44th Parl. 1st Sess.
February 13, 2024 10:00AM
- Feb/13/24 10:03:01 a.m.
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Mr. Speaker, it is an honour to rise to present a petition that notes we are in the middle of both a climate crisis and a cost-of-living crisis. Petitioners note that folks across the country are struggling to afford housing and food, while also dealing with unprecedented climate disasters that will only continue to worsen if urgent action is not taken.
They note that while this is happening, fossil fuel companies made record profits last year, with the five largest fossil fuel companies operating in Canada alone making annual profits of over $38 billion. They note that a significant portion of these profits were made as a result of price gouging at the pump, in 2022, costing Canadians an additional 18¢ per litre, more than their previous profit margins on fuel and far more than the 2¢ per litre that carbon pricing went up in the same period last year. They also note the similar taxes on excess profiteering on those oil and gas companies has been instituted in Canada in other sectors already, as well as on oil and gas companies in the U.K. and Europe.
They then call on the Government of Canada to immediately apply a 15% windfall profit tax on the excess profits of oil and gas companies operating over the past three years and to reallocate the revenues that would be generated from that to proven climate solutions as well as to efforts to make life more affordable for Canadians, including investments in public transit, in retrofitting buildings and in greening the grid.
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- Feb/13/24 4:02:31 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, in his speech, the member for Tobique—Mactaquac evoked the disability community, along with his concerns for their well-being when it comes to expanding medical assistance in dying for mental health.
The House could be pressing the Liberal government to actually address the legislated poverty that people with disabilities are facing. We could all be pressing to fund the Canada disability benefit. If the member claims to be concerned about the lives of people with disabilities, as I am sure he truthfully is, is he going to, and how will he, continue to press the government to fund the Canada disability benefit and end legislated poverty for people with disabilities?
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Mr. Speaker, tonight, I rise in strong support of Bill C-62, which would delay expanding medical assistance in dying for those in whom mental illness is the sole underlying condition by three years. My reasons for doing so are the same as they were in my speech to Bill C-39, one year ago to this day, at the time when the government was willing to delay by only one year: First of all, this delay aligns with what I have heard from so many folks in my community; second, we know that this is what experts have been calling for, for some time; and third, as Greens, we believe we should spend more time filling in our social safety net before we expand medical assistance in dying.
Today, Greens also believe that we should be rushing this legislation before the March 17 deadline to ensure that MAID is not expanded for mental illness as the sole underlying condition because this is the next best thing to what Bill C-314 would have done. Bill C-314, which was proposed by the member for Abbotsford, would have avoided this expansion for good.
Substantively, in the process we are in right now, this bill has been moving ahead quite quickly to this point. I expect that, as votes follow over the coming days, we will continue to move based on the motion that was approved earlier in the day. This shows that the House of Commons can move quickly when there is an urgent priority to be addressed, as is the case with the March 17 deadline in the existing legislation. Really, what this is about in terms of moving quickly is not that we do not have the legislative tools but that we need the political will to do it.
When I think about this legislation in front of us, outside what I have shared so far in terms of why I am supporting it, why I have historically and why Greens have historically as well, my question is this: Where is the rush to support legislation that would substantively improve the quality of life of Canadians? Other members have reflected on and shared feedback, which I hope they have heard directly from people with disabilities across the country. Where is the rush on ending legislated poverty for people with disabilities?
The fact is that, to this day, 40% of people living in poverty across the country are people with disabilities. While some will talk all about a piece of legislation that was passed in June of last year, the fact is that a person with a disability is no better off today than they were before that legislation was passed. The benefit is not yet funded, and we have not engaged in and figured out negotiations with provinces and territories. It is shameful. It is an embarrassment that, in a country as rich as ours, we are in a place where people with disabilities continue to live in legislated poverty. The House of Commons could choose to act as urgently to end legislated poverty for people with disabilities as it is moving right now to ensure that the March 17 deadline is met.
The House of Commons could also push to actually address one of the core underlying issues here, which is the lack of supports to address mental health. In fact, at the time of the last electoral campaign, the Liberal Party promised a Canada mental health benefit. It was meant to be called the “Canada mental health transfer”. It was a $4.5-billion commitment, and it was not one of several bullet points in a health accord, the way we have now. One of the challenges is that, while we all want our health care to be delivered in a wholesome way, it is more helpful to have funding agreements that are specific, so we can have accountability on them. However, that is not the case when it comes to mental health. Instead, mental health is one of four bullet points in these provincial and federal agreements. As a result, it is up to the provinces, and it is unclear whether there is any accountability whatsoever on how many of the dollars in those agreements will go directly to mental health.
In this year's budget, we could see the government step up, be more clear and say it is going to make sure it directly funds what was supposed to be the Canada mental health transfer. In so doing, it would substantively improve the quality of life of Canadians, of folks in my community who are waiting on unreasonable wait times and lists to get access to a mental health professional.
If we were really serious about moving quickly on another core crisis in this country, we would move far more quickly on addressing the housing crisis. Again, for me, the little bit of hope I have, seeing what is happening right now, is that we know there are parliamentary tools available to do exactly that. The fact is, in my community, we just had a report come out today that continues to make calls with respect to dealing with people living rough, in encampments. In my community, the number of people living unsheltered has tripled in just the last three years.
We should not be in a place where this is happening, but we know why it is the case. Right now, for every one new unit of affordable housing that gets built, we are losing 15 units to the financialization of housing. Housing has increasingly become a commodity for large institutional investors to trade, rather than a place for a person to live.
This means that we continue to see large institutional investors buying up existing affordable housing, renovicting folks and increasing their rents. We wonder why that crisis is also getting worse. I do not think we would be in the place where we are right now if this Parliament, and the government in particular, were to get more serious about addressing the housing crisis.
After 30 years of underinvestment, where are we now? The fact is that we are at the bottom of the G7 when it comes to the social housing stock in this country; 3.5% of our housing is social housing. This means that, even if we were to double social housing, we would only be around the middle of the pack in the G7.
It means something after 30 years of underinvestment in communities across the country. I am thinking about someone I spoke with this past weekend, a nurse, who told me she cannot afford to live in our community as a result of the reality of the cost of housing. It means that, whether someone is a teacher, a nurse or a tradesperson, this is a generation that is looking at housing fundamentally differently than any one before it has. Why is that? In my community, since 2005, the cost of housing has gone up 275%, but wages have only gone up 42%.
Once again, if we were to truly fill in the social safety net and move as quickly on doing that as the government has moved today on meeting this March 17 deadline, we could substantively ensure that we see the funding necessary to address the affordable housing crisis. We could also address financialization, which is the fact that institutional investors have swept in to make the biggest buck possible, as quickly as possible, on the backs of some of the lowest-income people in my community.
Yes, I will be supporting Bill C-62. I think this is a really important opportunity for us all to mark that this Parliament can move quickly when it needs to on real crises that it sees. We have crises of housing, of legislated poverty for people with disabilities and of mental health, which this Parliament and the government should move a whole lot faster on.
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Madam Speaker, I would like to start by noting that, this evening and in past debate, we have heard really clear calls for how important this bill is, in particular from our hon. colleague the member for Nunavut tonight. The member for Winnipeg Centre further made clear that case.
With the limited time that I have, the contribution I would like to make to this debate is really focused on the importance of listening to indigenous leaders, particularly with respect to the Truth and Reconciliation Commission's calls to action.
In my view, Bill C-273 is an offer to all parliamentarians to move ahead with the TRC's calls to actions. For my part, I have committed to fully implementing them, as has the Green Party of Canada.
I will read out, once again, call to action 6: “We call upon the Government of Canada to repeal Section 43 of the Criminal Code of Canada.”
This is exactly what Bill C-273 seeks to do.
As background, the Truth and Reconciliation Commission issued 94 calls to action back in 2015 and progress has been absurdly slow. At the current pace, the calls will not be completed until 2081, yet every party in this House of Commons has committed to fully implementing the calls.
I will summarize them now. In 2015, then-leader of the Liberal Party of Canada, now the Prime Minister, said, “On behalf of the Liberal Party of Canada and our parliamentary caucus, I affirm our unwavering support for the TRC’s recommendations, and call on the Government of Canada to take immediate action to implement them.”
That is being applauded by a member from the governing party. I would remind that member that call to action 6 is exactly what this bill is calling for. I certainly hope that this government will be supporting Bill C-273.
As for the Conservative Party, in 2021, Erin O'Toole, then-leader of the Conservative Party, pledged a plan to implement all Truth and Reconciliation calls to action. I assume that included call to action 6.
As for the Bloc Québécois, in 2021, in their platform, Bloc MPs would pressure the federal government to implement all recommendations from the Truth and Reconciliation Commission.
In the same campaign, 2021, the leader of the NDP committed to fully implement all outstanding recommendations from the Truth and Reconciliation Commission. An NDP MP, in fact, is bringing forward a bill here to work toward doing so.
The leader of the Green Party of Canada, the member for Saanich—Gulf Islands, pledged the same thing.
In short, I hope that my colleagues follow through on the commitments of their parties and those that I know they personally, I am sure, have also made.
Certainly, I hope, at the very least, that this would get to committee. This is the second time now, in my time as an MP, that I am seeing this gap between commitments to follow the TRC calls to action and opportunities that MPs have to do so.
The last time was on Bill C-5. One of the TRC calls to action, call to action 32, is to remove mandatory minimum penalties. Of course, Bill C-5 removed some but not all of them. That was not what was in call to action 32. It was to follow through on removing all of them.
Once again, though, in this vote on Bill C-273, parliamentarians will have another opportunity. For those who have pledged to pressure the government to do so, this is now being offered. An MP has put forward a bill that would directly call to repeal section 43 of the Criminal Code. That is call to action 6.
I would hope that colleagues would support this bill and, in doing so, move us one very small step closer toward following through on all 94 calls to action of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission from back in 2015. We are now in 2024. We need to move more quickly. Here is one chance to do so.
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- Feb/13/24 6:36:21 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, I certainly agree with the hon. member for Winnipeg North that it is important to be clear, and we must act expeditiously in advance of the March 17 deadline. I am glad to see that the governing party is moving this forward in order for us to do so. As we shared this morning, it is one of the reasons the Greens supported moving it with a time allocation motion in this case. This demonstrates that there are parliamentary tools available to move with urgency on issues that merit that.
As I shared in my speech, when it comes to housing, we need more than the right words. We need to see the investments and the parliamentary tools to move more quickly. The same is the case for ending legislated poverty for people with disabilities.
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- Feb/13/24 6:38:09 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, in this debate, when we speak about the reality of legislated poverty for people with disabilities, I am concerned that it is only coming up today in this debate. It is important for all parliamentarians to consider how they spend their time on a regular basis, ensuring they continue to advocate to end legislated poverty, to improve the quality of life for people with disabilities, with the tools they have available to them here.
I would encourage my colleague from Sherwood Park—Fort Saskatchewan to consider using the tools he has available to him, for example, to push the Liberal government to fund the Canada disability benefit, a substantive measure that could make a real difference to improve the lives of people with disabilities, which we have not seen the Liberal government move ahead with, disappointingly so.
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- Feb/13/24 6:39:53 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, first of all, I apologize. I will reply in English to make sure I get my wording correct. In the future, I hope to do so in French.
The short answer is yes. I believe very strongly that this Parliament should be working far more diligently toward closing our social safety net. Instead of the urgency it seems to have with expanding medical assistance in dying, I would rather see our Parliament close our social safety net first.
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