Parliamentary Speeches

Madam Speaker, as I mentioned earlier when the member for Louis-Saint-Laurent was speaking, we have seen a really disturbing pattern in this place with the government's lack of transparency and accountability. There was an order of Parliament to provide these documents. Thankfully, the Speaker ruled today, as a last line of defence for this Parliament and this democracy, that what the government had done was in fact a breach of parliamentary privilege. That is the reason we are here tonight to debate this issue. It was the Speaker who said that it was up to the opposition to come up with a motion. The motion was presented, yet we heard the indignation of the member for Kingston and the Islands when he spoke about everything except this privilege motion. I want to ask the hon. member if, in his opinion, he feels this is a fair debate to be having tonight given the systemic pattern of lack of transparency and accountability in this Parliament by the current government.

Mr. Speaker, the member for Wellington—Halton Hills said it best: It is up to all of us to protect the democratic institutions that we hold so dear, Parliament being one of them, obviously. We have seen, as I said earlier in my speech, a systemic pattern of what I would call abuse, on the part of the government, of the parliamentary privilege of members. We have seen it over and over in committees and in Parliament. We saw a prorogation of Parliament to take the heat off of the Liberals for a pretty significant issue that was happening with the WE scandal. It is incumbent on all of us to protect this institution, and we must do so because we are privileged to sit in this place. I have said it many times, and I feel this way as the critic for veterans affairs and in all that I am as a Canadian. Lives have been lost, blood has been spilled and families have been decimated by war to allow us the privilege to sit in this place, and we must defend it, as they did.

Mr. Speaker, I think the hon. member makes a very important point, because we have seen, over the course of several Parliaments, a lack of consequences. We have certainly seen it in the ethical violations of the Prime Minister, who effectively got a slap on the wrist. Some of the other consequences we have seen are the resignations of ministers. This is why I know, as my party does, how important it is, for the sake of protecting democratic institutions, public trust and confidence among our fellow Canadians, to bring in measures of accountability, as we will be proposing in the next election, that have real consequences if members of Parliament act in a manner that is not respectful, breaks the law or amounts to ethics violations. This is the type of thing we can do to improve the confidence of our public institutions, of those who represent us and certainly of this Parliament.

Mr. Speaker, I am very pleased and proud to present petition e-3217. On this, the 30th anniversary of the Persian Gulf War, the liberation of Kuwait, we recognize the contributions of Canadian Armed Forces veterans by sponsoring petition e-3217 to reclassify the mission from “special duty service” to “wartime service”. In doing so, the Government of Canada can care for our proud, injured equally and commemorate the active service of our proud Canadian veterans. On a personal note, I want to thank all those who serve and who have served our country. On behalf of a grateful nation, I thank them.

With regard to the awarding of the South West Asia Service Medal (SWASM), the General Campaign Star (GCS), the General Service Medal (GSM) and the South West Asia Service ribbon by the Minister of National Defense for service in Afghanistan: (a) how many (i) SWASMs, (ii) GSCs, (iii) GSMs, (iv) South West Asia ribbons, have been awarded to date, broken down by award; (b) how many requests for the SWASM have yet to be fulfilled; and (c) how many years of service are required to be eligible for the (i) SWASM, (ii) GSM, (iii) CGS, (iv) South West Asia Service ribbon, broken down by award?

With regard to reports that some arriving air travelers are having their expenses for quarantining at a designated hotel or other quarantine facility covered by the government: (a) how many arriving travelers have had their quarantine expenses covered by the government since the hotel quarantine requirement began, broken down by airport point of entry; (b) what specific criteria is used by the government to determine which travelers are required to pay for their own hotel quarantine and which travelers have their quarantine paid for by the government; and (c) what are the estimated total expenditures by the government on expenses related to quarantining the travelers in (a), broken down by line item and type of expense?

With regard to training and education benefits provided by Veterans Affairs Canada: (a) of applications for the Veterans Education and Training Benefit, since April 1, 2018, (i) how many veterans have applied for the benefit, (ii) how many family members of veterans have applied for the benefit, (iii) how many applications for the benefit have been received, (iv) how many applications have been denied, (v) how much money have been awarded to veterans and their family members, broken down by fiscal year; and (b) for the Rehabilitation and Vocational Assistance Program, broken down by year since 2009, (i) how many veterans have applied for the program, (ii) how many veterans were accepted into the program, (iii) how many veteran’s applications were denied, (iv) how much was paid to WCG Services to deliver the program, (v) how much was paid to March of Dimes to deliver the program?

Mr. Speaker, today is International Firefighters Day. After the tragic deaths of five firefighters in Australia in 1998, the day is observed to remember those have who died in the line of duty, while at the same time to show our support and appreciation to firefighters who work in unimaginable situations to protect our communities. As a former firefighter, I can speak to the commitment and professionalism that every firefighter has for the communities they serve. It is a proud tradition, a calling, that is often generational, as it was in my case with my uncle, Peter Hayes, who worked 35 years with York and then Toronto fire services. This calling, however, comes with great sacrifices, occupational illness and disease, mental health issues, broken families and death related to service, to name a few, but if I ask any firefighter if they would choose another career, many would say “no”. To my former my former IAFF colleagues in Markham, to the Barry and Innisfil firefighters and all firefighters across Canada, happy International Firefighters Day. Stay safe and stay healthy.

Mr. Speaker, on the day the inquiry into the death of Lionel Desmond and his family was announced, the Minister of Veterans Affairs pledged full co-operation to the Desmond family so members can imagine the surprise and anger that Lionel's sister, Cassandra, and the family felt when they found out that more than a year after the inquiry began, lawyers for Veterans Affairs told the inquiry it would not provide a crucial internal review of how Veterans Affairs had handled Desmond's case, despite the minister's pledge. Instead of burying the report, why do the Liberals not want to help the Desmond family understand what went wrong to help prevent further tragedies?

Mr. Speaker, in fact, Cassandra came to Ottawa and called for a joint public hearing. The minister met with her and pledged full co-operation. Cassandra left Ottawa thinking that she had his word. If it had not been for a leaked email that the internal report existed, the Liberals would have buried it. The family wants answers, Canadian veterans want answers and it looks like the answers are in the internal review, but for some reason, the minister is covering it up. Will the Minister of Veterans Affairs make the internal review a matter of public record so that the inquiry can consider it and make recommendations to prevent further tragedies like this?

Mr. Speaker, Dr. Gardner also said controlling COVID is limited by a lack of vaccine supply. He said that with delays of Moderna and the postponement of AstraZeneca vaccines, only half the local capacity to vaccinate is being employed. Dr. Gardner is not just talking about a third wave. He is concerned there may be a fourth wave without adequate immunization. Public health officials should not be left guessing about vaccine supply a year into the pandemic. The Deputy Prime Minister admitted earlier that she knew the third wave was coming, so why did the Prime Minister not get us vaccines in January and February to stop this devastating third wave?

Mr. Speaker, like all communities across Canada, Barrie—Innisfil has not been immune to increased anxiety and mental health issues because of this crisis. The pandemic, resulting lockdowns, restrictions and failures of the government have taken an unimaginable toll on everyone's mental health, sparing no one and no age group. Therefore, it should not surprise anyone that we have seen a marked increase in suicides in every community, including ours. As we approach Canadian Mental Health Week and Children's Mental Health Week, I encourage the Liberal government to move quickly and implement a national 988 crisis and suicide hotline. Let me remind the Prime Minister that a motion was passed unanimously by Parliament 129 days ago to implement the hotline. I was glad that both Barrie City Council and Innisfil Town Council recently moved motions in support of a 988 hotline, and I thank them both for their endorsement. Finally, everyone who is suffering, no matter where they live, their age or the reason, should know there are resources within their communities across Canada that they can access. They are not alone, and there is always someone to talk to.

Madam Speaker, even at this late hour it is important to take part in this emergency debate. I really want to thank the member for Saanich—Gulf Islands for bringing this to the attention of the Speaker and the Speaker for ultimately granting this emergency debate. It is an important one to have, not just to look back at some of the issues we have had, but how we can correct those issues as well. Let me begin by providing some advice to the government right off the bat. Roberta Place long-term care facility is 10 minutes from where I am tonight. Many MPs and Canadians came to know about the crisis at Roberta Place. Seventy-one seniors passed away. Almost the entire staff was infected by one variant of this virus, the U.K. variant. After 10 months of the staff working so hard to provide a ring around Roberta Place, it took one person with the U.K. variant to come into Roberta Place and that variant effectively became a firestorm through the building, resulting in many deaths of seniors and leaving a community devastated and reeling. Therefore, I have some advice for the government tonight, after hearing some of the breaking news going on right now about the new variant, the B.1.617 variant. The B.C. government and health ministry has indicated there are 39 cases of that new variant, which means it is already here. We found out earlier today that one case of that variant was identified in Quebec. My advice to the government right now, and this cannot wait any longer, given the circumstances that we went through, is to shut down flights where those variants have originated. We hear tonight that France has banned flights from the countries where that variant is coming from. We hear that the United Kingdom has banned flights from those countries as well. It is already here and we need to do everything we can to keep it out for the sake and safety of Canadians. In the spirit of what the member for Saanich—Gulf Islands was proposing tonight with respect to solutions, this is one that the government needs to act on immediately and take the advice from where it is coming, a community that was decimated as a result of what happened at Roberta Place, with just one person bringing that variant in. The level of anxiety and mental health in the country is palpable. It certainly is palpable within my community of Barrie—Innisfil. Not a day goes by when I do not hear from business owners or from moms who are worried about their children as a result of what has gone on. If we are going to move forward and help deal with this crisis, there are a couple of things we need to focus on in addition to the very serious issue I brought up right from the start. We need to get down to the grassroots, the base of truth and facts. People are exhausted. There has been a lot of confusing information coming from all levels of government. The lines of government have been extremely blurred throughout this process. Whether it is municipal, provincial or federal, people are looking to government for factual information. People are becoming confused and that is creating doubt among Canadians as to what the proper course of action. Therefore, the one thing I would encourage the government to do is to be truthful and be factual with Canadians. It is what they need and it is what they want right now. That means providing information, being open and transparent. There have been several cases over the course of the last several months, throughout the course of this pandemic, where we have had to basically scratch, claw, fight and push and pull for information from the government, whether regarding the contracts for the vaccines or other issues. I implore the government to be truthful and factual with Canadians when it comes to information as it relates to all aspects of this. The confusion, which is creating the doubt, is creating the exhaustion among Canadians right now. If we go back to the beginning of this crisis, there were several issues, and we can learn from them. There were medical intelligence briefings talking about what was happening around the world, particularly in China, and the early warning system being shut down. Flights from hot spots were coming into Canada from areas like Spain and Italy, all dealing with massive outbreaks. I recall being at a joint interparliamentary committee meeting and talking about MP flights. There was some concern that if we banned MP flights, maybe we would scare people into trying to understand the situation. A lot of the things that have gone need to be corrected. To get back to the factual information, there was a lot of confusion in the beginning as to whether we should wear masks or not wear masks and that the risk was low. We heard a lot of that coming from the government as well. We knew back in November that we would have a serious deficiency with vaccines. We were starting to understand at the time that the government had put all of its eggs in the CanSino basket. We were starting to see that the U.K. and the U.S. were getting vaccines at the time. Flights were going into the United States and the U.K. with vaccines and they were being highly publicized, yet Canada did not receive anything until December. That has been a challenge for us, especially with the evolution of the variants coming into Canada. This virus is not going away. It is going to stay with us and that is adding to the anxiety of Canadians. We need to learn to manage it much better. We need to mitigate the challenges that exist with this, and that includes vaccines. We need to ensure there are enough. Clearly there has not been enough at this point to get us in a better situation. Yes, it is easy to compare to the United Kingdom and the United States. When Canadian baseball fans see Texas Stadium filling up with 40,00 people and we are still in lockdown, that causes Canadians to question where we are with vaccines. Rapid testing is another issue. This is how we are going to mitigate this problem, but we have not seen rapid testing to the extent and degree that we have seen, for example, in the United Kingdom. I have another phone call tomorrow with a company that is looking to get rapid tests approved by Health Canada. This has been a challenge for many companies in Canada that have provided their products to Health Canada for approval. Isolating people, those with underlying health conditions and comorbidities, is critical in managing this crisis as well as contact tracing. Other countries have done that significantly well. The government talked about the app, but we do not hear about that anymore. Those are some of the ideas that the Conservatives have come up with in order to mitigate this. We cannot continue, by default, to lock down the Canadian population. The heightened anxiety, the fear and the mental health crisis happening in the country is really significant. I know all members of Parliament are dealing with it on a day in and day out basis as we deal with our constituents. Therefore, I am asking for what Canadians are demanding of government, governments at all levels, and that is the truth, honesty and giving them some hope as to when this crisis may end, because right now there is not much hope. We hear on the news about these new variants, vaccine distribution and procurement issues. We hear about all that stuff and it is adding to the anxiety. By being truthful and honest with Canadians and letting them know exactly where we stand, we can provide them with hope. Finally, we need a plan to reopen the economy soon. We cannot keep burdening businesses and people employed by those businesses, because it is going to add to the anxiety and mental health. I know this has been said several times, but I want to thank our front-line workers, health care workers, first responders and others for really carrying the yoke on this crisis.

Madam Speaker, I am going to challenge the member on that because he is factually wrong. The vote that was presented to Parliament was for the government to present a plan for reopening the economy. It was not a plan to reopen it immediately. Canadians and businesses in particular, and the people who are employed in those businesses, are looking for that plan. In terms of shutting things down, I hope he is not confusing my request right off the top given the experience that happened here in Barrie with the U.K. variant. I hope he is not confusing that with shutting everything down. I am talking about doing what the U.K. and France did which is to ensure that there are no further cases of this new variant coming into this country. We already know they are here. There actually is danger involved within our country as a result of that.

Madam Speaker, I know that the province has already started instituting plans. Locally, there have been additional settings and buildings that have been built, and that is happening right around the province. The province is actually trying to manage as best it can, with additional facilities, to look after the situation. I know that over the weekend the Prime Minister and some of the ministers held a press conference putting on their capes and coming in on their white horses. The challenge is that it is a vaccine shortage issue. Even the local chief medical officer of health said today that there is a vaccine shortage here in our region. His concern is that there may be a fourth wave coming on top of the third wave we are currently experiencing. The vaccines will certainly help. The province is doing its best to get more vaccines into additional hot spot areas, but we do need vaccines.

Madam Speaker, in the spirit of what the member for Saanich—Gulf Islands was intending tonight, I hope I was able to articulate providing solutions together, which is exactly what Canadians expect. To the issue of what is happening in B.C. with 39 cases and one in Quebec, given our experience in this area, I am trying to provide the government with an opportunity to act and to act quickly, despite the fact those variants are here, to further protect Canadians, which is the intent.

Madam Speaker, National Volunteer Week starts April 18, and this has been an incredible year in my riding of Barrie—Innisfil with people stepping up like never before to help. Today, I would like to recognize several individuals and groups in our communities of Barrie and Innisfil who have been there to help each other and our most vulnerable, or to simply bring joy and hope to our communities when we have needed it the most. They are the Barrie Food Bank; Mark and Patty Sachkiw; the Innisfil Food Bank; Innisfil's incredible Jennifer Richardson and her family; Barrie Families Unite Facebook group; Dawn Mucci; the Women and Children's Shelter of Barrie; Tom Hanrahan; Deb Harrison, VP of Christmas for Kids (all year round); Marshall Green; Fill a purse for a Sister; David Blenkarn; Sandy Berube; the Coldest Night of the Year in Barrie; Tracy Baker; Lexi Capirchio; Glenn Rogers; and Bev Kell. I will be virtually hosting my fifth annual Barrie—Innisfil volunteer awards soon to honour these and other terrific volunteers. On behalf of a grateful community and nation, I thank everyone who volunteers to make a difference in their communities and in people's lives.

Mr. Speaker, yesterday at the veterans affairs committee, Allan Hunter, a military and veterans advocate, spoke about the reaction from women in the military to the Liberal decision to shut down the defence committee’s study into sexual misconduct in the Canadian military. He said he has heard from women who have said, “Shutting down the committee is giving the message that what happens to females in the service is not important and that we are second-class civilians.” Mr. Hunter also said that women in the military feel like they cannot come forward now out of fear. How can the Prime Minister justify adding to a culture of fear for women who serve in Canada's military?

Mr. Speaker, when asked whether he felt the decision to shut down the committee by Liberal members would put women in our military further at risk, Mr. Hunter said, “I can say that since that happened, I have been getting contacted by females who have been assaulted, raped and abused in the military. Some are still serving, and they are absolutely terrified to come forward.” The women are angry that the Prime Minister does not want to hear their stories or, worse yet, that he does not care. Does the Prime Minister not see that by shutting down the committee and covering this up he is adding to a culture of fear for women who serve in our military?

Mr. Speaker, I thank my hon. colleague for his discussion this afternoon on Bill C-22. One of the things the bill proposes is a reduction of mandatory minimums. A little known fact is that many of those mandatory minimums were put into effect by previous Liberal governments. I am wondering if the hon. member could speak to the consequences of lowering mandatory minimum sentences for the most severe crimes, which the bill proposes to diminish.

Madam Speaker, I appreciate the short time I have to speak on Bill C-14. I do want to address a couple of things. First, Parliament still reigns supreme in the approval of spending powers. It has been that way since Parliament existed, and it is still that way today, for now. What is important about that, and the reason I bring it up is that we have seen over the course of this pandemic, and it has been a heck of a year, certain plays made by the government to try to seize control and seize power. We saw it at the beginning of the pandemic, in March 2020, when the Liberals introduced a piece of legislation that would have given them unfettered control over the Treasury, and the ability to tax and spend up until 2022. If it were not for that push-back from the opposition, all opposition parties, and particularly Canadians, I would hate to see what type of position we would have been in today. The other thing we saw, and it really speaks to the cynicism we have in some cases dealing with the government and what it is trying to push forward in legislation, particularly spending legislation, is that last fall we effectively had four hours to approve a $54-billion spending bill after the government put a time allocation on it. I know the previous speaker, the member for Elmwood—Transcona, spoke about this, but we have all played our part in ensuring that Canadians get the benefits as a result of this pandemic. We have all been there, Conservatives, NDP, Greens and Liberals, as well as the Bloc, to make sure that Canadians have the supports they need. When it became clear that this was an increasing public health crisis and that public health advice needed to be followed, it meant that many businesses had to be shut down, and this affected not just businesses but also the people they employed. All of those things had to happen. Those supports were needed. In many cases, as members will recall, those supports fell way short of what was needed. It should be no surprise to anybody in this House, and no surprise to anybody who is watching, that there are a lot of regional differences that exist in this country. There is a differing of opinions. It is still okay to have that. Much of what I was bringing to this House and what I was bringing to ministers at the time was precisely what I was hearing from my constituents, whether it was from the business community or individuals, of just how short some of these programs were. There is the case of Tony and Anna Gillespie, for example, who own a tae kwon do studio in my riding. They just started their business last year. Even up to this point, they have not been able to access some of those benefits. The Canada emergency wage subsidy is an example. When the government introduced that as legislation, it came in at 10%. It was the opposition parties, and I emphasize the plural because it was not just the Conservatives, and individual MPs who were telling the government that that 10% was woefully inadequate. We saw that subsequently bumped up to 75% as a result. What I am speaking to more broadly is that many of these programs were either too restrictive or too prescriptive at the time. It was important for us to make sure that the government was aware of that. In many cases it moved, and in some cases, as is the case with Tony and Anne Gillespie, the government has not moved far enough.

The hammer drops once again, Madam Speaker. In the time that I have left, and there is not much of it, I want to talk about what the bill proposes. We can support many aspects of it. In fact, we did support it through committee and several suggestions were made at committee. However, it is disturbing that the debt ceiling is going to be raised over $600 billion. When we think of where we were a year and a half ago, the overall debt in the country was $600 billion. We are now looking at $1.83 trillion in debt, and that is concerning. I know it is awfully difficult for people to understand the magnitude of what we are going to be facing with respect to deficits. We know right now that we are at $343 billion roughly. Hopefully, we will find out on Monday with the budget exactly where we are. That combined with the actual debt, which today stands at $1.2 trillion, is quite concerning. Again, I am not discounting the fact that Canadians have needed the help, but we have been focused a lot over the last year on the expense side of the ledger. Many of the measures that have been implemented have been there to support Canadians, but there is a reason we continue to be in what is seemingly a never-ending pandemic scenario, and that is because of the failure of the government to procure vaccines and to ensure there is enough vaccine distribution for Canadians. This amount of deficit, the increased spending, is going to continue, but at some point we really have to start turning our minds to the revenue side of the ledger and how we are going to pay for this. Make no mistake that, yes, government has supported Canadians and has taken on a hefty burden of that debt, but at some point it will have to be paid back. Two things happen: Taxes go up and services go down. That is just a fact of life, and I think most Canadians would understand that, but we have to focus on what an economic recovery looks like. Economic recovery has to include every part, every sector, every region and every individual of the country. It is not some reimagined or imaginary economy. Canada will have to rely on the power of our businesses. We will have to rely on the people who are employed in those businesses, the products they produce and ensure we are competitive both domestically and internationally. We need to create an air of investor confidence both here, domestically, and for foreign investment as well. When I talk about every sector of our economy having to fire on all cylinders to pay for the debt and deficit situation we are in, that includes ever sector of our economy, including our natural resource sector. These are the important things we are going to have to eventually turn our minds to. When I talk to people, I ask them how much is too much when it comes to that. I think of my former life as a firefighter and the salary that a firefighter, a nurse and all those occupations make. If they pay 40% income tax right now, how much is too much to pay for this unless we get our economy going again? Is 50%, 60% or so on too much? Is raising the GST 5%, 6% or so on too much? What about home equity taxes? Is taking the capital gains and paying the equity that people have built into their home going to be too much at that point? We know that the government has looked at it. We know that CMHC has proposed a study on this through the University of British Columbia. A former finance minister stood up in the House and guaranteed Canadians something. I asked him many times whether he would implement a home equity tax. He said no. He is no longer here. Maybe the Prime Minister has found the path of least resistance, because we know that is a low-hanging fruit opportunity for them as well. These are the types of things that should be on the minds of Canadians when it comes to the government proposal, through legislation, to raise debt ceilings, incurring more and more debt and deficits. Eventually, somebody will have to pay for this. Canadians are not naive. They know that money does not grow with fairy dust or grow on trees. They know that eventually somebody will have to pay for this. Of course, to create this booming economy coming out of this recession where nobody is left behind, it is in terms of those sectors and regions around the country to create the tax revenue, both from a corporate tax standpoint where the businesses are making money to pay those taxes, and from the individuals who are gainfully employed paying those taxes, which is going to become critical to the success of our economic recovery. I Just wanted to make those points, and that Parliament reigns supreme still. We have the oversight of government spending, and that has to be maintained. Fortunately, for all Canadians, we have been in a minority situation where we have been able to highlight some of the inefficiencies of this government in the past. I fear that if a majority situation were to happen, Canadians would be worse off. So, we are going to provide an alternative to Canadians. We are going to talk about the economy. We are going to secure our future. We are going to make sure that every Canadian succeeds coming out of this pandemic.

With regard to Transport Canada and flight crew and pilot ‘sit time’ for medical purposes and wait time for licenses: (a) how many licensed pilots are currently medically unfit to pilot an aircraft; (b) how many flight crew personal, excluding pilots, are currently unfit to fly; (c) how many licensed pilots and flight crew have completed the two-year ‘sit time’ and have been waiting (i) for three months for paperwork to be completed so they can return to work, (ii) for six months for paperwork to be completed so they can return to work, (iii) longer that six months for paperwork to be completed so they can return to work; and (d) how many pilot licenses are waiting to be signed by Transport Canada?

With regard to the Veterans Disability Program: (a) what is the oversight role of Veterans Affairs Canada (VAC) employees; (b) what is the oversight role of VAC executives, including key performance indicators assigned regarding the disability program; (c) what are the details of the Medavie Blue Cross contract related to the disability program, including (i) the summary of the terms of agreement, (ii) the contract start and end dates, (iii) the costs to administer, (iv) the summary of the review clauses, (v) the key performance indicators; and (d) what specific process does each application go through from the initial application until a decision is rendered?

With regard to the medical cannabis program for veterans: (a) what is the oversight role of Veterans Affairs Canada (VAC) employees; (b) what is the oversight role of VAC executives, including key performance indicators assigned regarding the program; (c) what are the details of the Medavie Blue Cross contract related to the medical cannabis program, including the (i) summary of the terms of agreement, (ii) contract start and end dates, (iii) costs to administer, (iv) summary of the review clauses, (v) key performance indicators; and (d) what specific process does each reimbursement application go through from the time of purchase through the reimbursement?

Madam Speaker, I am extremely pleased to be participating in this very important debate today on a motion that requests the government to include help in the next budget to support workers and their families who are struggling during this pandemic, resulting in the economic downturn that has occurred. I am doing this from Terminal 4, which is an area in central Ontario, in Barrie and Innisfil, that is known as “T4” because of the fact that hundreds of airline sector employees and their families live here because it is in close proximity to the Toronto Pearson airport. In fact, throughout the GTA, from Kitchener to Bowmanville and from Markham to Huntsville, tens of thousands of families depend on Canada's airline sector continuing to thrive and survive. Travel advisers like Charlene Caldwell in my riding of Barrie—Innisfil, food workers in Brampton, limo drivers in Mississauga, and restaurant and hotel workers are all watching, literally with their economic well-being on the line, waiting for help to come. The situation is described by the Air Canada Pilots Association as “dire”. Many of those employees and their families are not just constituents but also friends, pilots, flight attendants and many others who have been directly and indirectly negatively impacted by the pandemic as a result of the government's decisions and policies, which many see as inconsistent, incoherent, misunderstood, and not based on any data, evidence or science, but simply on politics. The effect of the decisions has been so profoundly negative that many are losing hope that the airline sector may ever recover to the way it was before the pandemic. When we add to this not just the incoherence of the public policy decisions that have been made and the fact that the families affected have seen so many other countries in the G7 step up to offer their airlines help early on when the trouble started, words and platitudes, which is all we have heard from the Prime Minister and now two ministers of transport, are not providing any sense of hope for many of these families. When I talk of these families and of the impact this is having and the anxiety they are feeling, I know what I am speaking of. I come from a long line of airline employees. My mom worked for Air Canada. My sisters worked for Air Canada, and one still does. My wife Liane did as well. My uncle was a mechanic at the Dorval airport. Like all airline families who have a long history of working for an airline, they have seen many good times in the sector, but they have seen nothing as desperate as what they are dealing with now. Help cannot come soon enough, and that is precisely what this motion is all about. As the member of Parliament for Barrie—Innisfil and a representative of Terminal 4, I have been hearing from pilots, flight attendants and those who are directly and indirectly associated with the airline industry, including many travel advisers. I know the Air Canada Pilots Association has been asking its members to send letters to members of Parliament, and I am sure all parliamentarians have been receiving them. In part, what the letter says is that by connecting people, goods and services, our airlines form a critical part of Canada's economic infrastructure. Every day we see how important it is to unite communities, support jobs across the country and transport goods within Canada and internationally. As incomprehensible as it may seem, this critical sector may not recover from the pandemic, much less survive it, without urgent help from the federal government. They go on to say that Canada's airline industry could emerge from the pandemic in a weakened state, unable to compete against foreign carriers that have benefited from direct government aid that for some carriers has been in the billions of dollars. There may be countries that can function without a robust airline sector, but Canada is not one of them. Canada stands alone in its lack of meaningful direct financial aid for its airlines. There are other concerns from the pilots that have been brought to light, including the fact that many of them, almost 600, have been furloughed. What does that say about their training? What does that say about their capability to recover from this and get the airline sector back on track? They describe the situation as being “dire”, and I would agree with them. The airline sector in and of itself, the travel and tourism and the billions of dollars that they represent to our communities right across this country, are really too big to fail. The next area I want to focus on is travel advisers. There are over 12,000 travel advisers in this country. On the day after International Women's Day, it should not be lost on all of us that 85% of them are women. I have met with many of them over the course of the last year, and one of the things they are looking for is commission protection from the government when it comes to refunds. Not only are they being hit on that side of it, but many of them who have not been able to earn any income since this pandemic started a year ago are also being hit by credit card companies asking for refunds. Let us think about this. Let us put ourselves in their position. People who have not been able to earn income for the better part of a year are now being asked to pay back that income. Many of them will not be able to survive, so I can clearly empathize with travel advisers and the impact this situation is going to have on them. A lot of this is an unintended consequence of the passenger bill of rights, and I spoke earlier about misunderstanding it. The passenger bill of rights passed by the government in 2019 allows for refunds not to be provided in non-controllable circumstances. It is probably one of the most widely misunderstood facts among consumers, and it falls directly on the government, because many of the decisions that have been made during this pandemic that have caused the airlines to effectively shut down have been made by the government. Almost every other sector in this country has received support from the government, with the exception of the airline sector. I am not talking about the emergency wage subsidy; I am talking direct sectoral relief, similar to what other G7 countries have done, including the United States, where billions of dollars have been spent. Delta is recalling all of its pilots and United Airlines just made an expansion announcement; meanwhile, in Canada, we are at 5% of our passenger loads and some pilots have not flown since March 18. The other thing this motion calls for is relief for the charitable sector. I can personally speak on that. I have heard from charitable sectors within my community that are hurting as a result of this pandemic. Businesses continue to fall through the cracks. Many of them, as my colleague from Abbotsford said, are sole proprietorships, not incorporated businesses, and many of them started in 2020, yet the government programs that exist are still far too prescriptive and far too restrictive for many of them to receive the type of benefits they are applying for. Many have been turned down, and I have been hearing from a lot of them lately. We need a plan, not just for bailouts but also for recovery. This virus is not going away, and we need to ensure we manage it with every tool we have in our tool box. That includes vaccines, rapid testing, isolating the most vulnerable and making sure we are contact tracing. Not everything should be defaulted to a lockdown or further restrictions; we need to make sure that when a plan is developed, it includes a plan for recovery, and that recovery should include the power of Canadian business. It should include the people they employ and the products they produce so that we can create a competitive environment, both domestically and internationally, for the things Canada produces in every sector, including forestry, natural resources, airlines and construction—all of those things—with less government intervention and legislation. We need to ensure we create this competitive environment so that investor confidence will come back into this country. It is going to be critical for us to do that, because the debt and deficits will be paid for generations to come. We need to improve the revenue side of the ledger. After this is all over, the Prime Minister will be fine, but many of these families I am speaking about will be left to pick up the shattered pieces of their lives and try to recover economically. As I conclude, those families include travel agents like Charlene Caldwell, Judith Coates, Brenda Slater, Nancy Wilson, Laura Gaudet, Margie Connor, Nancy Eleusiniotis and Loretta Sellers. They also include pilots like Michael Frena; the QuoVadis family, both dad and son Brandon, who followed in his father's footsteps; the Kennedy family; the Russell family; Martin Tremblay; the Rasical family and the Ceppos family. All of them have been directly affected by what is happening in the airline sector and the travel and tourism sector. Today the Conservatives are asking the government to put action to their words—

Madam Speaker, this is not the first circumstance that Canada has been in an economic crisis. As we know, in 2008, during the great meltdown of the economic markets, the government at the time, led by Prime Minister Harper, did in fact incur debt. It incurred debt to provide stimulus to the economy, which worked and helped Canada recover faster than any G7 nation. This is an unprecedented circumstance, and the level of supports for families has been needed. However, let us make no mistake, this is not a debt that has been incurred by the Government of Canada. The Prime Minister likes to say that the government took on debt so that families did not have to, but this money will have to paid back. This debt will have to be paid back by Canadian families. The way that can be done is by raising taxes. I do not expect that the government will do anything less than that if it is re-elected. We have to be concerned about what we are imposing on future generations.

Madam Speaker, I do not know the circumstances or the context of the discussion at the finance committee, so I do not think I am qualified to speak to that. The one issue the hon. member did bring forward was the issue of the power of business. I wholeheartedly believe that it will be, as I said in my intervention, the power of Canadian business, the people they employ and the products that they produce, that will propel us out of this, as long as government does not get in the way, and as long as government is allowing regulations, legislation and policy that create investor confidence, both domestically and from foreign investment as well. That includes every sector of the economy, firing on all cylinders, because government supports it. It is not about reimagining the economy into something of the Prime Minister's idyllic view, but to use those sectors of our economy that have traditionally propelled this country to great wealth, great opportunity and great hope for Canadians. This is what we need to do as a government, and this is a plan that Conservatives are working on and will be providing that option to Canadians as we move forward in the next election.

Madam Speaker, as I said, that is probably one of the most largely misunderstood, unintended consequences of the passenger bill of rights, which was implemented by the government in 2019. I think this is widely misunderstood among consumers, and it is right in the passenger bill of rights, but if there is a situation that is non-controllable than it is not incumbent upon the airlines to provide those refunds. That is not to say that they should not provide them. One of the things we talk about in this motion as part of the potential sectoral relief to the airline sector is providing refunds to passengers.

Madam Speaker, the minister spoke about direct support payments of $300, $500 and roughly $1,500. Many seniors in my riding find that woefully inadequate to support them during this crisis, especially when they found out that students between the ages of 15 and 17 were getting roughly $8,000. That amounted to about $700 million in support. Many of them were rightly upset by that, because they had contributed their whole lives to this country, yet 15- to 17-year-olds have their whole lives to contribute ahead of them. What would the minister say to seniors in my riding who are upset by the disproportionate amount of money they receive compared with 15- to 17-year-olds?

Mr. Speaker, the GTA is home to thousands of airline sector employees. In fact, Barrie—Innisfil is known as terminal 4. I cannot begin to explain the level of frustration, anxiety and anger among pilots, flight attendants, service agents, employees and their families as they sit at home. Their lives and livelihoods are threatened because of incoherent policies and a resulting lack of sectoral support. For months now, as layoffs mount, routes are cut and planes are parked, all these families have heard from the Liberals is that support is coming. On behalf of these anxious families, I want to know this: When is that support going to be coming?

Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague for her speech. I think there is another major problem: the carbon tax. Let me explain. I represent a senior community called Sandycove Acres. There are almost 3,000 seniors in this community who are finding it difficult to pay their bills. With the carbon tax being implemented on home heating, many of them are paying, in some cases, $20 to $30 more a month. I have seen the bills. Any gains that are made with the OAS or the guaranteed income supplement are being eroded by the cost of the necessities of life, like home heating and others. Would the member agree that seniors should be exempt, at a minimum, from the carbon tax so they can enjoy a good quality of life and not see an erosion of their income?

Madam Speaker, I regret that I am not standing in our symbol of democracy this morning to pay tribute to World War II veteran Wolf William Solkin. Wolf passed away at Ste. Anne's Hospital in Montreal on Wednesday, just days before his 98th birthday. He was the last surviving officer of Canada's Algonquin Regiment, which helped to liberate Europe during the Second World War. “NE-KAH-NE-TAH” or “let us lead” is the motto of the Algonquin Regiment, and lead Wolf did. In 2016, after Ste. Anne's was transferred from federal to provincial management, Solkin noticed a decline in service, so he took on a class action lawsuit that is still under way. He was fierce, determined and fearless in his advocacy for veterans' rights and dignity and he inspired a new generation of veterans to fight for what they have earned. There is a profound sense of loss today among Canada's veterans community. To his wife Louise, sons David and Andrew and daughters Cindy and Suzu, on behalf of a grateful nation, please accept our condolences and sincere thanks for Wolf's service to our country and to his fellow veterans. Bravo Zulu.

Madam Speaker, I will be splitting my time tonight with the member for Brandon—Souris. Before I begin, I want to thank the Leader of the Opposition, our colleagues in the NDP and the member for Vancouver Kingsway for asking the Speaker to grant time to what I think is the most critical issue that is facing the country today. I say that from the epicentre. Just 10 minutes away from here, we have an unfolding situation with the Roberta Place long-term care centre that requires Parliament's attention. At Roberta Place, 127 residents have tested positive, 92 staff have tested positive and 46 members of this long-term care centre are dead as a result of COVID-19. I have been representing this area, as a city councillor and as a member of Parliament now, for the better part of 14 years. I have built tremendous relationships with not just the staff, but the people who live in that residence and their families. It is heartbreaking to understand what has been going on there. As a country, I ask everyone to not only pray for the staff and the residents, but also those who are helping them, such as the staff from the Royal Victoria Hospital, from the Simcoe Muskoka District Health Unit, and from Soldiers' Memorial Hospital. I also ask everyone to pray for Edwin Ng. Edwin is a support worker who is on a ventilator right now in critical condition at the Royal Victoria Hospital. His wife Samantha and his three children are dependent on Edwin to provide support for them. He is in critical condition. I ask that Canadians pray not only for everybody involved in this situation, but also for Edwin. There have been 99 of these cases confirmed as the U.K. variant. For 10 months, Roberta Place had built a wall around itself. There were no cases. Everything was going well. Then, all of a sudden, the U.K. variant came in and, like a firestorm, it raged through that building resulting in the situation I described earlier. There is a tremendous amount of fear and anxiety within our community. In particular, the chief medical officer of health, Dr. Gardner, is warning of the potential for this to spread and of community transmission. I have spoken to Dr. Gardner several times. The only way to deal with this and respond to the U.K. variant is to use immunization, and that means vaccinating. I know that Simcoe Muskoka District Health Unit and RVH have been doing their best to look after those in long-term care facilities and seniors facilities within their jurisdiction. However, the stark reality is that we have run out of vaccines. Any thought of using immunization as a response to this U.K. variant right now is not going to happen unless and until we get more vaccines. The challenge this week, as has been documented tonight and why the importance of this debate is upon us, is that we are not getting any vaccines this week. Based on the numbers we have from the Province, Ontario will only be receiving 20,000 vaccines next week. That is hardly enough to deal with the situation that is unfolding in central Ontario. The challenge with that is it is not just who we are vaccinating in the long-term care and senior homes. Many of them have received their first vaccines because the Simcoe Muskoka District Health Unit has had to prioritize our most vulnerable. A total of 10,000 people have been vaccinated. Many of them are front-line health care workers, personal support workers and long-term care workers who received their first dose of the vaccination and were expecting, within a 28-day period, that they were going to receive it last Thursday. However, they were told that it had been put off and that they would not be receiving the vaccine. They were further told on Friday that they were not going to be receiving a vaccine in the near term. Think of what that does to the front-line health care workers who are putting it out there every single day for our community and not knowing when that second dose is coming. I have been dealing with phone calls. The level of fear and anxiety among these health care workers is unimaginable. They are having to go into work every day not knowing when the second vaccine dose is going to be administered. They were counting on it, and it is heartbreaking. For anybody who thinks this is all about politics, this is about solutions. I know that our local MPP has been working day and night trying to coordinate this multi-agency effort that has been going on, but there is significant concern, not just among our community but among health care providers, the Simcoe Muskoka District Health Unit, Dr. Gardner and others. There is a lot going on, and this was predicted last year. The opposition was talking about how Canada had been at the back of the line. Last May, I had a conversation with my next-door neighbour, who works for AstraZeneca. He asked me if I knew what Canada was doing about vaccine procurement. I said that I assumed that they were doing it. He said none of them had been approached at that point. AstraZeneca had not been approached, Pfizer had not been approached, Moderna had not been approached, and we find out today from stories that are appearing in the paper why that is. What was the opposition accused of? It was accused of fearmongering and spreading false information. I have been on this call for a couple of hours now, and I have heard several members of the Liberal Party accuse us of that. We were actually telling Canadians the truth about what was going on. We need help in central Ontario. This morning, I spoke with Dr. Gardner and received correspondence from RVH and our MPP that speaks to the issue of vaccines. I tried to contact the health minister today, and I am grateful that her director of operations called me tonight. We need 4,000 vaccines to ensure that those who are vulnerable in our community are able to get their second doses by February 8. There are no vaccines available from the province. That is the stark reality. Therefore, I am seeking the federal government's assistance in dealing with this. The other thing that needs to happen, and I have been on this push for a year now, are rapid tests. There are rapid testing solutions out there, both antibody and antigen solutions. I am aware of at least one company that has had an application before Health Canada since last April or May and it still has not been approved. I am aware of other companies. These are three-minute antigen and antibody tests that must be approved. They are part of the overall solution of not just vaccines, but rapid testing. When I talk to people about this, they cannot believe that Health Canada has not approved them. Despite the fact that the U.S. FDA and the European Union, with the most stringent testing regime in the world, have approved these antibody and antigen tests, we do not have them here in Canada. That is another thing that Dr. Gardner talked about, as did Dr. Lee, the associate medical officer of health. If we had these rapid tests in place, much of this could have been avoided. Those are their words, not mine. We are in a desperate situation, as I said, here in central Ontario. Last Friday, I received this correspondence from the chief medical officer of health at RVH: Unless we receive more vaccine in the interim, it will mean only 25% of Simcoe Muskoka long-term care residents will receive their second dose within 28 days. No new Simcoe Muskoka LTC residents will receive dose one. No new Simcoe Muskoka assisted living care patients will receive dose one, making them ineligible for transfer to LTC or retirement homes, and no Simcoe Muskoka health care workers will receive dose two within 42 days. The clinic actually closed on Thursday, and all dose two appointments were cancelled. If we are going to be in alignment with provincial direction and protect our region from this highly transmissible variant, we need 4,000 doses, ministers, and we need them by February. Help us, please, in central Ontario.

Madam Speaker, this is the greatest challenge of our generation. Unless and until we come up with solutions for people, many who are vulnerable in our communities are going to continue to die. We are seeing that here in my riding of Barrie—Innisfil. We need these vaccines. I do not care what it takes. I do not care what we have to do. We need to ensure that we have, and are in a position to provide, vaccines for those who are vulnerable. I will also add rapid testing to that, as an ancillary solution to this issue. I do not know what to do to encourage the government. I have no idea of what to expect now. Everything we have been told has failed to happen. I have no confidence, and I know that there are many in our communities, including front-line health care workers, who have no confidence in the government's ability to deliver what it said was going to come. I know the government has said it has a robust portfolio. We have procured that, but I need the government to deliver. We need this, as a community and as a country.

Madam Speaker, all Canadians deserve a heightened level of transparency. All of us in opposition have been calling for the government to disclose the contracts with the manufacturers, and the government refuses to do that. This is a government that came to power in 2015 and said it was going to be transparent by default. It was going to be the most open and transparent government in the history of Canada. It has failed to do that on many fronts. Now is not the time to hide information. Canadians need to know, and they need to have confidence in their government's ability to produce exactly what it said it was going to. As I said earlier, I know our community, our health care workers, our PSWs, the people in our long-term care facilities and their families are losing faith that the government will be able to provide the provinces with what they need in terms of a solution. That solution is vaccines and rapid testing, as well.

Mr. Speaker, at the height of an unfolding tragedy at the Roberta Place long-term care centre in my riding, our local health unit has effectively run out of vaccines. The shortage is so serious that seniors, their families, PSWs and front-line health care workers have been told that there is no timeline for when to expect their first doses or vital second doses. We have run out of vaccines at the most critical point in this crisis. Minister, what do I tell families who are calling me, some in tears, about when they should expect their vaccines, when they know other countries are still getting their vaccines and Canada is not?