This bill is from the 43rd Parliament, 2nd session, which ended in August 2021.
Chrystia Freeland Liberal
This bill has received Royal Assent and is now law.
This is from the published bill. The Library of Parliament has also written a full legislative summary of the bill.
This enactment amends the Income Tax Act to revise the eligibility criteria, as well as the level of subsidization, under the Canada Emergency Wage Subsidy (CEWS) as part of the response to the coronavirus disease 2019. It also extends the CEWS to June 30, 2021. The enactment further amends the Income Tax Act to introduce the Canada Emergency Rent Subsidy (CERS) in order to support those hardest hit by the coronavirus disease 2019. This subsidy provides relief in respect of rent and interest on debt obligations incurred to acquire real property used by businesses, charities and not-for-profit organizations in the course of their businesses or other activities. The rent subsidy is effective as of September 27, 2020.
All sorts of information on this bill is available at LEGISinfo, an excellent resource from the Library of Parliament. You can also read the full text of the bill.
Bill numbers are reused for different bills each new session. Perhaps you were looking for one of these other C-9s:
The Chair Conservative Bruce Stanton
The hon. member for Leeds—Grenville—Thousand Islands and Rideau Lakes.
Michael Barrett Conservative Leeds—Grenville—Thousand Islands and Rideau Lakes, ON
Mr. Chair, how many times did the minister's office or the PMO talk to Rob Silver about the rent program?
Chrystia Freeland Liberal University—Rosedale, ON
Mr. Chair, as the member opposite knows, I was not finance minister at that time. I can say that I never spoke to Mr. Silver about this program.
Michael Barrett Conservative Leeds—Grenville—Thousand Islands and Rideau Lakes, ON
Mr. Chair, the minister should take note of what happened to her predecessor.
The Baylis ventilator is produced cheaper, yet sold for $100 million more than its competitors. It follows the objective fact that the government will always put its Liberal friends to the front of the queue and line their pockets whenever it can.
Was Frank Baylis' deep connections to the Liberal Party of Canada the determining factor in awarding this contract?
Navdeep Bains LiberalMinister of Innovation
Mr. Chair, I want to thank my hon. colleague for asking this question, because it enables me to talk about the effort that Canadians undertook across the country. When we had a call to action, over 6,700 Canadians stepped up to help us produce personal protective equipment for frontline health care workers. We are very proud of these efforts. We are very proud of the fact that these Canadians have delivered for our frontline health care workers across the country.
Michael Barrett Conservative Leeds—Grenville—Thousand Islands and Rideau Lakes, ON
Mr. Chair, why pay more for a ventilator that had no regulatory approval anywhere in the world, except if the reason is that they were a Liberal?
Navdeep Bains Liberal Mississauga—Malton, ON
Mr. Chair, I would like to remind the hon. colleague that in March and April, when we were dealing with the early stages of this pandemic, we made a call to action to all businesses. We did not look at which party they voted for or their political affiliation. Canadians stepped up in a big way to support frontline health care workers, and we are very proud of that.
Cathy McLeod Conservative Kamloops—Thompson—Cariboo, BC
Mr. Chair, the rent program was introduced in May. When did the minister realize that there were serious design flaws?
Chrystia Freeland LiberalDeputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance
Mr. Chair, what we are here to talk about tonight are the new programs that our government is putting in place.
Cathy McLeod Conservative Kamloops—Thompson—Cariboo, BC
Mr. Chair, the minister is also a member of Parliament who, I expect, supports many small businesses in her riding. If she is like anyone else in the House, they learned very quickly in May and June that this program was not adequate.
When was the decision made to redesign this rent assistance program?
Chrystia Freeland Liberal University—Rosedale, ON
Mr. Chair, in the spring when COVID struck our country, there was no playbook.
Cathy McLeod Conservative Kamloops—Thompson—Cariboo, BC
Mr. Chair, the Liberals knew there were flaws with the program. There was obviously a decision made to redesign it as we have a redesigned program. When the Liberals prorogued for six weeks, they said it was because they needed to focus on a COVID response. It was not about the WE Charity they insisted.
Immediately after the Speech from the Throne, if this was about a COVID response, why have we been debating the Judges Act and other legislation and not this important bill for people who need assistance?
Chrystia Freeland Liberal University—Rosedale, ON
Mr. Chair, I am glad we are debating this important bill now and I am glad we have been able to include some really innovative measures, particularly the lockdown support. This is a new program. I have not seen one like it anywhere in the world. It will provide targeted support to businesses subject to local lockdowns. It is going to get us through the winter.
Cathy McLeod Conservative Kamloops—Thompson—Cariboo, BC
Mr. Chair, we had six weeks of prorogation. We have had six weeks of sitting in the House. The Liberals have now finally introduced a bill and they insist it has to be passed by Friday.
When the minister was an opposition member, did she not believe that taking a few hours to hear from expert witnesses at committee did provide valuable input, especially if they had legislation that would spend $5 billion or more?
Chrystia Freeland Liberal University—Rosedale, ON
Mr. Chair, the member opposite said that we, the government, believe this has to be passed by Friday. I would like to respectfully say I do not think that is some kind of peculiar conviction of ours. All Canadian businesses, all Canadian provinces and territories need this legislation.