44th Parl. 1st Sess.
September 26, 2022 11:00AM
Madam Speaker, it is curious to me, because the NDP has not only been pushing for doubling the GST credit for over six months now. That help is desperately needed right now but was needed six months ago. We have also been pushing for dental care. We have been pushing for the rental housing benefit. We have been delivering for Canadians.
What have the Conservatives been doing, other than bluster and often spreading misinformation? It is difficult to see how the Conservatives can really look themselves in the mirror recently.
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Madam Speaker, a report came out this summer showing that one in four Canadians are spending less than they need to on groceries. Many are going hungry. I want to thank him for his support for the critically important NDP initiatives, such as doubling the GST credit, ensuring we have a targeted support for people struggling to pay their rents and ensuring kids under 12 receive dental care as a first step toward a federal dental care program.
One thing I did not hear about in his speech, which is a crucial part of this equation when it comes to rising costs, is corporate greed. The Liberals, so far, have refused to put a windfall excess profits tax on corporations that are making record profits. Would the member support an excess profits tax, or are the Liberals going to keep protecting corporate profits while Canadians go hungry?
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Madam Speaker, we are speaking today on the unceded territory of the Algonquin Anishinabe people. I represent the riding of Victoria, and the riding includes the homelands of the Lekwungen-speaking people, the Songhees and Esquimalt first nations, as well as part of the territory of the W’SANEC nations. It feels especially important to recognize first nations, Inuit and Métis nations, as September 30 is the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation. In my community, there will be a South Island powwow hosted by the Songhees Nation, as well as the annual Orange Shirt Day event.
I want to mention two incredible people in my riding who have poured their time and energy into this important work: Eddy Charlie and Kristin Spray. Eddy is a residential school survivor and he has dedicated himself to this work. We all have a responsibility to support the work of indigenous people and to stand in solidarity with survivors and communities today and every day moving forward.
This afternoon, we are debating Bill C-30, a bill that would double the GST rebate. This morning, we debated Bill C-31, a bill that would deliver $500 in rental support to low-income Canadians and momentously support kids under 12 in accessing dental care as the first step in the creation of a national dental care program, the largest expansion of our health care in a generation.
I mention these two bills together because at a time when Canadians are struggling with the skyrocketing cost of living, they are two critical pieces that will help families, students, seniors and the people who need it most. These are Canadians who are scrambling to make rent who were already struggling to make ends meet. Some are going hungry because food has become the most relentlessly rising cost in household budgets. The usage of food banks has tripled in many places, which is why we have been pushing, in addition to the GST rebate, for a windfall profits tax on grocery stores and big box stores to put that money back into Canadians' pockets. People need help and they need it now.
When it comes to doubling the GST credit, we are talking about 11 million Canadians who would get some relief. However, that is not going to be enough on its own, and it should have come a lot sooner. In fact, over six months ago, our NDP team had been calling on the government to double the GST tax credit. We wanted a way to get help to people, and in a way that would not drive up inflation. We have relentlessly pushed for this, and now, finally, I am thrilled that we have successfully forced the Liberals to act to get help to 11 million Canadians who need it the most.
We also forced the Liberals to double the GST credit and are forcing the Liberals to deliver dental care and a rental housing benefit. The rental housing benefit would help 1.8 million low-income Canadians. This year's dental care benefit would be life-changing for many families, and it is only the first interim step in the development of a federal dental care program.
I hope we can take a moment to feel how big of a deal this is. Let us take a moment, because this will mean so much to families that right now cannot access the dental care they need. Families will no longer have to make the heartbreaking choice between paying for dental care for their kids and paying their rent or groceries. Parents have told me that being able to get dental care for their kids is going to be life-changing.
The most common surgery performed on preschool children in Canada is treatment of dental decay. Let that sink in for a moment. However, we are not stopping at kids under 12. We are going to get dental care for all Canadians who need it.
I have shared a lot of stories in the House from people I have met whose lives would be transformed by dental care, such as seniors who right now cannot chew their food, gig workers who miss days at work because of the excruciating pain and a person living with a disability who has been prescribed pain medication for her dental pain but cannot afford to get her teeth fixed. However, I want to share one more story, and I hope that my Conservative colleagues will listen closely.
I spoke to a teacher who, when she was starting out, got a part-time position as an educational assistant. At that time, she was working hard as a single mom with three young kids. She wanted to build her career, but as a part-time EA, she did not get benefits. She made the difficult choice to go on social assistance, to keep working and to have her entire monthly paycheque clawed back, because at least on social assistance she could access dental care for her kids.
If my Conservative colleagues claim to be fighting for single moms, dignity and respect, and if they claim to be fighting for small business owners, they should give them dental care. The Leader of the Opposition, in his speech on dental care, noticeably avoided mentioning dental care even once. Is he afraid to because he knows Canadians want this?
He also said that politicians should have to follow the same rules as single mothers and small business owners. Well, I would ask him this: Does he believe that single mothers and small business owners should have the same benefits as politicians? I ask because as an MP, the Leader of the Opposition has been using publicly funded dental care for two decades, all while voting against giving dental care to single mothers and small business owners.
The Conservatives have been saying they want to turn hurt into hope. Well, people are hurting. They are dealing with—
Some hon. members: Oh, oh!
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Madam Speaker, the Conservatives have been saying they want to turn hurt into hope. Well, people are hurting. They are dealing with the physical pain of dental decay and the lifelong damage of going without dental care. Parents are dealing with the horrible feeling of not being able to get care for their kids. As a parent, it brings me to tears thinking about how painful it would be not to be able to get my child the care she needs.
Too many Canadians end up in the emergency room because of dental problems that could have easily been prevented if they could afford routine dental care. I am glad that my Conservative colleagues will vote in favour of doubling the GST credit, but if the Conservatives truly want to turn hurt into hope, I suggest they vote for dental care.
Just last year, the Liberals and the Conservatives teamed up to vote against dental care. They are teaming up again to oppose a windfall profits tax on corporations that are making record profits and oil and gas companies that, in a climate emergency, are raking in billions. Families are playing by the rules, doing everything right, but they still cannot get ahead.
There are three approaches in the House: that of the Conservatives, who want to let families fend for themselves; that of the Liberals, who have to be forced into doing the right thing; and that of the NDP, who are going to continue to work for people.
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Madam Speaker, I want to correct the record. Health care is a shared responsibility of the federal government and the provinces. We need to work together, which is part of the reason we will have an interim benefit. Families are going to get $600 this year and $600 next year. This means they can get their kids to the dentist to get dental care while we develop a more fulsome program. Ideally, the provinces will get on board, but no matter what, the government should be committed to ensuring that every Canadian can access dental care when they need it.
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Madam Speaker, I am sensing some defensiveness from my Conservative colleagues, and I get it. When their leader gets up and says that he is not going to support dental care and when their leader directs them to vote against this life-changing policy that would provide care for kids under 12, for kids who cannot access basic health care, well—
Mr. Doherty: Come up with a real plan.
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Madam Speaker, I can understand why my Conservative colleagues are feeling defensive, as they are voting against dental care and at the same time receiving publicly funded dental care right now.
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Madam Speaker, we should be fighting for dental care and increased health transfers to the provinces. This is critically important, as we are in a health care crisis in emergency rooms. Staff are drowning. Of course we need to increase health transfers to the provinces now.
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- Sep/26/22 6:45:51 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I want to extend my support and solidarity to the people of Atlantic Canada. I went to high school in New Brunswick and university in Nova Scotia. I have family and friends on the east coast, and it is heartbreaking to see the devastation caused by hurricane Fiona. I want to extend my heartfelt condolences to those who have lost loved ones, to the families who have had their homes destroyed and to everyone impacted by the destruction and upheaval of this extreme weather event.
About a million Atlantic Canadians are without power, and we must do everything we can to support the families and communities that are hurt by this disaster.
I want to thank my colleague, the member for South Okanagan—West Kootenay. He outlined clearly how disasters of this scale impact us all.
We are calling on the government to not only provide immediate support to those who need it but also to look to the future. Extreme weather events are becoming more frequent and more severe. It is costing communities. It means that we have to replace and rebuild with more resilient infrastructure.
Over the next 30 years, major storms and floods could cost Canada $108 billion. Every report that comes out on the costs of the climate crisis shows that these costs are going to be astronomical, and it is important to emphasize that this is of national importance. The federal government must take a leadership role. It is so much less expensive to make proactive investments in climate resilience than to pay for the costs of destroyed infrastructure, but more than that, it also saves lives.
It is why we are calling on the government to increase investments in disaster resilience. It is why we want to see meaningful action on the climate crisis.
As I watched the videos and saw pictures, I could not help but think about the atmospheric river and the floods that hit British Columbia last year. It was less than a year ago that we were in an emergency debate on the floods in B.C.. We just have to look around the world right now at the floods in Pakistan, the increasing frequency of climate fires, the increasing severity of extreme weather events. These disasters are just a glimpse of what our future looks like.
Hundreds of people died in the heat dome in B.C.. People have lost their lives in floods and storms and forest fires. The government must significantly increase funding for the disaster mitigation and adaptation fund. It needs to urgently create a separate funding stream to assist provincial, territorial, indigenous and municipal governments so that they can take proactive action to strengthen infrastructure to meet the challenge of extreme weather events, of rising sea levels, of forest fires and other devastating natural disasters caused by the climate emergency, and we are in a climate emergency.
We are in a climate emergency, yet the government is not acting as though we are. We cannot continue down the road that consecutive Liberal and Conservative government have set us on.
As the government hands out billions of dollars to profitable oil and gas companies, as it teams up with the Conservatives to oppose a windfall tax on the record profits of oil and gas companies, the Liberal government keeps saying that it believes that climate change is real, but it does not matter what one believes if one is not taking climate action. The Liberals emphasize that they are different from the Conservatives, but with the severe impacts of the climate crisis unfolding right in front of our eyes, they will not take the action that matches the scale and the urgency of this crisis.
While Canadians are struggling with the cost of living, while Atlantic Canadians are dealing with the devastating impacts of hurricane Fiona, the government is handing over billions of our taxpayer dollars to the very corporations that are fuelling the climate crisis.
This is billions of dollars in subsidies that could be spent on climate action, climate solutions, climate resilience and support for the communities impacted by these disasters. The Liberals and the Conservatives are opposing the policies that would actually make a difference for Canadians.
The Liberals refuse to actually match the scale of this crisis, the urgency of this crisis, with the kind of action needed, the kind of action that would keep warming below 1.5°C. The hard truth is that Canada is not on track to meet our climate targets and that these climate targets are not adequate to keep global warming below 1.5°C. The Liberals like to talk about believing in climate change, but we need to see action. The decisions that we make today will determine whether there is a livable future for our children and our grandchildren. These disasters are just a glimpse at the future.
We stand with the people of Atlantic Canada. We will work across party lines to ensure you have the support you need in these unimaginably difficult times. We will push the government to start treating the climate emergency like the emergency that it is. We will fight for you and for our collective future.
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- Sep/26/22 6:53:40 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I am glad to see that members from every party in the House are standing together in support of Atlantic Canadians. We are here together to support everyone in New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Newfoundland and Labrador, and P.E.I.
However, if the member expects me to be silent about the fact that the climate crisis is one of the reasons we are seeing these increasingly extreme and increasingly frequent weather events, and if this government is going to continue to ignore the causes of these extreme natural disasters, well then, we are in trouble.
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- Sep/26/22 6:55:16 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, Atlantic Canadians and Canadians across this country are struggling. They are struggling with the cost of living. They are struggling not being able to access dental care. They are struggling because they cannot put food on the table and cannot afford to pay their rent. These are very challenging times, which is why New Democrats have been calling on this government to implement a windfall profits tax for the big banks, the big grocery stores, the big box stores and the big gas companies. This is essential so that we can put money back into people's pockets.
The carbon tax is a crucial piece of a climate plan, and in the last election the Conservatives actually acknowledged that, but it is not silver bullet. Unfortunately, we need a government that is actually going to take action that matches the scale of the crisis.
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- Sep/26/22 6:57:03 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I thank the member for her question. I am sorry but I will continue in English.
The member brings up a really important point. The current government has proposed handing over billions of dollars to big oil and gas companies for carbon capture, utilization and storage. This is not a climate solution. Reports have shown that this is just a giveaway to big oil and gas. We need to invest those billions of dollars the government seems set on handing over to profitable companies into climate solutions and policies that will make a difference. The science is clear. We have the technology, the answers and the ability to meet our climate targets if we actually take the action.
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- Sep/26/22 9:37:20 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, people on the east coast are suffering, and I was glad to hear comments from all members in this House committing to supporting Atlantic Canadians in the coming weeks.
I also want us to start thinking about the future. These extreme weather events are happening more frequently and with more severity. I am concerned that the disaster mitigation and adaptation fund right now is completely inadequate. It does not come close to meeting the needs of communities and municipalities that need to fix critical infrastructure and build resilience in the face of climate disaster.
Will the member commit to pushing his government to ensure that this fund is adequate to meet the needs of this changing climate?
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- Sep/26/22 10:03:29 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I thank the member for his words in solidarity with Atlantic Canadians and about the resilience and strength of communities across the east coast.
I was surprised by some of the member's comments about climate change. I was surprised when the Leader of the Opposition did not mention climate change or the climate crisis in his speech tonight. I am curious if the member was implying that he does not think climate change and the climate crisis are a driving cause for the increased severity and increased frequency of hurricanes and extreme weather events.
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- Sep/26/22 10:33:54 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague for her words about community members coming together to help one another and neighbours helping neighbours. That is really the spirit of Atlantic Canada. It reminded me of when I was in Halifax during hurricane Juan. My neighbours had a tree go through their house, and we went over to help them. Our other neighbours came over with a barbeque so we could use the rest of the food that was in our freezer, which had thawed. This is so critical, and I am so glad that members of very party in the House are committed to giving support immediately.
As mentioned a number of times, we also need to look forward. It has been shown again and again that investing upfront in resilience costs way less than having to clean up in the aftermath of natural disasters.
Can the member speak about the importance of proactively investing in climate resilience to ensure that communities are prepared for natural disasters in the future?
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