Elizabeth May (Saanich—Gulf Islands)
2021-02-23 13:28 [p.4439]

Mr. Speaker, I want to thank the hon. parliamentary secretary for a very helpful, thorough review of the government’s views on what has now come to this place from the other place.

I also wanted to focus, as his last remarks did, on some of his personal beliefs around the situation and the context for people in the disability community, the context for people who are experiencing extreme depression. We have to put that context in economic terms. We know that people who are in the disability community are far more likely to fall below the poverty line than able-bodied Canadians. It is a really significant crisis.

We experienced in CERB the ability to send a cheque for $2,000 to people across the country. I want to ask the hon. member if it is not time to look at guaranteed livable income as part of the package of public health measures, because poverty is the single largest component of health. As a social determinant of health, poverty is the largest measure. I know it is slightly unrelated to the debate on Bill C-7, but can we not move to eradicate poverty?

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Elizabeth May (Saanich—Gulf Islands)
2021-01-27 18:15 [p.3652]

Madam Speaker, I am thankful for this opportunity.

I will start by acknowledging that I am speaking from the traditional territory of the WSÁNEC first nation, the indigenous people of the territory that I am honoured to represent in Parliament.

Today, we are addressing Bill C-14, which, of course, includes the legislative changes that are required as part of the fall economic statement that was tabled November 30. Although our commentary today should be limited to the legislative changes before us, and I know that some of speeches have been quite wide-ranging, I want to reflect briefly on the fall economic statement itself, then turn to the legislation before us, and then to the things that are missing from it and that we wish were there.

The fall economic statement, at over 200 pages, is definitely wide-ranging. It references a lot of hard work, and I want to acknowledge the hard work of our Minister of Finance, indeed, the government as a whole, with a good dose of gratitude.

There is no perfection to be found in the actions of any government around the world in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Some do better than others, and some do worse than others. I think we do better as Canadians when we try to work together.

That is the intent of Greens, whether we are elected federally or in the provinces across this country. We prefer collaborative efforts, co-operation and working through consensus. However, in looking at this document, it is extraordinary in detailing ambition around a wide range of issues.

First, on the question of a safe restart, there was about $20 billion put into a safe restart. We know that this was transferring money to the provinces for things as important as personal protective equipment, PPE, and getting the vaccines rolled out, which is a subject we debated until midnight last night with a lot of emotion and different opinions, but we have vaccines. We wish that they were being rolled out more quickly, but it does take federal-provincial co-operation. It also takes dealing with global multinational pharmaceutical companies. We are also looking at day care, so for the safe restart and a number of other aspects, there was $20 billion.

There are priorities in the fall economic statement that are not COVID-related but are high-priority items for Greens, particularly working towards indigenous reconciliation and moving towards pharmacare. I do not know why it is taking so long, but pharmacare is flagged in the fall economic statement.

Specifically, we should start looking at pharmacare in relation to rare diseases. I am part of a caucus, quite an informal caucus, with members of Parliament from every single party in this place, and that is a great place for collaboration. We are working with the CF Foundation and trying to get the life-saving drug Trikafta to patients in the CF community. We work together, and I think we are better when we do so.

On the opioid crisis, again, referenced in the fall economic statement, Greens favour decriminalization. We need to move fast to stop the deaths from opioid addiction, which is an extension of a mental health issue. It is a health issue. It is not a criminal issue.

On climate, which is also referenced in the fall economic statement, Greens are very keen on improving our east-west electricity grid and also improving its potential to reach north. We applaud the focus on interties that we have begun to see out of the Canadian Infrastructure Bank. However, we need more. We need more work on the electricity grid. We need more work on public transit, but it is flagged, as is the importance of electric vehicles.

Many climate-related measures are in the fall economic statement, including nature-based climate solutions. On the commitment to planting two billion trees, which we have heard of many times and look forward to seeing, it is critical that they are trees appropriate to the ecosystems in which they are planted. It is critical that we do the tree planting in ways that enhance carbon sequestration and protect biodiversity, such as along stream banks to help protect our wild Pacific salmon where they have lost so much habitat.

These are measures we support, but they are not enough. We have seen Bill C-12, and they are referenced in the fall economic statement for climate accountability, but without major strengthening, such as a fixed dark target date of 2025 for carbon reductions, it will not be worth supporting.

When we look south of the border we see the steps the new Biden administration is taking, pursuing some of the courses Barack Obama left in place. This is also encouraging. Canada has scope, as is mentioned in the fall economic statement. With carbon and border adjustments, we can move our economies in the same direction and create more jobs while doing so. These are encouraging things.

We support Bill C-14 as far as it goes. The measures are important in order to get more COVID assistance to people to get more relief.

What is missing? There are many sectors that are not just falling through the cracks, but plummeting through a chasm. They need more help. I refer specifically to all the businesses in the tourism sector, particularly restaurants, but also bus services.

The fall economic statement refers to the highly affected sectors having more credit availability, but it is capped at $1 million per piece of assistance. I will specifically mention Wilson’s bus lines, which provides not only charter service but also regularly scheduled service into first nation communities. It is an integral part of our tourism ecosystem here. It is being pressured out of existence by the commercial banks. The banks are demanding repayment. The $1-million capped loan will not be enough to save Wilson’s.

For other parts of our transportation infrastructure, such as regional airports, $1 million in loans is not going to help them. We need to focus on what is needed to save all of our transportation infrastructure that is at risk right now. I think the best way to do that would be for the Minister of Finance or the Prime Minister to talk to all the CEOs of the big commercial banks and remind them they are making profits every quarter.

This is the most recent news. If we just scan the headlines of BNN Bloomberg, we see the new quarter, post-2020 into 2021, news. It is a kick off of big bank earnings. They are doing great. They have adjusted fourth-quarter profits above the average analyst estimates. When the banks are doing well, maybe not as well as before the pandemic, but they are not struggling or about to go under, they need to help.

Similarly, we should not be leaning on Canadians who got the CERB in good faith because they thought they made $5,000 in the previous year. The qualifications to say they did not qualify came out later. Come on. Let us fix it in this bill to say that anyone who received CERB who received $5,000 gross income in 2019 is entitled. That would clear up a misunderstanding and remove the cloud over the heads of over 440,000 Canadians who received, and I think this is an Orwellian turn of phrase, an education letter.

The critical issue of long-term care homes is referenced quite a lot in the fall economic statement. It mentions long-term care home workers. One of the more disturbing stories I saw in the last few months was of an outbreak of COVID in an Ottawa shelter for the homeless. It turned out the homeless who were living there were actually workers in long-term care. They were earning so little as long-term care workers, they were living in the Ottawa homeless shelter because they could not afford a roof over their head.

We need to do much more. We need to get into those long-term care homes and make sure our seniors are vaccinated. We need to stop the senicide. We need to make sure we pay our workers adequately, whether they are front-line workers in long-term care or anywhere in our society. We really do need a guaranteed livable income to ensure equity and decency for every single Canadian.

This is just a quick scratching of the surface of what we see as a challenge to us as Canadians. The fall economic statement gives us a good direction, but it needs to be more ambitious. We need to ensure that as we come out of COVID we repair our social safety net so it is not a net full of holes, but an actual place of stability, decency and respect for every single one of our human beings in this society, whether homeless, indigenous, or a woman who cannot figure out how to go back to work. We need to rebuild. We need a society that lives up to our greatest aspirations, including acting on the climate emergency while we still have time.

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Elizabeth May (Saanich—Gulf Islands)
2020-09-29 12:40 [p.240]

Mr. Speaker, as an opposition member of Parliament, I want to begin by thanking the Minister of Employment, Workforce Development and Disability Inclusion. I am absolutely confident that she has been working diligently and very hard. She was one of the few ministers to actually say out loud that she would have perhaps handled the WE Charity scandal a little differently.

I would still like to say that I regret we have such a short amount of time to debate this critical legislation. I would like to ask the minister if, instead of constantly trying to fill the gaps, cover the holes and rescue people who are left behind, she thinks it is time to bring in a guaranteed livable income.

Hon. Carla Qualtrough (Delta)
2020-09-29 12:41 [p.240]

Mr. Speaker, as I said, this pandemic has really revealed the gaps in our social safety net. We have taken a more targeted approach than perhaps a basic income approach would have been. We are trying to give more to the people we thought needed it the most, particularly workers and their families, and the most vulnerable.

However, I think there is an important conversation to be had in this country about income support, about how we can seamlessly incentivize transitioning to work instead of putting barriers in place that prevent people from actually working because they so desperately need the services, programs and supports they get when they are on social assistance. There are really important conversations that need to be had.

However, today we are talking about employment income and replacement support for workers who are impacted by COVID-19. Let us not in any way take that as me saying those other conversations are not important.

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OTTAWA – The Green Party of Canada is calling on the federal government to urgently recall parliament to pass wage subsidy legislation. The $73 billion dollar package must be approved by the House before relief can start flowing to thousands of Canadian businesses.

“Passing this legislation is critical, so if we need to bring a reduced group of MPs back to Ottawa to get it passed, then let’s do it,” said Green parliamentary leader Elizabeth May (MP, Saanich-Gulf Islands). “We know that C-14 and the expanded 75 per cent wage subsidy does not meet the needs of all. As Greens, we will press for Guaranteed Livable Income as well as flexibility for workers whose needs are not met by CERB. A huge worry for us is the plight of small businesses who see no lifeline in any existing program.”

“Businesses have been shut down for almost a month now. Owners are not only hurting and anxious, but trying to retain employees wherever possible. Green MPs agree that a virtual parliament will be a benefit in the future, but right now we need to move quickly and get this essential relief flowing. The longer it takes, the harder it will be for companies to keep their employees and bounce back once the recovery begins.”

House Speaker Anthony Rota concluded this week that a virtual parliament could take up to a month to roll out.

“We are delighted to see the collaboration between the federal parties and provincial leaders during the COVID-19 pandemic,” said Green Party Interim Leader Jo-Ann Roberts. “Now is not the time to resume political bickering. This legislation needs to be passed now. And Greens have agreed to have an MP in the House to make it happen. We acknowledge and appreciate the hard work being done behind the scenes to bring much needed relief to millions of Canadians in this unprecedented time. We are optimistic that this emergency legislation can be rolled out within the next week.”

# # #

For more information or to arrange an interview:

Rosie Emery

Press Secretary

613-562-4916 ext, 204

rosie.emery@greenparty.ca

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OTTAWA – The Green Party welcomes the financial relief that Canada Emergency Response Benefit (CERB) will bring to many Canadians affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, however MPs are pointing to gaping holes in the relief program that will leave many others facing financial hardship.

“Too many people fall through the cracks when it comes to the eligibility criteria of the CERB program,” said Green MP Paul Manly (Nanaimo-Ladysmith). “Like the person in my riding who is a part time paramedic. He lost another contract job that he needed to survive. He is not eligible for CERB because he still has some paid work as a paramedic. Or the health care workers with multiple part time jobs at care homes that can now only work at one because of health authority orders. We need frontline workers in these positions to be able do the work we ask of them and not be stressed out about paying rent and feeding their families. Small business owners who pay themselves with a dividend, are also ineligible.”

Greens have long advocated implementing a Guaranteed Livable Income program that would replace the current array of income supports, such as disability payments, social assistance and income supplements for seniors.

“If we had implemented an Emergency Guaranteed Liveable Income and sent everyone a cheque we could have saved people, civil servants and the system a lot of stress,” said Manly. “The Canada Revenue Agency could have figured out who deserved the funding and who didn’t through the tax system afterwards and taxed back those that didn’t need the extra income. It’s not too late to do that.”

“So many Canadians like artists and musicians rely on piecemeal employment to make ends meet,” said Green Party Interim Leader Jo-Ann Roberts. “Employment is no longer as easily defined as it was 10 years ago. The CERB eligibility rules exclude far too many of these workers, including self-employed people who have lost contracts but retain a small percentage of their income. They can’t abandon the work that remains but the income is not enough to survive on. Students and seniors whose part time jobs have been cancelled may not be eligible because of the $5,000 minimum income rule. Students who did not have work have no relief programs available to them.”

# # #

For more information or to arrange an interview:

Rosie Emery

Press Secretary

613-562-4916 ext, 204

rosie.emery@greenparty.ca

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And, if it isn’t the Ides of March…

Not to be superstitious, but on Friday the 13th, Parliament adjourned.  We set the date of April 20 to return, but essentially pre-approved staying out longer if required – or coming back sooner if economic and other pressing matters require it.

We are in uncharted territory.

The words I write now will be outdated by the time you read them.  The global pandemic that is COVID19 hangs over us like a fog. It could cause the deaths of tens of millions of people.  It has already caused a massive disruption of our way of life and our economy in Canada and globally.

The much lamented “threat” to our economy from indigenous blockades is already dismissed as a “blip” by the Parliamentary Budget Officer.

 Our economy must brace for something closer to the 2008 collapse.

But, it is not COVID19 alone.  The world faces something like the economic equivalent of the four horsemen of apocalypse as Russia’s war over oil pricing with the OPEC nations rides down on global economies.  The death knell of the oil sands can be heard, as the US shale deposits and fracked gas sputter their last.

What do we know of COVID19?  We know it is spreading fast and globally. China’s massive efforts at quarantine bought us time.  (“us” being the rest of humanity.) It is a stealth virus. We can carry it without symptoms and infect many others. It can be mild in its impact on the young and deadly to those who have other health conditions, particularly the elderly.

It spreads and grows faster than exponentially.  It was a shock that Tom Hanks could have it. Then Sophie Gregoire Trudeau. And Bolsonaro of Brazil.  (caution caution — one must not root for the virus.)

We root for the vaccine – not yet invented.  We cheer for the world’s nurses, doctors, caregivers and first responders. We know they will be weary.  We pray they not be overwhelmed.

Thomas Homer Dixon wrote a brilliant piece for the Globe a week ago. He set out how this global pandemic is spread by our sameness- our uniformity.  Our same airports, same banking systems and interlocked supply chains.

“When we look at this larger picture, we see a striking reality: The SARS CoV-2 virus seems well-tuned to exploit the specific characteristics of the world we’ve created for ourselves – with our massive population tightly linked together by air travel, exotic tourist excursions and just-in-time supply chains, and marked by brutal inequalities in health care and physical well-being.

“Taken together, humanity is now among the largest bodies of genetically identical, multicellular biomass on Earth; all told, we weigh nearly a third of a billion tonnes. Combined with our proximity in huge cities and our constant travel back and forth around the globe, we’re now an enormous petri dish brimming with nutrients for cultivating new diseases.”

This is a moment in which we might change how we do things. Realigning how we live and work and put together our economies to reduce the risk of pandemics-and in so doing reduce the connectivity of economies that requires the burning of so many fossil fuels.

Or it could go the other way. In panic, we may ignore the climate emergency with its far graver threats to human survival in favour of the immediate threats.

We could, if we chose to, not let this emergency go to waste.  We could demand that the inevitable stimulus packages to keep the economy moving be consistent with climate action.  In this public health emergency, we cannot waste $16 billion on a dilbit pipeline. We must focus on what matters.

We need guaranteed livable income – for events just such as this. We know we’ll need it as automation and artificial intelligence spread. Let’s do it now.

We know we need improved public health systems- including universal single payer pharmacare. Let’s do it now.

We know we need to fly less, communicate through cyberspace and reduce our carbon footprint. Let’s do it now.

We know we need to massively reorient our economy while stimulating it with job-creation. Let’s direct those essential injections into our economy to renewable energy, improved energy efficiency in our built infrastructure and a zero-carbon future. Let’s do it now.

I find great hope in the closing words of Homer-Dixon’s column:

“Today’s emerging pandemic could help catalyze an urgently needed tipping event in humanity’s collective moral values, priorities and sense of self and community. It could remind us of our common fate on a small, crowded planet with dwindling resources and fraying natural systems.

“We won’t address this challenge effectively if we retreat into our tribal identities and try to wall ourselves off from each other. COVID-19 is a collective problem that requires global collective action – just like climate change.”

And with that- have a Good Sunday. For the first time in many years, Canadian streets may look as though we still observe the Sabbath, but of course – from Rome to London to Tokyo – they will look like that on Monday as well.

Stay safe- stay well – and obey the most cautious advice you hear from public health experts,

Love,

Elizabeth

This weekly blog is published by Elizabeth’s EDA in Saanich-Gulf Islands. You can sign up for it here.

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The plan would see Finnish citizens receive 800 Euro a month (C$1,170 at current exchange rates).  Although full details won’t be released until November 2016, the new program will allow Finland to eliminate many other earnings-based social programs, including unemployment insurance.

During the 2015 election campaign,Elizabeth May, Leader of the Green Party of Canada and MP (Saanich – Gulf Islands), released the Green Party’s plan to make a Guaranteed Livable Income (GLI) a reality for all Canadians. The plan would consolidate various federal tax credits and transfers for all Canadians. However, the Green Party’s plan would not impact Employment Insurance, Canada Pension Plan, child care, social housing or prescriptiondrug benefits.

The Canadian Medical Association endorsed basic income this past summer in a letter to Ontario’s Health Minister, signed by 200 physicians  which called for a pilot project. The Liberal Party endorsed a priority policy resolution to implement a basic income supplement pilot program in at least one Canadian town or city, though the current government has not yet said whether they will implement this idea.

“It’s encouraging to see that the Finnish government is committed to implementing a basic income strategy for their citizens,” stated Elizabeth May. “As I said during the election, I believe that a Guaranteed Livable Income will help the steadily increasing numbers of people trapped in the low-wage economy, and especially Canadian youth who struggle with part-time employment.

“Our plan is about more than reducing poverty – it will reduce the crime rate, improve educational opportunities, and increase access to healthcare, to name a few benefits to Canadians. A Guaranteed Livable Income makes sense for all Canadians, while saving billions of taxpayer’s dollars.”

“The Green Party has another proposed mechanism to supplementa basic income to every Canadian, called Carbon Fee & Dividend,” stated Deputy Leader Bruce Hyer, who has long championed a Carbon Dividend. “The Green Party and Citizens Climate Lobby proposal will set fees on fossil fuels where they come out of the ground or across the border. Not a penny would go to government. The fees raised would be revenue neutral, and would go to every Canadian on an equal per capita basis, regardless of income. The higher the fees, the faster that both CO2 emissions and poverty will be reduced.”

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