SoVote

Context: House Hansard - 288 - Feb/29/24

Mr. Dan Albas (Central Okanagan—Similkameen—Nicola, CPC)

Feb/29/24 1:18:21 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I certainly appreciate the member's intervention on this issue. This is from a B.C. CTV news story that reads, “Our initial study intended to only interview low-income women who were single moms accessing those $10-per-day spots,” said Dr. Lea Caragata, director of the school of social work at UBC and co-author of the study. “After six months of intensive recruitment, we could only find 13 across the province.” Billions of dollars have been allocated by the government with the whole idea that those who need it the most would get the support they need, yet this study by UBC shows only 13 in my province. We are the third-largest province in this great country. Could the member elaborate on how the government continually says one thing but does another?

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Mr. Philip Lawrence

Feb/29/24 1:19:13 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, of course we want all Canadians to have access to affordable child care, and that is a reasonable and meaningful goal. However, as another member talked about, if we are prioritizing, we need to focus on those who are in the most vulnerable situations, those who are trying to climb up that economic ladder and those who desperately need that income. The Liberals have failed those individuals, those moms and dads. It is not only that there is no child care available to them, even if it is unaffordable, but also that they are facing, if I might say, tax rates of 50% or 60%. We are holding Canadians in poverty. The Liberals are holding Canadians back.

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Mr. Kevin Lamoureux

Feb/29/24 1:19:58 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, to be very clear, the Conservative Party does not support the $10-a-day child care program that the Government of Canada has negotiated with the different provinces. I find that shameful. I would challenge the member across the way to be crystal clear and to explain why the Conservative Party does not support the program.

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Mr. Philip Lawrence

Feb/29/24 1:20:26 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, to be crystal clear, the Liberal government does not support $10-a-day child care. I just read a number of emails. It does not exist. It is like unicorns or Pegasus; it just does not exist.

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Ms. Michelle Ferreri (Peterborough—Kawartha, CPC)

Feb/29/24 1:20:44 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I thank my hon. colleague from the other Peterborough, the not-as-great but really close— Some hon. members: Oh, oh!

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The Deputy Speaker

Feb/29/24 1:20:55 p.m.
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Order. I do not think there should be any fighting about areas.

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Ms. Michelle Ferreri

Feb/29/24 1:21:03 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, in all seriousness, though, my colleague, who is a dad, knows this. It has already been brought up once today by another member from British Columbia. It was a great point. We have the facts now, coming out of the chaos that has endured as a result of this failed policy by the Liberal-NDP government, that 77% of high-income parents are accessing this program versus 41% of low-income families. How does the member feel about that? What are his thoughts on what is supposed to be a universal program, when we see that the people who need it most are not accessing it?

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Mr. Philip Lawrence

Feb/29/24 1:21:42 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I will not dignify the Peterborough comment with a response. Other than that, I have great respect for the member. She has done a wonderful job, and I hope she caught, in one of the emails, that one of my constituents thanked her specifically for all the fantastic work she has done. We need to put help where it is needed most. If we are prioritizing, as I said, it behooves us. John Rawls the famous philosopher once said that if we go back to the zero position, in other words, if we did not know how and where we would be born, we would want to do everything in society to help the most vulnerable. The Liberals are holding people back, keeping them in poverty and preventing women from returning to the workplace when they want.

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Mrs. Caroline Desbiens (Beauport—Côte-de-Beaupré—Île d'Orléans—Charlevoix, BQ)

Feb/29/24 1:22:37 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, Quebec's child care system works. It was put in place over 25 years ago by our esteemed premier at the time, Pauline Marois. I would like to ask my colleague a question. Every day, his party, which aspires to power, makes no bones about the fact that it will cut services to communities, invest more in oil and cut taxes. If they are going to make cuts to all of the government's revenue streams, where are they going to find the money to support early childhood centres when they are in power?

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Mr. Philip Lawrence

Feb/29/24 1:23:27 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I make no apologies for our support of the Canadian energy sector. In fact, the sector is required to fund social policies and social benefits. Without the revenue from the Canadian energy field, this country would be in financial ruin. We would not be able to support many of the great programs we have. We need more Canadian energy. We need the economy to grow stronger so we can have more social programs to help vulnerable people work their way up from the bottom to the top.

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Ms. Michelle Ferreri

Feb/29/24 1:24:11 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, as you can see, I am very happy to get up all day, every day to elevate the voices of the families that have been left out by this failed Liberal-NDP policy, in particular, families with kids with special needs. We know that both neurodivergence and the need for the labour force to accommodate these kids are going up. When fees are capped, as they have been under the Liberal-NDP program, we are seeing those most vulnerable suffer. Has my member for Northumberland—Peterborough South heard these stories? Have his constituents shared with him how kids with special needs are missing out, particularly with this program?

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Mr. Philip Lawrence

Feb/29/24 1:24:54 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, we have heard stories. I would like to take this moment to talk briefly about Clare from my office. She is a very special employee. I tell her every time I see her that she is my favourite. She has Down's syndrome, but because of the gift of an amazing raising and child care, and being an amazing person, she works her heart out every time she is at our office. She does great work for the people of Northumberland—Peterborough South. We need more people like Clare.

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Mr. Dave Epp

Feb/29/24 1:25:36 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I rise on a point of order. The member for Peterborough—Kawartha used a term that I do not think is quite appropriate. She said, “my member for Northumberland—Peterborough South”. I just want to put on the record that he is everyone's member, not just hers.

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The Deputy Speaker

Feb/29/24 1:25:51 p.m.
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That does not really sound like a point of order, but it is a great point of debate. The hon. parliamentary secretary to the government House leader.

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Mr. Kevin Lamoureux (Parliamentary Secretary to the Leader of the Government in the House of Commons, Lib.)

Feb/29/24 1:26:05 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, having said that, I was fascinated by the previous point of order. However, my point of order is based on some discussions among the parties. If you seek it, I think you will find unanimous consent to adopt the following motion. I move: That, notwithstanding any standing order or usual practice of the House, the remainder of the debate pursuant to Standing Order 66 on Motion No. 52 to concur in the fifth report of the Standing Committee on Science and Research be deemed to have taken place and all questions necessary to dispose of the motion be deemed put and a recorded division be deemed requested and deferred pursuant to Standing Order 66. As indicated, there were discussions among the parties; I believe you will find agreement.

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The Deputy Speaker

Feb/29/24 1:26:53 p.m.
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All those opposed to the hon. member moving the motion will please say nay. It is agreed. The House has heard the terms of the motion. All those opposed to the motion will please say nay.

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Ms. Lori Idlout (Nunavut, NDP)

Feb/29/24 1:27:11 p.m.
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Re: Bill C-35

Uqaqtittiji, I am honoured to rise on Bill C-35, an act respecting early learning and child care in Canada. I am proud to represent Nunavut and to be the critic for indigenous issues and northern affairs. I thank my colleague and friend, the member for Winnipeg Centre, for her leadership in ensuring that Bill C-35 will positively impact Inuit, first nations and Métis. Early learning and child care are of particular importance to indigenous peoples. Canada used all the resources it could to rob indigenous parents of their children. It used churches, RCMP and Indian agents. Indigenous children were sent to residential schools, and intergenerational trauma still exists because of Canada's genocidal policies against indigenous peoples. Amidst this, it has taken decades for this bill to finally reach this stage, which is so close to passing. I thank the member for Winnipeg Centre for reminding us, in her speech, about who was instrumental in this. I echo her gratitude. She stated: Generations of feminists, trade unionists, child care workers and advocates made this victory possible. They never, ever gave up the fight. They did not give up after the 1970 Royal Commission on the Status of Women's recommendation for a national child care program was ignored by the government of the day. They did not give up after the 1993 Liberal red book promised national child care, only for that government to pursue deep cuts to social programs instead. New Democrats who have fought for this include the mayor of Toronto, Olivia Chow, and the current member for London—Fanshawe. What would Bill C-35 do? It would ensure a long-term commitment of federal funding to provinces, territories and indigenous groups. It would provide the opportunity for a national system of early learning and child care. It would indeed help ensure that parents across Canada have access to affordable, accessible and high-quality child care, now and into the future. The NDP fought hard to ensure that Bill C-35 takes a rights-based approach. Because of our work, it includes acknowledgements of the obligations that Canada must adhere to international human rights conventions and declarations. For example, the third paragraph of the preamble affirms critical international instruments, including the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and the elimination of all forms of discrimination against women. I return to the importance of passing Bill C-35. We all know that difficulty finding day care impacts the ability of parents to work.

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Mr. Peter Julian

Feb/29/24 1:31:04 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I rise on a point of order. I always enjoy hearing from my colleague from Nunavut; I just want to ask if she was intending to split her time.

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The Deputy Speaker

Feb/29/24 1:31:13 p.m.
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We were asking the same question. The hon. member for Nunavut.

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Ms. Lori Idlout

Feb/29/24 1:31:19 p.m.
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Re: Bill C-35

Uqaqtittiji, I do plan to split my time with the member for Edmonton Strathcona As I said, Bill C-35 would open the opportunity for a national system of early learning and child care. A 2022 Statistics Canada study found that 38% of parents were changing their work or study schedule and 37% were working fewer hours. Bill C-35 would allow more parents to get back to work to provide for their families. This would benefit women, who are disproportionately impacted without this bill. We need Bill C-35 to become law. The NDP will keep fighting for Canadians, unlike Conservatives, who make cuts, and Liberals who are forced to act only to avoid an election. Today, the Conservatives tried to delay the important debate on C-35. They used a report from the 43rd parliament on food security issues as a delay tactic. They only pretend to care that nutrition north is not working. If they really cared about indigenous issues, they could have used any of their last 10 opposition day motions to debate nutrition north. Instead, they are playing games by making last minute changes to the orders of the day and obstructing important changes that could benefit many indigenous peoples, as well as the passage of Bill C-35. I am proud that Nunavut was one of the first territories, along with Quebec and the Yukon, to commit to providing $10-a-day child care. More impressively, this milestone was achieved 15 months ahead of schedule. With the youngest population in Canada, it should come as no surprise. Ten-dollar-a-day day care does exist. Coupled with the high cost of living and other challenges, affordable child care is especially important to Nunavummiut. Much work will be required after the passage of Bill C-35. There will need to be major investments for improving infrastructure in indigenous communities. Many first nations, Métis and Inuit communities lack the facilities for early childhood education. With crumbling buildings and overcrowded homes, there is nowhere to open a day care. It is not just early childhood education; there is a severe infrastructure deficit across primary, intermediate and secondary schools in indigenous communities. In Pond Inlet, Arviat and many other Nunavut communities, schools are overcrowded. The communities desperately need investments in new schools. I heard from Pacheedaht First Nation members, who have to bus their children for hours in each direction because there is no school in their community. Even with existing schools, they do not have the resources to provide the same level of service as schools in non-indigenous communities do. I take this opportunity to remind the Liberal government that it must both reverse its decision to sunset Indigenous Services Canada programs and fill the major infrastructure gaps. In combination, the lack of investments will result in over $14 billion that will force indigenous peoples onto the streets in the future. It will force indigenous peoples to remain addicted to substances and to remain on the margins of society. The federal government must make additional investments to ensure that Inuit, first nations and Métis communities can build the infrastructure they need to provide culturally appropriate early childhood education. An amendment was later added to address a potential charter issue, as minority language education is a right under section 23 of the Constitution. As parliamentarians, we have learned that there is an increasing lack of French-language child care services outside of Quebec. The amendment to clause 8 of the bill would ensure the federal government maintains funding for official language minorities. I am sure the francophone community in my riding will be very happy with this amendment. I am glad to see the amendment pass so this important legislation can go forward without potential legal challenges. While there are two official languages in Canada, hundreds of indigenous languages remain. In order to keep indigenous languages alive, languages must be passed on to children at an early age. Governments have obligations to meet the obligations set out in the Indigenous Languages Act. I highlight the recent court decision on Bill C-92, which was another big win for indigenous rights. Bill C-92 reaffirms Inuit, first nations and Métis rights to make decisions regarding their own children, youth and families. This includes culturally relevant child care services in their own languages. For these reasons, I urge parliamentarians to support the passage of this bill.

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