COVID-19 Pandemic Committee on June 4th, 2020

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

I agree that public transit is an essential service for Canadians. Today, we are in talks with the municipalities and the provinces to find ways to support the municipalities. We are going to do that.

[The Acting Chair, Conservative, Bruce Stanton]

Mr. Boulerice, you have time for one last question.

[Alexandre Boulerice, NDP, Rosemont—La Petite-Patrie, QC]

CHSLDs are still in crisis at the moment. Especially in Quebec, health care workers are exhausted and at the end of their rope. Can those workers count on military personnel remaining on site to help them take care of our seniors?

[Pablo Rodriguez, Liberal, Honoré-Mercier, QC]

Mr. Chair, our men and women of the Canadian Armed Forces continue to play an absolutely extraordinary role for our seniors in the CHSLDs. We are in talks with Quebec on this matter.

I want to thank them for what they are doing. It is heroic and essential.

[The Acting Chair, Conservative, Bruce Stanton]

We'll now go to Mr. Baldinelli.

[Tony Baldinelli, Conservative, Niagara Falls, ON]

Mr. Chair, the media in my riding today are reporting on the closure of a popular tourism business that has been in operation for the past 26 years. Despite its best efforts to stay alive by accessing existing government programs, loans and additional debt are not the liquidity this sector has been requesting from the government.

While the Minister of Economic Development did announce a $4.5-million grant to our local tourism marketing organization this past weekend, which is appreciated, it is not a plan. It's late and it falls way short of what many of my tourism stakeholders have been seeking.

What is the minister's plan for supporting tourism?

[Marie-Claude Bibeau, Liberal, Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food]

Mr. Chair, we know that the tourism industry is hard hit by the COVID-19 pandemic. We are working tirelessly to help all our small businesses across the country.

That is one of the reasons why we have invested $675 million in our six regional development agencies. In addition, over the next 18 months, Destination Canada will also receive an investment of $30 million.

[Tony Baldinelli, Conservative, Niagara Falls, ON]

I appreciate the minister's efforts, but I was hoping that the minister of tourism could respond to that question. Our sector needs a response. More importantly, it needs a plan.

The minister talks about knowing the stakeholders and talking to the stakeholders. Then she would be aware that the two largest tourism employers in Niagara Falls, the Niagara Parks Commission and Niagara Casinos, both of which are provincially owned self-funding organizations employing about 6,000 people, can't access the wage subsidy program.

Minister, will the government consider designating these entities as prescribed organizations under the Canada emergency wage subsidy so that they can become eligible for this important program?

[The Acting Chair, Conservative, Bruce Stanton]

Do we have a minister who wishes to respond? Are we waiting for someone?

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

Mr. Chair, currently we are holding consultations on the wage subsidy and its extension. I invite the member to participate in that online consultation, which will end tomorrow.

We will continue to work with businesses across the country to see how we can support them during this very difficult time.

[Tony Baldinelli, Conservative, Niagara Falls, ON]

It's disappointing—that pause and the wait for a response from the minister of tourism.

Our sector needs a plan and it needs a response. More debt and more loans aren't the solution. They need liquidity, and they need answers today.

Again, I was going to pose this question to the Minister of Economic Development.

Our seasonal tourism workers in Niagara are concerned that they will not qualify for EI this winter because they simply will not work enough hours or earn enough income this summer because of COVID. Many have not even been called back to work yet. It was only because of the efforts of our Conservative government that the CERB benefit was extended to seasonal tourism workers.

Minister, has this government considered these future EI issues facing seasonal tourism workers?

[Carla Qualtrough, Liberal, Delta, BC]

Mr. Chair, I can assure the member and all Canadians that we absolutely are considering this very difficult issue. He will recall that we addressed it already for fish harvesters. We're looking to see how we can address it for other groups of workers as they face the potential of not having accrued enough EI eligibility, whether it be in hours, days or weeks. I can assure him that we are working on that very diligently.

[Tony Baldinelli, Conservative, Niagara Falls, ON]

Mr. Chair, my question now is for the minister for international trade. An employer in my riding, the Solvay group, has a Canadian subsidiary named Cytec, which is a leading producer of ultra-high-purity phosphine products that are essential in the manufacture of semiconductor chips. In fact, their Cytec site, which is located in the riding, is one of the largest producers of phosphine gas.

Unfortunately, the Liberal government has caused excessive and unexplained delays in granting the export permits needed by this company. Every day the government delays, Solvay/Cytec loses market share to its aggressive competitors, located primarily in Asia.

Minister, when will the government approve Solvay/Cytec's export permits?

[Mary Ng, Liberal, Markham—Thornhill, ON]

Mr. Chair, I want to thank the honourable member for the question. As the minister responsible for international trade, I am here to answer his question.

I do want to assure Canadian companies that are looking to grow and to expand into those international markets that we're working very hard to make sure they continue to have access to those markets. We have a great service in the Canadian trade commissioner service to help them navigate through the markets that they need to get into.

[The Acting Chair, Conservative, Bruce Stanton]

We are going to take a short break to allow several members of the support team to change shifts. It should take between one minute and a half and two minutes.

We didn't have to wait as long as we thought. We can carry on.

We can proceed to the next round of questions.

I invite the honourable member for Mégantic—L'Érable to take the floor.

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

Mr. Chair, Quebec, Ontario, British Columbia and Alberta are jointly calling on the federal government to help save public transit.

Despite the fine promises made by the former Minister of the Environment, will the Liberal government do its part to help public transit get through this crisis?

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

Mr. Chair, I thank the honourable member for his question. We absolutely agree that public transit is essential to our economy and the reopening of our economy.

We will continue to work closely with the provinces to support municipalities and public transit.

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

A number of employers who have applied for the Canada summer jobs program have still not received confirmation for their summer jobs, even though their applications have been approved by MPs' offices.

When will the final confirmations be made?

[Carla Qualtrough, Liberal, Delta, BC]

Mr. Chair, as you know, in these extraordinary times we have introduced additional flexibilities into Canada summer jobs. MPs are receiving their lists in waves so that we can get as much information to employers and MPs as quickly as possible. The next wave is coming. We have over 50,000 Canada summer jobs in our job bank. It's very exciting for our young people.

I can reach out to the member—

[The Acting Chair, Conservative, Bruce Stanton]

We'll go back to Mr. Berthold.

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

Mr. Chair, summer is coming and the students who are available want to work, but they will turn to the CESB, because their employers have not yet received confirmation for their Canada summer jobs.

Why is the minister encouraging young people to stay home instead of going to work?

[Carla Qualtrough, Liberal, Delta, BC]

It is quite the opposite, Mr. Chair; quite the opposite. We are in fact encouraging students and young people across the country to work. They want to work. They want to serve and be productive in our community and help out in this time of crisis. There are over 50,000 jobs in our job bank. For students who want to work, there's work available for them, and students want to work.

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

Mr. Chair, why did the minister reduce the number of jobs in the ridings of Mégantic—L'Érable and Portneuf—Jacques-Cartier?

[Carla Qualtrough, Liberal, Delta, BC]

Mr. Chair, I apologize, but I am not aware of the particular jobs in the member's riding. To the best of my knowledge, we have not cut jobs anywhere. I will follow up with him, definitely, after this committee meeting.

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

The municipality of Saint-Sébastien, near Lac-Mégantic, cancelled its youth day camp this summer because program officials rejected its application for summer jobs, despite the fact that one position had been approved by the member of Parliament.

The Liberal government is not following the recommendations of members of Parliament. Why?