- Member of Parliament
- Leader of the Government in the House of Commons (on parental leave)
- Liberal
- Burlington
- Ontario
- Voting Attendance: 65%
- Expenses Last Quarter: $131,115.10
- Government Page
- Jun/16/23 12:00:06 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, I am glad to see the Conservatives have a renewed interest in housing, because for the 10 years while they were in government, they actually underspent and cut programming when it came to affordable housing. I will just quote something: “Housing insecurity is widespread and homelessness is on the rise”. Oh, that is a quote from 2012.
Let us change the topic and see what we are doing today. We have invested billions of dollars, refurbished and built hundreds of thousands of units and supported vulnerable Canadians with the Canada housing benefit. We are bringing forward the housing accelerator fund to work in partnership with municipalities to build more housing units for those who need it the most.
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Mr. Speaker, I would like to congratulate my colleague on the birth of her second child and welcome her back to the House. It is great to see her here with her baby.
I would just like to set the record straight, though, because there is actually nothing in the legislation that would prevent flexibility. In fact, in her home province of Alberta, when it comes to auspice, there is a mix of for-profit and not-for-profit care in the growth plan. There are also some really creative ideas about after-hours care and irregular time schedules in her own home community to make sure that child care is available.
Despite what the member was saying and despite what the Conservatives are saying, there is nothing in the bill that would prevent that kind of innovative, flexible child care from advancing. Home care is included as well.
We want to make sure parents have choice across this country; they do not currently have it, because it is not available.
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Madam Speaker, a lot of us can relate to what it is like to have a baby and that feeling of being overwhelmed, which is why child care is so important and it is so important for families to know they can send their child somewhere that is safe, that is going to provide quality development and education and that their child will be well cared for.
I need to correct the record. The hon. colleague ended by saying that if one has a home day care one is not eligible to participate in this program. That is simply false. In fact, in his own province of Saskatchewan, that is one of the ways it is increasing access to child care, through licensed day homes, particularly in rural areas.
This is typical of the Conservatives, who I am not sure have actually read the legislation or read the agreements, so they do not actually know what we are debating tonight, which in fact is an amendment to the short title of the bill. I have asked every single Conservative colleague here if they will be supporting Bill C-35. I have yet to hear a clear response.
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- Mar/29/23 2:29:16 p.m.
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What is really disappointing, Mr. Speaker, is that the Leader of the Opposition has already told Canadians that he is voting against this budget and he is voting against them, because what he is voting against is a grocery rebate for 11 million Canadians. What he is voting against is dental care for nine million Canadians, including children, seniors and people with disabilities. What he is voting against is a tax-free savings account for first-time homebuyers.
He is not there for Canadians. We are.
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- Jun/16/22 2:58:33 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I feel the Conservatives need to understand that throughout the pandemic people in the private sector and the public sector worked from home, and they were working. The vast majority of Canadians who were working from home were working very hard, and Conservatives owe those employees an apology.
When it comes to the fees, those should be waived. That has been the directive. I will reinforce that with my department. However, people who work from home are still hard-working.
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- Jun/16/22 2:57:19 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, first of all, I take issue with the member's question, because let us be clear that when people are working from home they are still working.
The first point is that the numbers she is quoting are for the entire 29,000-person Service Canada workforce. When it comes to people who are in-person and in-office Service Canada passport officers, almost 90% of them are back in the office. Those who are working from home are doing so for medical reasons, but they are still able to support the delivery of services.
It is important to get the facts right here.
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