SoVote

Decentralized Democracy

House Hansard - 67

44th Parl. 1st Sess.
May 9, 2022 11:00AM
Context: House Hansard - 67 - May/9/22
Mrs. Karen Vecchio (Elgin—Middlesex—London, CPC)
  • May/9/22 6:39:11 p.m.
  • Watch
  • Re: Bill C-19 
Madam Speaker, one thing the member spoke about was mental health. That is something that I have seen that is absent from the budget. Sixty-two per cent of Canadian parents are saying that they have seen the mental health of their children get worse. The Canadian Paediatric Society is seeing more self-harm. When it comes to things like self-harm and eating disorders, they are two to three times higher. I am looking for the member's thoughts. What should we be doing for mental health, and how should the government be helping out more?
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Context: House Hansard - 67 - May/9/22
Mrs. Karen Vecchio (Elgin—Middlesex—London, CPC)
  • May/9/22 6:42:00 p.m.
  • Watch
  • Re: Bill C-19 
Madam Speaker, I really want to bring to the discussion some of the key things that are happening in Elgin—Middlesex—London. These are the key things that we are still waiting for an answer from the government on. As a girl from a rural community, I think we need to talk about fertilizer. We need to make a plan. I was happy enough to sit on the agriculture committee the other day, just seeing some of the fine work that was being done there, but we know that we have people in Elgin—Middlesex—London who are seeding right now. Fertilizer has a 35% tariff applied regardless of whether one bought it prior to March 2 or not. We know that boats have continued to sit at sea. We know that there continues to be issues, but we need to have a plan. The farmers need to know what is going to happen next. They start buying, and they start preparing even for next season, for 2023, and they will be preparing in October through December. We need to know what is going on and the government needs to come up with a plan. Is it going to be helping out? Are they going to get 35% of this back from the coffers that are sitting there taking in these tariffs right now, or is that 35% tariff going to be applied to the food and to everything else that Canadians are consuming? I wanted to bring up fertilizer and ask the government to please come up with an answer. We are waiting. I want to talk about passport services. Golly gee, we have heard a lot about passport services, but I just want to remind the government that 10-year passports are due. That means that they are going to be there, so it needs to come up with a plan. We are just waiting. We have people who are being told, as I heard earlier today, to come at 1 a.m. to line up. Back in 2007, I believe it was, when we knew the U.S. government was putting in this plan, I can tell members, as I was a constituency assistant, the government was prepared. We had line-ups that were eight and nine hours long, but the government was prepared, and within eight weeks, people were still able to get their passports. We know that with this government right now, it is the same situation, but there is no passport service. Please, get the services back to being Service Canada. I also want to talk about the cost of living. This is just really simple. I want to just make sure I read this one to members. A constituent wrote to me, “Good morning. Yesterday, I went to put gas in my car and my heart sank when I saw how much I had to pay for a litre. Right now, I work three jobs, so that my wife can stay home and home-school our kids. How many more jobs do you want one person to work?” I think that is the question. He already has three. They home-school their children. I am sure they are very frugal, like many families are, but what is the government going to do when it comes to the cost of living? This morning, my husband filled up for $1.99 in the city of St. Thomas. Last year at this time, we know it was closer to two-thirds of that cost. I am asking the government to do some work, to start thinking about what it is like to be a regular Canadian who has to pay these bills, who has to feed their children and who has to buy food and clothes and shelter. I am just asking for some compassion, and I am hoping that the government will get to work.
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