44th Parl. 1st Sess.
March 20, 2024 02:00PM
- Mar/20/24 2:55:10 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, we have demonstrated from day one that we are there to work with the provinces to invest in the care economy, whether it is commitments to raise personal support worker wages to $25 an hour, whether it is through our historic child care agreements that are creating wage grids for early childhood educators or whether it is moving forward on strengthening support for indigenous communities and for care workers in and from indigenous communities, we will continue to be there.
We recognize there is more work to do. We are there to do it, hand in hand with the different jurisdictions across the country.
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- Mar/20/24 2:56:17 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, child care supports not only parents, but also our economy. I am so happy to see that with the support of the member for Vaughan—Woodbridge and our caucus, the Canada Early Learning and Child Care Act received royal assent yesterday.
Unfortunately, the Conservative leader ordered his members to obstruct and delay the passage of this bill. Nevertheless, we have kept our promise to Canadians. No matter where they live, they will have access to affordable, inclusive and quality child care.
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- Mar/20/24 3:22:37 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, the member is better than the question he just asked. He knows that it is really important to be there both to protect people when they are most vulnerable and to support their wishes. That is something that is foundational in Canada.
In regard to people living with disabilities, we have invested more in people with disabilities over the past eight years than ever before, and there is more to do.
We were very, very pleased to move forward on the Canada disability benefit, and we will have more to say in the coming months.
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- Mar/20/24 7:13:20 p.m.
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Mr. Chair, Canada's support since the outset of this awful situation has been unconditional and unequivocal. I was not at the committee today to hear the ambassador's testimony, but I can say that her position, which has been unequivocal, is that Canada should support the Canada-Ukraine free trade agreement.
As for the specifics of the member's question on ammunition, I would be happy to speak to him after. I would be happy to try to find that specific information. I do not want to stand before the House and pretend I have specifics that I do not have in answer to a question.
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- Mar/20/24 7:25:18 p.m.
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Madam Chair, as a member of the Canada-Ukraine Parliamentary Friendship Group, this week, I had the pleasure of speaking with French President Macron's special envoy for Ukraine.
As part of those very interesting and meaningful discussions, we talked about how Canada and other countries have been somewhat lazy lately when it comes to providing help and support to Ukraine.
We talked about the post-conflict recovery, obviously, but we also talked about the current situation. It seems to me that, when President Macron announced France's strong support for Ukraine a few days ago, he was sending a message to the international community. I think that we should consider that message, understand it and acknowledge the fact that we need to step up our efforts. We need to do more to help Ukraine get through this conflict and defeat Russia as quickly as possible, so that we can start rebuilding Ukraine and its economy. We need to allow our domestic investors to establish economic partnerships with Ukraine as quickly as possible.
I would like to hear my colleague's thoughts on that.
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- Mar/20/24 7:26:41 p.m.
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Madam Chair, I have to say that, when this war started, I was so impressed by that countries all around the world that pledged their support and stood beside Ukraine.
What has happened in the last six months, with the unexpected holdup in the U.S. with the House of Representatives, is that the funding Ukraine needs has still not been approved. If we really support it, as Canada has done, we need to put our money on the table and continue to be as supportive today as we were when this war broke out.
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- Mar/20/24 8:35:06 p.m.
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Madam Chair, I heard my colleague opposite say earlier that Canada has been a leader in helping Ukraine. In reality, we rank roughly eighth on the list of countries supporting Ukraine, even though Canada is home to the largest population of Ukrainians outside of Ukraine. It seems to me that we could be doing a little more, especially since, as my colleague from Montarville said in his brilliant speech, barely 42% of the support and aid Canada committed to sending has been delivered to Ukraine.
It is all well and good to say that we are going to supply 1,000 F-18s, but if we have no intention of doing so, it is just talk. It feels a bit like the government is posturing, like this is all for appearances. The government is displaying its good intentions and virtue signalling by announcing major support for Ukraine, but if it does not deliver that assistance, it is pointless.
I would like to hear my colleague explain where we are at with the distribution of the assistance promised to Ukraine. How is the government going to do better, as the international community is increasingly calling for, in terms of military and humanitarian support for the current conflict in Ukraine?
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- Mar/20/24 8:43:51 p.m.
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Madam Chair, I thank my hon. colleague for his question. I like to believe that we share a common goal when it comes to support for Ukraine.
From the very beginning, Canada has been there in support. We were also very much engaged in the Canada-Ukraine free trade agreement. We believe that this is a way to help support the rebuilding and to look at current components where we can help Ukraine in its desire to militarize itself.
Unlike the member opposite, we voted in favour of this agreement. I would like to put on the record that I am extremely disappointed to see that the Conservatives, under the leadership of the leader of the Conservative Party, voted against the Canada-Ukraine free trade agreement. We will continue to be there. We have an excellent rapport with Ukraine. We have been answering its requests to provide support, and we will continue.
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- Mar/20/24 8:57:50 p.m.
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Madam Chair, I listened with great interest to the speech by my colleague, and I certainly appreciate the history that the member described, and that he does support the current security agreement that we are discussing tonight.
However, what I cannot understand is why he voted against the Canada-Ukraine trade agreement. What I cannot understand is why he and the rest of his Conservative colleagues, who purport to support Ukraine, voted against continued support for Operation Unifier, which they so greatly claim was something that came out of the previous Conservative government, but which they refuse to continue to support. In fact, it is even more important that the House show unity in supporting Ukraine. We are hearing from all parties that the House should show unity in supporting Ukraine, and I am not hearing that from the member opposite.
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- Mar/20/24 9:35:48 p.m.
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Mr. Chair, the Government of Canada has been working very closely with not only Ukraine but allied countries that are supporting Ukraine and providing the type of support that Ukraine has been asking for. A good example of that is the ammunition request, a $40-million commitment, that has us working with the Czech Republic along with other allied forces.
It has been encouraging that we have seen a high sense of co-operation among all political parties since the Maidan, I would argue, at the end of 2014 going into 2015. However, there was a great deal of surprise when the Conservative Party abandoned that consensus when it voted against the Canada-Ukraine free trade agreement.
How does the member justify her vote or the vote of the Conservative Party not to support the Canada-Ukraine free trade agreement when the President of Ukraine came to Canada during a time of war and asked for this support?
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- Mar/20/24 10:06:51 p.m.
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Mr. Chair, as I take part in this debate this evening, it strikes me that actions are more important than words. We hear words from the Conservatives saying that they support Ukraine, yet their actions with regard to votes do not align with that.
This member is a member of the government. Recognizing all the announcements the government has made on supports for Ukraine is one thing, but the actual delivery of that aid has trickled. A fraction of what the government has promised to the people of Ukraine has actually been delivered, and Vladimir Putin is counting on that. He is counting on the world to lose interest, to look away and to be distracted. Russia is counting on the fact that it can outlast the patience of western allies.
When we dribble aid to Ukraine instead of giving it the tools it needs to win this war, we are playing into Putin's hands. Announcing things is great, but we have seen a fraction of that actually delivered to Ukraine. When will all of it get to Ukraine?
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- Mar/20/24 10:08:17 p.m.
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Mr. Chair, while I respect the member's passion and her support for Ukraine, I do not agree. We have done a tremendous amount for Ukraine. We started out being recognized for our training of the military within Ukraine, which proved instrumental with this latest full-scale invasion by Russia. Since then, we have provided military support, economic support, sanctions and international aid.
Today we are talking about the historic signing of the Canada-Ukraine strategic security partnership, which not only commits us to additional dollars this year but also frames our co-operation for the next 10 years and commits 3 billion additional dollars. These are not words; these are actions. We acted over two years ago when this war first started. We continue to act, and we will continue to support Ukraine right until it wins this war.
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- Mar/20/24 10:58:56 p.m.
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Mr. Chair, we are talking about rebuilding Ukraine. We are talking about the support Canada should be providing.
After listening to everything that was said this evening, especially by my colleagues from the Bloc Québécois and my colleague from Montarville, who gave an excellent speech with a lot of detail on the percentage of the aid Canada promised that has been delivered to Ukraine and on the delays in delivering that aid, is my colleague satisfied with the Government of Canada's response and support with respect to Ukraine? Does he, like me, think that we should get going and do more?
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