Government Orders
Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank my hon. colleague for her collaboration on Bill C-35. It has been an absolute pleasure to work with her on advancing this bill. We have had many conversations, and I share her deep commitment to ensuring that workers are fairly compensated and have the supports they need to thrive as child care workers. Workforce supports are indeed part of each of the bilateral …
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Mr. Speaker, I would like to congratulate my colleague on the birth of her second child and welcome her back to the House. It is great to see her here with her baby. I would just like to set the record straight, though, because there is actually nothing in the legislation that would prevent flexibility. In fact, in her home province of Alberta, when it comes to auspice, there is a mix of for-profi…
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Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank the NDP members as well as the Bloc Québécois members for their support, because we are going to be able to move forward with Bill C-35 despite the delay tactics of the Conservatives. For all of the reasons he mentioned, it is important to move this legislation through the House so that we can ensure Canadians have access to high-quality, affordable and inclusive…
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Mr. Speaker, I find it very unfortunate that my hon. colleague is not basing his question on facts, because when I was at committee I was very clear that we have created 50,000 new spaces across the country. In fact, we do have reporting in the legislation. The legislation requires the government to report on an annual basis as to the progress we have made. I can tell the hon. colleague that acros…
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Mr. Speaker, my colleague held my position before me and I know he is also a champion of child care and early childhood development centres. This is an excellent question. We are seeing results already. Since November, more women have been active in Canada's workforce than ever before. Part of the reason is our early childhood and child care program. We are seeing an increase in women's economic e…
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Mr. Speaker, I am not sure my hon. colleague asked a question there, but I do not mind enlightening him on the measures that we have taken to help Canadians with the high cost of living. For example, we brought forward the Canada housing benefit that helps millions of Canadians who are low-income renters. We brought forward the Canada dental benefit that has helped over 300,000 Canadian children a…
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Mr. Speaker, I also do not mind providing a bit of a history lesson to Conservatives, because, in fact, when the Liberals left government in 2006, they left the Conservatives with a big, healthy surplus. What did the Conservatives do? Well, they actually brought in years of deficits while cutting services and going through a global recession. On the other hand, what did we do? We invested in Canad…
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Mr. Speaker, at a time when the country is literally on fire and tens of thousands of Canadians have had to flee their homes, it is incredulous that the Conservatives continue to denigrate efforts to fight climate change. I am sorry, but it is hard to believe them when they say they take the environment seriously. It is even harder to believe them when they talk about affordability, because every …
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Mr. Speaker, the Conservatives know that it is actually the contrary. Since we have come into office, we have lowered taxes for middle-class Canadians, and we have increased benefits for low-income Canadians. We have also lowered child poverty by half since we came into office in 2015. It does not mean that we do not know there are Canadians who are struggling, which is why, on July 5, we will be …
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Mr. Speaker, I am not sure there was a question in there, but I do not mind actually sharing with the Conservatives—
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Madam Speaker, I would like to thank my colleague for her collaboration on this. I am absolutely thrilled we are here, continuing to advance early learning and child care and putting it into legislation, so I thank her for that collaboration. Yes, we do need to address the workforce challenges. In each of the bilateral agreements we have, we encourage and work with provinces and territories for th…
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Madam Speaker, what my hon. colleague said is really important because it is for all of those reasons that we brought Bill C-35 forward. It is because there was a lack of accessibility. It is because child care was extraordinarily unaffordable. It is because we wanted to ensure high quality care, and we wanted to make sure that it was inclusive for all Canadian children. For all of the reasons tha…
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Madam Speaker, I am absolutely thrilled to be back in the House talking about Bill C-35, an act respecting early learning and child care in Canada. This is another important step on the journey to providing early learning and child care that is affordable, accessible, high quality and inclusive for Canadian children right across the country. I do want to begin by thanking all of the members of the…
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Thank you, Madam Speaker. I really hope it is not the case that the Conservative Party of Canada has decided not to support affordable child care for Canadians, because I know that, for the hundreds of thousands of Canadian families for which this has been life changing, it would be so disappointing to know that the Conservative Party of Canada, once again, is voting against and not supporting aff…
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Madam Speaker, that is so typical from the Conservatives. They are saying, “Things are not perfect, so let us just do absolutely nothing.” On this side of the House, the Liberals say that, if we see a challenge, we should go forward and fix it. We should work with Canadians and their energy, and we should make sure we can do all of those things. If the member wants to see the plan, it is all publi…
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Madam Speaker, on the contrary, we recognize Quebec's leadership. We used Quebec's experience as a foundation for our child care and early learning program. I worked hand in hand with my Quebec counterpart on getting this bill through. We respect provincial jurisdictions.
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Mr. Speaker, I hear the passion that is there and I appreciate my hon. colleague's support for child care. Every single one of the issues that she raised is why this legislation is important and why this program is important. All of those issues would be in place if we were not moving forward with it. In fact, the Conservative plan has been to provide tax credits. Those do not build spaces. Those …
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Mr. Speaker, I hope Canadian women heard that speech, because the hon. member basically said that $6,000 a year in their pocket is scraps. She said that women want to stay home with their children. If they want to, that is their choice, but there are actually a lot of women who also want to have a career. I am sorry she has such an archaic vision of women in this country. I find that incredibly di…
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Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank my hon. colleague for her thoughtful speech. She put a lot of thought into it. I want to correct the record on a couple of things, though. The first is with respect to what child care is included in this legislation, as well as the agreements. There seems to be a misconception on the part of the Conservatives that for-profit or home day care is not included. In f…
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Mr. Speaker, I thank my hon. colleague for her speech because it reinforces why Bill C-35 is important when it comes to creating affordable child care, creating accessible child care and creating more spaces. I know that, when the Conservatives see a big challenge, they just throw up their hands to say, “We should not do anything”, but this government is different. We say, “There is a problem. Let…
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Mr. Speaker, I thank my hon. colleague for his speech. I also thank the Bloc Québécois for saying that it is in favour of this bill. I want to confirm that this bill respects the jurisdictions of the provinces and territories, including Quebec's jurisdiction. The agreement we signed with Quebec is an asymmetrical agreement that recognizes its leadership on this file. I want to emphasize the fact t…
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Madam Speaker, a lot of us can relate to what it is like to have a baby and that feeling of being overwhelmed, which is why child care is so important and it is so important for families to know they can send their child somewhere that is safe, that is going to provide quality development and education and that their child will be well cared for. I need to correct the record. The hon. colleague en…
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It doesn't say not not-for-profit; no, it doesn't.
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Madam Speaker, I would like to join my voice to my colleague's in sending condolences to the Irwin family and to the member's entire community. I cannot imagine the pain they are going through right now. The member ended by talking about grandparents taking care of grandkids. There is nothing in this legislation that would prevent a family from making their own child care choices. There is absolut…
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Mr. Speaker, do colleagues know what is costing Atlantic Canadian families right now? It is the forest fires in New Brunswick and Nova Scotia. It is the fact that there are thousands of families across this country that have had to flee their homes. Instead of putting policies on the table that would help fight climate change, they are obsessed with trying to deny it and trying to ensure that Cana…
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Mr. Speaker, I would like to ask my colleague what he plans to say to mothers when their children no longer have clean air to breathe because of problems caused by climate change. I would like to ask my colleague what the price should be for a healthy environment. Not only do the Conservatives have no plan to act on climate change, but when we propose measures to help Canadians, the Conservatives …
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Mr. Speaker, I am honestly not sure what the member opposite is talking about. I did not refer to someone being present or not in the House. I was referring to questions in question period.
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Mr. Speaker, what I find very disturbing is that we have not heard a single word about the wildfires from the Conservative Party of Canada that are raging across the country right now. Instead of talking about the impacts—
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Mr. Speaker, I guess I hit a nerve with the Conservatives, because they are recognizing that they have not spoken about wildfires and the thousands of their own constituents who have been driven from their homes. Instead of talking about the real impact and cost of climate change, they choose to talk about the fact that we have a plan and are actually fighting it because we care about Canadians, w…
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Mr. Speaker, I guess I hit a nerve with the Conservatives, because they are quite agitated about the fact that I pointed out—
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Mr. Speaker, it is typical of the Conservatives that they will not take yes for an answer. The finance minister is going to committee tomorrow, as long as they do not filibuster it. Let us talk about our economic record. They were talking about the OECD—
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Mr. Speaker, as I was saying, it is typical of the Conservatives to not take yes for an answer, as the Minister of Finance is scheduled to go tomorrow. Of course, that will depend on the Conservatives' stopping their filibuster. Let us talk about our economic record. My hon. colleague was talking about the OECD, but when the Conservatives came into office back in 2006, they ranked 17th when it cam…
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Mr. Speaker, this is emblematic of how the Conservatives acted when they were in government. They spent more time on symbols than on action. When it comes to our veterans, what did they do? They closed nine veterans offices across the country. When it came to cancer, what did they do? They did not make any investments. What did we do? We invested in the Terry Fox Foundation. When the Terry Fox sta…
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Mr. Speaker, what is exceptionally disappointing from the Leader of the Opposition is that at a time when families in Alberta are experiencing some of the worst wildfires in their history, he is railing against policies that are helping to fight climate change. When he talks about that single mom, unfortunately, he has opposed sending her the Canada child benefit, which has put thousands of dollar…
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Mr. Speaker, we understand that Canadians are struggling right now and that there is a high cost of living, but, unlike the Conservatives, we are actually acting. We have put measures in place, like the Canada child benefit, like the climate action incentive, like increasing the guaranteed income supplement, like the new grocery rebate. We are actually acting to help Canadian families at this time…
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Actually, Madam Speaker, when the country was on fire, so to speak, because we were experiencing the biggest health and economic challenge in a generation because of the COVID pandemic, our government came with a fire extinguisher. We were there to support millions of Canadians, whether through the Canada emergency response benefit, whether through the Canada emergency business account or whether …
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Madam Speaker, I thank my colleague for that question. Unfortunately, by law, passports are not considered essential. I am being honest with Canadians in telling them that passport applications cannot be processed during the strike. However, we understand that this has an impact on the lives of Canadians. That is precisely why we are at the bargaining table with the union. We want to resolve this …
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Madam Speaker, the only thing the Conservatives did when they were in government was that they balanced the books on the backs of Canadians. They did nothing when it came to helping Canadians get out of poverty. In contrast, what we have done is help lift 450,000 children and a total of 2.7 million Canadians out of poverty. At the height of the COVID crisis, do members know what we did? We were th…
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Madam Speaker, the point my hon. colleague has missed is that this increased spending was to serve Canadians during the pandemic. I know the Conservatives have forgotten that there was a pandemic that sent big shock waves through the economy and the health care system, but our government was there for Canadians during the pandemic. We made sure they received income supports, and we were there for …
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Mr. Speaker, let us be very clear. Since the day we took office in 2015, we have been there to support Canadians. We have put in place the Canada child benefit, which helps nine out of 10 Canadian families and has lifted 435,000 children out of poverty. Most recently we brought forward the Canada dental benefit and, so far, 250,000 children have been able to access the dentist. When it comes to ch…
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Mr. Speaker, in difference to the Conservative members of Parliament, on this side we actually respect workers and we respect their rights. We are at the negotiating table right now to ensure that we get a fair deal for Canadian taxpayers, as well as for the hard-working public servants who have been there for Canadians, particularly in their moment of need, particularly during the worst economic …
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Mr. Speaker, I think what is particularly concerning about what the member opposite is saying is that the public service grew at a time when Canadians were in their darkest hour. We are talking about a once-in-a-generation pandemic. We supported, and those same public servants supported, 8.5 million Canadians to access the Canada emergency response benefit. Those same public servants supported Can…
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Mr. Speaker, it is a bit hard to take the Conservatives at face value when they talk about Canadians in poverty, because when the Conservative government came into power in 2006, it was 17th in the OECD when it came to child poverty rankings. By the time Conservatives left office nine years later, they had fallen to 24th. They had actually done nothing to alleviate people who were living in povert…
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Mr. Speaker, as my colleague mentioned, I would like to confirm that Tuesday, May 2, and Thursday, May 4, shall be allotted days.
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Mr. Speaker, unlike the Conservatives, we respect the right to collective bargaining and we respect the right to strike. We also respect Canadians, and that is why, unlike the Conservatives, we brought in the Canada child benefit, which has helped lift 450,000 children out of poverty. Unlike the Conservatives, we increased the guaranteed income supplement, which has helped lift thousands of senior…
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Mr. Speaker, it is unfortunate that the Conservatives fail to understand the importance of being honest with Canadians. This is what I am doing now, being honest with Canadians about the passport situation during the general strike. It is equally unfortunate that the Conservatives are unable to grasp our duty to respect the right to strike. We have to respect public service workers, just as we hav…
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Mr. Speaker, unlike the Conservatives, I am not going to spin the situation for Canadians; I am going to be straight and honest with them. The law dictates what is an essential service, and passports are not considered essential under the law. I am not going to make things up; I am going to be straight with Canadians. When it comes to essential services like CPP, OAS, GIS, employment insurance, so…
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Mr. Speaker, I know Conservatives do not like to talk about facts, but I am going to put a few facts on the table. In 2006, when they came into office, Canada ranked 17th in the OECD when it comes to child poverty. By the time they had left office in 2015, Canada ranked 24th. It is a little hard to take them seriously when they talk about poverty, but do members know what? After our coming into of…
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Madam Speaker, I request that the ordinary hour of daily adjournment of the April 25 and April 27 sittings be 12 o'clock midnight, pursuant to the order made Tuesday, November 15, 2022.
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Mr. Speaker, for our government, it is important to make sure that we respect the right of workers to strike and we respect the collective bargaining process. We are doing just that because we believe that a good deal can be reached at the negotiating table, while we are also making sure that we are respecting Canadians and the price they are going to pay to ensure that we get a fair deal for Cana…
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