44th Parl. 1st Sess.
May 20, 2022 10:00AM
- May/20/22 12:07:09 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, last week, all members in the House agreed to put in place, without delay, a Canada disability benefit. I thank the members for restoring hope to Canadians with disabilities, but hope is not enough. We must deliver action. It has been a year since the Liberals tabled a Canada disability benefit and let it fall. We cannot fail the disability community again.
Will the government respect the will of this House and table the Canada disability benefit immediately?
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- May/20/22 12:07:52 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, since 2015, we have taken historic steps towards building a barrier-free Canada. In addition to the $112 million from budget 2021, with budget 2022 we are investing nearly $300 million in disability inclusion, including an employment strategy for persons with disabilities.
Moving forward, we are are absolutely committed to implementing the disability inclusion action plan, which will establish a robust employment strategy and enhance eligibility for government disability programs and benefits. That includes introducing the Canada disability benefit act to address poverty among Canadians with disabilities. We all benefit when—
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- May/20/22 12:08:23 p.m.
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The hon. member for Sudbury has the floor.
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- May/20/22 12:08:26 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, as we all know, our tourism sector was hit hard these past two years by the pandemic because of health measures and border closures.
Can the Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Tourism and Associate Minister of Finance tell us how the government is supporting this sector, which is a key economic driver and job creator, especially for young Canadians and rural communities?
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- May/20/22 12:08:55 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, I thank my colleague from Sudbury for the question and her hard work.
I am delighted to announce that we just launched consultations on our renewed federal tourism growth strategy. We will work with the provincial, territorial and municipal governments, as well as with our partners in indigenous communities, in order to continue promoting our tourism sector and ensuring economic growth.
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- May/20/22 12:09:31 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, on April 9, the Prime Minister announced that Ukrainians who come to Canada would be given temporary housing assistance and short-term income supports.
Last week, Alexey, a Ukrainian, landed in Toronto and was greeted by the Red Cross. Unfortunately, there was no short-term housing or income support because the program actually had not even launched yet. The announcement was made on April 9. Today is May 20.
Will the government keep its word and provide Ukrainians with the announced supports, or is this just another broken Liberal promise?
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- May/20/22 12:10:04 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, I thank the member for his great advocacy. We both sit on the immigration committee and I know how passionate and involved he is.
We have welcomed over 32,000 Ukrainians to Canada, and certainly our commitment continues to be to helping Ukrainians as they come to Canada. We will continue to support them. Just last week, we announced we would be welcoming a charter flight next week in Winnipeg.
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- May/20/22 12:10:44 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, it looks like another broken promise.
Anna recently gave birth to her third daughter, Sophie, in a bomb shelter in Ukraine. Anna and her daughters had to leave her husband and their father behind and escape to safety. They were forced to wait in Turkey because of impossible demands by IRCC, including demanding a birth certificate for Sophie, who was born in a bomb shelter. This is just ridiculous.
Will the Liberals finally accept that their policies are not working at all and implement visa-free travel for Ukrainians?
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- May/20/22 12:11:18 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, on individual cases, I would certainly appreciate having this conversation with him. As the member well knows, there are numerous measures we have put in place to ensure that individuals can come to Canada. As I mention all the time, we will continue to be there to welcome as many Ukrainians as possible in Canada.
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- May/20/22 12:11:49 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, Immigration Canada’s annual “Fees Report” notes that just 19% of passports were processed within the required timelines, and this audit was well before the current surge and delays. At the same time, 88% of executives at Immigration Canada received hefty performance bonuses.
Does the minister believe failing Canadians applying for passports 81% of the time warrants performance bonuses?
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- May/20/22 12:12:23 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, as I said, we recognize that Canadians are experiencing frustration right now with the incredible surge in demand when it comes to passports. We are experiencing unprecedented demand, the likes of which we have not seen since 2006, because over the past two years Canadians followed public health advice. They stayed home and did their part to keep themselves and their loved ones safe.
We are working around the clock at Service Canada, including on evenings and weekends. We have added over 600 additional staff at this point to ensure that we can meet those processing times in a timely manner.
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- May/20/22 12:12:59 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, the government was failing 81% of the time before the current surge.
The Service Fees Act requires government to develop service standards for government services that charge fees, such as for passports. It also requires the government to refund such fees if such standards are not met, under the directive on charging and special financial authorities.
The government has not been meeting its standard for passport application services, as we know, for well over 80% of people. Therefore, is the government refunding these Canadians, as is required under law?
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- May/20/22 12:13:37 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, for in-person passport services, we are meeting standards about 98% of the time. These are within 10 days. It is the mail-in option that is experiencing delays. We continue to work around the clock.
Previous to the pandemic, the majority of passports were processed in person as opposed to the mail-in option. This has now shifted, so we are adjusting and shifting resources as necessary, but we will continue to examine and do everything we can to make sure that we are delivering these services in a timely manner for Canadians.
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Madam Speaker, the luxury tax in the budget bill is flawed.
Rather than taxing billionaires who buy private jets, the government is taxing our aerospace industry and putting it at a disadvantage in relation to its foreign competitors. Everyone agrees on that.
The government is working hard to get us to pass Bill C‑19 as quickly as possible, but there is nothing to indicate that the government is working just as hard to remedy the problems with its luxury tax.
Will the government commit to making changes to Bill C‑19 to prevent it from undermining Quebec and its leading industry?
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Madam Speaker, I thank my colleague for his question.
We know that the aerospace industry is vitally important to Quebec and to all of Canada as a result. That is why companies that sell aircraft for export are entitled to a tax rebate for this. We are working closely with the aerospace industry to ensure that this important measure, one that seeks to ensure that everyone pays their fair share, will not negatively affect our manufacturers.
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Madam Speaker, that is not at all true. This has been going on for months. There is no communication, and it takes six months to get the rebate. Companies will be advancing the government hundreds of millions of dollars.
Management and unions are not often aligned, but they were yesterday at the Standing Committee on Finance. The aerospace industry and aerospace workers were united in saying that just a few little changes to this luxury tax would make it okay. Without these changes, however, it will miss the mark and hurt our businesses.
The government may well have bought itself a majority through its agreement with the NDP, but it is alone on this issue. The entire sector is opposed.
Will the government amend Bill C‑19?
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Madam Speaker, I would like to thank my colleague once again. I know that he works hard on this issue at the Standing Committee on Finance.
I assure my hon. colleague that we are working very closely with the aerospace industry. Our measures are designed to ensure that everyone pays their fair share and that the wealthiest in Canada, the 1%, pay taxes on luxury jets, cars and yachts. These measures are important to our government.
I will work with my colleague to ensure that this does not hurt our manufacturers.
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- May/20/22 12:16:47 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, the carbon capture tax credit included in this year's budget was not included in the budget implementation act. Why not?
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- May/20/22 12:17:04 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, I agree with the hon. member that carbon capture and storage is going to be critical to reach our 2030 as well as our 2050 goals. We need to use every tool in the tool box, as the Minister of Environment and Minister of Natural Resources have said. Again, this incentive is a critical tool to reduce our emissions, and this is an important technology to share with the world.
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- May/20/22 12:17:33 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, there are lots of tools in that box.
Carbon capture is widely viewed by all scientific input as the nearest-term solution to decarbonizing our energy needs. There is no path to environmental goals without it.
It has been over a year since the government rejected my tax credit on carbon capture because it needed to consult. After all that time, it was announced in this year's budget, yet there is still no action.
If the minister believes the climate crisis is the biggest challenge the world faces, why is he so slow in advancing the most obvious solution?
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