44th Parl. 1st Sess.
April 10, 2024 02:00PM
- Apr/10/24 4:40:08 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, I rise to present the supplemental report of the Conservative members on the procedure and House affairs committee.
Conservatives concur with the finding of the main report that Mr. Wei Zhao be held in contempt of Parliament for targeting the member for Wellington—Halton Hills and his family. However, it is our observation that the main report is incomplete in several respects.
For one, it does not fully account for the colossal breakdown in the machinery of government under the Prime Minister's watch that resulted in the member for Wellington—Halton Hills and his family having been kept in the dark for two years while they were being targeted by Beijing.
Second, the supplemental report outlines a campaign of obstruction by Liberal MPs to block the production of relevant documents to get to the bottom of how this breakdown in the machinery of government under the Prime Minister's watch occurred. It was clearly directed by the PMO as part of the continuation of the cover-up.
Finally, our supplemental report provides evidence that the now Minister of National Defence was not entirely forthcoming in his testimony before committee. It is our assessment that the false and misleading testimony of the Minister of National Defence may rise to a level of a contempt of Parliament. Consequently, I will forthwith be putting on notice a question of privilege. I will have more to say on that later today.
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- Apr/10/24 4:42:41 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, I move that the eighth report of the Standing Committee on National Defence presented on Monday, February 26, be concurred in.
I will be splitting my time with the member for Peterborough—Kawartha.
I am proud to stand to speak to the eighth report from the Standing Committee on National Defence. It is a report that reads:
Given that, rent for Canadian military personnel living on base is increasing this April, and at a time when the military is struggling to recruit and retain personnel, the committee report to the House, that the government immediately cancel all plans to increase rent on military accommodations used by the Department of National Defence....
I think all of us realize that on April 1, the Liberal government played a cruel joke on the men and women who serve in the Canadian Armed Forces. We saw the government jack up rent on military housing by 4.2%. On that very same day, the government also hiked up the carbon tax by 23%.
We are hearing all the time about the dire straits our members of the Canadian Armed Forces are facing. We are always discussing the retention and recruitment problems that we have in the Canadian Armed Forces today. We know that currently the Canadian Armed Forces is short over 6,700 military housing units. Those residential units are right across this country at a time when housing in every major urban centre is in desperate need.
There is not enough housing for the families out there, and that is why we have seen general public housing rent double in the last 10 years. In the last 10 years, mortgages have doubled, making it unaffordable for families, and that is impacting our Armed Forces members. When they cannot find a place to live on base in their own military housing because we do not have enough of them, being short 6,700, they are forced to go into the private property that is out there, and they cannot afford to buy or rent homes in communities.
We heard, just before Christmas, that the Nova Scotia legislature held hearings about the housing crisis for the Canadian Armed Forces in Halifax. Of course, we have the naval base, CFB Halifax, in Halifax. On the other side, we have CFB Shearwater. Military members there are living rough. The recount at the committee hearings in the Nova Scotia legislature pointed to the fact that the military members were living in one of the 30 tent cities that have sprouted up in Halifax. Military members were also living rough and having to live out of their cars. These are working members of the Canadian Armed Forces, working as either sailors or aircrew at either one of the two bases. We learned that a lot of them are couch surfing just to get by, and many of them are being forced to live in precarious situations, including having to live with domestic violence. They cannot afford to leave those situations and move to a safer accommodation.
I had, in particular, one military member and his spouse who were both serving in the Canadian Armed Forces and had been stationed at CFB Shilo in Manitoba. They sold their home in Manitoba because they were transferred to CFB Shearwater, and for the first while, they had to live in a camper. Then, when they were put into military housing, it was in such disrepair that they wrote to me and said that in the evening they would come home and just cry. They left this beautiful home in Manitoba and had to come to live in a shanty in Halifax because that is all that they could get from the Canadian Armed Forces.
We also know that things are tough in Esquimalt, and we often hear of the shortage of housing over there. I know for a fact that one of the members in the Royal Canadian Navy who is a master seaman from my riding, when he moved with his wife and small child to Esquimalt to serve, was put into a situation in which all they could afford with their salaries was a small one-bedroom apartment. It is so expensive that, on top of working full-time as a sailor in the Royal Canadian Navy, he has had to moonlight at night and work at a convenience store just to help make ends meet.
This has forced so many military families across this country to resort to other measures, including the use of food banks. I know we are going to hear from my colleague, the member for Peterborough—Kawartha, about how military families out of CFB Gagetown are now using the local food bank. We heard about how military families in Halifax are going to the food bank. That was part of the testimony that was presented at the Nova Scotia Legislature. Now, we just learned this week that military families at CFB Borden, those who are stationed there, are now also going to the food bank in the town of Borden.
This is no way to treat our military heroes. This is no way for them to have to live, and it was just reported last week that troops who had to come to Ottawa to train for cybersecurity at Willis College had to rely on food donations from the local college staff just so they could get by. This is an embarrassment, and this is a pox on the Liberal government for failing our troops.
The Liberals will talk about how great their defence policy update is, but if we look at what they are doing to military housing, in the past two years the government has only built 38 new homes for the Canadian Armed Forces. We are short 6,700, and all they could muster up was less than 20 homes a year over the last two years. In the defence policy update, they have promised, for the coming year of 2024-25, zero dollars. They promised, for 2025-26, zero dollars. The next year is only $1 million. The year after that is only $2 million, and in 2028-29, they finally get to $4 million.
That does not build enough homes when we are short 6,700 houses. That does not even build 20 homes, $7 million, with the price homes are at these days, and that is for the next five years. How are we going to fix this when there are not the dollars and resources to do it?
The Liberal government is failing our troops, and this has proven again that the Prime Minister is not worth the cost.
When we talk about the retention and recruitment crisis, there is no way that we can attract more people into the Canadian Armed Forces when we do not have proper housing to put them and their families in. We cannot attract them to come in to live in homes that are filled with black mould. We cannot put them in homes where they would be living in 1950s structures that have not been updated in the last 70 years.
When we are short 16,000 troops and we have 10,000 troops who are undertrained, they do not want to have to go for training where the barracks have frozen pipes or, even worse, are filled with rodents, which we are hearing about coming from Kingston.
I can tell members that as Conservatives we are going to go out there and help our forces. We are so proud of our military heroes and their families for stepping up and serving this nation. We are going to axe the carbon tax and make life more affordable for all Canadians, but especially for those who serve in the Canadian Armed Forces.
We are going to build the homes, and that includes building the homes for our military families across this country on every base, making sure we can maximize the land and space they are located on to build homes that are going to benefit them and their local communities.
We are going to fix the budget, and that means we are going to make sure we find the dollars to invest in the Canadian Armed Forces. When we fix the budget, there are going to be dollars available to go into the new kit that our troops need and into the equipment they require to do the difficult jobs we ask of them.
It is also about stopping the crime, whether it is sexual misconduct on base or crime in the communities people live in that are now just completely swamped in chaos because of the gangs that are out there, the car thefts that are happening and the violence that is on the rise because the Liberals continue to let violent offenders out over and over again.
We want to make sure that we are standing up for families and keeping our communities safe, because these are the greatest Canadians we have, those who serve in the Canadian Armed Forces. When they have a day of standing on the wall and keeping us safe here at home or when they are out on mission and they return from abroad, we need to make sure that they have a house they can afford and a home that is modern and comfortable, and that at the end of the day they can raise their families in safe communities and not worry about the cost of living crisis that they are dealing with right now because of the out-of-control spending and hyperinflation we have experienced because of the Liberals.
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- Apr/10/24 4:52:46 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, the problem with the member's assertion is that he is assuming that all military personnel want to live on the base. I can tell him that, when I was mayor of Kingston, every summer I would get together with the mayor of Watertown, which is right next to Fort Drum in the United States. The one thing the mayor of Watertown always talked about was how jealous he was, because Fort Drum was its own base with people living on it outside of Watertown and not really connected to the city. He would come to CFB Kingston and see the way it integrated so well into the community.
When I was younger and in high school, all those in the military community lived around the base on the east side of Kingston. Now they live throughout the entire community. My kids quite often are coached on a team by a military spouse who has children on the same team. We get a certain level of integration when we encourage those in the military to live and participate in our community.
I am wondering if the member can comment on whether he sees the benefit in that or if he thinks all military members should exclusively live on the base.
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- Apr/10/24 4:54:05 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, I would remind the member for Kingston and the Islands that he has not been mayor for over 10 years. For the last 10 years, he has been part of the Liberal government that has created the housing crisis we are seeing in every community across this country, including in his own.
I am not advocating that all military bases have enough housing for all members who currently live there. A lot of them want to live in communities. The problem is that, for those in Esquimalt, in Halifax, in Toronto and even here in Ottawa, they cannot find the homes they can afford to raise their families in. That is the problem. That is because of the government's inability to get homes built.
The number of houses getting built in this country continues to decline. We are building fewer homes this year than we did back in 1970 under the Liberals. That is because there is not the money, the regulation or the commitment to ensure that life can be more affordable and that houses can be more affordable for Canadian families, including those who serve in the Canadian Armed Forces.
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- Apr/10/24 4:55:06 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, I note that we were supposed to be debating pharmacare today, a pharmacare bill that would make a difference in the lives of millions of Canadians.
I also note, as I know the member is aware, that the national defence committee is meeting right now. The NDP proposed and members of the committee from all parties agreed to have a study that talks specifically about housing for our women and men in the service. I note that all of that is taking place and that we are putting aside a debate on pharmacare that will help millions of people.
My concern is that I lived through the Harper regime when there were massive cuts to veterans services and the closing of veterans services offices throughout Canada. Veterans were very badly mis-served by the Harper government. I would ask my colleague, whom I have a lot of respect for, if he regrets now all of the actions, the cut-and-gut approach to funding for women and men in the service and our veterans that was done under the Harper regime. Does he regret that now, in retrospect?
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- Apr/10/24 4:56:22 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, I will remind the member that, as the shadow minister for national defence for the Conservatives and vice-chair of the Standing Committee on National Defence, we are debating a motion now that came from the Standing Committee on National Defence. This is important. We are talking about how the housing crisis is impacting our troops. We are talking about a rate hike. The Liberals jacked up the rental rates on our troops, and that deserves to be debated here as well.
Although the committee is meeting right now and talking about housing, I thought it was important today, pretty much our first opportunity since April 1, to raise this issue and make sure that the government has an eye on the crisis that is currently grabbing hold in the Canadian Armed Forces. Our troops deserve better than that. I know the troops appreciated that, when we were in government, we bought brand new C-17s, we bought brand new Hercules aircraft and we bought brand new Leopard tanks. We were able to support them throughout the war in Afghanistan and, when that war ended, there were actually some savings, which enabled us to fix the budget.
I can say that, as much as everybody always talks about where the Conservatives were on the percentage of GDP, we did not use creative accounting by adding in things like the pensions of veterans, the Coast Guard and border services to falsely inflate the GDP numbers.
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- Apr/10/24 4:57:50 p.m.
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It is my duty pursuant to Standing Order 38 to inform the House that the questions to be raised tonight at the time of adjournment are as follows: the hon. member for Peace River—Westlock, Carbon Pricing; the hon. member for Spadina—Fort York, Government Accountability; the hon. member for Dauphin—Swan River—Neepawa, Carbon Pricing.
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- Apr/10/24 4:58:20 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, it is a real honour to stand in the House of Commons today to speak to such an important committee report. For folks watching and paying attention at home, this is with respect to the eighth report of the Standing Committee on National Defence, entitled “Increase in Rental Housing Costs for Canadian Military Personnel”. It reads:
Given that, rent for Canadian military personnel living on bases is increasing this April, and at a time when the military is struggling to recruit and retain personnel, the committee report to the House, that the government immediately cancel all plans to increase rent on military accommodations used by the Department of National Defence.
As my colleague, the member for Selkirk—Interlake—Eastman, who spoke before me, eloquently stated, this is a pretty serious thing.
I want to tell members a story about what happened recently. I travelled to New Brunswick and went to the Oromocto food bank. The Oromocto food bank is run by incredible volunteers, like most food banks across this country, and like most has seen historic high usage.
If we could, in the House, give a round of applause for the people and volunteers who are feeding Canadians across this country, I think that would be amazing.
Some hon. members: Hear, hear!
Ms. Michelle Ferreri: Madam Speaker, when I got to the Oromocto food bank, I walked in with my colleague, the member for Tobique—Mactaquac. He is an incredible man, and there were two incredible humans there, Elizabeth and Jane.
We walked into the office. I believe the woman's name in the office was Dolores. They were working, and Jane was standing in front of a map of the area that they serve. We could see that it is a rural kind of area. She was talking about the record usage that they had seen since they opened, which was 13 years ago. It has just steadily gone up. They serve about 450 families a month, which is a shocking number.
While Jane was talking and was telling me this number, I happened to look behind her. The map behind her had this big patch on the map for CFB Gagetown. For people who know the Canadian Forces, CFB Gagetown is Canada's largest training facility. Most military personnel go there to train. It is a phenomenal facility. For all of our men and women who have served in uniform, most of them have at some point served in Gagetown. It is incredible.
I do not know why, but I asked, “You wouldn't be serving anyone from Gagetown here at the Oromocto food bank, right, Jane?” What she said next shocked me. She said they were serving about 40 to 50 families a month from CFB Gagetown. I said, “Pardon, what did you just say?” She said, “Yes, we are.” I asked if the general public knew about this, and she said she did not know.
People who are the front lines of the defence of our country are relying on a food bank. I was gobsmacked hearing that information. It was like talking about doctors or nurses. The people who work to keep us safe are having to use a food bank in Canada, a G7 country. I said to Jane that she had to be kidding me, but she was not kidding. I could barely hear the rest of what she told me.
We went further into the food bank. Then she told me that I should also know that most of these military families have their homes heated by gas or oil and they pay a carbon tax. I asked her if she thought the carbon tax has an impact on military families accessing food banks. She said that it has an impact on everything, because the cost of food has skyrocketed and because the cost of housing has skyrocketed.
To build houses they need materials and they need fuel to get the materials. It is a really common-sense concept that the cult on the other side of the House has doubled down on to say they are going to fight this. It is actually the most frustrating thing for Canadians to witness.
There is a motion before us. Canadian military families will now suffer even further because the government will increase their rent. Why is it raising their rent? These are always the things I challenge everyone at home to say. Why does the government need to increase their rent? It is because it spends like a maniac and has to make up for it. That is why. We have to ask why in every single thing we see come through the House. Why would it increase their rent? That makes no sense. These are our frontline men and women.
I would note that it is April. Do members know that April is the Month of the Military Child? I am the shadow minister for families, children and social development. Children are our most precious resource in this country. Teen suicide is at an all-time high in this country. Military families already have an abnormal amount of stress in their life. Families are separated. Children of military families have to have an extreme amount of resilience.
Do members know what military members cannot do for their family? They cannot be present when they are worried about paying their bills, or even worse how to feed them, when they have to decide, sitting like most common-sense Canadians are doing in this country every night, asking themselves whether they have enough money for this or that. These are not luxuries but basic necessities.
The Department of National Defence wants to increase rent for military families, when we have record-low recruitment and retention rates. We are short 16,000 military personnel. A quote I read was just shocking:
The military’s chaplain-general says morale among troops is the lowest it’s been in recent memory as many soldiers struggle with the cost of living.
In a briefing note sent to the chief of the defence staff, Gen. Wayne Eyre, chaplains say more Armed Forces members have been asking for help to make ends meet.
I wonder why nobody wants to join the Canadian Forces. If they come work for the military, they will get to use a food bank and will not be able to afford housing. There are organizations, such as Homes for Heroes, that are out on the front lines trying to ensure that veterans are housed. There are veterans' claims coming through the office of every MP of the House that are not being met; they are being disregarded.
How we treat the people who protect us says so much about our country. I was very fortunate, in my former career, to have spent time with families of the military, of the Canadian Forces. These people serve something bigger than themselves, and this is how the government treats them. We can do better. We have to do better. I encourage every member of the House to recognize their service, because when the day comes that we need someone to stand in front and protect us, we had better hope that person is there, because that is what they do. That is what the Canadian Forces is.
The common-sense Conservatives stand with them. We will fight with them. We will ensure that there is freedom for them to be able to afford to eat and to heat, and to house themselves.
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- Apr/10/24 5:07:47 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, it is somewhat pathetic when we listen to Conservatives try to defend their own previous record with respect to the Canadian Forces, and then have the audacity to try to say that the Government of Canada is not doing what it should be doing for them. In fact we have invested and continue to invest in our members of the Canadian Forces far more than the Conservative government ever did, and we did not shut down veterans' offices. In fact we are on target to get to, I believe, about 1.7% of our GDP by 2030. Compare that to less than a percentage point under Stephen Harper. How does the Conservative Party live with itself when it tries to give the false impression that its members care about the Canadian Forces?
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- Apr/10/24 5:08:56 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, what is pathetic is a government that has been in power for eight years and says that what happened way back then is the problem. This is the reality. To blame the past, when the Liberals have been in power for eight years, is the most bizarre argument I have ever heard in my life. There has never been usage of food banks by military families this high; it is historic. That is their argument. I think we know who is pathetic.
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- Apr/10/24 5:09:41 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, it is a sacred trust. The women and men in uniform in this country need to be treated with respect at all times. That is why the NDP actually produced the motion leading to the report that is on the floor of the House of Commons. We believe fundamentally that it is important to provide services for those who are willing to put their lives and physical well-being on the line for their country.
I was incredibly dismayed, as were most Canadians, over the period of the Harper regime, when veterans services were slashed. Veterans were forced to drive hundreds of kilometres in order to access the services that had been available in their communities before. It was despicable. It was an absolute and total lack of respect for those who give their lives for our country and those veterans of our country.
It is important to make those investments in housing, but it is also important to apologize for the past. Will the member apologize for the despicable actions of the Harper regime in cutting veterans services?
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- Apr/10/24 5:11:01 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, I cannot understand why we are not talking about what is happening right now. This is such a bizarre, distracting tactic to me. This is what is happening on the ground.
That member is in government, talking out of both sides of his mouth. He is saying that they put forward this motion, but, at the same time, they are going to continue to prop up the Liberal government that has caused so much chaos and suffering. Which one is it? Whose team are the NDP on?
Right now, that member's leader is holding the Liberal government in power. The government has caused the worst inflation in history, a record-high usage of food banks, and military families to not be housed and to have to use food banks. It makes no sense.
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- Apr/10/24 5:12:00 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, we know that, back in the day, the time under Jean Chrétien and the Liberals was called the decade of darkness. I had a veteran tell me here the other day that, under the current Liberals, this has been a decade of disaster. When we were in government, never did anyone complain about housing, being unhoused or having to use food banks; that all happened under the Liberals' watch.
Does my colleague believe that the Minister of National Defence should actually roll back this rent increase on our troops, properly support them and house their families?
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- Apr/10/24 5:12:43 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, absolutely, 100%; that is why we are here today. We are here to support them.
The Liberal members can put their money where their mouth is, not that they have any money left; they spent it all. They can support this report, reverse that rent and actually send a message to people out there.
There are kids watching who always thought it would be a dream to work for the Canadian Forces, to join the forces and serve their country. The Liberals can send a message that there is a place for them and that they will be taken care of.
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- Apr/10/24 5:13:17 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, we were scheduled to debate pharmacare, which is going to make a difference in the lives of millions of Canadians. We need to adopt this report.
I would like to propose the following motion for unanimous consent: That, notwithstanding any standing order, special order or usual practices of the House, (a) the eighth report of the Standing Committee on National Defence presented on Monday, February 26, be now concurred in; and (b) the House now proceed to orders of the day.
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- Apr/10/24 5:14:05 p.m.
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Is it agreed?
Some hon. members: No.
The Assistant Deputy Speaker (Mrs. Alexandra Mendès): The hon. member for New Westminster—Burnaby.
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- Apr/10/24 5:14:07 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, Conservatives do not want to debate pharmacare, and they do not want this report passed. I am a little concerned about their motives.
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- Apr/10/24 5:14:14 p.m.
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That is not a point of order.
Resuming debate, the hon. parliamentary secretary to the government House leader.
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- Apr/10/24 5:14:23 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, I am not surprised, and I actually anticipated it. Day after day in the House of Commons, the simple objective of the Conservatives is to be as obstructive and destructive as possible. We are seeing that again today.
An hon. member: Oh, oh!
Mr. Kevin Lamoureux: Madam Speaker, I see the House doctor of the Conservative Party agrees with that.
Today we were supposed to be talking about pharmacare. I appreciate the fact that the NDP House leader attempted to bring forward a motion that would have seen the report pass. It could have passed just like that.
However, we all know that the Conservative Party brought this motion forward today for the same reason as it has brought forward other motions in the past, which is to prevent the government from being able to debate its legislation. The government has a substantial legislative agenda, and the Conservative Party feels entitled to prevent as much government legislation as possible not only from passing but also from being debated.
The government cares greatly about the families in our Canadian Forces. Let there be no doubt about that—
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- Apr/10/24 5:16:12 p.m.
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There is a point of order from the hon. member for Selkirk—Interlake—Eastman.
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