COVID-19 Pandemic Committee on May 28th, 2020

[The Acting Chair, Conservative, Bruce Stanton]

Mr. Berthold, the floor is yours.

[Luc Berthold, Conservative, Mégantic—L'Érable, QC]

Mr. Chair, if the new CEO stays in office for five years, he will be entitled to a total potential bonus of $4 million, in addition to his salary of $3 million.

Does the Minister of Infrastructure think this is a good way to spend taxpayers' money, yes or no?

[Catherine McKenna, Liberal, Ottawa Centre, ON]

Mr. Chair, I'm very proud that we have Michael Sabia, who is now head of the Canada Infrastructure Bank as the board chair.

We need to move forward in building infrastructure that's going to create jobs, including in the member's riding; that's going to help move us to a cleaner future; that's going to grow our economy and increase Canada's competitiveness.

The bank is a key part of the investing in Canada plan—

[The Acting Chair, Conservative, Bruce Stanton]

We will now move to Mrs. Gray, Kelowna—Lake Country.

[Tracy Gray, Conservative, Kelowna—Lake Country, BC]

Mr. Chair, the COVID-19 pandemic has shown how important it is to be able to move our goods interprovincially. Christian Buhagiar of Supply Chain Canada called for the government to revisit interprovincial trade regulations to ensure we can quickly move production and distribution from one region to another during times of emergency.

Will the government commit to immediately examine all our trade barriers that can affect interprovincial trade of essential goods due to COVID-19?

[The Acting Chair, Conservative, Bruce Stanton]

The honourable minister.

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

I'd like to thank the member opposite for her excellent point.

Our government is very committed to removing barriers to interprovincial trade. It's something that we have been working on with the premiers. Obviously the coronavirus has taken precedence in recent weeks, but it's a priority. It's the right thing to do.

[Tracy Gray, Conservative, Kelowna—Lake Country, BC]

Mr. Chair, the federal government has a regulatory reconciliation table as part of the Canada free trade agreement, focusing on breaking down interprovincial trade barriers. Due to COVID-19, it has been announced that deadlines for all of these items may be delayed.

What is the government doing to ensure there won't be delays on these items?

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

Mr. Chair, it is absolutely right and appropriate for first ministers, who have been meeting every week for more than two months, to be focusing on the urgent threat posed by the coronavirus.

However, I agree with the member opposite that we need to lift barriers to interprovincial trade. That's something we're committed to doing and to working on with the premiers.

[Tracy Gray, Conservative, Kelowna—Lake Country, BC]

Mr. Chair, while many of these items were past due prior to the pandemic, two important items from the list that should be worked on now are meat inspection and food inspection.

Considering serious issues from these industries during the pandemic, would the minister commit to restarting the work on at least these two items?

[The Acting Chair, Conservative, Bruce Stanton]

The honourable minister.

[Marie-Claude Bibeau, Liberal, Compton—Stanstead, QC]

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

I can assure you, as far as the Canadian Food Inspection Agency is concerned, that we are very open to that issue. Moreover, the authorities are front and centre in cases where there may be a food shortage in one region of the country or another.

[Tracy Gray, Conservative, Kelowna—Lake Country, BC]

Mr. Chair, COVID-19 is adding huge pressures to our national supply chain. Those I speak with in the industry tell me they are beginning to see a backlog of goods.

Does the government have a comprehensive plan to ensure the movement and resiliency of our national supply chain?

[Marie-Claude Bibeau, Liberal, Compton—Stanstead, QC]

Mr. Chair, since we are discussing the food supply chain, let me remind you that we are committed to spending $50 million, specifically to buy surplus food and redistribute it, through the food bank network, to regions where the need is greatest.

[Tracy Gray, Conservative, Kelowna—Lake Country, BC]

Mr. Chair, reports state that activists' rail blockades earlier this year cost the Canadian economy $275 million, and it took three to five days to catch up for every day that our transportation network was down. The supply chain industry just caught up, and then the pandemic hit, creating new issues and backlogs. We are hearing from those in the industry who are concerned about future blockades affecting essential goods getting across the country. Our railways are critical infrastructure.

Will the government commit to immediately dismantling any potential future blockades?

[The Acting Chair, Conservative, Bruce Stanton]

The honourable minister may reply.

[Marc Garneau, Liberal, Notre-Dame-de-Grâce—Westmount, QC]

Mr. Chair, I couldn't agree more with my colleague that it is important for our railways to be transporting all the goods that we produce in this country. I am in contact on a weekly basis with our major railways.

Certain products are moving very well at the moment, including grain, potash and coal, but other goods haven't moved as quickly, because they have been affected by the pandemic. We are very vigilant with respect to moving our goods as efficiently as possible, whether it's by our railways, by trucks or by ships.

[Tracy Gray, Conservative, Kelowna—Lake Country, BC]

Mr. Chair, at the standing committee for industry this week, David Montpetit of the Western Canadian Shippers' Coalition stated that they believe shippers are going to face a container shortage over the next six months. He also stated that we could be facing labour and capacity shortages in our trucking industry. This could backlog essential goods interprovincially, including food and medicine, if the capacity isn't there. What steps is the government taking to address this problem?

[Marc Garneau, Liberal, Notre-Dame-de-Grâce—Westmount, QC]

Mr. Chair, of course it's always important to have the capacity to move goods across this country. At the moment, our trains have the capacity to move goods across the country. With respect to trucking, we do have issues with respect to a lack of truckers for moving some of our goods across the country. This is a problem that has existed for some time, and we're working on it.

[The Acting Chair, Conservative, Bruce Stanton]

We'll now move on to Mrs. Wagantall of Yorkton—Melville.

Mrs. Wagantall, go ahead.

[Cathay Wagantall, Conservative, Yorkton—Melville, SK]

Thank you, Chair.

Young and new farmers are struggling, as they don't have enough equity built up to borrow money to survive these difficult times. Price insurance is key, but the premiums are so expensive due to COVID that they can't participate. Has a price insurance program been implemented in Atlantic Canada?

[Marie-Claude Bibeau, Liberal, Compton—Stanstead, QC]

Yes, Mr. Chair, we are encouraging the use of private programs, as well as the risk management programs. The initiative must come from the private sector. I cannot answer my colleague's question directly.

[Cathay Wagantall, Conservative, Yorkton—Melville, SK]

Has the minister worked with her provincial counterparts to secure a short-term cost-sharing agreement to reduce premiums where price insurance already exists?

[Marie-Claude Bibeau, Liberal, Compton—Stanstead, QC]

Mr. Chair, I can assure my colleague that I am working very regularly with all my provincial colleagues. In addition to our individual meetings, we have a regular telephone meeting each week.

[Cathay Wagantall, Conservative, Yorkton—Melville, SK]

Is cost-sharing of premiums already available for crop insurance?