43rd PARLIAMENT, 2nd SESSION House of Commons Debates Official Report (Hansard) Volume 150 No. 091 Thursday, April 29, 2021 Speaker: The Honourable Anthony Rota CONTENTS (Table of Contents appears at back of this issue.) 6377 HOUSE OF COMMONS Thursday, April 29, 2021 The House met at 10 a.m. (Motions deemed adopted, bill read the first time and printed) * * * Prayer [Translation] PETITIONS ROUTINE PROCEEDINGS ORAL HEALTH ● (1005) [English] Ms. Soraya Martinez Ferrada (Hochelaga, Lib.): Mr. Speaker, I would like to present a petition on oral health on behalf of IMMIGRATION AND REFUGEE PROTECTION ACT Denyse Bouvier, an engaged citizen from Hochelaga. This petition Ms. Jenny Kwan (Vancouver East, NDP) moved for leave to has been duly certified and is signed by 6,835 people. introduce Bill C-291, An Act to amend the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act. We know that the high cost of oral health services in Quebec and She said: Mr. Speaker, I am honoured to introduce an act to Canada put low-income individuals and families, people experienc‐ amend the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act. ing homelessness and our seniors at a disadvantage. Dental health problems can also have an impact on the personal and social lives I would like to thank my colleague, the honourable deputy leader of Quebeckers and Canadians. of the NDP, for seconding this proposed legislation and for his tire‐ less advocacy for families longing to reunite with their loved ones. This petition calls on the government to implement a policy of This NDP bill stipulates that loved ones with family sponsorship providing free dental health care of all types. applications awaiting processing may not be refused entry into Canada as a temporary resident solely on the grounds that they may [English] not have established that they will leave Canada by the end of their authorized stay, unless there is evidence of a history of non-compli‐ CROSS-BORDER COMMERCE ance with requirements to leave Canada or any other country. It would further ensure that a foreign national who is the subject of a Mr. Chris Lewis (Essex, CPC): Mr. Speaker, it is my honour to family sponsorship application may remain in Canada as a tempo‐ table a petition today signed by local business owners and their rary resident until a final determination on their sponsorship appli‐ workers. cation is made. Far too many Canadians have been suffering silently and alone, The petitioners wish bring to the attention of the House the ur‐ and they face lengthy delays in the processing of their family spon‐ gent need for clarity and consistency at our borders. In 2020, this sorship application. What is worse is that they cannot even have industry was deemed essential by the Ontario government, yet at their loved ones visit, even before COVID-19. Their loved ones are the border they face many obstacles resulting in lost contracts and regularly met with denials of the TRV application under section jobs. The petitioners are asking to be allowed entry into the U.S. 179(b) of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Regulations, be‐ and Canada with the same exemptions from quarantines and fines cause immigration officers routinely deem having strong ties to that apply to all essential workers engaged in cross-border com‐ Canada would result in an overstay. My office has dealt with count‐ merce. less cases where people are still rejected even if they have a previ‐ ous history of travelling without incident. FOREIGN AFFAIRS I am tabling my private member's bill so that we can restore fair‐ Mr. Nathaniel Erskine-Smith (Beaches—East York, Lib.): ness and humanity to the process. I call on all parliamentarians to Mr. Speaker, I have a petition, e-petition 3031, that I would like to support this bill. present. 6378 COMMONS DEBATES April 29, 2021 Business of Supply It is signed by almost 1,400 residents who note that Israeli settle‐ regrets about his management leadership throughout the pandemic. ments in the occupied Palestinian territory are unlawful under inter‐ That is astonishing: No regrets for the closure of the world- national law, that Israeli occupation authorities have issued a deci‐ renowned early warning pandemic system that had been world- sion to forcibly evict hundreds of Palestinians from their homes in class before the government shut it down a few months before it the Sheikh Jarrah neighbourhood of East Jerusalem and that forces could have helped more than ever in its existence; no regrets for re‐ have demolished many Palestinian homes in occupied Jerusalem lying on Communist China for a vaccine for Canadians, which of since the beginning of this year. course fell apart, causing further delays and now is a part of the rea‐ son we are in such a severe third wave. The Prime Minister has no They call upon the Government of Canada to call on Israel to regrets for failing to deliver a national system of rapid screening stop its eviction of the Palestinian families in Sheik Jarrah and its and testing with standards, which was one of the first promises he carrying out of the announced land settlement of title and registra‐ made over a year ago when he shut down Parliament; and no re‐ tion policy in occupied East Jerusalem, which will result in the per‐ grets for his portfolio of vaccines. Of course, the government will manent appropriation of Palestinian land by the State of Israel. not release any of the contracts to show us the portfolio. The Prime * * * Minister has no regrets for having us further behind many other de‐ veloped countries in terms of total vaccinations and access to vacci‐ QUESTIONS ON THE ORDER PAPER nation. Mr. Kevin Lamoureux (Parliamentary Secretary to the Presi‐ dent of the Queen’s Privy Council for Canada and Minister of Perhaps it is easy for the Prime Minister to have no regrets when Intergovernmental Affairs and to the Leader of the Govern‐ he has a parliamentary career and perhaps a lifetime of having other ment in the House of Commons, Lib.): Mr. Speaker, I ask that all people clean up his mess for him. It is a hallmark of the Prime Min‐ questions be allowed to stand. ister. For Canadians watching, he is now on his third investigation The Speaker: Is it agreed? of personal ethical misconduct. He told the Ethics Commissioner during the first ethics investigation that he views his role as prime Some hon. members: Agreed. minister as being “ceremonial in nature”. In a crisis, we do not need ceremony. We need action. We need leadership and that is what has been absent from the government. GOVERNMENT ORDERS [Translation] ● (1010) [English] The Prime Minister has no regrets about the millions of Canadi‐ ans affected by the third wave of COVID‑19, his inability to pro‐ BUSINESS OF SUPPLY cure a sufficient number of vaccines or his slow approach. That is OPPOSITION MOTION—ACCESS TO COVID-19 VACCINES arrogance. Hon. Erin O'Toole (Leader of the Opposition, CPC) moved: While the Prime Minister is patting himself on the back, Canadi‐ That, given that, ans are losing hope because the the virus and dangerous variants (i) only 2.7% of Canadians are fully vaccinated against COVID-19, are spreading. (ii) the federal government did not deliver adequate vaccine supply in Jan‐ uary and February 2021, [English] (iii) the government extended the recommended interval for the second vac‐ cine dose to four months against the recommendations of vaccine manufac‐ turers, For more than a year, we have been calling for greater border measures to protect against COVID-19. For a year, we have been (iv) Canadians are facing increased restrictions and lockdowns in multiple provinces from British Columbia to Nova Scotia, calling for a national system of rapid screening, testing and national standards. We have been calling for a vaccine procurement and dis‐ the House call on the government to ensure that every Canadian adult has access to a vaccine by the May long weekend. tribution plan with domestic capacity. However, here we are in the third wave of a pandemic waiting for the Prime Minister to deliver He said: Mr. Speaker, I will be dividing my time with the mem‐ on commitments he made to Canadians in the first wave. ber for Calgary Nose Hill. All Canadians know that we are in the grips of the third wave of The Liberal government has categorically failed to keep COVID-19. Cases are rising, hospitalization rates are up, younger COVID-19 variants, dangerous ones, out of Canada; failed to se‐ people are tragically filling ICUs. Provinces are implementing new cure our border properly for over a year; failed to secure vaccines lockdowns and are so overwhelmed that they are calling again for in January and February to have vaccination rates at a level that the help of our brave men and women in the Canadian Armed would have prevented community spread of dangerous variants, let‐ Forces, the Red Cross, and even other provinces like Newfound‐ ting us down when it was most critical that he step up. land and Labrador to help with a third wave that could have been avoided. [Translation] Yet, despite all of this, during the most challenging wave of this The Prime Minister did not succeed in stopping variants from en‐ pandemic, the Prime Minister a few weeks ago said that he had no tering Canada. Under the Liberals, our borders are out of control. April 29, 2021 COMMONS DEBATES 6379 Business of Supply It has been a year and the Prime Minister has still not managed to insufficient that it means more lockdowns, more small businesses protect the country.