44th Parl. 1st Sess.
November 3, 2022 10:00AM
I am now ready to rule on the point of order raised by the member for Mirabel regarding C-290, an act to amend the Public Servants Disclosure Protection Act, which stands on the Order Paper under his name.
In my statement of September 26, 2022, on the management of Private Members’ Business, I expressed concern about Bill C-290. At the time, I encouraged members who wished to make arguments about whether or not the bill requires a royal recommendation to do so. The member for Mirabel, the member for New Westminster—Burnaby and the parliamentary secretary to the government House leader did just that in points of order on September 28, October 21 and October 25, 2022. I would like to thank them for the information they shared in their statements.
In his point of order, the sponsor of Bill C-290 explained that clause 5 of the bill stipulates that chief executives must provide support to public servants who make disclosures. He said that this support is not of a financial nature, but instead includes information, referrals, guidance and advice, and would not entail any new expenditures.
In addition, regarding the proposed amendments to the definition of “public servant” in subsection 2(1) of the Public Servants Disclosure Protection Act, the member said that, since the act already includes provisions on contract employees in the public sector, adding these employees to the definition does not mean the bill needs a royal recommendation.
The member for New Westminster—Burnaby agreed with the bill’s sponsor. In his intervention, he noted that nothing in Bill C-290 indicates that the support provided to public servants who make disclosures must be financial in nature. He further remarked that amending the definition of “public servant” as the bill proposes would only prevent the withholding of a payment or the termination of a contract.
As for the parliamentary secretary to the government House leader, he said that the bill’s inclusion of former public servants and those retained under contract would expand the scope of the public servants disclosure protection regime. For this and other reasons, the parliamentary secretary argued that Bill C-290 should be accompanied by a royal recommendation.
As stated in House of Commons Procedure and Practice, third edition, on page 838, “Without a royal recommendation, a bill that either increases the amount of an appropriation or extends its objects, purposes, conditions and qualifications is inadmissible on the grounds that it infringes on the Crown’s financial initiative.”
The Chair has carefully examined Bill C-290. Currently, section 42.2 of the Public Servants Disclosure Protection Act prohibits some forms of reprisal against contract employees, including payment withholding and contract termination. The new definition of “public servant” proposed by Bill C-290 would, among other things, allow for the payment of compensation or the reimbursement of expenses or financial losses to contract employees who are found to have been subject to a reprisal following an investigation.
In the view of the Chair, the implementation of Bill C-290 would infringe on the conditions of the initial royal recommendation that accompanied the current act. Accordingly, a new royal recommendation is now required before the bill can proceed to a final vote in the House at third reading.
In the meantime, when the bill is next before the House, debate will continue on the second reading motion, and the motion will be put to a vote at the conclusion of the debate.
I thank the members for their attention.
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- Nov/3/22 10:07:42 a.m.
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Mr. Speaker, pursuant to Standing Order 36(8)(a), I have the honour to table, in both official languages, the government's response to 17 petitions. These returns will be tabled in an electronic format.
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- Nov/3/22 10:08:21 a.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I have the honour to present, in both official languages, the seventh report of the Standing Committee on Finance in relation to Bill C-228, an act to amend the Bankruptcy and Insolvency Act, the Companies’ Creditors Arrangement Act and the Pension Benefits Standards Act, 1985.
The committee has studied the bill and has decided to report the bill back to the House with amendments.
I would like to thank our finance committee clerks, Alexandre Roger and Carine Grand-Jean; legislative clerks Philippe Méla and Marie-Hélène Sauvé; committee assistant Lynda Gaudreault; all committee staff, interpreters, services, witnesses and officials; and all members of the finance committee.
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moved for leave to introduce Bill C-304, An Act to establish National Food Waste Awareness Day.
She said: Mr. Speaker, I rise today to table my first bill, which designates October 20 as national food waste awareness day. I thank the member for Cowichan—Malahat—Langford for seconding my bill.
This bill has a special place in the history of the office of Port Moody—Coquitlam, as it was researched by Yulia, our intern from Ukraine. Food insecurity is a reality, and her work was driven by a global concern.
Having a day to recognize the impacts of food waste on food insecurity will raise awareness, inspire change and contribute to meaningful solutions to make Canada's food system more secure. Sixty percent of the food produced in Canada each year is thrown out, and half of it is fresh, edible and nutritious food that could help feed four million Canadians, one million of whom are children who struggle daily with access to healthy food.
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- Nov/3/22 10:10:48 a.m.
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moved for leave to introduce Bill C-305, An Act to amend the Canada Shipping Act, 2001 (anchorage prohibition).
He said: Mr. Speaker, for years, communities in and around the Salish Sea have had to deal with the presence of large freighters using our waters for extended periods of time while they wait their turn in the Port of Vancouver. Today, I am pleased and honoured to introduce a private member's bill to address this issue by amending the Canada Shipping Act, 2001.
The bill proposes to introduce a new section, 23.1, to the act, which would prohibit the anchoring of large vessels in an area surrounding the southern Gulf Islands and the east coast of Vancouver Island. Any vessel contravening this prohibition would be committing an offence and would be liable to a fine of up to $100,000.
The coastal communities in this area are frustrated by years of inaction from the federal government. These anchorages were established on traditional territories without the free, prior and informed consent of local first nations. If the federal government values these same waters enough to establish a national marine conservation area, then they also deserve protection from being used as an overflow industrial parking lot. This bill would do just that.
I would like to thank my colleague, the member for Nanaimo—Ladysmith, for being my seconder.
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- Nov/3/22 10:12:55 a.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I move that the first report of the Standing Committee on Veterans Affairs, presented to the House on Tuesday, March 1, be concurred in.
In May 2019, the veterans affairs committee published a report entitled “Moving Towards Ending Homelessness Among Veterans”. Then, after two elections and two Parliaments and more than two full years later, with no government response to that report, the veterans affairs committee published another report, again entitled “Moving Towards Ending Homelessness Among Veterans”, in June 2021. In between that time, a motion was also moved in the House of Commons, in June 2019, indicating that the House should affirm that it wants to end veterans' homelessness, with a date of 2025 to see it end.
It seems to me that we have a government that continues to talk and talk, but absolutely no action has happened from 2019 until present. We are talking more than three years later and we still have no action. We are still moving toward ending homelessness among veterans and it does not seem like we are moving very quickly. It does not seem like the Liberal government is moving very quickly. In fact, I do not think it is moving at all. That is why we are seeking to move concurrence in this report today.
I will mention that I will be splitting my time with the member for Barrie—Innisfil.
We have a government that received a very thorough report about the need to end homelessness among veterans from a parliamentary committee. It gave no response, and two elections later there is still nothing happening. That is why the report was moved by the veterans affairs committee and we are discussing it today.
Again, it just seems like under the government, we keep hearing it is going to do things. We keep hearing announcements in press releases, but there is never any action. The veterans who served this country made sacrifices, and in some cases very significant sacrifices with very significant physical and psychological injuries. They were prepared to serve this country at a moment's notice. They did serve this country and have suffered injury as a result. We have a duty and the government has a duty to ensure that we care for them. We must ensure that their needs are taken care of.
We have heard that we probably have in the neighbourhood of 5,000 veterans in this country who are homeless. That does not sound like we have a government that is caring for them and ensuring their needs are met. There should never be reports of a veteran being homeless or needing food. I know there are many food banks dedicated specifically to veterans out there in this country. That should never be the case, but under the Liberal government, it just seems to be getting worse and worse, with no action being taken. The Liberal government is failing the veterans who gave this country what we have today.
When veterans go to Veterans Affairs because they are in a crisis or have needs, they are met with layers of bureaucracy and endless wait times and processing times for their disability applications and pension applications. A service standard is required to be met, and that standard has not been met in seven years, not once since the Liberal government took office. The last time the service standard was met was in the last year of the previous Conservative government.
The Liberal government has even failed to meet its own internal service standards. What we are seeing now in many cases is that two years is not an untypical amount of time for veterans to wait for service. They say that the average wait time is 43 weeks to get an application processed for veterans' benefits.
In many cases, veterans are waiting two years, and there are even cases where applications have taken as long as 10 years to get processed. This is clearly not a government that takes ensuring veterans are cared for very seriously.
There have been a number of reports that have indicated such to the government. The Auditor General has indicated it in a report. The Parliamentary Budget Officer has indicated it in a report, and the veterans affairs committee itself has indicated it in numerous reports. The recent Auditor General's report said the government's “actions did not reduce overall wait times for eligible veterans. The department was still a long way from meeting its service standard. Implementation of initiatives was slow. Data to measure and improvements were lacking.” In other words, it is failing on every single measure.
It is even more concerning that less than half of first-time mental health-related applications are being processed within the already lengthy 16-week period provided. The Auditor General calls that a significant deterioration of the processing times of the previous Conservative government. We are talking about mental health crises in some cases.
What is happening instead? Instead, Veterans Affairs employees are suggesting to veterans that maybe they should consider assisted suicide. We have heard about the case that has been in the media, and we heard about it at the veterans affairs committee, where assisted suicide was offered to a veteran who did not ask for it. This veteran was in crisis and went to the government looking for help, and it was suggested to the veteran that maybe he should consider killing himself. Even when he said no several times, this Veterans Affairs employee continued to pressure him to consider it.
The comment made, according to testimony from another veteran at the veterans affairs committee, from this employee to the veteran was that accessing assisted suicide would be “'...better than blowing your brains out against the wall.'” Can anyone imagine that one of our veterans had that happen to them?
What is the Liberal government's response? It is not much, actually. It seems like it is trying to cover its own butt. Essentially, it tries to deny responsibility. When the minister was at committee, he continued to defer the responsibility for this to his officials. He seems to be completely removed from the operation of the department he is responsible for.
I forgot to mention that I will be splitting my time with the hon. member for Barrie—Innisfil.
There was no apology offered to this veteran and no indication that anything was being done. Veterans Affairs said it was going to provide some training, but it could not give any indication when that would happen or how that would happen. I certainly did not leave feeling assured, and I know the many veterans across this country I have heard from certainly did not feel assured that the government was not going to do anything to ensure that it would never happen again.
We have often heard a saying from veterans, which is “Deny, delay, die”, the triple d's. That is really what veterans feel they get from Veterans Affairs. They get denied the services they need. There are delays in processing times, and now they are being told that maybe it would be better if they just died. We seem to have a minister who is asleep at the wheel. Our veterans pay the price for that. Things are just so backward right now.
Veterans and their families served this country. They sacrificed for this country, and we owe it to them to ensure they are getting the services they need. We owe it to them to ensure they are not left out in the cold, and that is actually what the government is doing. The Liberal government is actually leaving veterans out in the cold. There are 5,000 homeless veterans in this country, and the government is leaving them out in the cold instead of ensuring their needs are protected.
There have been parliamentary reports, PBO reports, Auditor General reports and reports from the veterans affairs committee, but the government is doing nothing to make sure our veterans are cared for.
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- Nov/3/22 10:23:01 a.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I want to thank my colleague, the shadow minister for Veterans Affairs, for bringing this issue forward to the House today. I would like to draw attention to a not-for-profit organization in Ontario called Ruck 2 Remember. It has been doing things for over 15 years, but just this year it conducted its road to recovery march as part of the Legion's operation: leave the streets behind program. It did the whole Bruce Trail, from Tobermory right down to basically Niagara Falls, which is over 900 kilometres, this summer.
I want to pay tribute to Lino and Joey, who are the two people who did it all. I had the privilege of joining them for a little over 10 kilometres in my riding. I also want to thank the member for Flamborough—Glanbrook, who joined in as well for part of the march. I did inform all MPs whose ridings are part of the trail to get out there.
I am drawing attention to the volunteers, veterans and phenomenal Canadian citizens who are standing up for our veterans. I would like my hon. colleague to elaborate on why it is so important for the Liberal government to do more to get our veterans off the streets.
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- Nov/3/22 10:24:20 a.m.
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Mr. Speaker, first of all, I want to thank the member for his service to our country. That is something the Liberal government has failed to do in its actions. I am glad he highlighted there are so many groups. He mentioned one in his riding, but there are so many groups across the country that are picking up the slack. They are filling the needs the Liberal government is not ensuring are being filled. I am proud of so many Canadians who are doing just that. However, they should not need to do that. The government should ensure those needs are being provided for.
I will give an example. I mentioned earlier the training needed for employees at Veterans Affairs to ensure we never have another instance of suggesting to a veteran that maybe they should consider assisted suicide. There is an organization called Wounded Warriors, and it has the ability to provide that training tomorrow. The government is aware that could be the case, but it is not engaging in that.
This is a situation where the government is not doing enough to serve the needs of our veterans, and Canadians and organizations across this country are having to step up to make sure veterans have their needs filled. They are paying for veterans to get the mental health supports and physical supports they need. The government is not doing it, so people are stepping up across the country to make sure it happens.
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- Nov/3/22 10:25:53 a.m.
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Mr. Speaker, is the member aware of the fund we created back in 2018, which is the veteran and family well-being fund? It is a very, very important fund. It did not exist prior to our government being elected in 2015. Many organizations right across the country have taken advantage of that fund so they can continue to help veterans on the ground.
I know many Legions benefited from it, as well as homes for veterans groups and VETS Canada. There are many organizations right across the country, and probably in his riding, that are creating new and innovative ways of supporting veterans on the ground. The government is working with organizations and partners. I am wondering if he is aware of that and what he would like to share with the House concerning that program.
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- Nov/3/22 10:26:55 a.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I am well aware of the fact that the Liberal government likes to make announcements, put out press releases and try to pretend like it is doing something. That is what we have seen from the Liberal government. This is another great example. It makes announcements about all kinds of money it is going to put into Veterans Affairs, but it does not spend it. A report just came out this week about almost a billion dollars in lapsed funding this year. That is money that was set aside to spend on programs for veterans that the government did not spend.
The government has certainly been accused many times, and rightly so, of spending far too much money, but one area where it should never save money is on our veterans. When there is money that has been put out there for veterans, when there is almost a billion dollars in lapsed funding sitting around while veterans' needs are not being filled, that is not providing service to veterans and their families. That is a press release designed to fool the Canadian public into believing the government cares when it clearly does not care about veterans or their families.
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- Nov/3/22 10:28:13 a.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague for his concern for the well‑being of veterans. It is indeed very important.
I would like to know whether my colleague is aware that claims from francophone veterans take much longer to be processed than claims from anglophone veterans. I get the impression that Bloc MPs are the only ones who care about this. I hope that is not the case.
I would like my colleague's opinion on this scandalous situation that makes no sense and has been denounced by my colleague from Rivière-des-Mille-Îles.
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- Nov/3/22 10:28:54 a.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I completely agree with my colleague on the delays in service for francophone veterans.
There is no doubt. It has been very clear that francophones are, in fact, receiving even worse service than anglophones.
I will condemn that, but even more importantly, I will condemn the fact that the government is leaving veterans out in the cold. It is leaving them to wait for two years, in many cases, to even get their benefit applications processed. That is completely unacceptable, and the Liberal government should be ashamed of itself for the way it is treating our veterans and our veterans' families.
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- Nov/3/22 10:29:40 a.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to rise today to speak to the motion for concurrence on the report on veterans homelessness that was presented to the House of Commons.
It is really appropriate this Veterans' Week, in advance of the country coming together, to salute and honour our veterans and their families that have given so much and sacrificed so much for our nation, not just fighting for democracy, the rule of law, human rights and freedoms around the world but peacekeeping as well.
This weekend, I know many members of the House will be attending Remembrance Day ceremonies in the lead up to Remembrance Day. I look forward to being at the Lefroy-Belle Ewart Legion and Sandycove Acres for their Remembrance Day services, as well as Cookstown. I will be there to honour and respect those who served our country, those who continue to serve our country and, more important, their families. Oftentimes, it is forgotten that families serve as much as the members who serve. In all of the discussions we have, we have to realize that.
The issue of veterans homelessness has been a pervasive problem for many generations of successive governments. Seemingly, we are not doing what we need to do to solve the issue of veterans homelessness.
Oftentimes this issue becomes a problem during the transition out of services. I happen to believe that transition out of our Canadian Armed Forces, for whatever reason, medical or otherwise, needs to happen the first day a person signs on to be a member of the Canadian forces. It has to be a process, not a process that is an end process at the time of transition but it has to be an ongoing process to prepare veterans for that transition.
Often veterans are not prepared for a transition and that is often the reason we find our veterans in a homeless state. We expected a study to be released in the summer, talking about veterans homelessness, how pervasive it was and how nothing seemed to be done.
I agree with my hon. colleague from Banff—Airdrie that the Liberals are going to stand and talk about throwing millions and millions of dollars at a problem, which is seems to be what they doe, but it is doing nothing to solve this pervasive problem.
The problems in Veterans Affairs, like backlogs and disability claims, are not money problems; they are process problems. Whether the Conservatives are in government or the government of the day, we need to find the will to deal with this processing problem.
In every study that is done, every stakeholder, advocate, family member and every veteran who comes forward, along with the defence ombudsman and the veterans ombudsman, will say the exact same thing. In my experience in listening to these professionals and those who are directly impacted by this problem, it is a process problem and the processes have to be fixed. It is not a money problem.
Groups out there are doing tremendous work, as my hon. colleague from Banff—Airdrie said, to help veterans and their families not just transition, but deal with the existing homelessness issue. There are a lot of solutions out there. There are a lot of partners we can work with to solve this process issue to ensure that veterans and their families are looked after as they transition out of the military.
In my time as the veterans affairs critic, I had the opportunity to meet with the Veterans Transition Network, Wounded Warriors Canada and VETS Canada. Another one I was really fascinated by was a non-for-profit organization called Homes for Heroes based out of Calgary.
I had an opportunity to meet with Dave Howard, who is the president and co-founder of the Homes for Heroes Foundation. One of the things he talked to me about was the need to not just work with municipalities to find areas where we could build transitional housing for veterans and their families, but also the need for government support in that regard.
I want to highlight as one example of many that veterans' advocates are proposing. The program is called “The Path to Recovery”. The goal of the program of the Homes for Heroes Foundation is to assist veterans with reintegration into civilian life. The first step is to provide them with housing, somewhere to be safe, secure, warm, a place to keep their personal belongings and to take care of their personal needs, a tiny home in one of these villages it is building and proposes to build. It has several proposals on the books, but is having a difficult time finding the funding for that. The idea behind it is to create a veterans' village, a community of understanding what veterans and their families are going through as they transition out of the military.
One of the challenges is that 5,000 veterans are homeless. These numbers are as of 2015, but I suspect would probably be similar to this day. I have talked to advocates right across the country like Don Leonardo and the organizations I highlighted before. The last place veterans need to be is in a shelter. They need to be among themselves, with veterans who understand and are going through very similar situations. Therefore, I would encourage the government to use any aspect or avenue it can to support these types of organizations that understand the needs of veterans and their families and to resolve the issue of homelessness by building communities of veterans who can work together.
With respect to some of the other aspects of this, the projection is that each village would provide 5,000 to 9,000 bed nights per year for veterans experiencing homelessness. There is a whole plan. I would encourage the government, if it has not met with Dave and the Homes for Heroes Foundation, to make it a priority to talk them about their vision and goal toward helping veterans and their families as they transition.
It is a broader problem right now that is not just affecting veterans and their families; it is the state of the economy. We are all aware of the inflation and affordability crisis that is facing Canadian families and businesses. Veterans and their families are dealing with the same situation as everyone. The cost of groceries and housing has made it unaffordable. We add to that the challenges they are facing with disability backlogs and claims, oftentimes waiting up to two years for claims to be processed. Despite the fact that the government has thrown millions of dollars at the problem, it has not solved the problem because it is a process problem. Families and veterans dealing with transitional and mental health issues and occupational stress injuries do not need the process to be as cumbersome as it is.
I know the government has, to some degree, started to look at the presumptive benefit claim process, and I would encourage it to look at more. I have said this publicly before, and I believe I have said it in the House. When people file their taxes, if there is a rebate coming back, Revenue Canada will often deposit that into a bank account within 10 business days, yet veterans and their families that are transitioning out of the military face a cumbersome process of delays as a result of claims and benefits that are attributed to service. We need to create a presumptive benefit claim process wherein if veterans file a claim with Veterans Affairs, we presume it to be attributed to service and they should be entitled to the money and benefits they deserve in their service to our country.
There are simple processes that can solve not just the issue of those benefit claims, but also the issue of homelessness. I would encourage the government to heed the advice and recommendations of the committee, after listening to stakeholders from right across the country, those who are in the trenches, who are working to help veterans, the social agencies and veteran agencies, and to work to solve this problem, especially now given the affordability and inflation crisis that Canadians are facing and which veterans and their families are disproportionately facing to a great degree.
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- Nov/3/22 10:39:43 a.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I thank the member for mentioning so many local organizations that are working so hard to keep our veterans in a safe place.
I wonder if the member would comment on the fact that London, Ontario is the first city in Canada to attain functional zero veterans homelessness status and how important it is for all levels of government to work closely with communities and organizations that are getting the work done, so whatever process is put forward actually works.
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- Nov/3/22 10:40:23 a.m.
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Mr. Speaker, the hon. member makes an important point. It is a place that we should all aspire to be, that there is zero veteran homelessness.
It is not just the stakeholders that are involved. Not only does the federal government have a role to play, but all levels of government have a role to play when it comes to the example I gave earlier about Homes for Heroes, ensuring there is proper zoning to allow for micro housing, tiny villages that could be built within built boundaries of municipalities, and dealing with zoning issues to ensure that those types of things happen.
I agree with the hon. member that it is not just the federal government that has a role to play, it is not just advocates and stakeholders that have a role to play, and they are doing great work as it is across the country, but all levels of government. The will to help Canada's veterans should be universal among all levels of government and among every Canadian.
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- Nov/3/22 10:41:27 a.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I am happy to hear the member for Barrie—Innisfil speak about Homes for Heroes. This is an incredibly ambitious project that is being led by individuals who genuinely care about making housing available for veterans.
He indicated some of the challenges that they face. However, one of the biggest challenges they face is finding land and very quickly getting this land rezoned for the purposes that they need.
I know that the provincial government came into Kingston and, basically, from an order from the minister, rezoned the land without going through the city council process. I know he would be very familiar with it, having had experience on Barrie City Council. Quite frankly, it expedited the process to start moving it forward much quicker than waiting the year or year and a half that the planning application process normally takes.
I wonder if the member could comment on whether he thinks that is a good initiative for the provincial governments to be doing and if he would encourage the provincial government to do that in more areas throughout the province.
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- Nov/3/22 10:42:41 a.m.
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Mr. Speaker, notwithstanding the issue of veterans homelessness, the issue of affordability and attainability among housing stock for Canadians needs to be addressed.
If we talk to the Canadian Real Estate Association or the Ontario Real Estate Association, as I have, they talk about the cumbersome process with respect to zoning and development applications. That needs to be done by municipalities to ensure that the process is expedited so we are building houses.
Young people across the country feel that they have been let down in many ways or lied to in terms of hope and opportunity. I would actually say that young people are despondent right now in the sense that they will not be able to afford a home like their parents did. This needs to be done throughout the entire process, the zoning process, the municipal, provincial and federal process. However, the federal government does have a role. There is excess real estate that could be repurposed to help not just veterans, but the homelessness and attainability problem in general.
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- Nov/3/22 10:43:56 a.m.
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Mr. Speaker, it really speaks to me when a colleague talks about projects for veterans. In Quebec City, the “repos du soldat” veterans' housing project has been delayed for primarily administrative reasons.
With respect to financing to help veterans, there is a $20.9-million infrastructure program to end veteran homelessness. That is very little, considering that the monarchy receives at least $67 million year, on a recurring basis. I believe that our veterans deserve more than one-third of what the monarchy gets.
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- Nov/3/22 10:44:47 a.m.
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Mr. Speaker, as I said at the onset of my discussion today, a lot of money gets thrown at the problem, but it is the processes that really need to be streamlined, filtered and expedited so that the money gets to where it needs to be and the effect of that money is realized when it comes to homelessness among veterans.
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- Nov/3/22 10:45:13 a.m.
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Now is my normal public service announcement, where I remind folks to keep their questions and answers short so everybody gets to participate in this debate.
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