- Member of Parliament
- Member of the Joint Interparliamentary Council
Member of the Board of Internal Economy
Deputy government whip
- Liberal
- Ottawa—Vanier
- Ontario
- Voting Attendance: 68%
- Expenses Last Quarter: $89,953.47
- Government Page
- May/20/22 12:03:41 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, from the beginning of the pandemic, we made a commitment to Canadians to keep them healthy and safe during the pandemic. We have put in place measures to protect workers and communities, and federal public servants stepped up. They got fully vaccinated, up to 99%. This shows that we know we need to continue to make sure that public servants and Canadians are safe.
We are committed to reviewing the current policy and will come back with a decision.
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- May/17/22 3:00:07 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, having a fully vaccinated workforce makes our work sites and our communities safer. We asked employees of the federal public service to attest to their vaccination status. They stepped up, and 99% of employees attested to being fully vaccinated. We committed to review this policy every six months, and the policy review is under way. Any decisions will be based on science and the advice of public health officials.
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- May/6/22 11:44:01 a.m.
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Madam Speaker, from the beginning of this pandemic, we made a commitment to Canadians that we would protect their health and safety. We have done that. We will continue to do that, and we have put in place measures to protect workers and our communities. As circumstances change, we adjust these measures.
We are currently reviewing the mandates, and we will come back to the House to report when these mandates will be reviewed.
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- May/5/22 2:49:05 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, as I said before, having a fully vaccinated workforce makes our workforce and our communities safer. We asked employees to step up, and 99% of public servants have been fully vaccinated or attested to having been fully vaccinated. We committed to review this policy every six months. This review is under way, and any decisions will be based on science and the advice of public health officials.
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- May/5/22 2:48:03 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, from the beginning of the pandemic, we have committed to Canadians that we will protect their health and safety. We have put in place measures to protect workers and our communities. As circumstances change, we adjust these measures and we have always followed advice from public health experts. We committed to review this policy every six months, and that review is under way.
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- May/2/22 2:52:07 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, having a vaccinated workforce makes our workforce and our communities safer. We asked employees of the federal public service to attest to their vaccination status and they stepped up: 99% of public servants have attested to being fully vaccinated. We are currently reviewing this policy and will be back to Parliament to share our decision.
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- Apr/26/22 3:00:40 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, having a fully vaccinated workforce makes our workforces and our communities safer. We asked employees of the federal public to step up, and they stepped up: 99% of the public servants got fully vaccinated. We are committed to reviewing this policy every six months, and that review is under way. Any decisions will be based on science and the advice of public health officials.
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- Mar/1/22 2:50:55 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, as I said yesterday, vaccines are the best way to bring this pandemic to an end. Public servants stepped up and 99% got their first dose, 98.7% got their second dose.
Public servants are responding to the need of making sure Canadians are safe and healthy during this pandemic. Those who need accommodation are being treated, and we will continue to make sure that these public servants are respected.
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- Feb/28/22 2:58:05 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, vaccines are the best way to bring this pandemic to an end. We asked employees of the federal public service to attest to their vaccination status and they have stepped up: 99% of public servants stepped up.
The policy will be reviewed every six months, and we will make sure that it is determined when it is still required. We know that having a fully vaccinated workforce means that not only are work sites safer, but so are the communities where this large population lives and works.
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- Dec/8/21 11:31:22 p.m.
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Madam Chair, health and safety of our public servants is our number one priority, and continuing to focus on the health and safety of our people is what we need to do to fight this pandemic.
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- Dec/8/21 10:15:20 p.m.
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Again, Madam Chair, I am very proud to say that public servants, as I said, have stepped up. As we continue to encourage our workforce to get vaccinated, the public servants will continue to attest that they are. We know that having a requirement about public health is working. This requirement is really working. It will help us get this pandemic over with if we all continue to get vaccinated.
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- Dec/8/21 10:14:11 p.m.
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Madam Chair, we know that having a fully vaccinated workforce means that not only are work sites safer, but so too are the communities where this large population lives and works. As I said earlier, public servants have stepped up. We will continue to encourage public servants, as well as organizations and businesses across the nation, to continue to say, and to encourage their employees and their workers, that vaccines are the safest way for us to get out of this pandemic.
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- Dec/8/21 10:12:35 p.m.
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Madam Chair, as we know, vaccines are the best way to bring this pandemic to an end, and the public servants have stepped up. Over 95% of our public servants have received both doses and over 98% have received their first dose. This is an incredible gesture to demonstrate how important it is to keep Canadians safe and secure. We will continue to encourage public servants and those in other organizations across the country to continue to get vaccinated.
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- Dec/8/21 9:21:38 p.m.
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Madam Chair, since the 2021 budget was tabled, we have made a number of investments and we continue to invest in the sectors that are hardest hit, including tourism. We will continue to support the tourism industry.
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- Dec/7/21 7:05:34 p.m.
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Madam Chair, I would like to thank my hon. colleague for his question.
We recognize that the aeronautics and aerospace industry and its workers have been particularly affected by the pandemic. The Minister of Innovation, Science and Industry has been in continual contact with key stakeholders in the sector. We have always stood up for Canada's aerospace workers, and we will continue to do so. By working together, we will find solutions so that this sector can continue to grow in our country in the years ahead.
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- Dec/7/21 6:53:29 p.m.
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Madam Chair, I want to start by thanking all the public servants who stepped up and got vaccinated to make sure we could continue to fight through this pandemic, and to make sure that the health and safety of Canadians was our first priority.
Over 95% of public servants have received both their vaccines, and over 98% have received their first dose. This is a great demonstration that we are moving forward with a policy that works for all Canadians.
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- Dec/7/21 6:43:44 p.m.
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Madam Chair, today I am pleased to table the Supplementary Estimates (B), 2021-22.
The ability to exercise oversight is one of the most important roles parliamentarians can play on behalf of our citizens. In fact, accountability is predicated on parliamentarians knowing how public funds are being spent, so they can hold the government to account for its actions, which is why our government will continue to make every effort to ensure that parliamentarians have access to accurate, timely and understandable information about government spending.
The supplementary estimates are part of a wide array of reports that provide Canadians and parliamentarians with information about expenditure plans and results. Departmental plans, the financial review, the departmental results reports and the public accounts are just some of these reports.
This information is also found in GC InfoBase, an interactive tool that provides a lot of data in a visual form. This tool contains the estimates and other data pertaining to finances, people and federal government results. The publication of the estimates data set with digital tools is essential to providing parliamentarians and Canadians with more information about the allocation and investment of public funds.
I would now like to turn to the supplementary estimates in more detail. The supplementary estimates present information to Parliament on spending that was either not ready for inclusion in the main estimates or has since been refined to account for new developments in programs and services.
With the supplementary estimates (B) for 2021-22, the government is seeking Parliament's approval of funding to address matters of importance to Canadians. This includes the government's ongoing response to the COVID-19 pandemic as well as infrastructure and services to address the specific needs of indigenous communities.
The health, safety and well-being of all Canadians are of the utmost importance to the government, which is why approximately $1.2 billion of proposed bonus spending is for the government's ongoing response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Canadians care about each other and they also care about those less fortunate outside our borders. That is why budget 2021 announced funding to help some of the world's poorest countries access the tools they need to help contain the spread of COVID-19.
In these supplementary estimates, the government is requesting $375 million to follow through with the commitment to support developing countries' access to vaccines, treatments and diagnostic products.
I mentioned that these supplementary estimates seek Parliament's approval of funds to respond to the needs of indigenous communities. I would like to draw your attention to some of the main voted items.
The 2020-21 budget provided funds for the government to accelerate efforts to close the infrastructure gaps in indigenous communities, which will help create good jobs and build indigenous communities that will be healthier, safer and more prosperous in the long term.
These supplementary estimates fulfill that commitment with $725.2 million to support the construction, renovation, operation and maintenance of housing, schools, health care facilities, water and waste-water systems and other community infrastructure.
This funding will also support the transfer of infrastructure to indigenous-led organizations and will fund the operation and maintenance of indigenous-owned infrastructure. These estimates also seek $412.2 million for the specific claims settlement fund, which provides compensation to first nations in accordance with negotiated agreements, as well as $361.3 million to fund prevention and protection services to support the safety and well-being of first nations children and families living on reserve.
To ensure indigenous people can access high-quality health care, budget 2021 announced several measures, including one in these estimates of $332.4 million to ensure continued high-quality care through the non-insured health benefits program. This program supports first nations and Inuit people with medically necessary services that are not otherwise covered, such as mental health services, medical travel, medications and more.
Another budget initiative that is presented in these estimates is funding to help people on reserve, and status Indians in Yukon, transition from income assistance to employment and education. Specifically, $308.7 million is sought to assist eligible individuals and families with basic or special needs, case management and pre-employment measures designed to increase self-reliance, improve life skills and promote greater attachment to the workforce.
In Canada, we are lucky to have Canadian Forces personnel to defend Canada and its interests and to step in during times of crisis, be it the devastating floods in British Columbia or a pandemic.
The supplementary estimates request $327.7 million for a salary increase for Canadian Armed Forces personnel in accordance with the settlement of collective bargaining for the core public administration.
The funds will also support the restructuring of pay and allowances for certain occupations within the armed forces, as well as the extension of the allowance paid to personnel deployed to support Canadians during the COVID‑19 pandemic.
I would like to draw the attention of the House to the part of the supplementary estimates that relates to my department, although a very small amount of those funds are for the Treasury Board Secretariat itself.
As part of the compensation adjustments vote, we are asking Parliament to approve $1.5 billion. These funds will be used to compensate organizations affected by wage adjustments resulting from recently negotiated collective agreements and other changes to terms and conditions of employment. It will also compensate employees for damages related to the Phoenix payroll system and for delays in the extended implementation of collective agreements in the 2018 round of collective bargaining.
That concludes my presentation of some of the major voted items in these supplementary estimates, and I am pleased to report that parliamentarians have online access to even more detailed information than I have had time to present today. We will continue to make that information available because of our belief in Canadians' right to know where public funds are going and how they will be invested on their behalf.
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