that yesterday we eased our border measures. That is great news for travellers, the tourism sector, our aviation sector and communities along the borders.
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- Mar/1/22 2:53:38 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I believe the Tourism Industry Association would disagree greatly with the minister.
An ER nurse sent me a message yesterday because she is in isolation. Her ER is desperately understaffed and she is stuck at home with zero symptoms because she was randomly selected to do a PCR test at the border, on top of the rapid test. Canadians need a plan. They need answers. Provinces across the country are following the advice of medical health officers and dropping mandates.
When will the Prime Minister give Canadians a plan and a timeline on when federal vaccine mandates will be dropped?
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- Mar/1/22 2:54:16 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, Canadians support doing everything we can at our borders to protect the health and safety of Canadians, and also to protect our economy. Prior to yesterday, we were testing all arriving non-U.S. travellers to make sure that incomers were fully vaccinated and not carrying the virus.
Yesterday we changed these measures. Based on advice we received from public health experts, we no longer test every traveller, and we are now accepting antigen tests for travellers. That is great news for travellers.
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- Mar/1/22 2:54:58 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, we were eager to read the new bill to modernize the Official Languages Act.
Quebec's one request was that it wanted to be solely responsible for linguistic planning in its territory. The Liberals have said no. Ottawa is interfering again. It is ensuring that its legislation will override the application of the Charter of the French Language. It will be optional for federally regulated businesses.
Why not simply let Bill 101 apply in Quebec as Quebec has requested?
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- Mar/1/22 2:55:54 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I want to thank my colleague for his question.
Promoting and protecting the French language is a top priority for our government. Today, I had the great pleasure and honour of tabling our bill to modernize and strengthen official languages. This means that we recognize the decline of French in Canada and even in Quebec, and that is—
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- Mar/1/22 2:56:10 p.m.
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Order.
We are having technical difficulties. We will try to resolve the situation.
In the meantime, I believe that the Minister of Canadian Heritage can answer the question.
The Minister of Canadian Heritage.
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- Mar/1/22 2:56:26 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, defending and promoting French is and always will be a top priority for the Government of Canada.
In the bill, we recognize that we need to do more. We need to support French, whether as a language of work or a language of service. We are doing just that, not only in Quebec but across the country. We will always be there to defend French.
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- Mar/1/22 2:56:49 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, the Quebec National Assembly is calling for this, as are the Government of Quebec and all living former premiers of Quebec, namely, Pierre Marc Johnson, Daniel Johnson, Lucien Bouchard, Pauline Marois, Philippe Couillard, and even the very Liberal Jean Charest.
Even the House of Commons voted in favour of it at second reading. Only the Liberal government is opposed.
Will the minister amend the bill so that Bill 101 applies to federally regulated businesses in Quebec?
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- Mar/1/22 2:57:33 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, the Government of Canada is intervening in its own jurisdiction. It is taking action to strengthen French as a language of work and a language of service, not only in Quebec but in francophone communities across Canada because the French fact is a Canadian fact.
We want to protect and promote French not only in Quebec but everywhere. We want more French. We want to speak French, read French and listen to French music. That is why we are taking action.
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- Mar/1/22 2:58:09 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, according to Angus Reid, 53% of Canadians cannot keep up with the cost of living, and things are going to get worse. The next budget will introduce significant amounts of new spending and make inflation worse for Canadian families, and on April 1, the government is increasing the carbon tax on gasoline by almost nine cents a litre. Every day, we hear more stories of Canadians telling us they are getting squeezed.
When will the government realize it needs to change its course and cancel its tax-and-spending plans?
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- Mar/1/22 2:58:44 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, the Conservatives continue to talk down the Canadian economy with a false economic narrative, so I am glad to have the chance to share some good news. StatsCan today released our GDP numbers for the fourth quarter. Canada's GDP grew at an annualized rate of 6.7%. That is the second-highest level in the G7, and it beat market expectations.
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- Mar/1/22 2:59:20 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I asked the Liberals about inflation in Saskatchewan, and the government confirmed the negative impact of inflation on the poverty line throughout my province. In fact, the poverty rate increased 1.2% in Saskatchewan and it is only going to get worse. That means an additional 13,000 people in Saskatchewan are falling into poverty every year, simply because inflation is driving their costs through the roof.
Why is the government driving low-income families in Saskatoon West deeper into poverty with its high-spending, high-inflation policies?
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- Mar/1/22 2:59:53 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, we will take no lessons from the Conservatives when it comes to supporting the most vulnerable people in Canada. We introduced the CCB, which is indexed to inflation and lifted almost 300,000 children out of poverty. We increased the GIS, also indexed to inflation, which has helped over 900,000 seniors. In fact, when we formed government, there were 5.1 million Canadians in poverty. By 2019 that figure had dropped to 3.7 million.
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