Madam Speaker, I am pleased to rise in the House today to respond to the government's Speech from the Throne.
As I stand here, I wonder why we are responding to yet another throne speech.
The Prime Minister decided to call an election for no reason during a global pandemic, when Canadians needed us to be here in the House to find solutions and bring us out of the pandemic.
I was disappointed again when I listened to the throne speech. It used so many words to say nothing. I was stunned to see how short on substance the last two throne speeches were. Still, I am here today because I believe I can make a difference in my riding, Beauce, whose residents trusted me to represent them by giving me a second term. I sincerely thank them.
As the House knows, the Beauce region is a hotbed of entrepreneurship. Our rural community is full of dynamic, ingenious people. We work together to strengthen our community, but we often feel forgotten by this government.
The government continues to ignore one of the worst problems of all: cellphone coverage. Technology is more advanced than ever in 2022, yet people in my riding have a hard time getting service in municipalities like Saint‑Martin and many others. There is nothing in the throne speech about how the government intends to solve this problem. Moreover, now that the Prime Minister has finally released the ministerial mandate letters, I can confirm to the House that the minister in question has received no instructions to do anything about it.
When will this government understand that this is not only a matter of fairness, but also a matter of public safety? In the community of Saint‑Victor, a resident was stung by a bee and went into anaphylactic shock. As he lay unconscious, a friend of his had to climb to the top of a hill to call 911. Once the ambulance arrived, it also had difficulty contacting the Saint-Georges hospital because the signal was so weak. In this case, this person was extremely lucky not to lose his life.
This should serve as a reminder to the government that it still has a lot of work to do on this issue. It may well say that cellphone bills must be reduced, but it is also necessary to have equitable basic service in all regions and not create two classes of citizens.
I would now like to draw attention to another urgent issue that the government has not yet addressed in this speech. My constituency offices are inundated daily with calls from citizens pleading for help. These citizens are running out of patience as they wait for answers from Service Canada. Criminals have stolen their identities and are applying for benefits on behalf of other people. There have been so many cases of fraud since the government funding programs were created during the pandemic. I agree that these programs were necessary to get us through this pandemic, but when is the government going to show some real leadership and fix this problem?
My staff are getting calls from people in tears because their EI or GIS payments had been stopped after being targeted by fraudsters. These Canadians deserve to have their files processed quickly. They cannot wait months to get answers from an investigator when they are not able to pay rent or put food on the table. The government has done something in recent days by reassigning Service Canada employees to this issue, but pulling officials off other important files to address a major problem seems like a band-aid solution to me. Quebec is an epicentre of fraudulent activity, and this has been going on for months. The government's inaction in recent months is unacceptable.
The Department of Employment and Social Development and the Department of Citizenship and Immigration have the same problems as Service Canada. Officials are exhausted. Files are taking longer and longer to get processed. There is a chronic labour shortage in my riding, where the unemployment rate is below 4%. My riding is constantly looking for more workers in all sectors.
Businesses in my riding rely heavily on the temporary foreign worker program. The problem is that these businesses are unable to get the workers they need, workers they have already recruited. These businesses are drowning in paperwork, and when that is finally completed, they still face long wait times.
The effects of this labour shortage are felt every day. Take for example Olymel, a company in my riding. It is short roughly 200 workers right now. This major shortage is causing serious delays in hog slaughtering, which has repercussions on producers and on the land because producers have to keep the hogs much longer than planned and may even have to euthanize some of them if they cannot be slaughtered in a timely manner.
Businesses in my riding are always trying to grow their operations with new advances in automation and robotics, but government funding is simply not there to help businesses achieve their full potential.
Many businesses in my riding will have to close their doors if the labour shortage is not adequately resolved, and many others might ship their activities overseas.
The fact is that no matter the percentage changes in percentage or the policies the government puts in place for the programs, the problem is that the government is failing to address the unacceptable delays. We need real action from the government to get rid of the excessive red tape and to streamline the application process in every area.
As many of my colleagues know, I would love to be able to discuss agriculture and agri-food. Unfortunately, agriculture is not mentioned in the throne speech. I believe that is a huge mistake on the government's part.
These sectors have been and will continue to be significant economic drivers in our country. We should be promoting these sectors, not using them as a bargaining chip on the international stage.
I hear about these problems every day from my constituents. We have to do what is required for our citizens and solve these problems. These are not partisan issues. I have had these conversations with several ministers on different occasions, but nothing changes. This government needs to get its priorities straight.
I will continue to stand up for the people of Beauce every day and every time I have the opportunity to rise in the House. I will ask the hard questions and, above all, I will hold the government to account.
