Leslie Church

In response to a question from Scot Davidson

“Our government cares about the cost of living, and we have worked to lower costs for Canadians. The member across the way should support our child care program, which saves families in our province over $10,000 a year per child.”

“Mr. Speaker, I think the actions of our government over the past year and a half demonstrate that we are very concerned about the costs that are facing Canadians, and we have done many things in our power to reduce those costs. I wold urge my colleague and friend across the way to get on board and support things such as child care in our home province, which is saving families right now over $10,000 a year for a child in care.”

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In response to a question from Gabriel Ste-Marie

“Our government has always supported seniors. We increased pension payments for people over 75 because their health and care costs are higher. We also gave more money to over a million low-income seniors and let them keep more of the money they earn.”

“Mr. Speaker, as a government, we have supported seniors every step of the way, including, as the member mentioned, by increasing OAS payments for seniors over the age of 75. That is very much a policy that is guided by the evidence we have, that as they age past 75, our oldest senior adults among actually us incur greater costs of care and of health care. That was the motivation behind ensuring that the seniors who face those highest costs have a bit of of additional support. We have also increased the GIS, benefiting over a million seniors, and have expanded the earnings exemption over time. We continue to support seniors every way we can.”

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“I want the opposition to support our economic plan. High costs are caused by global problems and an unfair trade war, not our policies. We are helping families with tax cuts, cheaper child care, free dental care, and school food. We are also funding students, training trades workers, and helping people with disabilities get jobs. These programs build a strong economy.”

“Madam Speaker, it is a pleasure to rise in the House today on a topic that I think is important to so many Canadians and their families, to talk about the plan that this government has brought forward. It is a plan to grow our economy, to strengthen our country and to invest in families and people who help power our nation. In speaking to the House today, I wanted to start by talking a bit about families and our government’s plan to support families at a time when we know that there have been challenges. These challenges have stemmed from economic conditions around the world, from global conflict and from a tariff war not of our choosing, one that is unjustified and that we continue to rally against. However, at heart, families are at the core of Canada. From day one, this government has invested in the types of supports to make life a little easier. Our very first act on taking office was a tax cut for 22 million Canadians. We followed that up by introducing a new groceries and essentials benefit, a payment that actually puts money back into the pockets of Canadian families, upwards of $1,800 a year at present. We have also taken the time to reinvest in early learning and child care. This is a critical support, a new program over the last few years in this country, stretching from coast to coast to coast, that I often describe, when I meet with people in my community, as a triple threat. It is a triple threat, because it is the type of program that gives our kids the very best start in life by offering them access to early learning, but it also helps save costs for families. In Ontario, it has reduced the cost of child care by, on average, over $10,000 for a family with a child in care. It has also helped our economy by allowing parents, but predominantly women, to move back into the workforce at the time of their choosing. This has been a significant policy, in terms of how it has actually helped families reduce their annual costs, and it has helped over 900,000 children coast to coast get that best start in life. We also continue to support and grow our dental care program. Over five million Canadians have access to dental care in a way that they did not a few short years ago. I have had seniors in my riding call this program a game-changer and say that they are getting dental care that they have put off for years as a result of the high cost of getting oral health care. These supports are intended to make a difference in the lives of Canadians in many different ways, but they do not stop there. We are also very much focused on investing in young people and youth. I can turn to something like the national school food program, a new program. Canada was the last G7 country to introduce a national school food program. Just this spring, our government made it permanent. That school food program puts upwards of $800 back into the pockets of families, who save on groceries that they would be purchasing for their children each day, and it ensures that all kids are going to school with food in their tummies, able and ready to learn. It is a program that makes a difference in every community. Over 80% of public schools across the country now take part in the national school food program. That is an incredible achievement and one that benefits families in their pocketbooks but also in ensuring that our kids have the very best and are able to make the most of their time at school. However, if we go a little farther in life, I think about some of the work that our government has been doing to support young people in their education, and in post-secondary education in particular. We have extended Canada student grants, so that now over 570,000 students across the country have access to grants of $4,200 per year to support their studies. These are grants that they do not have to repay. At a time when we know that there are governments in this country, provincial governments, that are cutting back on financial assistance for students, we are actually investing in students and investing in the supports that will help them be successful in post-secondary, at a time when we also know that they have high costs associated with taking time to go through that education. We have also made a generational investment in pathways into the skilled trades. For students looking to build a career of their choice, there are incredible opportunities available right now in the skilled trades. It is why we have set out new supports to help apprentices who are going through training, with an additional $400 a week to support them while they are in their studies. There is also a $5,000-completion bonus to help them get through to the end of their program. There are also supports for employers to create incentives to hire first-year apprentices. We know that these are the opportunities of the future. They are great jobs with benefits and with highly skilled and dynamic careers associated with them. We are really putting our focus on helping young people see the skilled trades in a new light and recognize them for what they are today: highly skilled jobs where they would work on some of the biggest projects and on major infrastructure across the country, and with a requirement of deep technical knowledge and skills. They would have a long future ahead of them in terms of a great career they can build going into the skilled trades. I also want to touch on an area that is of particular importance to me personally. Our government is working on assisting the many Canadians who have a disability, to ensure that they have access to employment and financial supports in their day-to-day life. We know right now that about 27% of Canadians over the age of 15 identify as having a disability. That is about eight million people. Our government has been active in supporting bringing down barriers for persons with disabilities in every aspect of their daily life, whether it is ensuring that we have more accessible buildings and standards, providing financial supports such the new Canada disability benefit or bringing down barriers to employment, which we know exist. Right now, the employment rate for persons with disabilities in Canada is only 67%, versus about 83% for the general Canadian population. That gap between 67% and 83% represents about a million people in Canada today whose potential could be unlocked if we could find ways to reduce barriers to employment. This is a labour force of people who are waiting to be included. There is work we are doing. We have an annual investment of about $100 million for the opportunities fund for persons with disabilities, which helps Canadians find and keep jobs by funding community organizations to deliver skills training, wage subsidies and job placement. We also have an enabling accessibility fund, which has supported over 8,000 projects since 2015 to help thousands of Canadians with disabilities gain access to programs, services and employment opportunities. I have spoken a lot with organizations, such as the Canadian Council on Rehabilitation and Work, Easter Seals, the CNIB and Spectrum Works. These are community organizations, national organizations in scope, that work with the disability community and work to create employment opportunities. They are very much partners with the work we are trying to achieve as a government to bring down barriers and unlock the potential of persons with disabilities who are seeking to join the workforce. All the investments we are making constitute an investment in our social fabric and our social infrastructure as a country. They are foundational supports that go hand in hand with building a strong economy. A strong economy depends on people who can be included in the workforce, who have the education and the skills needed to have those jobs of tomorrow and who are going to help us in so many ways to build the projects and build the economy, as we are embarking on right now as we invest in major projects, infrastructure, housing and a building agenda that involves building communities strong from coast to coast to coast. For that reason, I would urge the members opposite to consider the plan the government has put forward, and I thank them for the opportunity to debate this motion today.”

In response to a question from Gabriel Ste-Marie

“I support this bill. It updates our labour laws to make bargaining fairer and workplaces safer, using ideas from both unions and employers.”

“Mr. Speaker, our unionized workers are the backbone of a strong Canadian economy. This bill takes into account the recommendations made by unions, employers and management representatives during two rounds of public consultations. It seeks to strengthen good-faith bargaining and get better results for workers, employers and Canadians. As workplaces continue to evolve, labour laws in Canada must evolve with them to ensure that these workplaces remain fair, safe and productive.”

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In response to a question from Jeff Kibble

“We worked hard with businesses and unions to write this bill. Our government is already moving big building projects forward, but we need to do more. This bill will make sure project reviews take only one year.”

“Mr. Speaker, this bill is the product of two rounds of public consultations with employers and unions. As well, it follows nearly half a year’s worth of conversation and consultation with the tripartite council that we established in order to do the hard work and the heavy lifting to build this bill. I take issue with the members’ framing of this. The government is actually hard at work pushing projects to approval, including the port of Montreal, the Matawinie mine and BHP’s potash project. There is the OPG Pickering refurbishment that the Minister of Natural Resources announced earlier this week. These are all examples of projects that are moving forward, but we have to do more, and this bill would get us to one project, one decision, one year.”

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“I want the House to pass this bill. It will speed up approvals for big building projects and help get Canadian goods to market. It also protects workers by helping them solve labour disputes sooner, keeping them safe, and making sure they get the pay they earned.”

“Mr. Speaker, we are living through a moment of enormous change. Global markets are shifting, our trading relationships are changing and Canada has to be ready to meet the moment. That means focusing on what we can control and building here at home. We can make Canada a place where businesses want to invest, where projects actually get built, where Canadian goods can reach new markets and where those investments create good jobs for Canadian workers. That is what the building Canada strong act is about. It would bring greater speed, certainty and predictability to major project reviews. It would strengthen the trade corridors and ports that connect Canadian businesses to the world, and it would create the conditions to attract investment, put Canadian capital to work and build a more resilient and independent economy, because certainty matters. Certainty means investment. Investment means building. Building means jobs. All of that makes our economy stronger and more resilient in a world that is becoming less predictable. However, we cannot do any of that without a strong labour relations framework. The people who will build these projects, operate our ports and railways, move our goods and keep our economy running are Canadian workers. The strongest workplaces are workplaces where workers are treated fairly, where employers and unions have productive relationships and where people can sit down together and solve problems. That is why the labour measures in Bill C-39 matter. Free and fair collective bargaining is at the heart of our labour relations system. Let me be very clear: We are absolutely committed to workers’ constitutional right to strike. The best deal is the deal reached by parties themselves at the table. In fact, our system works remarkably well. Approximately 95% of federally regulated labour disputes supported by the federal mediation and conciliation service are resolved without a work stoppage, but we also know that some of the bargaining relationships become difficult long before anyone reaches a picket line. This bill is about getting in earlier. It would provide greater support for first collective agreements, including bringing in the federal mediation and conciliation service from the beginning. It would provide earlier support in difficult bargaining relationships and relationship building after a dispute, because anyone who has worked in a workplace knows that a bitter dispute does not magically disappear when a collective agreement is signed. It would also invest in the institutions that make collective bargaining work, including the Canada Industrial Relations Board and the federal mediation and conciliation service, so that problems can be addressed earlier and workers are not left waiting because of backlogs. I also want to address section 107 directly, because I know that we have heard concern about it here in this House. Section 107 has existed in the Canada Labour Code for nearly 50 years. This bill does not create a new power. What it does is put new restrictions, guardrails and transparency around how that power can be used. Before a minister could direct the Canada Industrial Relations Board to end or suspend an ongoing work stoppage and impose a binding dispute resolution, two new conditions would have to be met. First, a special mediator would work intensively with the parties and provide a report to the minister that would be made public, a key factor for ensuring accountability for both parties and for ensuring that both parties are bargaining in good faith. The appointment of that mediator would not take away the right to strike or lock out. Their job would be to help the parties do what we want them to do in the first place, which is to reach an agreement themselves. Second, there would have to be a national impact assessment examining whether the dispute is or may be adversely affecting the national interest, including the consideration of free collective bargaining and the protected right to strike. These are real guardrails, and the principle behind them is straightforward: Collective bargaining remains the primary way labour disputes should be resolved. We have heard that recognition from labour. Canada’s Building Trades Unions has been clear that it wants strong guardrails around government intervention and wants the right to strike protected, but the CBTU has also recognized the value of improving the process between bargaining and government intervention. As Sean Strickland has put it, “you’ve gone through some really substantive steps here to try to get parties to make a deal”. That is exactly the objective, to have more opportunity to negotiate, more opportunity to mediate and more opportunity for parties themselves to find the way forward. That is only one part of the labour reforms in this bill. Bill C-39 would strengthen protections for the workers we are asking to help build this country. It would crack down on wage theft and worker misclassification. It would strengthen workplace health and safety, including through more inspections and a greater focus on workers’ health and safety, and it would protect workers in air transportation when contracts change hands, so they can keep their union representation and collective agreement. These things matter. A worker should get the wages they earned. They should be safe when they go to work and safe when they come home. When something does go wrong, they should have a labour system capable of responding quickly and fairly. I want to recognize what the Building Trades of Alberta has said about this bill. There are 19 unions in Alberta. I visited them only last week. These are ironworkers, carpenters, machinists and bricklayers. They have said that they welcome the Canadian government’s Bill C-39, which will expedite project approvals and help our job-ready workforce build Canada strong. I want to finish where I started. We are living in a more uncertain world, but we can control what we build here at home. We can build the projects this country needs. We can move Canadian goods to markets. We can attract investment, create good jobs and make sure Canadian workers share in the prosperity that they create, and we can do it with a labour relations system that protects workers, respects collective bargaining and gives employers and unions the tools to solve problems together, because this moment demands more than resilience from Canada; it demands ambition. Canadians want to build. We want to invest in ourselves. We want to compete, and we want to give ourselves more of what no country, no trade dispute and no decision made beyond our borders can take away, which is the capacity to build for ourselves, the confidence to bet on ourselves and the ability to determine our own economic future. That is what this bill would help Canada to do, and it is why I call on all members of the House to support the legislation. Let us get to work, and let us build Canada.”

In response to a question from Eric Melillo

“Our government is already helping families with the high cost of living. Over 17,000 families in the member's riding will get money from us this week, worth up to $1,800 this year. The Conservatives should support our plan.”

“Mr. Speaker, while I sympathize with families like Daniel’s, I want the member opposite to realize that the government is focused specifically on families like Daniel’s. We have introduced the groceries and essentials benefit, for example, and over 17,000 families in that member’s riding are going to be receiving their next cheque on October 5. That is meaningful support, up to approximately $1,800 for a family in his riding this year. If the Conservatives want to talk about affordability, they should come on board to our plan, which is focused on making sure that Canadians have money in their pockets to pay the cost of living.”

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In response to a question from Sandra Cobena

“Our government is helping families with their everyday costs. We set up programs for cheaper child care, dental care, food money, and school lunches. I want the member opposite to support our work.”

“Mr. Speaker, it is exactly Canadians like Romeo and Romeo’s family who are top of mind for us in our agenda and in the work that we are doing to support Canadians at this time. I hope Romeo has access to some of the initiatives we have brought forward, like the groceries and essentials benefit. Perhaps his family has access to affordable child care or to a Canada dental plan, or perhaps Romeo’s kids have access to the national school food program, which helps bring down the cost of groceries for families to the tune of about $800 a year. These are supports we have put in place that we ae going to continue to support, and I would ask the member opposite to help us in that.”

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In response to a question from Leah Gazan

“We support workers and their right to strike. Most labour disputes are settled without strikes when we help both sides talk. But the government still needs the power to step in during rare, major emergencies to protect our economy. This should only be used as a last resort, with clear rules.”

“Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank the member for Winnipeg Centre for her commitment to Canadian workers. We are firmly committed to protecting workers’ rights and ensuring a free and fair collective bargaining process. Workers must have real bargaining power. The right to strike is protected in Canada because it is an essential element of free and balanced negotiations. Our government has taken concrete measures to protect that right. Bill C-58 was a major milestone in the fight for fairness at the bargaining table. Prohibiting the use of replacement workers protects a meaningful right to strike and makes employers and unions work together and find solutions. Collective bargaining works. Over the last five years, 95% of disputes that the federal mediation and conciliation service supported were resolved without work stoppages. This shows the system works well when the right support tools are available. However, negotiation is not a simple process, and we are at a pivotal moment. Trade rules are rapidly changing, and our economy faces unprecedented attacks. This is having damaging consequences. At the same time, Canada is working to build major infrastructure, strengthen trade corridors and supply chains, and create good jobs across the country through measures such as Bill C-39. Some labour disputes can therefore have serious economic repercussions, but we cannot build a strong economy without respecting the workers who keep it running every day. That is why Bill C-39 proposes measures to modernize the federal labour framework, strengthen protections for workers in federally regulated industries and help parties address issues earlier, while fully protecting the right to strike. We all have a stake in ensuring an economy can withstand shocks and remain competitive. In some situations, the economic and social impacts are substantive. There can be extraordinary times where the government must retain the ability to intervene, but there should be a clear framework in place to explain that decision to Canadians transparently. I want to be very clear: Our government believes that extraordinary interventions in a labour dispute should always be a last resort. Canadians appreciate this. They know that prolonged disputes can have a massive impact on Canadian families, Canadian jobs and our entire economy. Canadians understand that we must do two things at once: We must protect workers and strengthen economic resilience. They know that when there are strong, supported relationships between employers and workers, where workers are fairly paid and their concerns are addressed, that is the best way to create stability, and that stability drives investment and economic growth, which Canada needs today more than ever. The members opposite need to remember that Canadians chose a government that they knew would keep the state of labour relations strong. Our approach must be pragmatic. We continue to work together with unions and employers to maintain trust in the system and ensure fairness in the workplace. Our collective objective is clear. It is to strengthen good-faith bargaining, protect workers’ rights and ensure a strong labour relations framework that helps achieve better outcomes for workers, for employers and for Canadians.”

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In response to a question from Anna Roberts

“Our program helps seniors stay active and connected. Last year it supported over 2,600 projects across Canada. This year we are giving out more money and making the rules stronger.”

“Mr. Speaker, we are incredibly proud of this program. Last year alone, it supported over 2,600 projects right across Canada, helping seniors stay active and engaged and fight isolation. This year, we are increasing the value of the grants and we are making some changes to strengthen the integrity of the program. Service Canada is there to assist any organization with questions on how to apply and we are going to make sure that this program remains accessible for seniors and organizations, and meets the standards of integrity that Canadians expect.”

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