So V ote

Feb/19/22 2:23:37 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, one of the things that I continue to be concerned about is the amount of violence that is happening throughout our country on different fronts for different reasons. Maybe some of it is the result of the pandemic and the stress on people. That is what I would like to think it is. Once we can get a bit further along with this pandemic, people will feel better. They will be calmer and they will find a more rational way of dealing with problems.

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Feb/19/22 2:21:57 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague for her support and for her important question. This matters to all of us. It does not matter what party. This is an important piece of legislation that we are standing for and supporting. We all want to make sure that due process happens, which means that there will be a full investigation of what did happen and what went wrong. Clearly, we can see that right from the very beginning, these folks were allowed to get entrenched the way they did. It just built up. They could have been there for another six months. We could not allow that to happen. I can guarantee her my support and my government's support that we will follow the due process that is required under this legislation.

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Feb/19/22 2:20:37 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, if we had to wait another five or six days before we could start to remove the illegal protest and illegal blockage that is there, what kind of damage would that continue to do to Canada's reputation? Many of our small businesses deliver biscuits or other things. They are valuable businesses and they have anywhere from five or six to a dozen employees. They were feeling the strain. I do not want to see those businesses go out of business.

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Feb/19/22 2:19:01 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I think there are a ton of nice people outside who are protesting because this illegal protest brought out two years of frustrations. I could have been out there in the protest just as well as they could have. We are all fed up with this. We have all been through a difficult time, but we have to do what we have to do, and that is to respect each other. There are some extremists out there who are here to cause nothing but trouble, and when we look at the signs saying, “Down with our Prime Minister,” and hear the kinds of threats he has been receiving from many folks across the country, that is very unfair. I would not want any prime minister of any party to have to experience what he and his family are going through.

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Feb/19/22 2:13:46 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, we have talked about trying to get through this pandemic and the difficulties many businesses are facing, so we cannot stand back and allow things to continue this way. Michael Kempa, a law professor and criminologist in Ottawa, was asked a few minutes ago if the Emergencies Act was really necessary. He said that it absolutely was, because without the Emergencies Measures Act being brought into play, it would have taken a minimum of five or six more days to get other police services here and deputized. We would have continued to see this kind of illegal activity going on outside Parliament Hill and the disruption to neighbourhoods for another five or six days. I ask members to think about the impacts this is having on the economy. Nate's Deli, which is located at Sparks and O'Connor, is a little delicatessen many of us go to on our lunch hour. Its workers told me that they were just hanging on at the end of the lockdown restrictions. That delicatessen has now been locked down for four more weeks. Will it be able to open and survive this? I think of Goodfood, which is company close to the riding owned by a young family. President Dan Simile phoned me last week to tell me that he could not get a truck to deliver boxes across the border. He was having to lay off all his staff. Those kinds of things are big disruptions to our economy. They are also disruptions to the people living in the Ottawa area in particular. Many employees were unable to get to their places of employment, even to work on Parliament Hill, without being called names and facing abuses. My own staff was subject to some abuse from some of the protesters out there. We have a responsibility to move forward. Businesses, such as the grocery stores in downtown, are suffering. One had to close up because protesters without masks would come into the store with no respect for anybody else. This upset everybody, so ultimately it had to close. This has gone on for far too long. Yes, I know this is not easy. I have received lots of calls from people in my constituency who do not quite fully understand this, but they are not here. They are not seeing it every day, and they do not realize the full impact of what is going on. It is imperative we do the right thing. We need to protect our country, and we need to protect its citizens. Very importantly, we also need to protect the economy. To have a banker in the U.S. refer to Canada as a banana republic is unacceptable to all of us. It is a real insult. I am proud of my country, and I am proud of what we do. We are taking the necessary steps to move forward. We try to not get into political rhetoric. If folks on the other side choose to join us in a united front to support this, it will only be in effect for a very short period of time. There will be a parliamentary committee that will reviewing it, and there will be a full investigation afterward. This came off the rails right from the beginning, and once these protesters became entrenched, it was very difficult to move them out. I ask that we stay as united a front as we possibly can and not confuse people by talking about the War Measures Act, because that frightens the very people we represent. Let us try to be more united and provide accurate information regardless of what side anyone is on.

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Hon. Judy A. Sgro (Humber River—Black Creek, Lib.)

Feb/19/22 2:08:55 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I will be sharing my time with my hon. colleague from Etobicoke Centre. I stand with great sadness today to talk about the Emergencies Act because it is not something that any of us in this House, especially the Prime Minister, wanted to bring forward. We would not have if it were not absolutely necessary to do so. We need to look at the blockades that were going on last weekend at the Ambassador Bridge, in Coutts, Alberta, and Emerson and what was happening with trade. As chair of the international trade committee, I know these things are very important to all of us. The blockades were preventing goods, services and people from being able to cross those borders. We know it cost $400 million a day at the Ambassador Bridge, aside from all of the personal issues that my colleague from Windsor West mentioned earlier, such as people being prevented from getting to doctor appointments and nurses prevented from crossing the border to help us with the pandemic. That is a huge economic hit on all four fronts. That is aside from what we are dealing with here in Ottawa. I would ask my Conservative colleagues that, if their communities were besieged for almost four weeks, would they have said they would like to go through another process of deputizing a whole lot of emergency police officers, which would take another five to six days? They would not have been happy to do that, and we were not able to allow this to go any further. The economic impact of this has been enormous, so it was critical that we move forward to ensure we have law and order. The concern with what is going on is not just here, it is around the world. I guess the new thing for people do to try to disrupt governments is to bring in transport trucks, trailers and tractors, by some of these people on the extreme right, who then convince a whole lot of other people that this is about mandates. This has nothing to do with mandates or vaccines. This is all about trying to bring down a government and disrupt democracy. When we do not have democracy or law and order, what we are left with? What is happening today outside Parliament, in particular, is that law and order is being put into effect. People have been asked to please go home. The illegal blockade was not a regular protest, it was much more serious than that. Interim chief of police Steve Bell, three other former chiefs of police in Ottawa and the former chief of police in London all said that the Emergencies Act, unfortunate as it is, absolutely had to be brought in before there was more violence than what we had seen so far. Without that act, it would be much more difficult. I know what last weekend and previous weekends were like. I can only imagine what this weekend would have been like with hundreds more people coming here every weekend to create more mayhem and disruption. Let us talk about the children. At the foot of the steps of the gate into West Block, there is a bouncy castle and children skipping rope to try to show this as a pleasant little uprising of a protest. This was an illegal blockade that was using children as shields. I would tell anybody participating that it is not democracy when we are talking about children. Some hon. members: Oh, oh!

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Hon. Judy A. Sgro (Humber River—Black Creek, Lib.)

Feb/19/22 12:35:17 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, I want to acknowledge the Province of Quebec and thank it for intervening and helping us with the illegal blockade we have outside. This is a national problem, and what is happening in Ottawa is not the only issue we are dealing with. We are dealing with issues from one part of the country to another, and that is why we need the Emergencies Act. I would like to know if my hon. colleague is supportive of having the SQ continue to help us. It is helping us very importantly outside right now.

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Feb/19/22 12:13:31 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, I think this is out of order. We are talking about the Emergencies Act. We are not talking about an ethics report from some time ago.

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Hon. Judy A. Sgro (Humber River—Black Creek, Lib.)

Feb/19/22 10:06:08 a.m.
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Madam Speaker, I have to say to my hon. colleague that much of his speech could have been written by any of us on this side. We all know that law and order are the fundamental backbone of our country. That is what we all want. However, the hon. member cannot say to me or to the rest of our colleagues that what is happening outside could simply be handled by some police officers shoving the protesters away. This is an illegal blockade that has been there for going on four weeks now. The people of Ottawa have been terrorized. They have been denied their freedom. For someone who equally respects law and order, how can he stand by and just let another weekend go by and not recognize that this was a measure we absolutely had to take?

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Hon. Judy A. Sgro (Humber River—Black Creek, Lib.)

Feb/19/22 8:34:20 a.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I want to congratulate my colleague on the tone of his comments today. It would be a much better reflection on all of us if we continued to seek out the things that we can agree on and tried to solve some of these problems at the end of the day, not make them worse. Canadians are watching this debate. I watched events yesterday, as many of us did. With all of what I heard my colleague say, I heard interim chief Steve Bell, other former police chiefs and RCMP leaders say clearly that they could not have done what they did yesterday, which is only part of resolving this issue, without the Emergencies Act. Did the member not hear the same things that I heard yesterday? Does he not agree that this is an important piece of legislation for all of us to support and move forward?

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Context: House Hansard - 25 - Feb/7/22

Hon. Judy A. Sgro (Humber River—Black Creek, Lib.)

Feb/7/22 12:33:12 p.m.
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Re: Bill C-8

Madam Speaker, I am happy stand today to speak to Bill C-8 and join my many colleagues. I believe that together we are working to move our country forward and solve some of the problems we certainly have as a result of the pandemic. I do want to acknowledge the protesters who continue to be outside blocking the streets and disrupting the lives of many people here in the city of Ottawa. It is nothing more than being obstructionist and it is putting a black mark on Canada. I was told yesterday that a plane flew across a beach in Florida applauding the truckers. Well, I think there are very few truckers out here. There are a lot of other people who are simply trying to cause problems and embarrass our country, and the sooner they leave, the sooner we all can get on to a life that we all want to live. As I said, I am happy to speak to Bill C-8, an act to implement certain provisions of the economic and fiscal update tabled in Parliament on December 14, 2021, along with other measures that are going to help Canadians from coast to coast to coast. The bill would provide vital funding, tax credits that will aid in the fight against COVID-19, and aid in a variety of areas as we move forward. I bring to the attention of everyone that after the American Civil War unfolded, the founders of our great country realized that we had to start giving out some additional responsibilities to the provinces; hence, education was allocated as a responsibility of the provinces, and we respect that continuously. For the Province of Ontario in particular, approximately 80% of the funding that has been used in the pandemic to help the citizens, in particular of Ontario and across Canada, came from the federal government. It was money from the federal government that has improved the air quality throughout our schools, which should have been done a long time ago. Whether it was improving air quality or making sure that school boards had the funds for students to get an iPad and study and do online learning, even those are provincial responsibilities, I was very proud that the federal government stepped up to make sure that the provinces had the money to make a difference in those schools for the students, who are now grateful all across Canada to be back to school again. One thing it created was responsibilities. We had to do all of that together with our provincial governments. The provincial funding has been continually cut, and one of the results of those cuts is that teachers have to pay for supplies out of their own pockets. From pencils and paper to educational programs, more and more costs have fallen on our education providers. I hear that a lot from teachers. I hear their frustration at the things that they have to do because the provinces are continually cutting the education budgets. We all understand that budgets have to be dealt with, and none of us want to have to make cuts, whether it is the provinces, the municipalities or the federal government, but the reality is that we have to make sure Canadians have the resources they need to continue to grow and advance their businesses and their communities. When COVID-19 began, schools across the country found themselves closed to in-person learning and classes were moved online. Many of the students in Humber River—Black Creek did not have access to the Internet and did not have iPads and computers. I am pleased to say that the money that was transferred from the federal government to the provinces was dealt with very quickly. Students throughout Humber River—Black Creek were given an iPad if they did not have one or a computer to help them so that they would not fall behind. They were already dealing with enough challenges and they needed all of the assistance that was possible. Bill C-8 makes changes to what is called the school supplies tax credit. It amends the Income Tax Act regulations through a rate increase from 15% to 25%. It also expands the list of eligibility to include electronic devices such as webcams, microphones, headphones, speakers, laptops, desktops and tablet computers. For the past two years, all of these things enabled thousands of children across Canada to continue their education. It was not ideal, but it was the best thing we could do to keep our children from falling behind. These changes would apply to 2021 and all years afterward, providing aid to teachers now and also in a post-COVID future. Another way that the government is aiding our schools is the safe return to class fund. It was originally $2 billion and provided the provinces and the territories with funding to schools as they made investments to protect the students and staff. Bill C-8 would top up $100 million to support investments by schools in increasing outdoor air intake or air cleaning. It would help reduce the transmission of COVID-19 by supporting ventilation improvement projects in schools. I will go back to when the founders of this great country allocated education as a provincial responsibility, which is respected continuously. This pandemic called for extraordinary circumstances. As a result of that funding, many of our schools are open and our children are back to school. As a government, we have purchased and shipped over 80 million rapid tests at a cost of over $900 million. We can recall that about a year ago, many of those rapid tests were sitting on shelves and were not being used by the provinces. Provinces thought they did not need them. That certainly changed, so they ended up utilizing the thousands and thousands of rapid tests and ordering another $1.72 billion to procure and provide rapid antigen tests to the provinces and territories so they could be distributed to Canadians, which is the process, especially since there has been a growing demand from the provinces and territories for rapid tests to be provided around the holidays to prevent further outbreaks. These rapid tests are also key to the health and well-being of many vulnerable Canadians. Over the Christmas period and in January, while we were waiting for a delivery of additional rapid tests, I cannot tell members the number of people who called my office asking if I could help them to make sure they were being tested as frequently as possible. One particular young woman who has MS was very concerned about her ability to get out to get her second vaccination and wanted access to the rapid tests. I have to say that our local hospital was very helpful to her and her family to make sure she had some rapid tests and that she and her family were going to be safe. While rapid tests might aid us in controlling the spread of current variants of COVID and any that may come in the future, the best path forward, in spite of the people outside objecting to it, is a vaccination requirement. Those who are not vaccinated put themselves and all of us at risk of contracting COVID-19 when they enter group settings, particularly indoor ones. This is why the proof of vaccination program is important. It is so that vaccinated Canadians can move to get back to their lives under this new reality. I walked over here to Parliament and I saw all of the signs up there outside the cars, and all the ranting and raving going on by some folks. They are putting all of us at risk. I did my best job to protect them by getting vaccinated. All we are asking is that they get vaccinated, and if they do not want to get vaccinated, then to accept the consequences of that decision. It is important not just here in Canada but internationally, as those who need and want to travel need appropriate documentation to enter these countries. I have been talking to many people in the medical field. Many of them want to travel, but unfortunately they are not able to do that, for a variety of reasons. However, people who have both their vaccines and a booster and have done everything possible should not have to worry that when they go out onto Wellington Street they are being exposed to the variants and the possibility of getting ill in one form or another. Proof of vaccination programs and their credentials have played a major part in allowing our businesses to reopen. I am very thankful for the opportunity to make my comments this morning. Stay well and stay safe.

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Context: House Hansard - 24 - Feb/4/22

Hon. Judy A. Sgro (Humber River—Black Creek, Lib.)

Feb/4/22 12:11:29 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, pursuant to Standing Order 107(3), I have the honour to present, in both official languages, the first report of the Liaison Committee, entitled “Committee Activities and Expenditures: April 1, 2021 - August 15, 2021”. This report highlights the work and accomplishments of each committee, as well as detailing the budgets that fund the activities approved by the committee.

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Context: House Hansard - 21 - Feb/1/22

Hon. Judy A. Sgro (Humber River—Black Creek, Lib.)

Feb/1/22 3:36:41 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, it's a great pleasure to speak following the hon. member for Scarborough—Guildwood. The hon. member and I have spent many years together arguing about various issues. I have tremendous respect for him on the issue of modernization and other issues that he has championed for a very long time, and I look forward to working with him until completion on some of the bills he wants to move forward. Happy new year to all. It seems like we have not been here for forever and a day, yet this is just February 1. It is good to be back. To begin my comments on the Speech from the Throne, I want to take a moment to acknowledge my former chief of staff, who has left the Hill for private practice. He got married, has a wonderful little boy named Charlie and is enjoying the private sector. I want to acknowledge Teddy Markey for the years he was in my office. I very much appreciated his work, and I wish him well with where he is now. As we talk about the throne speech, which again seems an eternity ago, we had not yet heard of omicron. Many Canadians were looking forward to the future and a recovery from COVID-19. All of us were, actually. We thought we had turned the corner from what had been a terrible year for so many, with the loss of the lives of so many people in Canada and throughout the world. Fortunately, the government was able to see that and establish some protections, but many others did not. The government saw that we needed to prepare for the possibility that this was not over, so it put forward legislation to continue to protect Canadians in the event that we would face more lockdown situations and need to continue to support Canadians and Canadian businesses. Those in opposition thought that was never going to be necessary and that we would not need those mechanisms. We did, and most Canadians are very grateful that the government put forward the extra support, which some Canadians are using as a lifeline as we go through this. The government was able to put mechanisms in place to support provincial and municipal health decisions, giving them the support that they very much needed, as we found ourselves in a semi-lockdown position yet again. The Liberal government has proven time and time again that we will support Canadians throughout this pandemic in a responsible manner. The Prime Minister indicated that we have Canadians' backs, and all parliamentarians want him to make sure that we have the backs of the Canadians who are struggling to get through this difficult time. Our legislation for those supports went beyond just financial support, because we all learned about the kinds of abuse many nurses and doctors were having to endure. The legislation did more than just help Canadians financially. It made a point of putting protections in the legislation for nurses, hospitals, etc., from protests that impede their work and their safety. It also included the procurement of rapid tests and vaccinations. At this point, we have one of the highest vaccination rates in the world and the lowest mortality rate of any country in the world. If we look at both of them, Canada has done a very good job of balancing and dealing with difficult things. All children five years and up can now access vaccinations and any boosters they need for free, and we will make sure that future boosters are available to Canadians as they continue to protect themselves against this pandemic. We are also working to support other countries in receiving doses of the vaccine, because we need to end this worldwide. We need to make sure we reach out and provide vaccines to other poorer countries around the world at a much faster pace, I would say, than we have in the past. We are never going to end this pandemic without those measures. To get through the current situation, we need to reach the point of getting past it and putting this behind us. I will move on to some of the issues that were raised in the Speech from the Throne that I think are very important for the residents of Humber River—Black Creek and all Canadians. One of those issues we are currently dealing with is the issue of housing. We hear about it in the House all the time. We hear about it in committee, and we hear about it from Canadians. As our population grows in size and our immigration levels grow, more homes are needed. It just makes sense. We have our communities and our country is growing. People want to come to Canada, and they have a lot of skills to bring to our country, but they need to have a place to live when they get here, and that cannot be just in large urban centres. People want housing, and that means that even in small rural communities, there is a great need for affordable housing where people can have a different quality of life than what they could possibly have in an urban centre. Whether it be via renting or buying, Canadians are feeling the pressure as costs rise, and these things feel more and more out of reach for those who have not been able to get a foothold in the market. This is why the government is taking measures to help those who want to own and who want to get their foot in the door of ownership. As the cost of living continues to rise around the world, saving a 20% down payment while renting seems impossible to many. However, programs such as rent to own are exactly how my husband and I got our first house, and those are the kinds of programs that are going to help many Canadians get their foot in the door. Then there is the first-time home buyer incentive, which would make the dream a reality, and Canadians would literally use their rent to put toward the down payment of their home. However, it is not just future homebuyers who are feeling the pressure. We have come to realize that the renters are in a similar situation. This pandemic has highlighted just how difficult renting is for Canadians. I would like to share a story about a family who is currently struggling along those lines. This family was living in a house that went up for sale when the homeowner decided to take advantage of the high prices and the high value of his home. It took them three months, 14 applications and applying everywhere while they were looking for a rental home. There were many bidding wars and, yes, I said “bidding wars” over rental properties. I never would have believed that would happen, but it has clearly become a really big problem for people who are trying to keep a roof over their heads. Finally, this family got a plea from the realtor to the owners of their new home to help them find a place to live. Now, the cost of rent is so high that it takes four adult low-income earners to pay the rent and the bills. Four adults and two children in a three bedroom home with an unfinished basement is the best this family could do with a rent between $2,500 and $3,000 a month. It is very difficult, and it takes all of the money of the four adults to be able to pay the rent and put food on the table. Sadly, there are far too many Canadians who find themselves in the exact same predicament, some even becoming temporarily homeless. It is situations like this that need to be stopped. This is why our government intends to help with creating more homes, specifically more affordable homes, so that families do not have to worry about which bill they are going to pay and whether or not they will have a roof over their heads next month. Many are women who find themselves in these situations of low-income, marginalized groups. Women are more often than not the ones who end up having to be the main caregiver, whether single or not, and it is women who often take care of the children. This is why our Canada child care benefit is so important, along with our $10-a-day child care, which is going to open the door for thousands of women to be able to go back to school, improve their education and, more importantly, have the opportunity to have a better life and a better future for themselves and their families.

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Nov/29/21 5:09:55 p.m.
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Re: Bill C-2

Mr. Speaker, I have to acknowledge the previous minister of seniors and the amount of work the minister did in order to get additional support systems to all of the seniors across the country. The extra $1,500 and the additional increase to the GIS all happened while we were going through this pandemic, and I have to applaud the great work of the minister to make that happen. We do not want our seniors going to food banks and we do not want them suffering, so we are trying to make sure they get as much help as possible. A variety of issues are having a negative impact. I believe they are being looked at to see if we can find some way to solve them, because we all care about the seniors of this country.

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Nov/29/21 5:07:53 p.m.
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Re: Bill C-2

Mr. Speaker, that is certainly another area of our communities that has been suffering immensely, as has been the travel industry. Prior to the election, there were various bills that were passed that were specifically there to help the cultural centres, knowing how much they were suffering. The boost to that is government help, but it is also us participating, buying tickets and going to concerts, safely. We have to get ourselves out of the situation where we are staying back. We can look at the buses and how few people are on buses going in to work, because people are staying home, because they are still scared. We need to give people confidence to go out, participate, be careful and buy tickets for upcoming concerts.

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Nov/29/21 5:06:24 p.m.
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Re: Bill C-2

Mr. Speaker, I appreciate my hon. colleague's comments. Whenever he gets up, it is always interesting. We never know quite what he is going to say. Let me speak to the importance of getting Bill C-2 through, as the next piece of the pandemic recovery, so that we can then be focusing on the financial economy, the economic plan that I know is being worked on. We will bring it forward so that we can help people. However, I think we have to give people the confidence that they can go out to restaurants, maintain their six-foot distance or book travel for this coming summer. That is what is going to help people, if we can start getting people out into the business community, to move forward.

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