Bill C-14 (Historical)

Economic Statement Implementation Act, 2020

An Act to implement certain provisions of the economic statement tabled in Parliament on November 30, 2020 and other measures

Part 1 amends the Income Tax Act to provide additional support to families with young children as the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic progresses. It also amends the Children’s Special Allowances Act to provide a similar benefit in respect of young children under that Act. As part of the Government’s response to COVID-19, it amends the Income Tax Act to provide that an expense can qualify as a qualifying rent expense for the purposes of the Canada Emergency Rent Subsidy (CERS) when it becomes due rather than when it is paid, provided certain conditions are met.
Part 2 amends the Canada Student Loans Act to provide that, during the period that begins on April 1, 2021 and ends on March 31, 2022, no interest is payable by a borrower on a guaranteed student loan and no amount on account of interest is required to be paid by the borrower.
Part 3 amends the Canada Student Financial Assistance Act to provide that, during the period that begins on April 1, 2021 and ends on March 31, 2022, no interest is payable by a borrower on a student loan and no amount on account of interest is required to be paid by the borrower.
Part 4 amends the Apprentice Loans Act to provide that, during the period that begins on April 1, 2021 and ends on March 31, 2022, no interest is payable by a borrower on an apprentice loan and no amount on account of interest is required to be paid by a borrower.
Part 5 amends the Food and Drugs Act to authorize the Governor in Council to make regulations
(a) requiring persons to provide information to the Minister of Health; and
(b) preventing shortages of therapeutic products in Canada or alleviating those shortages or their effects, in order to protect human health.
It also amends that Act to provide that any prescribed provisions of regulations made under that Act apply to food, drugs, cosmetics and devices intended for export that would otherwise be exempt from the application of that Act.
Part 6 authorizes payments to be made out of the Consolidated Revenue Fund
(a) to the Government of Canada’s regional development agencies for the Regional Relief and Recovery Fund;
(b) in respect of specified initiatives related to health; and
(c) for the purpose of making income support payments under section 4 of the Canada Emergency Response Benefit Act.
Part 7 amends the Borrowing Authority Act to, among other things, increase the maximum amount of certain borrowings and include certain borrowings that were previously excluded in the calculation of that amount. It also makes a related amendment to the Financial Administration Act.

Economic Statement Implementation Act, 2020

[Cheryl Gallant, Conservative, Renfrew—Nipissing—Pembroke, ON]

Madam Speaker, one thing Conservatives do is respect jurisdictions, and requirements for sick pay fall within provincial jurisdiction and law. When we form government, we will of course be pleased to work with the provinces in any way to prepare for the future.

[Majid Jowhari, Liberal, Richmond Hill, ON]

Madam Speaker, it is my pleasure to contribute to the debate on this important bill. Bill C-14 would implement several important measures from the fall economic statement which highlighted the additional steps our government is taking to support Canadians and Canadian businesses during the second wave of the pandemic.

This bill, in seven parts, would provide much needed economic support for Canadians. The measures include increasing our supports for families with young children, helping students, investing in mental health resources and improving the long-term care system. It also makes important adjustments to the Borrowing Authority Act, the regional relief and recovery fund and the Canada emergency rent subsidy.

In addition to those measures, it proposes to deploy a three-year stimulus package to jump-start our recovery and provide the fiscal support that the Canadian economy needs to operate at a full capacity. Today, I would like to address these important measures and how they will truly support Canadians and Canadian businesses.

We know that many families with young children have been struggling trying to find affordable child care during the pandemic. For these families, we are introducing a temporary support of up to $1,200 for each child under the age of six. This support will be provided to low- and middle-income families who are entitled to the Canada child benefit. This would benefit more than 10,000 families in my riding of Richmond Hill.

We will also help the students in our country. During this time, we have heard from many students who are burdened by student debt and are struggling to find work. We are committed to ensuring that this pandemic does not derail their futures. The bill would eliminate interest on the repayment of the federal portion of the Canada student loan and the Canada apprentice loan for 2021-22. This measure will bring $329.4 million in relief to up to 1.4 million Canadians. This, on average, will amount to $235 of interest potentially saved for each student. This money can be used to buy textbooks, computers and other necessary resources for our nation's students.

As mentioned earlier, our government has a plan to help our nation's most vulnerable. The COVID-19 outbreak in long-term care homes has been tragic and completely unacceptable. The pandemic has further highlighted the need for significant improvements in the standard and care of our most vulnerable. Bill C-14 will invest in a safe long-term care fund to help provinces and territories protect people in long-term care and support infection prevention and control. We are committing up to $1 billion in support to ensure that every resident in our long-term care system is supported.

The COVID-19 Emergency Response Act passed on March 25, 2020. It permitted the government to borrow to fund its response to the extraordinary circumstances from April 1 until September 30, 2020. These borrowings are exempt from the overall borrowing limit set out in the act. A separate external borrowing report was tabled in Parliament on October 22, 2020. It provides details of the amounts borrowed.

The proposed measures in Bill C-14 would increase the maximum borrowing amount from $1.168 trillion to $1.831 trillion to cover projected borrowing until March 2024 and will include external borrowing made as a result of COVID-19. The new limit will allow the government to continue to support Canadians and businesses in my riding of Richmond Hill through the pandemic. As well, it will allow for a necessary investment once the pandemic is over to power a robust, sustained recovery in job growth to March 2024.

The action the government has taken and plans to take will help Canada come roaring back from the COVID-19 recession and prevent the long-term economic scarring that would weaken our post-pandemic recovery. The bill before us would also authorize payments to be made to Canada's six regional development agencies for the regional relief and recovery fund.

The government announced the $962-million regional relief and recovery fund on April 17 to help support those businesses unable to access other pandemic support programs. It provides this significant funding through Canada's regional development agencies. The government expanded the fund on October 2, bringing the total support to more than $1.5 billion.

In the COVID-19 context, the regional development agencies are playing a vital role in helping to bridge small and medium-sized businesses to better times. To date, the regional relief and recovery fund has protected over 102,000 jobs and supported over 14,700 businesses, including 8,500 clients in rural areas and 5,100 women-owned businesses.

As a next step, the fall economic statement proposed a top-up of $500 million on a cash basis to regional development agencies and the Community Futures Network of Canada, bringing the total funding to over $2 billion in this fund.

Finally, the bill proposes to amend the Income Tax Act to allow for the Canada emergency rent subsidy to recognize a rent payment as a qualifying rent expense when it comes due rather than only when it is paid, provided certain conditions are met. We are still in a situation in which not all small businesses have the cash flow to pay their rent on the first of the month, with a reimbursement to come later. The new rent subsidy provides simple and easy-to-access rent and mortgage support for qualifying organizations affected by COVID-19. It is provided directly to the tenants while also providing support to property owners.

In addition, under the lockdown support program, organizations that must shut their doors or significantly restrict their activities under a public health order are eligible for a 25% top-up in addition to the base rent subsidy of up to 65% until December 19, 2020. This means hard-hit businesses in my riding of Richmond Hill that have had to shut their doors because of provincial lockdowns are eligible to receive up to 90% support for rent and mortgage interest.

To provide greater certainty to businesses and other organizations, the fall economic statement proposes to extend the current subsidy rent for an additional three periods. This means that a maximum base subsidy rate of up to 65% and an additional 25% for lockdown support would be available until March 13, 2021. The government will put in place regulations to effect this extension.

These are important changes to the program and are pieces of legislation that will allow the government to continue to provide direct support to Canadians so that they can pay their rent and mortgage and feed their families. It also provides scalable support to businesses to help bridge them through the crisis and keep Canadians healthy, safe and solvent.

In closing, better days are coming. The government has a plan to get through the pandemic and the recession and to recover strongly. We will do whatever it takes to support Canadians and get the economy firmly back on track.

[Tony Baldinelli, Conservative, Niagara Falls, ON]

Madam Speaker, the member talked about the array of government programs that are available, but at the same time the Canadian Federation of Independent Business has identified that 200,000 Canadian small businesses may fail this year because of COVID-19. The future success that we need to move forward in getting people back to work is a vaccine. It means getting vaccines here and getting people inoculated. As the government's own COVID-19 tracker said today, only 113,000 Canadians have received two doses of the vaccine.

Will the member say that the ultimate success of getting the economy back to work is getting people vaccinated?

[Majid Jowhari, Liberal, Richmond Hill, ON]

Madam Speaker, I agree that we need to make sure there are vaccines available, as Canadians need them. We have made sure there will be 1.1 million vaccines available in the spring, and by the end of September there are going to be vaccines available to all Canadians who want to be vaccinated. With a total of six million vaccines being available by the end of spring, we feel that we are well on our path to recovery.

[Kristina Michaud, Bloc, Avignon—La Mitis—Matane—Matapédia, QC]

Madam Speaker, I would like to thank my colleague for his speech.

I would like to go back to the part of the bill that addresses the extension of the Canada emergency response benefit, an emergency measure I approve of because it has helped many people. However, it is rapidly becoming a source of concern for others, with the tax season around the corner. Canadians are starting to receive their T4s.

Some of them are learning that they owe income tax for the CERB, for which they never applied. Then they quickly realize that they are victims of fraud. Whether through this bill or otherwise, has the government considered measures to better support victims of fraud? When people call the Canada Revenue Agency they are referred to Service Canada, but both agencies keep passing the buck. There is confusion, and that is causing anxiety for many people. How is the government going to help them?

[Majid Jowhari, Liberal, Richmond Hill, ON]

Madam Speaker, we were made aware of the concerns that Canadians had. The government took the necessary steps to inform Canadians early in December, especially the ones who received the CERB, and provided needed alternatives to processes to make sure that their taxes would be filed properly and that no undue hardship would be put on them.

I recommend that Canadians reach out to the CRA and their members of Parliament to work with them to make sure they truly understand those measures.

[Matthew Green, NDP, Hamilton Centre, ON]

Madam Speaker, time and time again we have heard Liberals saying that they have done everything they can for seniors in LTCs, yet that is simply not true.

It is true that the government has provided investments for long-term care, such as wage subsidies, but it is also true that these private LTCs are sitting on mountains of profit while collecting federal subsidies and paying out dividends. They are doing this at the exact same time that they are cutting wages and not providing critical PPE to their workers and residents.

Will the member work within his caucus to ensure that every dollar invested in LTCs results in the care of its patients and seniors?

[Majid Jowhari, Liberal, Richmond Hill, ON]

Madam Speaker, our government has always committed to full accountability and transparency. We will continue working with the provinces and territories to make sure of the funding being granted. As Canadians know, $8 out of every $10 provided as part of the emergency funds is coming from the federal government.

We have provided billions of dollars in support of long-term care and we will work with the provinces and territories to make sure that these funds are put to effective use.

[Michael Cooper, Conservative, St. Albert—Edmonton, AB]

Madam Speaker, happy new year.

I speak on Bill C-14 this afternoon, which is legislation that, among other things, increases the federal spending authority from a staggering $1.1 trillion to an astronomical $1.8 trillion.

For a government that spends tens of billions of dollars here, hundreds of billions of dollars there, racks up a debt of more than $1 trillion, it is tough to keep track of exactly what $1.8 trillion means in context. My friend, colleague and former fellow finance committee member, the hon. member for Charleswood—St. James—Assiniboia—Headingley, put it into some important context yesterday when he spoke to Bill C-14. In that regard, my colleague noted that in the more than 150 years since Canada's founding in 1867, total accumulated federal debt equalled $700 billion in the beginning of 2020. In the span of a single year, that debt level rose an astounding 50% to $1.1 trillion. Now we have before us legislation that is contemplating and indeed authorizing the debt ceiling to rise to $1.8 trillion—in other words, more than double the total accumulated debt since 1867, all within the span of a little more than a year.

If that is not unsustainable, I frankly do not know what is, yet one would not know that if one were to listen to the speeches from Liberal MPs across the way. They seem to believe there is no issue and go on at great lengths to pat themselves on the back for the supposedly wonderful job they have been doing since COVID and, more broadly, for the government's economic track record.

If the metric by which to judge the government was on the basis of how much it spent, it absolutely could pat itself on the back or get an A, but when it comes to delivering results for Canadians, someone who is objective would be hard pressed to give the current government anything close to an A, for its track record has been wanting, to say the least. After all, it is a government that has delivered the second-highest unemployment rate in the G7, save for the stagnant and socialist economy of Italy. It is a government that has delivered the slowest rate of economic growth in the G7. It is a government that has presided over a decline with respect to Canada's competitiveness. Under Prime Minister Harper's government, Canada was within the top 10 countries in the world with respect to competitiveness. We have now fallen to 17th and we are declining further.

The current government presided over a time when we have seen divestment from Canada, with $160 billion of investment in the energy sector gone. In the last week we saw a major pipeline project, the Keystone XL pipeline project, cancelled for the second time by the second U.S. administration under the current Prime Minister's watch, and he could barely pick up the phone and call the new president to make a case for Keystone as thousands of Canadians lost their jobs, including Canadians in my very hard-hit home province of Alberta.

Consumption is set to grow five times faster than investment over the next two years, and, as depressing as those economic numbers are, when one speaks of the massive deficit, the massive mountain of debt that has been accumulated, it is not any rosier. Canada's debt-to-GDP ratio has hit a staggering 387%, including government, personal and corporate debt. By far and away, it is the second highest in the G7, save only for Japan, which ekes us out for first place at a little over 400%, which is hardly something we should be aspiring to.

When it comes to the federal debt-to-GDP ratio, the numbers are equally concerning, with that ratio climbing from 31% last year to 56% for next year. Sometimes when we talk about numbers, they need to be put in context, so what is the context of going from a 31% debt-to-GDP ratio to 56%? The historical high was 66.6% in 1996, at a time when the Wall Street Journal ran the unflattering headline “Bankrupt Canada”, comparing us with a third world banana republic. There was truth to that unfortunate headline, inasmuch as Canada was effectively bankrupt in 1996. Literally no one would buy Canada's debt. That, of course, resulted in very difficult decisions, with significant cuts being made to social programs and transfers to the provinces by the former Chrétien Liberal government.

Very simply put, why would we ever want to go back to those years? However, that is where we are headed if we stay on the current course.

It is true that right now interest rates are very low, at around 1%. That is about the only thing this government has going for it at the present time. However, the Parliamentary Budget Officer and the former head of the Bank of Canada, in testimony before the finance committee, stated that interest rates are bound to go up in the foreseeable future as a result of inflationary pressures. That really should not be news to anyone. Therefore, when one thinks about a simple 1% hike, let alone the average rate over the past number of decades being 5%, it is very difficult to imagine the cost of servicing the now $1.1 trillion debt, which is soon to be $1.8 trillion in debt, and if the government does not change course, it will be over $2 trillion in debt.

What Canadians need right now is more than a plan to spend money; we need a plan to get Canadians back to work, to get businesses open again and to do it safely, and that includes a strategy around a vaccine distribution plan. In that regard the current government has no plan. Canadians deserve to get their lives back. They deserve a plan from the government and, unfortunately, that has been sorely lacking.

[Mark Gerretsen, Liberal, Kingston and the Islands, ON]

Madam Speaker, I just heard this member go on for 10 minutes about the debt that has been incurred over the last 10 months as though he were not part of it. The reality is that he voted in favour at every single step of the way to spend this money, quite often through unanimous consent motions. All he had to do, and we know he does not have a problem speaking up when he feels like it, when unanimous consent motions were brought forward, was to say no. That would have triggered a whole series of events to get into the fine critiquing of every single spending measure. However, he voted in favour of them at every step of the way.

Quite frankly, it is getting tiring listening to Conservatives rail on and on about the debt all day long in here, when they were part of spending that money over the last 10 months. How can this member possibly be so critical of it, when he was right there every step of the way, spending the money with us?

[Michael Cooper, Conservative, St. Albert—Edmonton, AB]

Madam Speaker, let me acknowledge first of all that this is an extraordinary time and there has been some spending that has been required. I do not dispute that.

Conservatives have tried to work with the government to get dollars out to workers and businesses and Canadians who need it, but that being said, it is also true that out of the $375 billion deficit, only about $175 billion relates to direct COVID spending, so it is equally true that the government has a spending problem far beyond the necessary measures to help Canadians get through COVID.

Quite frankly, as much as there has been some need for spending, I am surprised that the hon. member would not be concerned about the fact that if we are going to reopen, we need to do so safely and need to get Canadians vaccinated. The government has wholly failed as we move into what is now the most important next phase of COVID.

[Sébastien Lemire, Bloc, Abitibi—Témiscamingue, QC]

Madam Speaker, I would also like to wish you a happy new year.

My question for my colleague is as follows: What does he think about the government’s transparency at this time when the Parliamentary Budget Officer is telling us that, if the aim is to help the economy recover from the pandemic, the government may have missed the mark? What does he think about that?

[Michael Cooper, Conservative, St. Albert—Edmonton, AB]

Madam Speaker, I would concur with the member's assessment of the PBO that the government has been less than transparent. This problem with transparency has been a long-standing one we have had with the government. It does not just relate to fiscal and economic issues, but also includes their being straight with Canadians on where Canada is with the vaccine distribution plan.

Where does Canada fit in terms of receiving vaccines relative to other countries? Are other vaccines beyond Pfizer one part of the government's plan and are we waiting for approval of such vaccines?

Those are basic questions that go with being open and transparent, something the government has not been.

[Daniel Blaikie, NDP, Elmwood—Transcona, MB]

Madam Speaker, I listened attentively to the member. I have to say that when we talk about deficits and deficit spending, particularly in this context, one of the things we know is that had the federal government not stepped in with a lot of financial relief, that same deficit would simply have been on the books of individual Canadian households. Millions of Canadians would have been facing bankruptcy. Of course, that would have had serious economic consequences.

There is a question of how we raise revenue to be able to fund social programs going forward. The NDP has suggested many times closing things like the corporate stock option loopholes and other ways to get at the wealth of the people at the top who have been receiving a bigger and bigger share of the pie for decades now.

We hear Conservatives complain about the deficit. They are not willing to support us when we talk about taxing the rich to make sure that we have a fair tax system. Then they do not really acknowledge the consequences of having no public spending at this time and what it would have meant not only for individual Canadians, but also for the economy overall.

Could the member finally offer a reckoning of some of these points for people in the House?

[Michael Cooper, Conservative, St. Albert—Edmonton, AB]

Madam Speaker, given the brief time I have to answer the member for Elmwood—Transcona, let me simply say that he speaks of a reckoning: We will face a fiscal reckoning if we stay on the current course.