COVID-19 Pandemic Committee on June 3rd, 2020

[Bill Blair, Liberal, Scarborough Southwest, ON]

Mr. Chair, I would like to acknowledge the member's strong advocacy on behalf of the firearms industry, manufacturers and retailers.

I want to assure the House and all Canadians that our focus is on public safety and keeping Canadians safe.

We have implemented an amnesty period that will allow us time to bring forward legislation that will deal effectively with the compensation of people who have lawfully acquired these weapons. Until then, we have put in place a non-permissive grandfathering amnesty that will protect those individual Canadians from any criminal liability.

[The Acting Chair, Conservative, Bruce Stanton]

We have time for one short question.

Mr. Zimmer, go ahead.

[Bob Zimmer, Conservative, Prince George—Peace River—Northern Rockies, BC]

I have a question from a constituent, Malcolm Dutchak, who wants to know why the government didn't review and update the emergency stockpile to ensure that we would have the necessary supplies when the pandemic hit.

[The Acting Chair, Conservative, Bruce Stanton]

The honourable minister.

[Patty Hajdu, Liberal, Thunder Bay—Superior North, ON]

As we've covered a number of times, the national emergency stockpile is under review. As I mentioned in the House, we know that we have a system that works very closely with provinces and territories to ensure that we have the equipment and the antiretrovirals in place.

This is a global pandemic, the size of which we have not seen in 100 years, and we have a lot of work to do to prepare for the next one.

[The Acting Chair, Conservative, Bruce Stanton]

We'll now move on to Ms. Wong in Richmond Centre.

[Alice Wong, Conservative, Richmond Centre, BC]

Mr. Chair, June 15 is World Elder Abuse Awareness Day. It is a sad reality that the levels of financial, physical and mental abuse against our seniors are increasing, especially in the wake of COVID-19.

In the last Parliament, the House and the government agreed that action was needed to address financial fraud targeting our seniors, by unanimously passing my motion, M-203.

When will the government take the steps necessary to protect Canada's increasingly vulnerable seniors?

[The Acting Chair, Conservative, Bruce Stanton]

The honourable minister.

[Deb Schulte, Liberal, King—Vaughan, ON]

Thank you very much, Mr. Chair, for the opportunity to address a very significant concern for our country and our seniors, which is rising abuse and ageism.

I want to assure the member that we have taken significant steps in a variety of ways. One of them is to enhance the money we have provided for the new horizons for seniors program, so that we can enhance programs throughout the country in all communities that can support seniors, not only to get through this pandemic but also to address the important issues that are occurring with abuse.

I also want to make sure that—

[The Acting Chair, Conservative, Bruce Stanton]

We'll have to leave it there.

We will go back to Ms. Wong, for the next question.

[Alice Wong, Conservative, Richmond Centre, BC]

Mr. Chair, on 12 May, after a delay of nearly two months, the government announced a one-time payment for seniors collecting OAS and GIS. Last week was the OAS payday, and the promised top-up was nowhere to be seen.

How many more months must Canada's seniors wait before the government honours its commitment?

[Deb Schulte, Liberal, King—Vaughan, ON]

Many Canadian seniors are facing significant health, economic and social challenges due to COVID-19. Our government recognizes this, and that is why we did take significant action to provide an additional payment.

We will be delivering these payments automatically as soon as possible, within weeks, and beneficiaries do not need to apply. We will continue to find ways to support our seniors during this difficult time.

[Alice Wong, Conservative, Richmond Centre, BC]

Mr. Chair, during my last opportunity to ask questions in this place, I inquired if seniors who chose to defer the OAS payment to a later date would receive the top-up or not. We then received correspondence from the minister's office indicating that those seniors would not be receiving the top-up.

Can the minister confirm this?

[Deb Schulte, Liberal, King—Vaughan, ON]

I can confirm that those who have deferred their payments, because typically they are in a better financial situation, may be continuing to work. As a result of that, they have access to other opportunities through CERB if they should lose that employment. We will not be providing payments to those who have deferred their benefits.

[Alice Wong, Conservative, Richmond Centre, BC]

Mr. Chair, can the minister confirm that the eligibility cut-off for the OAS/GIS top-up was June 1, 2020?

[Deb Schulte, Liberal, King—Vaughan, ON]

That is correct.

[Alice Wong, Conservative, Richmond Centre, BC]

Mr. Chair, formal and especially informal caregivers are an important part of health care in this nation. Their contribution is crucial as governments are trying to ease the strain on our health care system that COVID-19 presents.

Could the minister please let us know what measures, if any, they will be rolling out to help take care of the caregivers?

[Deb Schulte, Liberal, King—Vaughan, ON]

Mr. Chair, our government recognizes how important caregivers are in the lives of sick and injured family members. We've introduced the new Canada caregiver credit, which provides a tax reduction of up to $1,071 for the expenses of the care of dependant relatives with infirmities and $335 for the expenses of the care of spouses and children.

We introduced a new family caregiver benefit that provides up to 15 weeks of EI for adults caring for critically ill or injured adult family members.

We will continue to assess the needs of Canadians and—

[The Acting Chair, Conservative, Bruce Stanton]

Ms. Wong, we're going to try to get one last short question in here. You have about 30 seconds left, so ask a very short question, and then we'll have time for a response.

[Alice Wong, Conservative, Richmond Centre, BC]

Could the minister provide an estimated dollar figure for the amount of money delivered so far under the new horizons program?

[Deb Schulte, Liberal, King—Vaughan, ON]

Mr. Chair, we have undertaken the process necessary to determine the best distribution of these additional funds, and we'll have more to say on that soon.

[The Acting Chair, Conservative, Bruce Stanton]

I now invite the hon. member, Mr. Godin, to take the floor.

[Joël Godin, Conservative, Portneuf—Jacques-Cartier, QC]

Mr. Chair, on May 19, the Prime Minister announced during his daily press conference that his government would take additional measures to help businesses that still needed assistance. The Prime Minister said that he would expand the Canada emergency business account, or CEBA, to include family-ownded SMEs that prefer dividend income over salary income.

More than two weeks after his announcement, SMEs are still waiting for this promise to be fulfilled. I'd like to remind the government that this isn't an election campaign. We're in a crisis, and urgent action is needed.

When will the program be fixed?

[Mary Ng, Liberal, Minister of Small Business]

Mr. Chair, I thank the honourable member for that really important question. Indeed, those small businesses he has described are very important to our country.

As of now, over 650,000 small businesses have accessed the Canada emergency business account. The member is absolutely right that we need to make sure that additional support is provided to those additional businesses that now qualify. We're working very hard to make sure that support is there for businesses, and very soon they will be able to get that support through their financial institutions.

[Joël Godin, Conservative, Portneuf—Jacques-Cartier, QC]

Mr. Chair, I'll continue on the same subject.

In the announcement made in his daily TV drama in front of Rideau Cottage, the Prime Minister added that SMEs that employ contract workers, such as hair salons, could soon have access to it. Even though hair salons in Quebec have just reopened, they are in financial danger.

When will they get this indispensable financial assistance to pay what they owe? When? The question is simple.