COVID-19 Pandemic Committee on June 4th, 2020

[The Acting Chair, Conservative, Bruce Stanton]

We'll go back to Mr. Melillo.

[Eric Melillo, Conservative, Kenora, ON]

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Does the minister's department have any information that she can share on how many businesses are currently awaiting responses in terms of their applications?

[Carla Qualtrough, Liberal, Delta, BC]

Mr. Chair, I don't have that information at my fingertips, but I will commit to the member to see what I can get him as soon as possible.

[Eric Melillo, Conservative, Kenora, ON]

Post-secondary students are generally finished school by May or June each year, and they start looking for summer work much earlier than that.

Given that the CSJ applications don't open until December or January of each year, in many cases, sometimes by the time the application has been processed, many qualified students have found work elsewhere. Many organizations in my riding have told me that this timeline makes it very difficult for them to recruit workers.

Going forward, will this government commit to opening up applications earlier in the year to give businesses and workers more time to plan?

[Carla Qualtrough, Liberal, Delta, BC]

Thank you for the question. That's an excellent suggestion, Mr. Chair.

We are looking to make improvements and streamline the Canada summer jobs program moving forward. As you know, we've added flexibilities to the program this year. I will absolutely take that suggestion under advisement and take the opportunity when I follow up with the member to get more details of what he has in mind in terms of timelines.

[Eric Melillo, Conservative, Kenora, ON]

With many businesses across Canada struggling to make payroll, the summer jobs funding is more important than ever for many.

Can the minister give the committee members some insight into what's being done to ensure funding flows as quickly as possible to the approved businesses?

[Carla Qualtrough, Liberal, Delta, BC]

As I've said, Mr. Chair, we are doing a number of things differently in many programs this year as a result of this pandemic, including adding flexibilities into the Canada summer jobs program so that we can take advantage of every possible opportunity for every student across this country.

If we had stuck to the original way of doing this, Mr. Chair, we would have missed out. Although it has been a ton of work for Service Canada and for our MPs, I think we will be very happy with the results at the end of the summer.

[Eric Melillo, Conservative, Kenora, ON]

I would like to direct my next question to the Minister of Public Safety.

During our last exchange, I asked the minister if he had any statistics pertaining to the origin of firearms used in crimes in Canada. Mr. Chair, he responded by saying yes, we do. However, he then subsequently failed to actually provide any of those details.

I would really like to provide the minister with the opportunity to tell all members of this committee and all Canadians what evidence his department has to justify their firearms confiscation.

[Bill Blair, Liberal, Minister of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness]

Thank you very much, Mr. Chair.

I will be happy to return to the member's question, but first I'd like to take the opportunity, if I may, to acknowledge the anniversary of a terrible tragedy that occurred six years ago today in Moncton, New Brunswick.

On that terrible day, Mr. Chair, three members of the RCMP—Doug Larche, Fabrice Gévaudan and David Ross—were murdered, and two other officers were seriously injured.

Mr. Chair, the tragic memory of that terrible day will not be forgotten, not by the families of the fallen, not by their fellow officers, and not by the people of Moncton.

Mr. Chair, we all honour their memory, their service and their sacrifice, and we shall remember them.

[Some hon. members]

Hear, hear!

[The Acting Chair, Conservative, Bruce Stanton]

We will now move on to the honourable member for Saanich—Gulf Islands, Ms. May.

Ms. May, go ahead.

[Elizabeth May, Green, Saanich—Gulf Islands, BC]

Thank you, Chair.

Through you to the Prime Minister, there is a pattern in history of leaders sometimes using a crisis that absorbs people's attention to do things they otherwise might not do for fear of global condemnation, such as in a pandemic. We see President Bolsonaro of Brazil turning more brutality against indigenous people in the Amazon.

My questions focus on the People's Republic of China, which I think is doing the same thing, and on Prime Minister Netanyahu in Israel.

To the question of China, we now see the People's Republic of China cracking down in Hong Kong in ways that violate the commitment to one country, two systems.

What will the Government of Canada do to help Canadian citizens, even if they are dual citizens of the People's Republic, to get home to Canada?

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

Mr. Chair, we know that the one country, two systems concept is what has been underpinning the liberty and freedom enjoyed by the people in Hong Kong. We are very deeply concerned by the imposition, unilaterally by Beijing, of a national security law that would undermine that very foundation.

Mr. Chair, we're working with allies to look at the implications that this imposition would have on the various arrangements and agreements we have in place with Hong Kong.

[Elizabeth May, Green, Saanich—Gulf Islands, BC]

I hope I will hear from the government in coming days about what we plan to do for the citizens of Canada who are in Hong Kong.

I want to thank the Prime Minister for yesterday making it clear for the first time that the Government of Canada will press Prime Minister Netanyahu not to proceed with his plans to illegally annex parts of the occupied territories of the West Bank.

I would like to ask this: What specifically is Canada doing to prevent this blow to any future prospects of peace in the region?

[François-Philippe Champagne, Liberal, Saint-Maurice—Champlain, QC]

Mr. Chair, both in private and in public, I and the Prime Minister have said that we are committed to the two-state solution and that we view unilateral annexation as contrary to international law.

I have spoken to the foreign minister of Israel. I have spoken to my colleagues in the Middle East. Mr. Chair, this is a long-held position of the Government of Canada throughout government, and we have made sure that we say that both publicly and privately.

[The Acting Chair, Conservative, Bruce Stanton]

If I may, Minister, your video is currently off. We're not getting your video feed on your responses. I know that we'd all love to see you.

We'll go back to Ms. May for her next question.

[Elizabeth May, Green, Saanich—Gulf Islands, BC]

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you to the honourable minister for those responses.

Changing the subject but on the same question of issues that may be falling through the cracks due to COVID-19, the climate crisis continues apace. I mentioned in this place a week ago, in questions, that the new reading of global concentrations in the atmosphere, of 417 parts per million in carbon dioxide is a measurement that's unprecedented not only over centuries but unprecedented over the last one million years. Since then, a new study in Science News, relying on paleoclimatology, said it's actually unprecedented over the last 23 million years.

In other words, if we're looking at flashing red lights on the dashboard of human survival, the flashing red light of climate emergency is getting much brighter and much more frightening than the COVID-19 emergency.

When will this government meet the commitments of the Paris Agreement to a new, revised and more aggressive target within 2020, as required by the Paris Agreement?

[Jonathan Wilkinson, Liberal, Minister of Environment and Climate Change]

Mr. Chair, certainly the government agrees with her that this is a crisis. It is a crisis that is moving at us perhaps more slowly than COVID-19, but it is a crisis whose impacts will be devastating if in fact we do not act, both in Canada and as a member of the global community.

This government has made a commitment to develop a plan that will see us meet and exceed our 2030 targets under the Paris Agreement. We have made that commitment. Obviously, we will continue to work to do that in advance of the next COP. We've also committed to achieving net zero by 2050, which science tells us we must do. We remain fully committed to doing that.

Of course, I am very happy to have these conversations with my honourable colleague and to continue them as we move forward.

[The Acting Chair, Conservative, Bruce Stanton]

That will finish the time permitted for that round.

We'll now go to Victoria and Ms. Collins. Ms. Collins, go ahead with your question.

[Laurel Collins, NDP, Victoria, BC]

Mr. Chair, I will be splitting my time with the member for Courtenay—Alberni.

Small businesses are telling us that the commercial rent program is not working. In Victoria and Oak Bay, I've heard from countless businesses who are going under because their landlords refuse to take part.

Will the minister admit that this is a flawed program and allow tenants to apply without their landlords so that these small businesses don't fall through the cracks?

[Mona Fortier, Liberal, Ottawa—Vanier, ON]

Mr. Chair, I would tell my honourable colleague that we worked collaboratively with the provinces to offer this program.

We're encouraging landlords to use this program to support tenants. As we know, these are provincial jurisdictions. We will continue to monitor this program. We encourage landlords to use it.

[Laurel Collins, NDP, Victoria, BC]

That didn't answer my question. Will the government allow a business to apply without their landlord, or is the minister okay with letting these small businesses fall through the cracks?

[Mona Fortier, Liberal, Ottawa—Vanier, ON]

Mr. Chair, again, our government is working closely with the provinces and territories to deliver the Canada emergency commercial rent assistance. Although the tenant-landlord relationship is ultimately the responsibility of the provinces—

[The Acting Chair, Conservative, Bruce Stanton]

We'll go back to Ms. Collins.

[Laurel Collins, NDP, Victoria, BC]

This is a federal program, but my community relies on tourism, and now this sector and the small businesses that depend on it are facing lasting financial harm or complete collapse. Over 20,000 workers rely on these jobs. Local visitors and the current federal programs are simply not enough to keep them afloat.

Will the government provide specific, targeted support to tourism businesses so that they and their workers can weather this storm?