44th Parl. 1st Sess.
June 20, 2022 11:00AM
- Jun/20/22 2:26:42 p.m.
- Watch
Mr. Speaker, let us be clear on the issue of affordability for Canadians.
On this side of the House, the government created the Canada child benefit, but the Conservatives voted against it. We delivered support for the tourism sector, but the Conservatives voted against it. We were here to support seniors, workers and single mothers, but the Conservatives voted against it.
The economy is growing and we are here for Canadians, but the Conservatives are just here to get sound bites for Twitter.
83 words
- Hear!
- Rabble!
- add
- star_border
- share
- Jun/20/22 2:27:16 p.m.
- Watch
Mr. Speaker, the federal passport fiasco is becoming dangerous. It has gotten to the point where the police have to intervene in lineups. The police are doing more than just anger management, though; they are also answering questions meant for federal employees.
Enough is enough. A crisis cannot be managed from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m., Monday to Friday. Why are these offices still not open seven days a week with extended hours?
This is a crisis. When will this government wake up?
87 words
- Hear!
- Rabble!
- add
- star_border
- share
- Jun/20/22 2:27:51 p.m.
- Watch
Mr. Speaker, as we are all aware, after two years of travel restrictions Canadians are travelling again and there is increased demand and volume for passports. That is why the focus of the minister and officials has been to make sure that Canadian do receive their passports. It is why we are triaging lines at every Service Canada location in urban and metropolitan areas. It is why we have increased our staff by over 600 to serve Canadians. It is also why we have added additional resources to our NP lines and other call-in lines to ensure that we reach Canadians and that they get the documents they need.
110 words
- Hear!
- Rabble!
- add
- star_border
- share
- Jun/20/22 2:28:31 p.m.
- Watch
Mr. Speaker, because the government is not doing its job at the passport office, members of Parliament are being inundated with calls for help from citizens.
On Friday, all MPs' offices received an email notifying them that the federal government was cutting services to elected officials who help their constituents obtain passports. Imagine that. The government is not doing anything to help people, and now it is preventing us from helping them instead.
In the end, we learned this morning that this email was a mistake. This is amateur hour. The minister's incompetence is reaching new lows.
When will they stop ad libbing and keep the offices open in the evenings and on weekends until the crisis is finally resolved?
121 words
- Hear!
- Rabble!
- add
- star_border
- share
- Jun/20/22 2:29:14 p.m.
- Watch
Mr. Speaker, I thank the hon. member and all colleagues of the House who are advocating for constituents with urgent travel needs.
Employees at Service Canada have worked tirelessly throughout this pandemic to serve Canadians, and they have been performing their services overtime and every weekend. As a matter of fact, on the June 24 and July 1 long weekends, employees will be working to make sure that Canadians receive their documents. In addition to that, with regard to the NP line, an additional 50 resources have been added, with another 40 being trained, to make sure that we can address the increased demand and volume to assist constituents.
We are here to serve Canadians together in the House.
119 words
- Hear!
- Rabble!
- add
- star_border
- share
- Jun/20/22 2:29:59 p.m.
- Watch
Mr. Speaker, that is not reassuring.
Life is getting more and more expensive. Families are on the verge of losing their homes, and children are going to school hungry. The crisis is hitting hard, and people are paying the price.
The Liberals' response is a $7 tax credit. They could not be more out of touch. It is a slap in the face to workers, seniors and children. People need help, and the NDP has proposed solutions.
Will the Liberals double the GST tax credit and increase the child benefit to help families that are struggling right now?
98 words
- Hear!
- Rabble!
- add
- star_border
- share
- Jun/20/22 2:30:37 p.m.
- Watch
Mr. Speaker, what the NDP is putting forward is insincere and rings hollow.
Just look at the Canada child benefit. In my city, Edmonton, a single mother with two children will receive $13,660. That is not $7, it is over $13,000.
In Edmonton, a mother and father will get $10,000 from our child care program. That is not $7, it is $10,000.
The NDP needs to get its facts straight and not tell tall tales in the House.
82 words
- Hear!
- Rabble!
- add
- star_border
- share
- Jun/20/22 2:31:10 p.m.
- Watch
Mr. Speaker, the Liberals keep talking about things they were doing or should have been doing before inflation struck. The fact is that Canadians are worried about losing their homes and are worried about feeding their families, and the Liberal plan is another seven dollars on the GST rebate. That is not a plan. That is a talking point for a government that is more concerned about inflation as a public relations problem than it is about an economic problem. A real plan would provide some debt relief, double the GST rebate and increase the Canada child benefit.
When is the Deputy Prime Minister going to kindly announce that plan?
110 words
- Hear!
- Rabble!
- add
- star_border
- share
- Jun/20/22 2:31:46 p.m.
- Watch
Mr. Speaker, it is disappointing that the NDP continues to push this cynical and disingenuous narrative that somehow Canadians are only getting seven dollars more in affordability supports. It knows very well that in my own city of Edmonton, child care benefits are up to $10,000 this year. As to the Canada child benefit, in Vancouver, a mother with two children gets $13,666. That is a lot more than seven dollars. The NDP needs to stop playing for political points and tell the whole story.
87 words
- Hear!
- Rabble!
- add
- star_border
- share
- Jun/20/22 2:32:21 p.m.
- Watch
Mr. Speaker, the finance minister must be wearing industrial-grade noise-cancelling earphones to avoid hearing the calls from economists to cut her government's over-the-top spending. She knows that it is only adding gas to the inflationary fire. The Prime Minister has said that anything that has a hint of fiscal restraint is austerity. He axed Bill Morneau for wanting to get post-COVID spending under control.
Is she worried that if she presents anything to the Prime Minister that remotely resembles a cut, she might suffer the same fate as her predecessor, who went from Finance Minister Morneau to finance minister no more?
107 words
- Hear!
- Rabble!
- add
- star_border
- share
- Jun/20/22 2:33:00 p.m.
- Watch
Mr. Speaker, let us take a look at the facts. The Conservatives ran on a platform to spend $168 billion. I am glad they did not get elected. That would have been irresponsible.
Let us look at the economy. Let us look at the fact that we have a GDP that grew 5.6% in Q1. This fall, S&P and Moody's again affirmed our AAA credit rating, and 3.5 million jobs have been recovered since the worst part of the pandemic, which is ahead of the United States. Also, we have the lowest unemployment rate, at 5.1%, since 1976.
The economy is doing well. The Conservatives do not like it, but we sure do.
119 words
- Hear!
- Rabble!
- add
- star_border
- share
- Jun/20/22 2:33:39 p.m.
- Watch
Mr. Speaker, they keep trying to change the channel, but these speNDP-Liberals do not, will not or cannot understand that their obsession with spending is fuelling inflation and hurting Canadians. Doug Porter, chief economist at BMO, said, “Fiscal policy has every bit as much a role to play in dampening inflation as does monetary policy...and fiscal policy should definitely not get a pass in the inflation fight.”
The Conservatives have been saying to cut discretionary spending and give Canadians a break at the pumps. Those are good starting points. The question is, when will the Minister of Finance stop fuelling inflation and instead start fighting it?
110 words
- Hear!
- Rabble!
- add
- star_border
- share
- Jun/20/22 2:34:16 p.m.
- Watch
Mr. Speaker, I invite members of the opposition and that member in particular to vote with us the next time we have a piece of legislation in the House that is designed to improve the lives of Canadians and make their lives more affordable. The Conservatives have voted against every single measure we put on the floor of the House to make life more affordable, including Bill C-2, the Canada child benefit and making sure that OAS payments are indexed.
They are all talk, no action. On this side, we are focused on affordability for Canadians.
97 words
- Hear!
- Rabble!
- add
- star_border
- share
- Jun/20/22 2:34:52 p.m.
- Watch
Mr. Speaker, the number one issue on every Canadian's mind is inflation.
This Liberal government is responsible for rising inflation. Conservatives are not alone in saying so. Yesterday, Scotiabank's chief economist, Jean‑François Perrault, said that “high levels of fiscal spending will necessitate an unnecessarily large crowding out of private spending”.
In other words, the government does not know how to manage things, and that is driving inflation up.
Will this government do the responsible thing, the right thing in an inflationary context, and control spending?
93 words
- Hear!
- Rabble!
- add
- star_border
- share
- Jun/20/22 2:35:27 p.m.
- Watch
Mr. Speaker, I wonder if the hon. member of the House voted for the Conservatives' plan to run a $168‑billion deficit in their campaign platform.
On this side of the House, we made a point of indexing the Canada child benefit to inflation and cutting income tax for the middle class not once, but twice. We increased old age security and included a tax cut in Bill C‑8.
The Conservatives voted against Canadians. We are voting for Canadians.
83 words
- Hear!
- Rabble!
- add
- star_border
- share
- Jun/20/22 2:36:01 p.m.
- Watch
Mr. Speaker, all of our constituency offices are getting calls all day long from desperate Canadians about the passport problem, and I am sure this is true in all 338 ridings.
Once again this weekend, a nurse had to take time off work instead of treating patients. She had to stand in line today to get her passport. In Laval, police officers had to be sent out to calm the unrest among the people in line. I am proud to be Canadian, but when I see this, it tells me that my country is suffering. Canada is a G7 nation, not a third world country.
Why did the government drag its heels and create this passport crisis?
117 words
- Hear!
- Rabble!
- add
- star_border
- share
- Jun/20/22 2:36:39 p.m.
- Watch
Mr. Speaker, as the member is aware, as travel restrictions are being lifted, Canadians are beginning to travel again.
The department did plan for it. As of September of last year, over 600 new employees were added to Passport Canada services. In addition to that, every Service Canada office is receiving applications at this time. Every passport counter in this country is open to serve Canadians. Of the people who have their applications processed in person, over 96% are receiving their passports within 10 days. That is better than the international standards out there. We will continue to do everything we can to make sure Canadians receive their documents.
109 words
- Hear!
- Rabble!
- add
- star_border
- share
- Jun/20/22 2:37:21 p.m.
- Watch
Mr. Speaker, people have to bring a tent and camp out on the sidewalk overnight just to get a passport. This is happening in Canada, a G7 country. That department is in chaos. Passport Canada is processing 75,000 applications per week, down from more than 90,000 before COVID.
Employees need to be allowed back to work in person, so the business hours can be extended at all offices. Can the minister put away the talking points and give us some real answers?
85 words
- Hear!
- Rabble!
- add
- star_border
- share
- Jun/20/22 2:37:55 p.m.
- Watch
Mr. Speaker, I would like to remind the hon. member that our public servants have been working weekdays, overtime and weekends since travel restrictions have been lifted to ensure that Canadians receive their passports.
Over 360,000 passports have been issued since April of this year. Just last week, nearly 48,000 passports were issued to Canadians. We are continuing to make sure that service lines are triaged and that we are reaching seniors and people with disabilities, unique employment needs and humanitarian and compassionate issues that require emergency documents.
90 words
- Hear!
- Rabble!
- add
- star_border
- share
- Jun/20/22 2:38:36 p.m.
- Watch
Mr. Speaker, the cost of groceries increased by almost 10% in April. It was the fifth month in a row that food prices had increased by more than 5%. The cost of gas was more than $2 per litre. In the greater Quebec City area, house prices have increased by 21% over the past year.
With wage increases averaging about 3%, people are struggling to get by. Can the Minister of Finance offer Canadians some real answers?
77 words
- Hear!
- Rabble!
- add
- star_border
- share
- menumenu
- notificationsnotifications
- home
- mailmail
- searchsearch
