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

[Marilène Gill, Bloc, Manicouagan, QC]

Madam Chair, I am so happy to hear the government say that assistance should go to those who really need it, to people whose very existence is in danger, and that people cannot receive double payments of government assistance.

Does the government believe that political parties like the Liberal Party of Canada, the Conservative Party of Canada and the New Democratic Party, which have accumulated a combined total of $25 million in their coffers over the last six months, which they will use to finance the next election campaign, are as much at risk from the pandemic as SMEs on the North Shore?

[Jean-Yves Duclos, Liberal, Québec, QC]

Madam Chair, if she had the time, my colleague might have also added that the assistance, as was the case in the past few months, was provided efficiently, quickly and without discrimination as to the type of work people do or the regions where people live.

[Marilène Gill, Bloc, Manicouagan, QC]

Madam Chair, again, the recipient should need the money. It is not right to double dip.

Does the government agree that the Liberal Party, which received $1.2 million from the emergency wage subsidy that it will use it for the next election and be reimbursed for by the Chief Electoral Officer, essentially got twice the assistance when it did not need any?

[Jean-Yves Duclos, Liberal, Québec, QC]

Madam Chair, this gives me the opportunity to thank my colleague for her question and point out that the emergency wage subsidy has helped close to four million workers over the past few months. That is four million workers who would have lost both their job and their ability to put food on the table.

[Marilène Gill, Bloc, Manicouagan, QC]

Madam Chair, in light of these inconsistent answers, I would like the government to be honest enough to say that it applies for double the assistance when it does not need any, while people back home on the North Shore and elsewhere in Quebec are not getting anything during this pandemic.

[Jean-Yves Duclos, Liberal, Québec, QC]

Madam Chair, I am somewhat concerned when the member says that no one in her riding has received government assistance. If that is the case, they really have to take action in that riding because, in Canada, almost nine million workers, including tens of thousands—

[The Deputy Chair, NDP, Carol Hughes]

The hon. member for Manicouagan.

[Marilène Gill, Bloc, Manicouagan, QC]

Madam Speaker, the government misunderstood the question. Some have received assistance, but there are some who need it more than the Liberal Party does.

To prevent wealthy political parties, like the Liberal Party of Canada, from receiving twice as much financial assistance, which they do not need, when at the same time companies whose survival depends on it are denied that assistance, does the government think that reinstating public funding for political parties would be the solution?

[Jean-Yves Duclos, Liberal, Québec, QC]

Madam Chair, I did not have time to finish my answer. I was going to say that 8.8 million workers have received the CERB. I imagine that there are tens of thousands in the member's riding. If that is not the case, if she does not have that kind of information, she has the right to ask for it. We will do everything we can to obtain it.

[Marilène Gill, Bloc, Manicouagan, QC]

Madam Chair, I would like an answer regarding public funding for political parties. That is the question I was asking. As I said, rich parties are getting money they do not need, and they are double dipping because they will get reimbursed. They will use this money for an election campaign and not for their current needs, because they are not in danger, unlike businesses.

I would like to know if the minister sees this as a solution.

[Jean-Yves Duclos, Liberal, Québec, QC]

Madam Chair, I think the word “solution” is apt because in her riding, and in mine, it is a solution that addresses many challenges faced by businesses, small businesses in particular, whose rent and wages—

[The Deputy Chair, NDP, Carol Hughes]

The hon. member for Vancouver East.

[Jenny Kwan, NDP, Vancouver East, BC]

Madam Chair, Vancouver East small businesses cannot understand why the Liberals require the landlord to apply for the first commercial rent subsidy program in order to qualify. With the second program, the minister will only allow small businesses that are still struggling to survive the pandemic to apply retroactively to September 27, not April 1. If the idea is to help small businesses survive through the second wave into the future, small businesses will not be able to sustain themselves if the new commercial rent subsidy program is not backdated to April. Surely the minister realizes they have to carry the debt from the first wave forward. The past is part of their future. What will it take for the minister to make the program retroactive to April?

[Mary Ng, Liberal, Minister of Small Business]

Madam Chair, I want to thank the hon. member for her advocacy and her work. As the finance minister said earlier, what is really important here is getting this legislation through, helping businesses today and helping them going forward so that we can help them bridge to better times beyond COVID-19 and help them with these very important fixed costs that they have to pay.

[Jenny Kwan, NDP, Vancouver East, BC]

Madam Chair, repeating the same lines does not answer the question.

My constituent is a member of the Air Line Pilots Association. In an effort to support the company, he and his colleagues from WestJet have sacrificed themselves by taking a 50% cut in compensation for 12 months straight. As many as 180 to 200 pilots have taken a 70% reduction. Will the government come in with an airline recovery package that ensures public equity, job protection and consumer protection?