44th Parl. 1st Sess.
March 4, 2022 10:00AM
- Mar/4/22 11:49:24 a.m.
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Mr. Speaker, last week, I spoke with a local business owner in Bancroft. Just like thousands of others in my riding, he had received his heating bill and was dumbfounded at what he saw. His bill had doubled over the previous month.
Owning and operating a business is 24-7. The government's policy of taxation on top of taxation is gouging rural Canadians. Many business owners and families are mere months away from bankruptcy. When will the government commit to stopping the planned tax increase on April 1?
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- Mar/4/22 11:50:07 a.m.
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Mr. Speaker, our government is committed to the success of small businesses. I will remind that member that carbon pricing is revenue neutral federally. I will also remind that member that our government has had business owners' backs throughout the greatest economic shut-off that we have had since the Second World War. That is why there are actually more businesses operating today than there were before the pandemic even started.
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- Mar/4/22 11:50:31 a.m.
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Mr. Speaker, yesterday I spoke with Scaletta Haulage, a small company in Tweed that hauls mostly agricultural products. They are close to a point where they will have to park their trucks because the cost of fuel is hitting them too hard. Last month, it was $12,000 to fuel two trucks. This month, it was $25,000 to fuel those same two trucks.
They wonder: Does the government really not care about the little guys keeping this country moving?
When will the government stop blaming others, take some ownership and present a plan for Canadians?
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- Mar/4/22 11:51:13 a.m.
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Mr. Speaker, we take supporting small businesses seriously. I would remind the member opposite that it was our government that lowered small business taxes from 11% to 9%. We have listened closely to businesses during the pandemic to make sure we had a suite of measures in place.
In fact, we focused on a health-based recovery. That has actually helped us have an economic-based recovery. Even though we lost three million jobs during the depths of the recession, we have now recovered 101% of that, while the United States has only recovered 87%.
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- Mar/4/22 11:51:44 a.m.
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Mr. Speaker, my constituents are not second-class citizens. The lack of cell coverage is unfathomable. The gap between rural and urban Canadians continues to widen.
The Prime Minister did not address this issue in his mandate letters for the Minister of Rural Economic Development, the Minister of Innovation, Science and Industry or even the Minister of Public Safety, which shows just how disconnected the government is from rural Canadians.
This is an issue not only in terms of fairness but also in terms of public safety. When will the government step up and show some real leadership on this issue?
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- Mar/4/22 11:52:20 a.m.
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Mr. Speaker, our government does understand rural Canada. Since I have been appointed minister, I have done 37 round tables all throughout the country. The number one issue I hear is connectivity. We know that connectivity with reliable, affordable, high-speed Internet is the number one thing to build back better in rural Canada. We need it for keeping in touch, for kids doing homework and for our businesses, and, frankly, we are getting it done.
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- Mar/4/22 11:52:49 a.m.
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Mr. Speaker, my constituent Darren sent me the following message on how inflation is affecting his life. He said, “With payments, registration, repairs and fuel to drive to work there isn't much motivation to keep working. Then the government takes two thirds of my income for income taxes, CPP, EI and carbon tax. I will have to soon borrow money to be able to stay working.”
When will the Liberal government start listening to Canadians and stop these continual tax increases?
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- Mar/4/22 11:53:23 a.m.
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Mr. Speaker, our government has been focused on affordability issues and issues around inflation. Since taking office, in fact, it was our government that implemented a thorough poverty strategy that lifted 1.3 million Canadians out of poverty.
We are investing in programs like child care, which is going to lower the cost of child care in B.C. by 50% by the end of this year. We are investing in the national housing strategy to make sure people can afford a place to live. These are all measures the Conservatives are not supporting, but that we are going to get done.
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- Mar/4/22 11:53:56 a.m.
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Mr. Speaker, weir fishing is a precious part of Charlevoix's intangible heritage. Quebec's only two capelin fishers still practise this ancestral skill.
In the St. Lawrence estuary, capelin season starts in early April, but because Ottawa does not make any distinction between our two traditional fishers and those in Newfoundland, 2,000 kilometres to the north, our fishers are prohibited from fishing before the end of May or early June. The problem is that by the end of May, there is no capelin left in the St. Lawrence.
If the season is not moved up for our two fishers, this national tradition will disappear. Will the minister authorize weir fishers to fish for capelin in Charlevoix starting April 1?
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- Mar/4/22 11:54:41 a.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I thank the member for her question and will take her comments into consideration.
We use the best scientific data available, in consultation with the industry, to determine the opening dates for all of our fishing seasons. I know how important the fisheries are to our coastal communities, and I will work with the fishers to ensure they can remain economically sustainable in the long term.
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- Mar/4/22 11:55:22 a.m.
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Mr. Speaker, there is a world of difference between the Newfoundland fishers, who catch 9,000 tonnes of capelin a year, and our two traditional fishers, who catch less than 50. However, Ottawa puts them all in the same boat.
Our two remaining weir capelin fishers have never been consulted or invited to participate in the scientific consultation about the start of their fishing season. They must be included in the decision-making process. In the meantime, will the minister immediately grant them special authorization to begin fishing on April 1?
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- Mar/4/22 11:55:57 a.m.
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Mr. Speaker, as I already stated, we use the best scientific data. We are holding consultations with the industry all along the east and west coasts and in the Arctic. That is a very clear rule.
We will establish the opening dates based on science and the scientists we will be consulting. Fishing will be equitable—
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- Mar/4/22 11:56:38 a.m.
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Order. The hon. member for Haliburton—Kawartha Lakes—Brock.
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- Mar/4/22 11:56:44 a.m.
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Mr. Speaker, despite some of the highest vaccination rates in the world, the federal government refuses to remove its travel mandates. Canadians returning home from the U.S. at land border crossings without a COVID test result could be fined $5,000.
Yesterday, 15 border mayors called for an end to the testing requirements. Many European countries and Canadian provinces have already ditched their mandates. Canada's chief medical officer of health said that we need to empower people to make the best choices to protect themselves.
Can the health minister tell the House what information he has that other jurisdictions already returning to normal do not?
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- Mar/4/22 11:57:23 a.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I am delighted to answer that question.
As the member may know, I come from the wonderful Quebec City. I am very proud of the strong workers, people and partners working for my tourism industry. I understand it is also an important industry for the member. I look forward to further measures, but I would also point out that on Monday, just a few days ago, we announced important measures that are going to protect workers and travellers and invest in our tourism industry.
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- Mar/4/22 11:57:54 a.m.
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Mr. Speaker, tourism is vital to the economy in northwestern Ontario, with the vast majority of visitors being Americans who cross at the land border. Unfortunately, the government's current COVID testing requirements mean that many of the regular visitors are once again going to choose to stay home this season.
When is this government going to do the right thing and put an end to the arbitrary and unscientific testing requirements for vaccinated travellers at our land border crossings?
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- Mar/4/22 11:58:26 a.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I am obviously very pleased to hear one more colleague who cares about the industry of tourism. I do as well, as I just said. That is why we are working to protect both the health and safety of workers and travellers, but also to make sure that our tourism industry can thrive. We know how hard it has been for workers and small businesses over the last 23 months, and that is why we look forward to further investing and further supporting our tourism industry.
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- Mar/4/22 11:58:58 a.m.
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Mr. Speaker, Ontario has announced that it is dropping its vaccination policies as of April 4, and public servants will be returning to work in person. I keep hearing from my constituents how exhausted and frustrated they are with these mandates, and that they just want their lives to get back to normal.
When will this government follow the example of Ontario and finally restore the freedom of Canadians by removing these unscientific and undemocratic federal vaccine mandates?
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- Mar/4/22 11:59:36 a.m.
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Mr. Speaker, 1.1 million is the number that a recent Harvard study told us would have been the additional number of people dying in the United States without vaccination. In Canada, it is about 400,000 people who would have died in 2021 if, first, we did not have vaccination, and second, we did not have strong public health measures. Fortunately, we were not there, and fortunately we are elsewhere today because of the hard work and hard commitment of vaccinators and all the 30 million-plus Canadians who got vaccinated.
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- Mar/4/22 12:00:16 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, the Official Languages Act enshrines the official language rights of all Canadians, but it needs to be stronger to really protect those rights.
Would the Minister of Official Languages please tell the House if the government's modernization of the Official Languages Act includes provisions to make it stronger and more effective?
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