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Results: 61 - 75 of 586
View Justin Trudeau Profile
Lib. (QC)
View Justin Trudeau Profile
2021-04-21 14:33 [p.5912]
Mr. Speaker, all Quebeckers and all Canadians are concerned about what happens to seniors across the country. They recognize that all seniors across the country must be able to retire with dignity and security. That is precisely why we are working with the provinces and territories to ensure that our seniors have a secure retirement and are properly protected in long-term care homes.
We recognize and respect provincial jurisdictions, but we will provide funding to help the provinces ensure that all seniors are protected.
View Judy A. Sgro Profile
Lib. (ON)
Madam Speaker, yes, I will be sharing my time with the great member for Outremont.
As I indicated, my constituents are struggling. I want to take this opportunity to speak directly to the communities in my riding. Many of their residents have lined up in very long lines in pop-up spots today at clinics that are quickly being put together. I want them to know that the light at the end of the tunnel is near, and that we are all working day and night to get on top of this terrible pandemic. The best vaccine, of course, is the first one that is available to anyone. All of them have been approved by Health Canada, so I want to encourage everyone to get vaccines as soon as they are available. They will help save lives.
We are in the toughest stretch of this pandemic and, as the Prime Minister said earlier this week, now is not the time to let up, not even for a second. People should continue to follow all public health recommendations even after receiving the vaccine: We should wear masks, wash hands and continue to socially distance. We are in this together and we will beat this virus together.
Now I will go on to this wonderful budget. We talk specifically about the fact that no community will be left behind when it comes to job creation and growth, we say we will have Canadians' backs and we will extend business and income support measures through to the fall. We are going to make investments that will create jobs and help businesses across the economy come roaring back.
The budget is going to support almost 500,000 new training and work opportunities for people who have lost their jobs and do not have jobs to go back to, or who are looking for new opportunities. There will be skills training in a variety of areas, and work opportunities that could change their lives forever. Included in the budget are 215,000 new opportunities for youth. We do not want our youth to struggle more than they have already during the pandemic, and we want to see that they have employment opportunities for the future. Also included are supports for businesses in our most affected sectors, such as tourism, arts and culture. Accelerating investment in, and the digital transformation of, small and medium-sized businesses is the way to go.
This budget is a plan that puts the government on track to meet its commitment of one million jobs by the end of this year. I think about how important it is for people who are struggling with mental health and depression to know that the government is there for them.
Our tourism sector was hit hard, of course. It continues to be one of the hardest-hit sectors in Canada. Through this pandemic, I have been working with local travel agencies in my riding. Lina Matturro, who is the owner of Islington Travel, is a female small business owner who was negatively impacted by the pandemic. I would talk to Lina every week, sometimes every day, to help her return Canadians from abroad at the start of the pandemic. Lina worked tirelessly. The majority of travel agencies are headed by women. I truly wanted to help Lina and all of the other people involved in the travel industry, and budget 2021 has done just that. I was pleased that they were being given help and not left out. We must thank the Minister of Transport, the member for Mississauga Centre, for his tireless work and the successful negotiations to protect the commissions of hard-working individuals in the travel industry.
Now I will move on to something that is very important, which is early learning and child care. We have talked about this for many, many years. Frankly, now it is time. It is going to happen, because this plan is going to drive economic growth for all of the women who have been hit through this pandemic. This is a plan to increase women's participation in the work force, and to offer each child in Canada the best start in life. This plan is aimed at reducing fees for parents of children in regulated child care by 50%. I can just imagine those women thinking about the possibility that one day there will be child care available for $10 a day. It is going to cost $30 billion over the next five years and will provide permanent ongoing funding. For the families in Humber River—Black Creek, this will be a huge investment and a huge help for the many single mothers I have talked to over the years.
Pre-COVID, when I would walk through the local Jane Finch Mall or visit some of our local parks, I would meet new mothers who were just starting their families. They would tell me how much they appreciated the Canada child benefit. It is my hope that these mothers, when I see them next, will tell me about the new jobs they have secured because of the child care support they are receiving from our government.
Of course we all have talked a lot about seniors over these last months and their challenges and difficulties, whether in long-term care or simply struggling with limited income.
After a lifetime of hard work, seniors certainly deserve a secure and dignified retirement, which is why the government has committed to increasing old age security benefits for seniors aged 75 and older. The government plans to implement this commitment in two steps.
Budget 2021 proposes to meet the immediate needs of this group of seniors by providing a one-time payment of $500 this coming August to OAS pensioners who will be 75 or over as of the end of June 2022. Budget 2021 then proposes to introduce legislation to increase OAS payments for pensioners by 10% on an ongoing basis beginning in July 2022.
This would increase the benefits for approximately 3.3 million seniors, providing an additional benefit of $766 to full pensioners in the first year that is indexed to inflation going forward. This would really help to give seniors more financial security later in life, especially as we know they are facing increased expenses and are at a greater risk of running out of savings.
When this pandemic is over, I will have a chance to visit local seniors' groups who will have been successfully vaccinated. They will be playing cards or bingo at their local community centres. Not only will they be excited about the chance to yell out “bingo” again, they will be overjoyed with the increased support they will be receiving through budget 2021.
One of the problems we had in long-term care in my riding occurred at Hawthorne Place, an excellent home that looks after many of the most vulnerable. It was hit extremely hard with COVID-19. The Canadian Armed Forces were deployed to this facility. The unfortunate situation in my riding was not the only reason that led me to advocate for strengthening standards for long-term care homes. It has long been an issue that has needed to be addressed. We must protect our seniors and the most vulnerable across Canada.
Budget 2021 proposes to provide $3 billion over five years to Health Canada to support provinces and territories in ensuring that standards for long-term care are applied and permanent changes are made so that what happened through COVID-19 will never repeat itself. It is imperative for us. We have a moral responsibility to ensure we keep seniors safe and improve their quality of life. This work will ensure that seniors and those in care live in safe and dignified conditions.
I want to thank my colleagues for their continued advocacy on behalf of Canadians and those living in long-term care homes, especially our Prime Minister, who heard what our difficulties were and took action to improve the lives of our seniors.
We are unfortunately still in the battle of our lives against COVID-19, but the supports included in this budget will make a difference for Canadians and help them through this. Opportunities are coming. Growth is coming. Jobs are coming. After a long, grim year, Canadians are ready to recover and rebuild.
View Andréanne Larouche Profile
BQ (QC)
View Andréanne Larouche Profile
2021-04-21 15:45 [p.5931]
Madam Speaker, I thank my colleague for her speech, but I would now invite her to look Quebec seniors aged 65 to 74 in the eye and tell them that they have gotten enough support from the federal government and that they are not vulnerable enough to receive help in the next budget.
I would like her to tell them that in person, because since the Liberal government's announcement, I have received a ton of comments and letters of support from major Quebec seniors' groups such as FADOQ and the AQDR and from people who are confused. This measure would only cost $4 billion. That represents less than 1% of the deficit.
I would like her to repeat that this measure to support seniors is too costly. Furthermore, I am not even going to address the issue of the National Assembly's unanimous request that the federal government not interfere in Quebec's long-term care facilities. The federal government has no business lecturing Quebec. Quebec will look after its jurisdiction, for which it is solely responsible.
View Judy A. Sgro Profile
Lib. (ON)
Madam Speaker, we have continued, since the beginning of this pandemic, to help many seniors, recognizing their struggles. I believe there was a total of $1,500 or $1,800 in additional bonuses that went to seniors over the last year, since the beginning of this pandemic, to help many of them. We have again invested in the budget in the area of long-term care and a lot of the areas that affect seniors in different ways. As I said earlier, all of us in the House would have loved to be able to spread additional financial supports going forward, but we will continue to work forward in a positive way to ensure an improvement in the quality of life for all seniors in Canada.
View Luc Berthold Profile
CPC (QC)
View Luc Berthold Profile
2021-04-21 15:58 [p.5933]
Madam Speaker, I would like to thank my colleague for her speech. I would also like to ask her three questions.
First, as a Quebecker, as she herself mentioned in her speech, does she agree with the federal government’s plan to impose standards for seniors homes in Quebec that they will have to meet in order to receive funding?
Second, does she agree that Quebec should receive funding for this new national child care program she says she wants to implement in the coming years? We know that it will take several years before the program is rolled out in other provinces, just like it took several years in Quebec.
Third, does she think that dairy producers should have received compensation in the budget for the Canada-United States-Mexico Agreement?
View Rachel Bendayan Profile
Lib. (QC)
View Rachel Bendayan Profile
2021-04-21 15:59 [p.5933]
Madam Speaker, my colleague asked several questions, and I will try to answer them in the time I have.
First, I am indeed very proud to be able to launch a pan-Canadian child care program. In my case in particular, as a mother, I waited three years before getting a day care place in Montreal. I know that Quebec is leading the way for the rest of the country, but we also need to make sure we have enough places for children in Quebec. I think that federal transfer payments could help improve the system we have in place in Quebec.
In terms of health transfer payments, especially for long-term care, it is essential that we continue to support the provinces so that we can provide proper care to our seniors. I think that national standards are important in ensuring that Quebec seniors—
View Francesco Sorbara Profile
Lib. (ON)
Madam Speaker, I wish to indicate that I will be splitting my time with my hon. colleague, the parliamentary secretary for the riding of Argenteuil—La Petite-Nation.
It is a pleasure to speak on budget 2021, which would not only continue to have the backs of Canadians impacted by COVID-19, but would take substantial next steps to position our economy for ongoing recovery and economic growth. Simply, it is about ensuring a better future for all Canadians and strengthening our middle class and those working hard to join it.
It is a pleasure to represent the residents of Vaughan—Woodbridge. I wish to thank my residents for heeding the calls of public health during the pandemic to stay home, wear masks and socially distance. Now, these same residents are doing their part in getting their vaccinations. I encourage all residents and all Canadians, when they are eligible, to please get their vaccine shots. As we all know, normality will only return with an effective vaccine rollout and vaccinations.
The COVID-19 pandemic is a once-in-a-lifetime event. It froze our economy and overnight resulted in millions of people losing their jobs, businesses being shuttered and, to this day, families' lives being altered. I will be getting my vaccine shot tomorrow evening, so I am quite excited.
This was an exogenous shock to our economy that required a massive response by our government. Yes, our government is there for Canadians, but Canadians, our neighbours, friends and industries, have also risen to the challenge. The Canadian economy has bounced back much faster than many had anticipated, including the forecasts made by the Bank of Canada. We saw this morning the revised upward forecast from the BOC, which stated that, “Activity has proved more resilient than expected in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic”. The line I very much appreciated was that, “The Bank has revised up its estimate of potential output in light of greater resilience to the pandemic and accelerated digitalization.”
This is a testament to the work of Canadians and the work of our government through its various support programs, and to the unique nature of the shock to our economy. This shock to our economy was not a failure of the markets nor of capitalism but, importantly, the response to this shock required that the government come in and assist its citizens in their time of need.
Budget 2021 would respond to the COVID-19 pandemic and represents a paradigm shift. We must implement further policies to strengthen our social safety net and ensure a more inclusive and sustainable economy where no Canadian is left behind. It is a budget I can best describe as ambitious: It is ambitious for attempting to answer the challenges we face not only today, but tomorrow. It is a budget that would continue the path toward a green transition, where we would surpass our GHG reduction targets and use this as a catalyst to grow our economy. It is inclusive by proposing a national child care program, which would assist families across Canada in covering child care expenses and increase women's labour force participation in our economy. It is a win on so many levels. National child care would become a foundational piece of our social infrastructure here in Canada.
The budget would assist students with an additional $3 billion in funding via Canada student grants. It would help out our seniors with a one-time OAS payment of $500 and a permanent 10% increase beginning in July 2022, and it aims to lift over 100,000 more Canadians out of poverty through a material enhancement to the Canada workers benefit. It would encourage business investment, and would assist businesses across the country to digitize; it would invest, through the national trade corridors fund, in our key transportation corridors; and it would position our entrepreneurs for leadership in the green transition, which is happening at a rapid pace.
We will ensure that no Canadian family is left without broadband. It is a necessity in today's world, accentuated by COVID-19. As noted by Scotiabank economists in their opinion on the budget, “Overall, the measures seem well targeted to raise potential output by focusing on economic inclusion, the green transition and measures to encourage business investment.”
To review the 10 priorities and the associated 250 or so measures would require a few hours, but there are a few things I know the residents and businesses in my riding of Vaughan—Woodbridge would benefit from that I wish to highlight. We would continue to support businesses and workers as we battle COVID-19. As many have advocated for, the COVID-19 relief programs would be extended through to September. For hard-working Canadians who remain unemployed, we would be providing an additional 12 weeks of recovery benefits available to September 25, 2021. The rent and emergency wage subsidies, which have been so crucial to supporting businesses in my riding and across the country, would also be extended. In total, our government would commit an additional $32 billion in temporary COVID spending measures to assist Canadian businesses and workers through to the end of this pandemic. We have their backs.
I am so proud that budget 2021 proposes a major investment in the Canada workers benefit. It is a nearly $9 billion investment over six years, and $1.7 billion thereafter. I have long favoured this income support measure. Along with the prior enhancements to the program in budget 2018, approximately three million Canadians would benefit from this program, with an additional 100,000 lifted out of poverty with this budget's measures. With the automatic enrolment for the non-refundable credit via the CRA, Canadians would continue to benefit from this measure.
We know that our seniors, including my parents, helped build our country and sacrificed so much. Their fiscal prudence, work ethic and ingenuity still inspire me. We will fulfill our promise to raise the OAS by 10%, which would benefit 3.3 million Canadians, and is a $12 billion investment over the next five years.
We are too aware of the issues with our long-term care homes here in Ontario and across Canada, including in my riding of Vaughan—Woodbridge, where the Canadian Armed Forces came to assist the long-term care facility of Woodbridge Vista. Budget 2021 would fulfill our commitment to work with provinces to develop and implement national standards while providing for a commitment of $3 billion over five years.
As the Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of National Revenue, I applaud the government's commitment to continue to invest in, and ensure the CRA has the resources to tackle, tax avoidance and evasion with a $304 million investment over five years to fund new initiatives and strengthen new programs. There is a further investment of $230 million so the CRA could collect outstanding taxes, which is anticipated to result in an additional $5 billion in outstanding taxes being collected over five years. This would be used to fund the precious social programs we all depend on. We would invest an additional $330 million over five years to provide safeguards on protecting the data of Canadians held by the CRA.
An initiative that in my view would and could be transformational for Canadian businesses, including the estimated 13,000 SMEs in the city of Vaughan, is e-payroll. This may not be the flashiest investment in the budget, but the potential for digitization, and the potential for a real-time payroll data reporting system among businesses, the CRA and ESDC, is simply transformational. I am so glad to see this measure in our budget. It is a measure that is needed at this time. Going forward, it would help our businesses digitize and allow them to spend less time on paperwork and more time serving their customers. A commitment of $44 million over three years for the CRA and ESDC would help to develop the first phase of an e-payroll prototype. I am excited about this initiative. It is the future.
As the Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of National Revenue, I have learned the importance of the disability tax credit and how it assists literally millions of Canadians. Considered a gateway credit for disabled Canadians, it ensures these Canadians with special abilities have access to many other programs. I was proud when in 2017 the Government of Canada reinstated the Canada Revenue Agency's disability advisory committee. The committee just delivered its second report on April 9. I wish to thank the committee for its work during COVID-19. These are volunteers. The committee did not meet in a physical setting, but did all its work remotely.
Budget 2021 proposes two major changes. First, it proposes an update to the list of mental functions for everyday life that is used for assessing applicants for the disability tax credit. Second, it proposes recognizing more activities and determining the time spent on life-sustaining therapy, and reducing the minimum required frequency of therapy. These changes alone would result in an additional 45,000 Canadians being eligible for the disability tax credit and would represent $376 million in additional support over the next five years to disabled Canadians.
Budget 2021, presented by our government, contains a list of measures that move our economy forward. It ensures we have the backs of all Canadians, including Canadian businesses and workers who continue to be impacted by COVID-19.
I am proud of this budget. I am proud to see how Canadians have responded to it, including the residents of my riding of Vaughan—Woodbridge.
View Luc Berthold Profile
CPC (QC)
View Luc Berthold Profile
2021-04-21 17:00 [p.5942]
Madam Speaker, I thank my colleague for his speech.
I have two questions for him on seniors.
First, does he agree with his government wanting to impose conditions on transferring funding to the provinces to improve the safety of seniors in seniors residences?
Second, why does he think that seniors between 65 and 75 do not deserve to get help from his government?
View Stéphane Lauzon Profile
Lib. (QC)
Madam Speaker, I thank my colleague for the question.
We are working closely with the provinces and territories on health transfers. The Prime Minister has met with the premiers of every province. The government made a clear announcement that there will be health transfers, but we have a crisis to manage and that is what the government is focusing on right now. We are helping the provinces and territories in many ways through different transfers that are not necessarily in the form of cash.
We will be there for all seniors, but the most vulnerable are those who are 75 and older.
View Alistair MacGregor Profile
NDP (BC)
Mr. Speaker, I agree with my colleague. There are a lot of lessons we are going to have to learn from this experience and I hope that we take them to heart, unlike the lessons that we should have learned from the outbreak of SARS in the early part of this century.
I wanted to ask a question in terms of the lessons we can learn from the experience in our long-term care homes. Throughout this country the conditions in long-term care homes, no matter which province they were in, were found to be very unsatisfactory, with underpaid staff and improper safety measures in place. That is why we saw the largest numbers of outbreaks and deaths absolutely devastate our precious seniors in long-term care.
I know the Bloc is key in its defence of the role of provincial jurisdiction, but can the member agree that we need to have some kind of standard in place for workers in long-term care homes to protect seniors? Is there a way that the Bloc can agree that the provinces and the federal government can come together so that Canadians, no matter which province they live in, can at least be assured of some basic level of care?
Would the member agree that there is room for the provinces and the federal government to come together to establish that baseline somewhere?
View Kristina Michaud Profile
BQ (QC)
Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague for his excellent question.
The situation in Quebec's long-term care homes was indeed terrible, and it was a defining point for Quebec during the first wave of COVID-19. We will learn from these mistakes. The health care sector was struggling. As Alec Castonguay pointed out in his book, there was a big push to free up hospital beds at the beginning of the crisis, so seniors were sent to long-term care homes, which did not have PPE. That was a complete disaster, and the people in those long-term care homes were put at risk. We will absolutely learn from these mistakes.
However, when it comes to introducing standards, health care is a provincial jurisdiction. Quebec manages its own health care network. It does a good job with the resources it has, but it needs more funding. In this case, it is not the federal government's responsibility to set Canada-wide standards for something that Quebec already manages quite well on its own. What Quebec needs is a cheque with no strings attached, no conditions. Quebec must be able to use the money as it sees fit, since health care is a provincial jurisdiction, and it is not for the federal government to tell Quebec what to do. I am all for working together to find solutions, but Quebec knows what is best for its long-term care homes.
View Yves-François Blanchet Profile
BQ (QC)
Madam Speaker, let me begin by saying that the Bloc Québécois stands in solidarity with the people of all Canadian provinces, and especially Ontario, who are dealing with a resurgence of the pandemic, which has become alarming in many respects. Quebec seems to be managing a little better for the moment. Let us hope we can get out of this situation as soon as possible.
Quebec and Canada, like the rest of the world, have been hammered by a devastating and unexpected pandemic, the scale, scope and devastation of which no one anticipated. This was followed by a serious, significant economic crisis that has rocked key sectors of our economy, including everything from self-employed workers and small, local businesses to big multinationals and the greedy giants that the airlines have become.
The government has done the right thing in one respect, specifically, taking advantage of its huge borrowing capacity, which compares favourably with most other OECD countries, to be able to inject significant amounts of money into the Quebec and Canadian economies. It is the right thing to do. Some $50 billion will be spent this year, followed by $100 billion over the next three years, to invest in the actual economic recovery. That is something the government can do, and it is certainly what needs to be done.
In some ways, it listened to the Bloc Québécois—not just the Bloc, that is not what I am saying—when it came to addressing the interests and needs of Quebec and what Quebec was calling for. The government did listen, to some extent. In some cases, there was more talk than action, but the government did pick up on some of the themes that we, together with the National Assembly of Quebec, deemed to be absolutely essential for stimulating economic activity.
I am thinking about the aerospace sector, which appears in a Canadian budget for the very first time. I am thinking about the biopharmaceutical industry, which is now gaining prominence under the current circumstances after being neglected in recent years. Canada and Quebec in particular, were a hub of pharmaceutical research until the sector was decimated after years of neglect.
I am thinking about the electrification of transportation. Let me say from the outset that this is very much a Quebec issue, subject, and expertise. Quebec is an undisputed leader in this area just as it is in the aerospace industry.
I am thinking about the forest-based bioeconomy. I suspect, and I will say it with a smile, that it would not be in the budget if not for the very eloquent and strongly worded statement, addressing the reality of the Quebec regions, made by what we call the Bloc Québécois “caucus du bois” at the initiative of the member for Jonquière and the member for Lac-Saint-Jean. We agree that it is not huge. More money has been allocated before, for example to fight the spruce budworm. However, it is a good start that some funding will be invested in forest-based bioeconomy and that intent is what we were looking for. We will see later whether it is significant or not.
I have to admit that there is some concern associated with that. Where will this money be invested? For example, had the federal government decided in 2021, as it did in 2009-10, to inject a massive amount of money into the automobile industry, we would not expect it to go to Drummondville or Val-d'Or. We would expect it to go to Ontario. If the government injects substantial amounts of money in aerospace, we expect that half this funding will go where half the aerospace industry is located, that is, in Quebec, which is a world leader in that sector.
The pharmaceutical industry was seriously gutted. The expertise was Quebec-based and research capacity is still Quebec-based, not exclusively, but for the most part. Initiatives were brought in during the pandemic by Quebec businesses and corporations.
The electrification of transportation is more than just an economic sector in Quebec. It is our identity. Quebec cannot take full credit. Its geography and history have made it a place where clean hydro-electricity, drawn from its rivers, has shaped our province as a leader in clean energy and everything that follows, including the electrification of transportation. It seems only natural that such leadership would be recognized.
Buying Quebec products, such as charging stations by AddÉnergie Technologies, and installing them across Canada would be a good way to recognize our production capacity and technology. There are several other companies such as Elmec in Shawinigan.
However, we would have reservations and concerns if the plan is to take our expertise and move it somewhere else, diluting the competence and expertise that Quebec is renowned for, to benefit Canadian provinces with our own money. That goes for the forest-based bioeconomy as well, although there is obviously a large forestry industry in British Columbia and a little in New Brunswick and Ontario. This expertise must not be moved, because that would undermine Quebec's competitive edge in key economic sectors. We will have to be very vigilant.
In the aerospace sector, for example, the federal government had no problem retroactively passing a bill allowing Aveos jobs to be transferred from Montreal to Manitoba. If that is where this is going, we are not interested.
When the government decided it was interested in the electrification of transportation, it initially announced $500 million for a Ford plant in Ontario. That does not mean there will not be any plants in Quebec, but we in Quebec obviously know that Ontario is not a hub for transportation electrification.
I remind members that the government made investments to combat spruce budworm in the Maritimes but not in Quebec, which was also having problems with that pest.
Glaring omissions like this have happened repeatedly in the past. Here is another example from this budget: the Davie shipyard, one of Quebec City's economic powerhouses that represents 2% to 3% of a budget merrily hovering around $120 billion, even though it accounts for half of Canada's shipbuilding capacity. The government says it is because Irving is failing to deliver, so bureaucrats will be hired to go support Irving, which will keep on failing to deliver. There is nothing here for Davie, which makes no sense.
This tendency to cherry-pick Quebec's expertise and use our own money to generously distribute that expertise across Canada could turn into an issue. Are these amounts enough? Bioforestry is a special case.
We certainly applaud the fact that something that has been good for Quebec is being applied to the rest of Canada. Quebec has been innovative and has gained international recognition for the child care policy my premier, Ms. Marois, implemented. According to every economic analysis, not just Quebec-based ones, that policy massively increased women's presence in the workforce. The fact that Canada has at long last decided to implement a similar model is worth applauding.
Now, as I have said elsewhere, students do not tell teachers how to correct their work. The federal government will not tell Quebec how to run a child care system. Instead, it should express an interest in learning how Quebec runs its system. There can be exchanges of ideas and free consent to improvements. Generally speaking, the concept of free consent should be the basic principle underlying Quebec-Canada relations.
If the strange notion of an asymmetrical agreement with Quebec means something other than a simple transfer of Quebec's share of the funding for child care with no strings attached, then that is unacceptable.
This morning, the Quebec finance minister, Mr. Girard, was very clear. He does not intend to negotiate. Quebec just wants its share of the funding. That is the way it should be, even though, yesterday, the Minister of Finance was unable to resist saying that the money should be invested the way she says it should. To put it bluntly, it is none of her damn business.
Quebec does what it wants with Quebec's money. Quebeckers have a Quebec government and a National Assembly that deal with such issues. The other Parliament, where we are currently, has no right to tell the National Assembly what to do with its money. That is a bad habit that the federal government has gotten into and is having a hard time overcoming. It is almost genetic. In this case, we are informing the federal government that we will take the money, but we will not be told what to do with it.
The same thing is happening when it comes to long-term care centres for seniors. It is the only federal contribution in health. This is something much larger than an elephant in the room. We are coming out of a pandemic. It is a health issue. Who are the primary victims of the pandemic? Seniors are. We saw that. The loss of life has been dramatic, especially among seniors. What is the budget missing? It is missing help for health care and help for seniors.
I scratched my head. I even thought that in terms of electoral opportunism, a skill this government has mastered, I would have done something. However, there is nothing and it is a slap in the face to Quebec and all of Canada's premiers who are being told that they will not be getting their health transfers. Quebeckers and people elsewhere in Canada might take note and get fed up with this lack of respect. As for the rest of the budget, anyone could have come up with it. The right decisions were easy to make. However, the bad decisions are shocking.
I was talking about CHSLDs, or their equivalent across Canada. The federal government said it would invest $3 billion over five years, which should mean roughly $120 million a year for Quebec. In the context of long-term care, that is not a lot of money. On top of that, the federal government said the money would have conditions attached, because it is Canada, which is intrinsically superior to Quebec's jurisdictions.
However, this fails to acknowledge that the underfunding of the health care system is largely to blame for what happened. In fact, Ottawa has not been paying its fair share for quite some time now. The average age is higher in Quebec than elsewhere.
The federal government likes to take a moral stance and tell others how things work, even when it has no experience in the matter. The federal government has never run a health care facility, but it knows everything because it is the federal government, and they are the Liberals so they are, by definition, superior. This constant tendency to meddle in Quebec's affairs makes no sense, especially considering that Ottawa can barely manage its own jurisdictions, such as border control.
Word choice is a problem here. The federal government uses words like “aeronautics”, “forests”, “health” and “electric transportation”, but the measures themselves are quite vague. In reality, we will debate the budget for a number of days, after which we will vote on this budget, with all of the consequences that entails. We will then move on to the budget implementation bill and other things.
I want to get back to the very important topic of seniors. The Liberal government, that eternal warrior against all forms of discrimination, be they imaginary or real, decided to invent a new form of discrimination, distinguishing between real seniors, aged 75 and older, and phony seniors. If I were a senior 75 and over, I would not be having a big celebration, thinking that I was going to get something. In reality, I would get a $500 cheque in July, which is less than $50 a month over the year. That is insulting enough as it is, but seniors aged 65 to 75 do not even get a little something. They get nothing at all.
I do not know what planet the Prime Minister is living on, but since yesterday, we have all been getting messages at our riding offices and on social media from people aged 65 to 75, who are furious, or even pissed off, if I may say so. They are feeling disrespected.
Because we are good people, as everyone knows, we will urge the government to make things right.
The government's economic statement last November predicted a deficit of $380 billion, a figure that ended up being $350 billion. The $30 billion difference is the same amount that it would cost to implement the provinces' demand to increase health transfers from approximately 22% to 35% in one year. It absolutely would not get the government in trouble. This is something it could do.
If the government accepts our amendment, the Bloc Québécois proposal would increase old age security for those 65 and over by $110 a month. That is a significant sum that would total approximately $4 billion a year. That is just a little more than 1% of last year's deficit for the group of people who were most affected by the pandemic.
We should be able to talk to one another. If our amendment were adopted, we could be in a situation where this summer's disappointing $500 would be accessible to everyone 65 and over pending the adoption of implementing legislation for next year. In this context, there would be legislation next year because we would work together to bring in this law.
We will not be headed to the polls as early as the government would have liked, but we will presumably still be on the campaign trail come fall. Therefore, there will be no legislation to increase old age security before next summer. It will not happen. We could accelerate things if our amendment were accepted because it would create fairness compared to the profound unfairness of the current version.
We are therefore tabling an amendment to the Conservatives' amendment. I have the pleasure of reading it.
That the amendment be amended by deleting paragraphs (a) and (b) and substituting the following:
“(a) does not include any increase to the Canada health transfers;
(b) abandons seniors between the ages of 65 and 75; and”
and by adding after the words “economic growth” the following:
“, support health care systems by increasing the Canada health transfers to 35% of health care costs and contribute to the quality of life of seniors aged 65 and over by increasing Old Age Security as of age 65 and dropping the age for the one-time payment of $500 for the summer of 2021 to age 65.”
The door is wide open for the government securing the Bloc Québécois vote for this budget and significant appreciation by the simple application of Quebec's basic rules of fairness.
View Kevin Lamoureux Profile
Lib. (MB)
View Kevin Lamoureux Profile
2021-04-20 11:13 [p.5834]
Madam Speaker, the Prime Minister and government members have recognized the true value of having an national child care system that supports parents being in the workforce. We look at the Province of Quebec and its success. It is something that should be applauded. We can look at a system and ways to incorporate that nationally.
The member makes reference to long-term care. The constituents of Winnipeg North and I, and I believe Canadians in general, see the need for national standards. We have seen this throughout the pandemic.
Can my friend across the way indicate if he thinks we should support what the government is being called upon to do and look at national standards for long-term care? It such an important issue, and it seems to me to that people in all regions of the country want to see that happen.
View Yves-François Blanchet Profile
BQ (QC)
Madam Speaker, I have a suggestion for my esteemed colleague. Rather than apply Canadian standards to Quebec, which has been doing this for 20 years while Canada has not done it at all, the government could apply Quebec's standards to Canada, and everything will be fine. I do not see why it should be done otherwise. Then Quebec can thank the feds when it gets its cheque and say how pleased it is to have helped women in Canada.
Quebec did not wait for the federal government's go-ahead to become a more feminist state. We have had plenty of budgets tabled by female finance ministers, such as Ms. Marois and Ms. Jérôme-Forget.
I am very happy to see this change. I really feel for people in Toronto who pay $1,300 per month per child for care. That is absolutely crazy. Kudos to Canada for following Quebec's lead. I just want to make it clear that the federal government will not be forcing its policies on us just because it was inspired by us.
View Mark Gerretsen Profile
Lib. (ON)
Madam Speaker, I want to go back to the response that the leader of the Bloc Québécois gave to our colleague, the parliamentary secretary, about imposing Quebec's great success on long-term care facilities onto the rest of Canada.
Indeed, that is the whole point of national standards, to look to the provinces for the great successes that they have had so that we can use them throughout the rest of the country. Indeed, if there are great successes in Quebec I would love to be able to give those as an opportunity to Ontario. Likewise, I can only imagine that the leader of the Bloc Québécois would want the same.
If another jurisdiction in Canada were so successful in long-term care, would he not like to see those as being options and being made national standards? Does he not see the value of coming together from various provinces and jurisdictions throughout the country to develop standards that can be to the benefit of everyone?
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