44th Parl. 1st Sess.
May 1, 2023 11:00AM
Mr. Speaker, this is important legislation. It is also an important occasion to educate people about biosecurity measures on farms. I know I cannot walk into a chicken barn without practically putting on a hazmat suit because of biosecurity concerns, especially in a season when we are dealing with avian flu.
It is Mental Health Week this week. I want to ask the hon. member whether he has heard from farmers on how stressful it can be sometimes with the threat of having protesters on their farms, or family businesses.
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Mr. Speaker, let me begin on a high note by talking about the riding of Laurentides—Labelle, which I am honoured to represent. Three concerns keep coming up every time I speak with my constituents: the housing shortage, support for seniors and, above all, employment insurance.
The Deputy Prime Minister's budget makes no mention of any of those concerns. One would think that these were not serious problems. Instead, a provision was included to recognize Charles III as King of Canada. If that is not evidence that the Liberals have their priorities all wrong, I do not know what is. There is nothing in this budget for seniors, nothing for housing, no long-term solutions to address the underfunding of health care, nothing about EI reform, nothing for Quebec, nothing for the people of Laurentides—Labelle and nothing to deal with the challenges facing Quebeckers and Canadians every day.
Tourism is a major economic driver in Laurentides—Labelle. There are the big attractions like Mont-Tremblant and the peaks of the Saint-Sauveur Valley, but we also have golf courses, ski resorts, outdoor recreation centres, restaurants, amusement parks, campgrounds, outfitters and many other businesses that rely on tourism. The list goes on and on. These are outdoor activities.
Our region is emerging from winter, and we are looking forward to summer. The P'tit Train du Nord is getting spruced up for cyclists. The ski resorts are cleaning up so that they will be ready for next winter. In the meantime, however, thousands of workers are receiving EI until the next tourist season, which starts in June. These seasonal workers are being abandoned by the government because it is incapable of reforming EI. The current government, which has been in power since 2015, keeps putting it off.
When the Liberal government was elected, it told us that reform was coming. In 2022, we were promised that it would be done by the summer. Then the government swore it would happen in the fall. Now, the spring of 2023 is coming to an end, and nothing has happened.
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- May/1/23 2:29:11 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, from the broad range of experts who have looked into this, there are multiple opinions on whether an open public inquiry is actually the best tool to restore confidence in Canadians. That is why we tasked an independent expert and our former governor general, David Johnston, to look at all the tools we have to counter foreign interference, to look at the concerns Canadians have and to choose the best path forward. If he chooses a public inquiry, we will absolutely move forward with a public inquiry. We will take up the right tools necessary to restore Canadians' confidence.
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- May/1/23 2:30:56 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I assure every member in this chamber that we take the reports that have surfaced recently very seriously. In fact, I reached out directly to the member for Wellington—Halton Hills to share my concerns. I told him that I have instructed CSIS to provide him with an update.
This government will continue to take concrete actions to combat foreign interference, including allocating $49 million in budget 2023 to protect all Canadians from foreign interference. This is not a partisan issue. We should do this work together to protect all parliamentarians.
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Madam Speaker, it is always a pleasure to rise on behalf of the people of Kamloops—Thompson—Cariboo. I did a brief video with the member for Cumberland—Colchester, who was a physician in his previous career, recognizing National Physicians' Day. However, my sister told me it is also National Principal's Day, so I am going to give her a shout-out. My sister Rosie Caputo gets a shout-out for being an elementary school principal. Happy National Principal's Day to all those out there as well.
When I looked at the budget, one of the things that stood out to me, actually referenced in question period by the Minister of Public Safety, was a discussion about foreign interference. This is really appropriate today to discuss. The reason I bring that up is because of the news story that was broken by The Globe and Mail in respect of the member for Wellington—Halton Hills. I do feel as though it is relevant to what we are discussing because we are talking about the budget and what will be invested and also about foreign interference.
The question I have is this: Why now? Why is this coming up now? From what I can see, the government was aware of some degree of foreign interference some time ago. It seems almost trite at this point. It is not even debated. I do see that the government has committed some money when it comes to a national foreign interference office; it may not be enough, given what we have heard today. The money has been budgeted, but one of the concerns I have is that, if I recall correctly, the Minister of Public Safety has not spoken about when this registry would be operational. From what I can see, this is something whose time has come on a number of different fronts.
One thing that I would like to speak about and something I talk about frequently is what it is like to be a member of Parliament. Something I will never forget is walking on this green carpet; sitting in the green chair; addressing you, Madam Speaker; the decorum here and the sceptre. This is an honour and a privilege. When I say it is always an honour and always a privilege to rise on behalf of the people of Kamloops—Thompson—Cariboo, I am mindful of the fact that every time we walk in here we never know when there could be an election. There are 338 of us and we sometimes forget that out of the 36, 37 or 38 million people, we are entrusted with captaining the ship of democracy. A lot of members give up a lot. A lot of people in here have heard me speak about my young children, one of whom has special needs, and about the sacrifices my wife undertakes and my family undertakes in order that I can be here and not only fulfill a dream but also do what I think is really the right thing to do in being here. We all may disagree on different things, but most people here think they are doing the right thing. We may agree on where we are going, but not necessarily on how to get there.
That is why I was so troubled by today's news. We give up a lot to be here. Not only do we give up a lot, but a lot is expected of us. Therefore, when the Globe and Mail story broke, it spoke about the member for Wellington—Halton Hills and his press release. We can all agree that the member is of the highest calibre of integrity and knowledge that this House has seen in some time. I was very troubled by the fact that his statement said that he had not heard about this. Therefore, here we are in the federal legislature of a G7 country and a member of Parliament is not even advised about the impact on their family in relation to a foreign government.
I find that very difficult. On election day, for instance, I had a situation where somebody came up aggressively when I was with one of my children. They were very inappropriate. My Liberal colleague who ran, came up and expressed his dismay. We are here as colleagues and we may not agree, but at the end of the day we are colleagues. In my prior profession as a lawyer, sometimes we would duke it out in the courtroom, but at the end of the day we still took the same oath. We all took the same oath to be here.
Some of us may not believe in the strength of that oath, and I am mindful of that. However, we all took it. Therefore, it really should not matter what side of the House a member is on. However, here we have a situation where the member's family, perhaps for the last two years, has been targeted, and there was not even the courtesy of letting him know from the Prime Minister's Office. This is a Prime Minister who, we are told by his chief of staff, reads everything.
I am puzzled as to how that is acceptable. I know that not everybody can speak out, but I am sure there are people on all sides who really take issue with the fact that somebody who is actively participating in Canadian democracy had their family allegedly targeted, and that person was not informed.
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