44th Parl. 1st Sess.
June 13, 2023 10:00AM
- Jun/13/23 11:09:47 a.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I found parts of the member for Winnipeg North's speech difficult to hear, particularly when he spoke about historic investments on housing. I will tell the House why.
In my community, homelessness has tripled since 2018. This is a crisis, and in this year's budget there was no new money for housing. The only new commitment was a back-loaded investment in indigenous housing, which is important but way too slow.
If any other level of government were to take a year off from investing in housing, what would the member think of that?
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- Jun/13/23 12:06:54 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I want to start by thanking the member for Vancouver East for matching, in her ferocity, the depth of the housing crisis that we are in across the country. I also appreciate that the member spoke specifically about the deep issues with respect to the financialization of housing and the work that we have both been doing when it comes to addressing that, through getting rid of the tax exemption for one specific type of corporate landlord: real estate investment trusts. As the member referenced, this is a pretty simple, reasonable measure to redirect $300 million over the next five years to build the affordable housing we need. That report came out months ago. The member has been here longer than I have. Could she reflect on why it is that, months later, such a reasonable measure still has not been followed through on?
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- Jun/13/23 12:52:32 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, while I agree with the concern that the member for Mission—Matsqui—Fraser Canyon shared, it is important to point out that this did not happen just overnight. This crisis was decades in the making, from multiple parties that formed government at that time.
With respect to the member's talking about government getting out of the way, I would love to hear his reflections on the 80s and 90s when governments invested significantly in social and community housing. Did that not help?
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- Jun/13/23 2:00:25 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, today we celebrate someone who has made our city so proud: Jamal Murray. From the Stanley Park Community Centre and Grand River Collegiate Institute to the seventh overall pick and helping lead the Denver Nuggets to an NBA championship last night, it does not get much bigger than this.
Jamal is just the ninth Canadian to win an NBA title, and his 26.1 points per game are now the most by a Canadian in an NBA playoff run ever. He also has the most points scored by a Canadian player in a playoff run, and in second place is Jamal again from the 2020 playoffs.
It is not just the accolades. Since he was three years old, Jamal has been building up to a moment like this with determination, mental strength and unwavering commitment.
I send my congratulations to Jamal, Sylvia, Roger and the rest of their family. Our whole city and country are proud of Jamal, and we cannot wait to welcome him home this summer.
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Mr. Speaker, I am back to continue following up on advocacy for the Canada disability benefit in the early morning hours as it comes back up for debate.
I would like to start by reading an email from a constituent with a disability that I received earlier this evening:
I was once extremely proud of being a Canadian, but that pride has been crushed under the boot of poverty. It has been absolutely demolished by the Liberal Party and years of suffering. We do not want platitudes, we don't want condescension, we don't want empty promises or assurances that we “just have to be patient”. People have died. People are dying, and still they don't show any care in the world for our wellbeing.
For my part, I will reiterate what I have said in this House before. It is that if the governing party were serious, it would have done what it did with child care when it was serious. It put funding forward first, then agreements with provinces and territories, and then came legislation.
Of course, with the Canada disability benefit and people with disabilities, it was the opposite.
All that being said, this is still a milestone we are at today. Bill C-22, the Canada disability benefit bill, will finally be back up for debate, having come back from the Senate, and it is my hope that parties will agree to support unanimous consent for it to move forward more quickly.
We are going to need to continue to push, though, first of all for the amendments from the Senate to be supported, including one that would prioritize people with disabilities ahead of the insurance industry. The government's response should be public shortly after I finish this speech.
We need to continue to push for strong regulations once Bill C-22 passes into law, hopefully within a matter of days. It would make most of the decisions about the benefit. We are going to have to continue to push for the government to budget the benefit, which it has yet to do.
With my remaining time tonight, I just want to thank the people and organizations that got us to this point. Any progress made on the Canada disability benefit is because of them.
First are the federal organizations: Disability Without Poverty, with people like Rabia Khedr, Michelle Hewitt, Clare Li, Sabrina Latif, Al Etmanski and the rest of their team; the March of Dimes, with Amanda, Victoria and their team; Inclusion Canada, with Jeff Ferguson and the rest of the team; the MS Society, with its strong advocacy from Julie Kelndorfer and others; StopGap Ottawa with Kenzie McCurdy; Citizens for Public Justice, with Natalie Appleyard; Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act Alliance, with David Lepofsky; Leadnow, with Ellen Trottier, Jesse Whattam and Shanaaz Gokool; Spinal Cord Injury Canada, with Bill Adair; Planned Lifetime Advocacy Network, with Rebecca Pauls; Canadian National Institute for the Blind; La Société québécoise de la déficience intellectuelle, with Samuel Ragot; and Michael Prince and Vincent Calderhead. They all pushed, among so many others.
In my community, there is Extend-A-Family, with Al Mills and their team; KW Accessibility, with Edward, Ron and team; Bridges to Belonging, with Donnamarie Dunk; Independent Living Waterloo Region, with Janet, Sheri and others; The Social Development Centre, with Aleksandra Petrovic; and Christian Horizons, with Janet and Dave and team; and people with disabilities in my community and their allies, like Michael K, Alex Y, Mike Ashkewe, Rebecca Munzy, Marina Wahab, Anne Jensen, and Lorna Aberdein.
We are here because of all of you.
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- Jun/14/23 1:13:10 a.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I appreciate the words from the parliamentary secretary, and his advocacy within the governing party caucus, as well as the minister's work to get to this point.
Let us be clear. The words he shared were that the Liberals would do everything they can to move as quickly as possible, but the way to do that is to ratify every single one of the Senate amendments and get it passed here so it does not have to go back to the other place again.
Will he commit to doing so here, which we are going to learn about literally in a few minutes' time?
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