Bill C-9 (Historical)

An Act to amend the Income Tax Act (Canada Emergency Rent Subsidy and Canada Emergency Wage Subsidy)

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.

Income Tax Act

[The Chair, Conservative, Bruce Stanton]

The hon. member.

[Pierre Poilievre, Conservative, Carleton, ON]

Mr. Chair, who holds the shares of the Bank of Canada?

[Chrystia Freeland, Liberal, University—Rosedale, ON]

Mr. Chair, as I said, I am the finance minister.

[Pierre Poilievre, Conservative, Carleton, ON]

Mr. Chair, she holds the shares of the Bank of Canada. She is the shareholder. She holds them all, so she is the only one we can ask in the House of Commons.

How much can the bank print to fund lending to the government?

[Chrystia Freeland, Liberal, University—Rosedale, ON]

Mr. Chair, I want to be very serious for a moment. The independence of the Bank of Canada is one of the central pillars of the Canadian economy, and I am not going to be frivolous about that or make frivolous comments.

[Pierre Poilievre, Conservative, Carleton, ON]

Mr. Chair, it would not be frivolous to tell us how much the bank can print to lend to the government. These are not frivolous questions. These questions are worth hundreds of billions of dollars. If she considers that frivolous, I am afraid we have someone in this job who does not care about taxpayers' money.

How much can the Bank of Canada print to lend to the Government of Canada?

[Chrystia Freeland, Liberal, University—Rosedale, ON]

Mr. Chair, I think it is really important to be clear that one of the central principles of how the Canadian economy works is that we have an independent Bank of Canada, something, by the way, that the member opposite has raised questionable questions about. I will not play—

[Pierre Poilievre, Conservative, Carleton, ON]

Mr. Chair, how much has the bank printed this year to fund lending to the government?

[Chrystia Freeland, Liberal, University—Rosedale, ON]

Mr. Chair, I really want to make clear tonight that an independent Bank of Canada is key to how the Canadian economy works. I think this is something that all members of the House—

[The Chair, Conservative, Bruce Stanton]

The hon. member.

[Pierre Poilievre, Conservative, Carleton, ON]

Mr. Chair, the federal government is dependent on the printing presses over at the Bank of Canada. How much has the Government of Canada borrowed from the Bank of Canada this year?

[Chrystia Freeland, Liberal, University—Rosedale, ON]

Mr. Chair, it represents a profound misunderstanding of how the Canadian economy or any other economy works to suggest that there is some kind of questionable relationship between our government and the Bank of Canada.

[Pierre Poilievre, Conservative, Carleton, ON]

Mr. Chair, if it was not questionable, she would be willing to talk about it out in the open. I asked how much the Bank of Canada has printed to pay for the government's debts. It is just a mathematical question that should be publicly available. Why is the minister hiding it?

[Chrystia Freeland, Liberal, University—Rosedale, ON]

Mr. Chair, I am not hiding anything. What I am doing is two things. One, I am being very clear. This is important for markets, it is important for Canadians and it is important for our Bank of Canada. I will stand here all night long defending the independence, the propriety and the fine judgment of the people in the Bank of—

[The Chair, Conservative, Bruce Stanton]

The hon. member.