COVID-19 Pandemic Committee on June 3rd, 2020

[Jacques Gourde, Conservative, Lévis—Lotbinière, QC]

This government has been talking for years, but it has taken no concrete measures to ensure high-quality digital connectivity for all our regions. As we have seen in the context of this pandemic and of telework, several thousand Canadians are simply disadvantaged by the fact that, in 2020, they only have access to a low-speed Internet connection.

The question is simple: when will this problem become a real priority for this government and what will it do about it?

[Maryam Monsef, Liberal, Minister for Women and Gender Equality and Rural Economic Development]

Mr. Chair, our government's plan is to ensure that all Canadians have access to reliable, affordable high-speed Internet service.

This plan is working. To date, we have approved projects that will connect more than one million households across Canada. COVID-19 has underscored the urgency of this work. I want to assure my colleague that all Canadians—

[The Chair, Liberal, Anthony Rota]

We will now continue with Mr. Kent.

[Peter Kent, Conservative, Thornhill, ON]

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

The Government of Canada speaks generally of 300,000 Canadian citizens in Hong Kong.

Can the Minister of Immigration tell us more exactly how many Canadian citizens are currently resident in Hong Kong?

[The Chair, Liberal, Anthony Rota]

The honourable minister.

[Marco Mendicino, Liberal, Eglinton—Lawrence, ON]

The first thing that I would like to clarify, Mr. Chair, is that those Canadians who are in Hong Kong and elsewhere have a right to return home. With regard to those who wish to seek asylum, we have a robust system in place that ensures that everyone making a claim will receive a fair hearing. That will continue.

[Peter Kent, Conservative, Thornhill, ON]

Minister, how many of the Canadian citizens currently resident in Hong Kong—I would like, at least, an estimate from you—currently hold valid Canadian passports? How many have recently made passport applications?

[Marco Mendicino, Liberal, Eglinton—Lawrence, ON]

As my honourable colleague knows, those individuals who do hold citizenship do have a right to return home. We will continue to monitor the situation very closely to ensure that those who wish to exercise their right do so in accordance with the health and safety measures in place at the border.

[Peter Kent, Conservative, Thornhill, ON]

These answers underline the deficiencies of this temporary committee. With respect to the minister, the PMO doesn't like straight answers. At least if the Standing Committee on Citizenship and Immigration were sitting, we would get straight answers from the deputy minister, department officials and the occasional witness allowed by the government.

Again, does the minister have any estimate of the number of Canadian citizens currently resident in Hong Kong?

[Marco Mendicino, Liberal, Eglinton—Lawrence, ON]

Mr. Chair, as my honourable colleague said, there is an estimate of approximately 300,000 who hold Canadian citizenship. Those individuals do have the right to return home. When they exercise that right, they must do so in accordance with the travel restrictions in place to reduce the likelihood of the spread of COVID-19.

[Peter Kent, Conservative, Thornhill, ON]

Here's something for the minister: Has the department updated its emergency contingency plans in the event of worst possible outcomes in Hong Kong?

[Marco Mendicino, Liberal, Eglinton—Lawrence, ON]

Mr. Chair, I know that my colleague, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, is working very closely with our representatives in that region. In the meantime, our officials are also providing—

[The Chair, Liberal, Anthony Rota]

We'll now go back to Mr. Kent.

[Peter Kent, Conservative, Thornhill, ON]

Minister, last year, Canada assigned members of Global Affairs' standing rapid deployment team to our consulate general in Hong Kong to assist the mission and Canadian citizens in that territory. Is that team in place today?

[François-Philippe Champagne, Liberal, Minister of Foreign Affairs]

Mr. Chair, we have the current number of staff that we need in Hong Kong. As needed, we would be prepared, like we've been in Wuhan and like we were when we repatriated Canadians from more than 110 countries. We can deploy these teams. They are rapid response teams. As the case may be, we—

[The Chair, Liberal, Anthony Rota]

We will go back to Mr. Kent.

[Peter Kent, Conservative, Thornhill, ON]

Thank you, Chair.

Again to the Minister of Immigration, the supplementary estimates reveal a $200-million line item in the Department of Citizenship and Immigration for the housing of illegal border-crossing asylum claimants. This would seem to be a minor down payment on much larger costs borne by Ontario and Quebec and a number of cities. The City of Toronto alone is asking for $77 million this year and years going forward to cover asylum claimant shelter costs, given that the backlog of asylum claimant cases is now more than 90,000 and will stretch for years.

Can the minister answer on supplementary funds beyond this very small initial payment?

[Marco Mendicino, Liberal, Eglinton—Lawrence, ON]

First, Mr. Chair, I will have more to say about those estimates going forward.

I'm very proud of this government's record when it has come to partnering with cities like Toronto and the support we're providing with regard to interim housing for refugees and asylum-seekers. We will continue to build on that record going forward.

[The Chair, Liberal, Anthony Rota]

Mr. Kent, a very short question.

[Peter Kent, Conservative, Thornhill, ON]

Thank you very much, Chair.

I have a final question for the Minister of Digital Government.

Can the minister tell us whether she read the House of Commons cybersecurity email, titled “IT Security Alert”, on risks with the WeChat application?

[Jean-Yves Duclos, President of the Treasury Board]

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

The minister in question has already made it clear that this is not part of her own work. This is something else in her network, which is now out of the network. She has clearly said that the views expressed by that person are not her views.

[The Chair, Liberal, Anthony Rota]

We'll now go on to Ms. Kusie.

[Stephanie Kusie, Conservative, Calgary Midnapore, AB]

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Canadian families who don't normally qualify for the Canada child benefit received a payment of approximately $300 per child as part of the COVID-19 CCB top-up. When Canadians call Service Canada to report the error and return the benefit, they are being told to donate it to a children's charity if they don't need it. This in fact happened to our colleague Rosemarie Falk, member of Parliament for Battlefords—Lloydminster.

Is the minister aware of this issue?

[Carla Qualtrough, Liberal, Delta, BC]

Mr. Chair, we were very proud to be able to deliver to Canadian families an extra CCB payment. I don't know the particulars of this circumstance, but I assure the House that I will look into it after this meeting.

[Stephanie Kusie, Conservative, Calgary Midnapore, AB]

Well, neither do Canadians, Mr. Chair.

Can the government clarify the criteria that need to be met at this time for Canadian families to receive the CCB?