Irek Kusmierczyk

[Lebanese Heritage Month, November 3rd, 2023]

Madam Speaker, this November, we celebrate Lebanese Heritage Month and the rich culture of Lebanon, its generous and hard-working people and their contribution to making our communities vibrant and prosperous.

Thousands of Lebanese call my community of Windsor—Tecumseh home, and because of that, my hometown boasts some of the best festivals and food in Canada. Whether it is the annual St. Ignatius and St. Peter's festivals or the bounty of restaurants such as Souq, Hamoudi's, Mazaar, Al-Sabeel or Tabouli, our Lebanese community proudly shares its rich heritage.

It is also a community of dedicated doctors, nurses, teachers, artists, athletes and entrepreneurs. Yesterday, the founders of Cedar Valley, our local manufacturer of fattoush salad dressing and authentic Lebanese-style pita chips, were featured on CBC's Dragon's Den.

Let us deepen our appreciation of the priceless contribution that Lebanese Canadians make to our Canadian mosaic. To everyone back home, Kulluna lil-watan, lil'ula lil-'alam.

[Questions on the Order Paper, November 2nd, 2023]

Mr. Speaker, with regard to part (a)(i), from November 4, 2015, to July 31, 2023, 3,987 Canada student loan borrowers had their loans forgiven through the severe permanent disability benefit, for a total amount of $61.9 million.

With regard to part (a)(ii), from November 4, 2015, to July 31, 2023, 19,412 borrowers received the Canada student loan forgiveness for family doctors and nurses benefit, for a total amount of $178.5 million.

With regard to part (a)(iii), from November 4, 2015, to July 31, 2023, a total amount of $92.3 million in Canada student loans was forgiven due to cases of borrower death. The Canada student financial assistance program, or CSFA, does not track data on the individual number of deceased borrowers.

With regard to part (b), there are no new criteria outside of those listed in part (a).

[Ron W. Ianni Faculty of Law Building, November 1st, 2023]

Mr. Speaker, this weekend, I attended the grand reopening of the Ron W. Ianni Faculty of Law building at the University of Windsor after transformative renovations.

I met generations of alumni, like Frank and Peter, who made the drive to Windsor to reconnect over the two-day celebration. On hand were the chief justices of Canada and Ontario. The $38-million renovation is truly spectacular. The architects pulled off the impossible: inserting light into a stone. The moot court is a showpiece, with gorgeous views of the campus, the Ambassador Bridge and Assumption church. A generous gift provided by the Rodzik family, the court is fully accessible, and one of the three rooms is set up to host smudge ceremonies.

Seeing all the alumni and donors highlighted the real sense of family and pride that are the hallmark of University of Windsor law. I know my predecessor and the founding dean, the late Hon. Mark MacGuigan, was smiling proudly on this day too.

[Polish Canadians, October 19th, 2023]

Mr. Speaker, today I had the honour of hosting a Polish youth summit on Parliament Hill. Over 30 young leaders from across Canada gathered to talk about issues important to Polish Canadians and to discuss strategies for getting more young people engaged in politics.

There are one million Polish Canadians in Canada working hard to build communities that are vibrant, generous and prosperous. For our Polonia, the torch is being passed to a new generation, and I am excited for what the future holds.

Let us remember that it was young people who peacefully drove the solidarity movement that brought democratic change to Europe. This week, 70% of Poland's young people turned out and voted in the national election. Young people have the power to change the world.

I want to thank the Canadian Polish Congress, the Polish Canadian Business and Professional Association of Windsor, and the Embassy of Poland for working together to organize the summit and to empower Canada's young eagles.

[Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship, October 6th, 2023]

Mr. Speaker, temporary foreign workers have the same rights to workplace protections as Canadians. We have a requirement that employers and recruiters cannot charge recruitment fees to or recover them from TFWs, for example.

We launched the migrant worker support program to assist TFWs in learning about and exercising their rights. We will continue engaging migrant worker support organizations, employers and other partners to further strengthen protections for Canada's temporary foreign workers.

[Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship, October 6th, 2023]

Mr. Speaker, the mistreatment and abuse of temporary foreign workers is unacceptable. Everyone deserves to work in safe, healthy and dignified conditions. Under our watch, we have mandated that employers provide all TFWs with information about their rights in Canada, have prohibited reprisal by employers against workers who come forward with complaints and have prohibited employers from charging recruitment fees to workers.

We know there is more work to do. That is why we are strengthening our integrity measures to ensure that temporary foreign workers live and work in a safe and decent environment.

[Truth and Reconciliation, October 6th, 2023]

Mr. Speaker, this past weekend, I was honoured to represent the constituents of Windsor—Tecumseh at the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation on Parliament Hill. As Chief Mary Duckworth of Caldwell first nation says, reconciliation is not just a word. It must be an action.

This past summer, Caldwell first nation broke ground on their first new housing development, supported by a $10-million investment from our federal housing initiative. Thanks to the leadership of Chief Duckworth, Chief Miskokomon of Walpole Island first nation, and the incredible staff at Parks Canada, Ojibway national urban park will soon become the first national park in Ontario to be officially co-managed by first nations.

Truth and reconciliation is a difficult journey, but it is the right one, and it is one we must walk together. There is more work ahead, but I am proud our community is walking the path of reconciliation and working in partnership and respect with indigenous peoples to preserve and protect our natural habitat forever.

[Old Age Security Act, October 4th, 2023]

Madam Speaker, nearly a hundred years ago, Canada's first public pension plan was established. It was 1927, and the Old Age Pensions Act was enacted. The simple goal was to ensure that men and women aged 70 and over would have a basic income. Years later, in 1952, the Old Age Security Act came into force and replaced the act of 1927.

This important change marked the birth of a pension financed by our government. Like the population of Canada, the program has grown and evolved over the years. Canadians have grown, and so has the old age security program. It goes without saying that the old age security program has adapted to the needs of Canada's elderly population and continues to do so today.

As we all know already, we increased the old age security pension by 10% for seniors aged 75 and older. This officially came into effect last year. It was the first permanent increase to the OAS pension since 1973. It is giving older seniors greater financial security now and into the future.

Most importantly, it will continue to be indexed to inflation, so that it maintains its value over time. This increase was the smart thing to do, because many seniors aged 75 and over are facing greater financial vulnerability than younger seniors are.

As they get older, many seniors must deal with health issues. Illness appears, and that entails more expenses. Many seniors are not working much or even not at all.

Not everyone benefits from a pension plan from their employer. Moreover, let us not forget the risk of finding oneself alone following the loss of one’s life partner. These are all situations that can deplete personal savings. The older we get, the more likely these situations are to happen.

For example, in 2018, among the population aged 65 to 74, more than three out of 10 Canadians had employment income. When we look at those aged 75 and older, it drops by more than half, for fewer than two out of 10 Canadians.

Now we have Bill C-319 before us. It is a great piece of legislation. However, it is clear to us that it is not in sync with the demographic information we have and that I have just given. OAS is a proven program, and so are the measures we have been taking to improve it.

Yes, the old age security program continues to evolve. This new system has been in preparation since at least 2021, even though we committed to it in our budget. It clearly became a priority in 2022, after almost two years of the pandemic, which made us acutely aware that it was high time to put in place a modernized platform for payment of benefits.

Here we are, in the middle of the modernization process. This is another reason that it is impossible for us to support Bill C-319, and I will explain.

It would not be possible to implement the bill within the specified time frame. Its implementation would require us to make complex modifications to the existing IT system. The entire essential deployment and stabilization of the old age security program on the modernized platform would then be compromised.

We cannot take such a risk. We cannot do anything that would jeopardize this modernization process.

As I said, this process is a priority. The OAS program keeps evolving, and we cannot jeopardize this evolution, this modernization. It is an integral part of the whole process we have undertaken since 2015 to improve Canadian seniors' financial security. Without a doubt, we have demonstrated how serious we are about supporting seniors.

We have an interesting debate today regarding old age security. It is a debate that allows us to see, once again, to what extent we are already taking the actions that must be taken to ensure the well-being of older Canadians.

Nearly a hundred years ago, Canada began laying the foundations of its retirement income system, and the old age security program was one of these foundations. Since then, the program has evolved to meet the needs of Canadians; today, we are ensuring that it continues to evolve in this way.

[Apology by the Speaker, September 25th, 2023]

Mr. Speaker, as a Polish Canadian, I can say that the month of September is difficult for many Poles and Polish Canadians. This is when they commemorate the German Nazi invasion of Poland, as well as the Soviet Russian invasion of Poland on September 17.

Six million Poles were murdered in the Second World War. One out of five citizens was killed.

The presence of the gentleman in the gallery was deeply hurtful to Polish Canadians and to Poles. He was a member of the First Ukrainian Division, or the Waffen-SS Galicia Division. This was a particularly and exceptionally cruel unit that viciously murdered thousands of Jews and Poles in eastern Poland.

That moment in the House was deeply painful to my community, to Polish Canadians and to Poles abroad.

However, Mr. Speaker, I know you as a good man. The delegations that come here, internationally, know you as a good man. You have taken ownership of this grievous error. You have promptly taken full responsibility on your shoulders. You apologized deeply.

My interest here is that we work together as parliamentarians to make sure that we have the systems in place so that this never happens again in the House.

[Windsor—Tecumseh, September 20th, 2023]

Mr. Speaker, my community of Windsor—Tecumseh is rising. Hundreds of workers are building the Stellantis battery plant that will soon employ 3,000 people.

Last week, I joined the Minister of Housing to officially open Meadowbrook Lane, the first affordable housing project in our community in 30 years. That same day, the minister and I stood on the deck of the Gordie Howe International Bridge as it nears completion. Over 9,000 workers have now worked on the largest infrastructure project in Canada.

This summer, the iconic Parks Canada beaver appeared in Ojibway with a sign that said, “Soon to be the home of Ojibway National Urban Park”.

With strong Liberal investment, my community is thriving. At the heart of that optimism are workers. As our auto workers mobilize to fight for their fair share, we stand with them today, tomorrow and always.