44th Parl. 1st Sess.
June 7, 2022 10:00AM
- Jun/7/22 2:17:07 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, even though the pandemic is not entirely behind us, it is heartening to see more things return to normal. On Saturday, I enjoyed spending time with my family at Transcona's Hi Neighbour Festival after a pancake breakfast at the legion. Baba's Country Kitchen was back in action and as delicious as ever. On Sunday, I was pleased to join with tens of thousands of people for the Winnipeg pride parade.
Next weekend, I look forward to celebrating with people in Elmwood as Happy Days on Henderson makes its return after a two-year hiatus. As usual, there will be live music, children's games and a lot more.
Winnipeg had a long, cold winter, and it has been a difficult year so far. As the little bit of sunshine we are getting now warms our faces, these events are helping to warm our hearts. I thank all the amazing people who have worked hard to put these events back together.
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- Jun/7/22 2:18:00 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, during the night of June 25 to 26, there will be a moonlight tennis challenge in my riding in support of the Kidney Foundation. The name of the event is “Get on the ball and make a donation”. Tennis players from across Quebec will face off on the court to raise money for people with kidney disease, many of whom undergo dialysis at night. Dialysis is not a solution. Transplants do not necessarily guarantee a cure. That is why this athletic event will be raising awareness about the vital importance of kidney health.
The money raised will give hope to the thousands who have kidney disease or are waiting for a transplant. In Quebec, more than 550,000 people suffer from kidney failure, including 1,300 in the Lanaudière region.
Rates are not going to go down. American studies clearly link increased levels of fine particles due to pollution with the risk of developing chronic kidney failure. I encourage everyone who wants to get on the ball and make a donation to do so at tennisnocture.ca.
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- Jun/7/22 2:19:16 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, this past Sunday at St. Francis Xavier church in Owo, Nigeria, as the choir was singing the closing hymns for their Pentecost celebration, gunmen commenced what would be a massacre of the gathered faithful. For 20 minutes, the gunmen fired. Children running to their parents had their last breaths snatched away. Survivors saw life-long friends, neighbours and family members murdered. When the vicious attack was finished, at least 50 men, women and children lay dead.
These innocent people were murdered for carrying out their faith and for simply being Catholic. At Pentecost, we celebrate the fullness of the paschal mystery and the birthday of our church. For this holy day to be chosen for the attack is beyond heinous. More and more, we see churches burnt down and vandalized, Catholic holy sites desecrated and, far too often, Catholics killed for their faith.
We must call out hate anytime it is manifested with words or with actions. Nobody should be targeted or made to feel inferior because they live their faith. I ask Canadians and all members in this place to join me in praying for the victims and their families during this unthinkable hardship.
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- Jun/7/22 2:20:52 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I rise today to congratulate a young man from Halifax West, Edward Laba, on his graduation from École secondaire du Sommet. He is an outstanding student, an accomplished athlete, and has been legally blind since birth.
In March, Edward, who is the assistant captain of the See Kings hockey team, competed in the 2022 Canadian National Blind Hockey Tournament in Toronto where he played as junior defence alongside his more senior teammates and won the gold medal.
Just last month, Edward was off to Mississauga to play goalball with the Nova Scotia junior team at the Ontario Parasport Games. He was the heart of his team and once again returned home with a gold medal in hand.
Throughout Edward's academic life, his proud parents, Peter and Rita, have been his biggest supporters. The sky is the limit for Edward. I ask all parliamentarians to join me in congratulating him on his graduation and applauding his success.
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- Jun/7/22 2:22:09 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister has jetted off on another international trip, with no airport lineups for him. I bet we are going to see some more pictures of him with his mask off having a great time. He flaunts the personal freedoms he is enjoying abroad, while back here Canadians are suffering under his out-of-date restrictions. Tourism, federal employees, small businesses and families are all suffering. They are all pawns in the Prime Minister's COVID game.
Is it not true the Prime Minister knows he needs to lift these restrictions but would rather do COVID theatre than do what is right?
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- Jun/7/22 2:22:51 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, from the beginning of this pandemic, we have been there for Canadians. Of course, it is the Prime Minister's job and obligation to travel to other countries to do his important work.
When we hear the opposition speak positively about public health measures but badly about vaccination, it confuses the public. We should be encouraging our neighbours to consider a third or fourth dose. We cannot have relaxed public health measures and more freedom without vaccination as COVID-19 continues to progress. We all have an obligation to ensure that our neighbours are aware of the opportunity for a third dose.
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- Jun/7/22 2:23:24 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, Canadians would like to be planning their summer vacation right now, but too many are focused on how they are going to afford fuel for their cars or to feed their families. Over 20% of Canadians are actually skipping a meal in order to save money. The Liberal solution is blame: blame COVID, blame Putin and blame the Conservatives.
Today, our Conservative caucus motion provides real solutions so that Canadians can take that summer trip, send their kids to camp and not worry about missing a flight. Will the Liberals support giving Canadians a break or are they going to double down on their vindictive, petty approach?
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- Jun/7/22 2:24:05 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, we absolutely understand that affordability matters for Canadians. That is why we are taking action by increasing the Canada workers benefit. This year a family of three is getting $2,300 more. We are increasing the OAS for seniors 75 and over by 10% this year, and there is a $500 top-up for people facing housing affordability challenges.
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- Jun/7/22 2:24:38 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, that is great. A few piddly cheques might dribble in through the mail, and the government thinks that is having any impact on what Canadians are dealing with.
Thirty-eight per cent of Canadians are worried more about money than anything else they are dealing with, so these Liberal cheques, which are coming from the pockets of Canadians because their taxes are going up, are doing absolutely nothing. The Liberals are so massively out of touch that they do not understand gas prices, they do not understand high food prices and they do not understand long lineups. They understand nothing about what Canadians are dealing with and they do not care.
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- Jun/7/22 2:25:19 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, what is out of touch is for someone who lives in government accommodation to suggest that a cheque for $2,300 for a family of three working at minimum wage is piddly. It is out of touch to suggest that for a senior over 75 to get an additional $815 is piddly. This is real support for Canadians who need it most.
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- Jun/7/22 2:26:13 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, since the beginning of the crisis, we have seen that the Minister of Finance is totally out of touch with the reality of Canadians.
According to the Liberals, gas prices are not too high. According to them, Russia, the pandemic and even Canadians are to blame. They are going to criticize the Conservatives today for introducing a motion calling on them to act, to give a little breathing room to Canadians who are having trouble making ends meet at the end of the month.
Will they help Canadians, yes or no, or will they continue to play their vindictive little political games, which are preventing 25% of Canadians from putting food on their tables?
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- Jun/7/22 2:26:56 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, the Conservatives love to quote from the Parliamentary Budget Officer's reports so now I would like to quote the Parliamentary Budget Officer, who talked about inflation today. Here is what he said: “The ultimate impetus for the resurgence of high inflation can [be] traced back to the COVID‑19 pandemic. More recently, the Russian invasion of Ukraine has compounded inflationary pressures.”
That is exactly what is happening.
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- Jun/7/22 2:27:38 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, working Canadians and everyone else do not care what is causing inflation or why everything costs more.
What they do care about is being able to afford to buy groceries at the end of the month, making sure that their kids are not going to bed hungry, and being able to afford to fill up their vehicle so that they can get to work.
Whether it is the pandemic, COVID‑19, or anything else that the Liberals are going to blame, the reality is that they are doing absolutely nothing right now to help Canadians who need it.
Why are they so out of touch with Canadians?
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- Jun/7/22 2:28:17 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, that is simply not true. The reality is that we understand very well that affordability is important to Canadian families.
That is precisely why we have taken action such as increasing the Canada workers benefit, which gives a single worker an extra $1,000 in benefits. We are providing an additional one-time $500 payment to those struggling to find housing.
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- Jun/7/22 2:28:57 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, Quebeckers are furious about passport wait times. Even in the midst of a crisis, none of the passport offices are open on the weekend, even for people who are leaving within 48 hours.
The Liberals are forcing people who have been waiting for three months to miss a day of work in order to make an urgent application. Worse, they are charging $50 to $110 in extra fees. That is crazy. They are making citizens pay the price for their incompetence.
Will they open offices on the weekend and process urgent applications at no extra cost?
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- Jun/7/22 2:29:35 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, as I have said in the House before, we are seeing an unprecedented increase in the number of passport applications.
Nevertheless, people should not have to pay to have their application processed more quickly if it occurs outside normal service hours.
Also, a dozen offices are open almost every Saturday to ensure that we can respond to urgent requests.
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- Jun/7/22 2:30:05 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, the government says it is doing everything in its power, but only between the hours of eight and four and at people's expense. That is outrageous.
They have to open passport offices on the weekend for people who need to travel within 48 hours. They have to stop charging extra fees for people who submitted their application and are still waiting 20 business days later.
When will they actually do everything in their power to fix their mistakes and deliver passports on time without fees? Enough is enough.
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- Jun/7/22 2:30:38 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, as I said, those fees should not apply if the passport is not delivered within the normal 20-day period.
I will raise the matter with Service Canada again. I know Service Canada employees are working extremely hard, including evenings and weekends, to serve Canadians. They are there, and we will do everything in our power to make sure Canadians receive their passports before travelling.
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- Jun/7/22 2:31:10 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, one out of every four Canadians in this country is going hungry because they cannot afford groceries. At the same time, corporations are making record profits. They are breaking record after record.
Our plan is to tax the excess—
Some hon. members: Oh, oh!
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- Jun/7/22 2:31:32 p.m.
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I will ask the hon. member to start from the top so we can all hear his question.
The hon. member for Burnaby South.
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