COVID-19 Pandemic Committee on June 3rd, 2020

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Papineau, QC]

Mr. Chair, from the beginning of this pandemic, we have moved to help vulnerable Canadians, moved to help Canadians who have lost their paycheques. The CERB is delivering help to over eight million Canadians. Millions more are receiving the wage subsidy. We're investing in helping small businesses. We're investing in helping our seniors, our youth, and we are doing more for—

[The Chair, Liberal, Anthony Rota]

We'll go back to Mr. Singh.

[Jagmeet Singh, NDP, Burnaby South, BC]

Mr. Chair, the government has certainly moved, after the New Democrats pushed them again and again to help out those in need, to help out those who are struggling. Again we have to push the government. We have to push the Prime Minister to deliver on that promise made in a unanimous consent motion passed in this House. We need again this government to follow through, and not with the pretty words. We need the action.

Canadians living with disabilities need help. When will they get the help?

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Papineau, QC]

Mr. Chair, the action has been from this government. The rhetoric and words have always been from the NDP. We've taken concrete action to help Canadians, to invest in their families, to support small businesses, to get Canadians through this pandemic and we will continue to do so. For Canadians with disabilities, young people, seniors and hard-working Canadians, we will continue to be there with action, not words.

[The Chair, Liberal, Anthony Rota]

We'll now go to Mr. Albas.

[Dan Albas, Conservative, Central Okanagan—Similkameen—Nicola, BC]

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

The Prime Minister says, “action, not words.” For months we've been asking what the government plans to do for expectant parents who, due to COVID-19, will not be able to obtain the hours necessary to access full parental benefits.

The Minister of Employment has said she's looking into this. Would the minister tell these parents and the parliamentarians who are assembled today how she plans to fix this problem?

[Carla Qualtrough, Liberal, Delta, BC]

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

I can assure everyone in the House that we know that there are many groups of people who, because of COVID and for COVID reasons, will not have accumulated sufficient hours or time to access EI benefits. As I committed to the member, we are working on it. It is a tough system to navigate, but I can assure everybody that we will figure this out and be there for all Canadians.

[Dan Albas, Conservative, Central Okanagan—Similkameen—Nicola, BC]

Mr. Chair, we have been asking about this for months, and still the government has no solution. This isn't a problem for the future. Canadians who are having children right now are 40 or 50 hours short of the benefits because of COVID-19. The minister has had ample time, and Canadians are falling through the cracks.

When will the government ensure that these parents are not left behind?

[Carla Qualtrough, Liberal, Delta, BC]

Mr. Chair, yes, I appreciate the difficult situation, particularly of expectant parents who are wondering if they're going to have the EI support they need. I can assure them that we're working through this. As I've told the member, it is complicated. That's not an excuse. We will deliver for Canadians.

[Dan Albas, Conservative, Central Okanagan—Similkameen—Nicola, BC]

Mr. Chair, we've been told that CERB claims for EI-eligible people are being paid from the employment insurance account. Is that accurate?

[Carla Qualtrough, Liberal, Delta, BC]

Mr. Chair, I can confirm that is accurate.

[Dan Albas, Conservative, Central Okanagan—Similkameen—Nicola, BC]

Mr. Chair, can the minister please tell us the current balance of the EI account?

[Carla Qualtrough, Liberal, Delta, BC]

Mr. Chair, I don't have that information at my fingertips, but I can provide it to the member.

[Dan Albas, Conservative, Central Okanagan—Similkameen—Nicola, BC]

Mr. Chair, it would seem to me that the minister should know at least a ballpark figure. Can the minister please let us know if there is a modest surplus?

[Carla Qualtrough, Liberal, Delta, BC]

Mr. Chair, out of respect for this House, I would prefer to give him an accurate answer, which I promise to provide as soon as possible.

[Dan Albas, Conservative, Central Okanagan—Similkameen—Nicola, BC]

Well, Mr. Chair, this is a pretty easy question. At least give us a ballpark figure.

Am I getting warmer when I say a modest deficit, or a large deficit? Could the minister please just tell us in general where the EI account is? Is it in a positive surplus, or negative?

[Carla Qualtrough, Liberal, Delta, BC]

Once again, Mr. Chair, I commit to getting that information to the member, but I would prefer not to provide this House in any way with an inaccurate number.

[Dan Albas, Conservative, Central Okanagan—Similkameen—Nicola, BC]

Mr. Chair, this minister has told me she would respond to letters. We've sent over six letters and we have not received a reply to them. We need to have more transparency from this government.

The minister has said she will get a number. Can she give me an idea of when? Would the end of the week be too soon?

[Carla Qualtrough, Liberal, Delta, BC]

Mr. Chair, I assume that the end of the week is possible. I will commit to let the member know by the end of the day exactly when he'll get that information and I will follow up on all of his correspondence.

[Dan Albas, Conservative, Central Okanagan—Similkameen—Nicola, BC]

Mr. Chair, for weeks we've been asking why the government was turning a blind eye to fraud in the CERB. The government said they had no choice if they wanted to get the money out fast. Now we know they'll be looking into fraud through a CRA snitch line.

Therefore, the government did have a choice for the past two months, and they chose to ignore fraud until now. Why is that?

[Carla Qualtrough, Liberal, Delta, BC]

Mr. Chair, with respect, we are by no means ignoring fraud. When we committed to delivering this benefit to Canadians as quickly as possible, we moved some of our integrity measures—and I emphasize some—to the back end of this process. However, I can assure everyone in the House and Canadians that we will absolutely follow up, and people who received inappropriate payments will be paying those back.

[Dan Albas, Conservative, Central Okanagan—Similkameen—Nicola, BC]

Mr. Chair, when public servants raised red flags that some people were not eligible for the benefit, the government directed that they be paid out anyway. Now the Liberals have a snitch line, encouraging Canadians to phone in if they believe their neighbours are misusing the benefit.

Why did they not put more onus on the front-end measures to make sure those red-flagged accounts were dealt with in a timely way? We're not talking about cutting off benefits to everyone. Canadians want to know why the government has done things this way.

[Carla Qualtrough, Liberal, Delta, BC]

Mr. Chair, I assume the member agrees that when we asked employees to process claims differently, moving from EI to the CERB, we had to give them operational direction to do so. I will again emphasize that we were first focused on getting an efficient and quick benefit to as many people as possible, and we have not in any way compromised the integrity of this program.

[The Chair, Liberal, Anthony Rota]

We'll now go to Mr. d'Entremont.

[Chris d'Entremont, Conservative, West Nova, NS]

Thank you very much, Mr. Chair.

My question is for the Minister of Agriculture.

In the Annapolis Valley, berry producers are facing significant losses due to COVID-19. With a one-month delay for bringing in foreign workers and the 14-day quarantine, Millen Farms is facing a 25% to 40% loss of its planned strawberry harvest. In addition to being fewer in number than last year, missing 50 foreign workers means less work is being done. Since the rules of social distancing are also creating a lot of problems when it comes to “you pick”, it's very difficult for farmers to recoup in that manner.

How are government programs helping berry producers like Millen Farms?