44th Parl. 1st Sess.
April 25, 2023 10:00AM
Mr. Speaker, I want to thank my colleague, whom I recently worked with on issues of violence against women.
I would like to come back to that, because I know that she is very interested in feminism. How is it possible that a government that claims to be feminist is not providing better support to women who are victims of domestic violence by increasing health transfers to shore up our social services system, particularly in Quebec? How is it possible that a government that claims to be feminist is not keeping its promise to reform EI? We know that the people having the most issues with EI right now are women who, for a variety of reasons, have difficulty qualifying for the program.
My colleague also talked about the issue of mothers, pregnant women.
I would like to hear my colleague talk about these two critical issues, namely increased health transfers and EI reform. That is feminism.
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Madam Speaker, in his speech, my Conservative colleague talked about seniors in relation to the carbon tax.
I have a suggestion for my colleague. What the seniors in my riding, in Quebec, are asking me for and what they talk to me about is a little more direct assistance to help them get through this crisis. They want an increase in old age security for all seniors to address the inequality between people aged 75 and over and those under 75. This would be a first step towards recognizing that seniors are affected by the inflation crisis.
This budget contains nothing except a one-time cheque to help them with groceries. That cheque will be used up in no time.
I wonder if he could talk more about the importance of providing much more direct assistance to seniors, specifically by increasing old age security.
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Mr. Speaker, to hear my Liberal colleagues today, I really get the impression that everything is just fine and dandy.
I thank my colleague for his speech, but there were many things that piqued my attention. I could ask tons of questions, but I will try to be brief.
An annual income of $85,000 for a family is good, but my colleague said that his government was helping seniors. What is it doing for seniors whose annual income is $20,000? Does he really think it is possible to live with dignity on that amount?
I just reread a press release by FADOQ because I too have been consulting the people back home. In fact, I organized a conference on seniors' health. FADOQ says that the only thing for seniors in this budget is the one-time help for groceries, a single cheque that seniors will receive once. That is not going to help in the long term. FADOQ is critical of the fact that the guaranteed income supplement was not increased.
As far as old age security is concerned, I would remind my colleague that, currently, every senior under 75 is still not getting help from their government, and those 75 and older got an increase of only 10%. Those 75 and under got absolutely nothing.
My colleague just spoke about nuclear energy. I cannot believe how much greenwashing there is in this budget. As I said, I could go on at length about that, but his government is putting the same spin on its approach to seniors.
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Mr. Speaker, I would first like to remind the member for Winnipeg North that my colleague and I were being sarcastic when we said that everything is just fine and dandy. That is my first point.
My second is that my colleague spoke about employment insurance. I will be more brief than I was earlier, I promise. Employment insurance is vital. The current government is all about fake feminism. By not investing enough in health transfers, it is harming the community groups that work to prevent domestic violence. By failing to invest in EI reform, it is harming women, who are penalized more by the current EI system. That is also true for those who go on maternity leave. The government is all about fake feminism. These investments are being called for.
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