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Parliamentary Secretary to the President of the King’s Privy Council for Canada and Minister of Emergency Preparedness

Sherry Romanado

  • Member of Parliament
  • Parliamentary Secretary to the President of the King’s Privy Council for Canada and Minister of Emergency Preparedness
  • Liberal
  • Longueuil—Charles-LeMoyne
  • Quebec
  • Voting Attendance: 67%
  • Expenses Last Quarter: $117,520.90

  • Government Page
Context: House Hansard - 110 - Oct/7/22
Mrs. Sherry Romanado (Longueuil—Charles-LeMoyne, Lib.)
  • Oct/7/22 12:58:19 p.m.
  • Watch
  • Re: Bill C-31 
Mr. Speaker, previously when we were debating Bill C-31, we were discussing dental care and that this was a first step. Would the member like to elaborate in terms of a next step that we could look at for dental care for all Canadians?
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Context: House Hansard - 109 - Oct/6/22
Mrs. Sherry Romanado
  • Oct/6/22 4:31:55 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, I want to acknowledge the excellent work of the Parti Québécois in establishing the early childhood centres. I support this program, which all Quebeckers are proud of. With regard to dental care, our program aims to offer it first to young children aged 12 and under, and then, later, to seniors who need it.
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Context: House Hansard - 109 - Oct/6/22
Mrs. Sherry Romanado (Longueuil—Charles-LeMoyne, Lib.)
  • Oct/6/22 4:19:19 p.m.
  • Watch
Madam Speaker, I would like to thank the member from the NDP for bringing forward this important motion. We are at the tail end of three weeks of sitting in this Parliament, and we have been talking a lot about what Canadians are going through, and we hear them. We know, through all of us talking to the citizens in our respective ridings, that people are hurting. They are concerned about the increase in the cost of living and inflation, and they want to know that we are working together to make sure we are there for them. While some members will focus on who did what and who did not do what, I want to focus on what we can do together to help Canadians. This weekend, a lot of folks will be going to the grocery store and maybe getting food for Thanksgiving dinner. Whether it be a turkey or ham, folks know that the cost right now for food has increased a lot, and Canadians are hurting. Since we came back in September, along with the measures we have put in place through legislation that we have been putting forward, we have also put forward legislation for a GST credit, which will help a lot of lower-income Canadians. I know for a fact that a lot of Canadian seniors depend on the GST quarterly payments. They will be able to use that additional fund to help offset some of the costs they will be incurring. I want to thank everybody for supporting that piece of legislation, and I know that Canadians appreciate it. I also want to talk about dental care and rental supports. We know very well that the price of housing has increased enormously in Quebec and that it is hard for young families and seniors to pay their rent. Therefore, I hope that we can find a way to support this measure to help people. When my mother first met our then minister of seniors, she said, “You know what seniors need? Seniors need dental care. They need good teeth.” I am sure our former minister of seniors is laughing because she probably remembers this. However, I was really happy that the NDP worked with us to bring forward a dental care program. It is a very serious problem when seniors cannot afford dental care. With respect to this piece of legislation, I agree that there is a huge discrepancy between CEOs making millions and millions of dollars and Canadians who are struggling. In fact, in the last Parliament, the 43rd Parliament, I chaired the industry, science and technology committee, and on June 16, 2021, I tabled its sixth report with respect to grocery stores and price-fixing in the House. If this motion does get accepted and sent to the agriculture committee, I urge its members to review that report because there was some really good testimony and there were good recommendations that would be very beneficial. I looked through the motion before us very carefully, I agree with most of it, and I want to put it on the record that I will be supporting it. It is important that we put partisan politics aside. It is important that we are there for Canadians in their time of need, and it is important that the issue of price gouging, the issue of food security and the issue of food affordability in this country be studied at the agriculture committee, which is the best place for it to go. Since being elected in 2015, we have been there for Canadians. Thanks to the work that we have done together, bills have been passed and measures have been adopted. We have done good work together since 2015. I hope that will continue. I know that the bills and motions are not always perfect. However, there is a way to work constructively and make improvements to the bills and motions in order to find the best way to help the people we serve. With the Canada child benefit, which is tied to the cost of living, I know Canadian families are getting some additional supports. I am quite pleased that Quebec's child care model was adopted for the rest of Canada. We were real leaders in the area of child care and early childhood centres. I want to commend my colleagues from Quebec, because we have been proud of this program for a long time. In fact, I benefited from it when I was young. Honestly, this program was a real game-changer for families. I hope that the other provinces will benefit from it like we have in Quebec. With respect to the OAS, we have increased the OAS and the GIS for Canadian seniors. There is still more to do, and I agree there is a lot more to do. When the pandemic hit, we all came together. It was a crazy time two years ago. We came together as a collective and said we needed to make sure people were able to put on their tables and pay their rents to ensure they did not end up in severe debt. We were there with CERB. We were there with wage subsidies. We were there to make sure people were able to pay their everyday costs. We are now facing a global inflation crisis. If one thinks about it, it is almost a perfect storm. During COVID, supply chains were cut off. We had ports that were unable to continue to operate because of zero acceptability regarding infections. We saw a huge slowdown in the supply chains, and it has absolutely affected inflation across the world. We also know a lot of folks decided to change jobs over the course of the pandemic, which also caused a lack of manpower. We also know a lot of folks have decided to go back to school, which again reduced manpower. We need to figure out together, as a collective, what we can be doing to make sure Canadians are supported. That is what we are focusing on, and we are focusing on that together. With respect to competition, again, the industry committee looked at this in the last Parliament, the 43rd Parliament. If this motion passes, I urge that the agricultural committee look at that INDU report and perhaps bring back some of the expert testimony regarding what happened, what they are doing since then, because we are now a year later, and if anything has improved, that would be something very beneficial. We need to look at the Competition Bureau to make sure Canadians are paying fair amounts. We are concerned about the offset of credit costs to Canadians, which I believe come into effect today. That is something we are going to look at as well. Again, I want to thank the member from the NDP for bringing this forward. This is a motion that, once it is reviewed and looked at in committee, can really bring some different ideas to the table that we can all get behind. I urge everyone in the House to support this motion.
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