44th Parl. 1st Sess.
October 6, 2022 10:00AM
- Oct/6/22 4:19:19 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, I would like to thank the member from the NDP for bringing forward this important motion.
We are at the tail end of three weeks of sitting in this Parliament, and we have been talking a lot about what Canadians are going through, and we hear them. We know, through all of us talking to the citizens in our respective ridings, that people are hurting. They are concerned about the increase in the cost of living and inflation, and they want to know that we are working together to make sure we are there for them. While some members will focus on who did what and who did not do what, I want to focus on what we can do together to help Canadians.
This weekend, a lot of folks will be going to the grocery store and maybe getting food for Thanksgiving dinner. Whether it be a turkey or ham, folks know that the cost right now for food has increased a lot, and Canadians are hurting.
Since we came back in September, along with the measures we have put in place through legislation that we have been putting forward, we have also put forward legislation for a GST credit, which will help a lot of lower-income Canadians. I know for a fact that a lot of Canadian seniors depend on the GST quarterly payments. They will be able to use that additional fund to help offset some of the costs they will be incurring. I want to thank everybody for supporting that piece of legislation, and I know that Canadians appreciate it.
I also want to talk about dental care and rental supports.
We know very well that the price of housing has increased enormously in Quebec and that it is hard for young families and seniors to pay their rent. Therefore, I hope that we can find a way to support this measure to help people.
When my mother first met our then minister of seniors, she said, “You know what seniors need? Seniors need dental care. They need good teeth.” I am sure our former minister of seniors is laughing because she probably remembers this. However, I was really happy that the NDP worked with us to bring forward a dental care program.
It is a very serious problem when seniors cannot afford dental care.
With respect to this piece of legislation, I agree that there is a huge discrepancy between CEOs making millions and millions of dollars and Canadians who are struggling. In fact, in the last Parliament, the 43rd Parliament, I chaired the industry, science and technology committee, and on June 16, 2021, I tabled its sixth report with respect to grocery stores and price-fixing in the House. If this motion does get accepted and sent to the agriculture committee, I urge its members to review that report because there was some really good testimony and there were good recommendations that would be very beneficial.
I looked through the motion before us very carefully, I agree with most of it, and I want to put it on the record that I will be supporting it. It is important that we put partisan politics aside. It is important that we are there for Canadians in their time of need, and it is important that the issue of price gouging, the issue of food security and the issue of food affordability in this country be studied at the agriculture committee, which is the best place for it to go.
Since being elected in 2015, we have been there for Canadians. Thanks to the work that we have done together, bills have been passed and measures have been adopted. We have done good work together since 2015. I hope that will continue.
I know that the bills and motions are not always perfect. However, there is a way to work constructively and make improvements to the bills and motions in order to find the best way to help the people we serve.
With the Canada child benefit, which is tied to the cost of living, I know Canadian families are getting some additional supports.
I am quite pleased that Quebec's child care model was adopted for the rest of Canada. We were real leaders in the area of child care and early childhood centres. I want to commend my colleagues from Quebec, because we have been proud of this program for a long time. In fact, I benefited from it when I was young.
Honestly, this program was a real game-changer for families. I hope that the other provinces will benefit from it like we have in Quebec.
With respect to the OAS, we have increased the OAS and the GIS for Canadian seniors. There is still more to do, and I agree there is a lot more to do.
When the pandemic hit, we all came together. It was a crazy time two years ago. We came together as a collective and said we needed to make sure people were able to put on their tables and pay their rents to ensure they did not end up in severe debt. We were there with CERB. We were there with wage subsidies. We were there to make sure people were able to pay their everyday costs.
We are now facing a global inflation crisis. If one thinks about it, it is almost a perfect storm. During COVID, supply chains were cut off. We had ports that were unable to continue to operate because of zero acceptability regarding infections. We saw a huge slowdown in the supply chains, and it has absolutely affected inflation across the world.
We also know a lot of folks decided to change jobs over the course of the pandemic, which also caused a lack of manpower. We also know a lot of folks have decided to go back to school, which again reduced manpower. We need to figure out together, as a collective, what we can be doing to make sure Canadians are supported. That is what we are focusing on, and we are focusing on that together.
With respect to competition, again, the industry committee looked at this in the last Parliament, the 43rd Parliament. If this motion passes, I urge that the agricultural committee look at that INDU report and perhaps bring back some of the expert testimony regarding what happened, what they are doing since then, because we are now a year later, and if anything has improved, that would be something very beneficial.
We need to look at the Competition Bureau to make sure Canadians are paying fair amounts. We are concerned about the offset of credit costs to Canadians, which I believe come into effect today. That is something we are going to look at as well.
Again, I want to thank the member from the NDP for bringing this forward. This is a motion that, once it is reviewed and looked at in committee, can really bring some different ideas to the table that we can all get behind. I urge everyone in the House to support this motion.
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- Oct/6/22 4:29:41 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, when I go to my local IGA, I too notice that three or four of the checkout counters have now been replaced by self-serve checkout counters. I asked the local manager why and I was told it was due to a shortage of manpower that he had to cut down on the number of cashiers. I too would prefer to speak to a cashier.
When the committee looks into what is happening with our grocery chain executives, that is something it can look at it in terms of what the cost savings are based on reducing manpower at the checkouts.
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- Oct/6/22 4:30:55 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, coulda, woulda, shoulda: there are a lot of things that happened in the past, but we know that right now Canadians are suffering. Canadians need us to come together to bring forward measures that are going to help them today.
I do not agree that multi-million dollar companies should be allowing their executives to get away with bonuses when people are suffering. That is something that absolutely needs to be looked at. Quite frankly, I would hope that organizations and companies would kind of clue in that maybe it is time they gave back a little and actually adjusted their policies.
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- Oct/6/22 4:31:55 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, I want to acknowledge the excellent work of the Parti Québécois in establishing the early childhood centres. I support this program, which all Quebeckers are proud of.
With regard to dental care, our program aims to offer it first to young children aged 12 and under, and then, later, to seniors who need it.
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- Oct/6/22 4:34:06 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, the reality of war has absolutely impacted inflation, the costs and availability here in Canada of oil and gas, and so on. There are definitely questions to be asked with respect to the profits that oil and gas companies are making in terms of what is happening in Ukraine.
My son deployed as part of Operation Unifier, so I am absolutely terrified about what is happening right now in Ukraine.
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- Oct/6/22 5:28:43 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, I am sure that if you canvass the House, you will find consent to see the clock at the time for the beginning of Private Members' Business.
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Madam Speaker, I want to thank the member opposite for bringing forward this bill. I know that we worked together on the Standing Committee on Industry and Technology last Parliament, so I am really interested to hear more about his bill.
I just wanted to know if he could elaborate a little on what the difference is between his bill and Bill C-244, which just passed in the House, in terms of right to repair. It is not clear to me as to the difference between these two pieces of legislation.
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Madam Speaker, when we have private member's hour and we are debating, we sometimes pay attention and we sometimes do not. This has been a really interesting conversation. I actually want to thank the member for bringing this forward because, while we have had a bill that was very similar with respect to the right to repair, this one seems to narrow in on another aspect of the Copyright Act.
There is, sort of, a loophole that is preventing farmers, in this case, from being able to use the equipment they have rightfully purchased and leverage it and adapt it. I want to thank the member for educating us on this issue, and I think that it is definitely an important concept that merits further study to understand it more.
As the member knows, often when members bring forward private members' business, they will then reach out to members across the aisle to meet with them, to explain the bill and to solicit support, so I do look forward to meeting with the member to learn more about this bill.
The intent of the bill, Bill C-294, is to allow consumers to repair a product on their own without violating the Copyright Act. I think that, with consultations under way right now to inform the modernization of our copyright policy framework, including the facilitation of repair and interoperability, Bill C-294 actually presents a unique opportunity for us to build a strong foundation for the work ahead.
When I hear of interoperability, and I can say it quickly, I always think defence, because I worked in the defence field previously. Therefore, when I think of interoperability, I am always thinking of the defence industry. It has actually been quite interesting for me to hear tonight about the application in the farming industry.
The member opposite and the previous speakers talked about innovation in terms of farming and doing things quicker, smarter, faster, cheaper. I really am interested to hear more about how the change in this legislation could benefit farmers but also other industries. I actually think it would be quite interesting once this goes through the process, if it does get to committee, to see how this can actually apply to other industries as well and benefit other industries that are looking to innovate.
As a member of the Standing Committee on Industry and Technology in the last Parliament, I learned that industries have many issues with change.
A lot of industries do not want to change. A lot of industries are not ready to change.
I think that this bill actually brings a unique opportunity for us to do things differently and, as I have said previously, I do look forward to hearing more about this bill. I think it is quite interesting and I think that there is a good complementarity with Bill C-244, the right to repair act, which has been sent to the industry committee.
I will conclude by saying that I am quite interested in hearing more. I am not quite sure what my position is in terms of supporting it or not. I would like to meet with the member and get his perspective on a couple of questions.
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