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Context: House Hansard - 91 - Jun/17/22

Jan/31/23 2:30:45 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, as a nurse, I have seen first-hand the challenges that seniors faced during the pandemic, including in my own community of Brampton. That is why we welcomed the new standards released today by the Health Standards Organization and Canadian Standards Association, which are the result of extensive consultations across the country. We have also provided $4 billion to support provinces and territories in their efforts to improve long-term care in their jurisdictions. We will continue to work together to ensure that all Canadians continue to live with dignity and respect, regardless of where they live.

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Context: House Hansard - 57 - Apr/25/22

Jun/17/22 11:57:23 a.m.
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Madam Speaker, this pandemic continues to highlight the challenges in long-term care, including gaps in infection prevention and staffing. I have personally seen these challenges on the front lines as a nurse. Our government has made significant investments, including $4 billion to provinces and territories, to improve the standard of care in those facilities. I would like to remind the member opposite that her party voted against the measure when we put it in the fall economic statement. There was $41.9 billion in cash support for provinces and territories through the Canada health transfers. We will keep working with provinces and territories so that we can continue to fight this pandemic and ensure that seniors in long-term care have the supports they need.

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Context: House Hansard - 38 - Mar/1/22

Apr/25/22 2:31:02 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, we know just how challenging this pandemic has been for seniors. That is why, from the very beginning, we have been there to support them. On April 19, we delivered a one-time payment for those affected seniors. We also passed Bill C-12, which ensures that seniors, particularly working and low-income seniors, are never again impacted by any pandemic benefits they take. We will continue to ensure that we support and deliver for seniors every step of the way.

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Mar/1/22 3:07:32 p.m.
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Re: Bill C-12

Mr. Speaker, I want to thank the member for Scarborough—Agincourt for her work and her advocacy for seniors in her community and in the House. When it comes to supporting the most vulnerable, our government has always been there. That is especially true for low-income seniors. We have committed to supporting seniors who counted on pandemic supports and had their GIS impacted. We are making a major investment through an automatic one-time payment for those affected seniors. We unanimously passed Bill C-12 in the House, and I am confident that the other place will do the same. Seniors know that our government will always be there for them.

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Feb/15/22 9:15:25 p.m.
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Re: Bill C-12

Mr. Speaker, as the hon. member very well knows, in 2020 we were in a pandemic. We are still in a pandemic, but the reality is that we moved very quickly to provide an unprecedented response to the crisis of our lifetime. We put in supports for seniors, workers and businesses. We moved very quickly of course, and we know it affected the GIS of some seniors last year. That is why, when I was first appointed to this role, we moved very quickly and worked extremely hard with our officials and the Minister of Finance to put in this one-time payment, which we are working really hard to get out to seniors as soon as possible. This is precisely why we have this bill before us. I have had conversations with all the members and all the critics, including from the Bloc party, to make sure we can move quickly on this. They agree that we need to move quickly on this, and I really hope we can count on their support to do just that.

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Feb/15/22 10:37:47 a.m.
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Re: Bill C-12

Madam Speaker, Bill C-12 is exactly that. It is a proactive measure to ensure that seniors who got pandemic benefits last year are not impacted by any reduction or affected by their GIS and income tax. I appeared at committee yesterday regarding my mandate letter and spoke to this very issue a number of times. The member opposite had the opportunity to ask me questions. I was available to all committee members to speak about this issue, and it is included in my mandate letter. The motion is to expedite this matter to reflect both the urgent nature of the bill to support needs and the ongoing collaboration and agreement between all parties on this. There is a simplicity in the policy content. Nothing about this pandemic has been normal, and I argue that neither should this be. I hope we can move forward to make sure the most vulnerable people have support moving forward.

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Feb/15/22 10:20:26 a.m.
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Re: Bill C-12

Madam Speaker, I first want to correct the record because the member is talking about two different things. Folks got pandemic benefits in 2020. That is why in 2021, as we know, we put in a major investment in the financial and economic update to make sure we could fully compensate those seniors, and that is exactly what we are doing. In fact, we are moving forward on it as we speak, as I announced yesterday. Bill C-12 would ensure that this does not happen again, and that is exactly why we are moving quickly on this. I have spoken with all senior critics in all parties, and they know the urgency of this. It is important to remember that this is a very short, simple and clear bill. We have held all-MP briefings on this bill in both English and French, and of course I have had discussions. I was at committee yesterday and spoke at length about this particular issue. We can spend time on issues that we disagree with and on the approach, but this is something that we all agree on. Seniors are worried. They deserve us putting aside our differences and focusing on taking away their worries about their GIS reductions moving forward. I hope that we can work on this and move as quickly as possible.

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Feb/15/22 10:18:27 a.m.
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Re: Bill C-12

Madam Speaker, I want to thank the hon. member for all of his hard work on this file as well, and the work that we have been able to do, indeed, with all parliamentarians to move very quickly. When it comes to Bill C-12, it is a very short, concise and clear bill. What this bill would do is to exempt pandemic relief benefits from the calculation of GIS or allowance benefits, so seniors who took pandemic benefits last year will have the security and surety that their GIS will not be impacted. It is a short bill. Indeed, it was done in collaboration with all parties. I have spoken personally with all of my critics on this from different parties. They all agree and know the urgency in moving forward. That is exactly what we are doing. I was at committee yesterday, and we spent a fair amount of time speaking specifically on this, but I look forward to answering members' questions to make sure we can move forward as quickly as possible.

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