COVID-19 Pandemic Committee on June 9th, 2020

[Andrew Scheer, Conservative, Regina—Qu'Appelle, SK]

Again, Madam Chair, the Prime Minister knows that this is not the normal functioning of Parliament.

In fact, in a little over a week, Parliament will debate what's called the estimates, over 80 billion dollars' worth of new government spending. Because of the Prime Minister's rules that he's imposed on this chamber, members of Parliament will only have four hours to debate over 80 billion dollars' worth of new spending. Imagine the CEO of a major corporation telling its board of directors that they are only going to let the auditors in for four hours and they are going to rubber-stamp everything else. That CEO would be fired.

Again, if the Prime Minister can meet outside this chamber with thousands of people, why can members of Parliament not gather inside to do the work that Canadians elected us to do?

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Papineau, QC]

Madam Chair, nothing prevents the Leader of the Opposition from asking questions right now on the estimates. We have hours of questions every single day when they are more than open to ask questions. We will respond to the questions on the important measures we've put forward for Canadians.

Yes, we have invested unprecedented amounts in supporting families and households and small businesses and seniors and people right across the country who needed help.

[Andrew Scheer, Conservative, Regina—Qu'Appelle, SK]

Madam Chair, the Prime Minister brought up some of the government's spending. Well, we know that they like to waste money, giving $50 million to Mastercard and $12 million to Loblaws, but when the Auditor General asks for enough funding to do the work this House has asked her to do, the government refuses. The Auditor General is a key tool for members of Parliament to do our job, to provide that kind of oversight.

In a few moments, the Prime Minister is going to blame the previous government, but let me point out to him the quotes that we have from the previous auditor general with regard to the previous Conservative government's time. At no time did the previous auditor general ever tell Parliament, under the Conservative government, that he didn't have the funds to do his work. That has changed under the current government.

Without trying to reach into the past, will the Prime Minister live in the now and acknowledge the fact that it is his refusal to give the Auditor General the money she needs to do her job that is preventing the oversight that Canadians expect from their government?

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Papineau, QC]

Madam Chair, I can understand that the member opposite is asking us not to talk about what happened during the Harper years, but the reality is that the Conservative government cut nearly $6.5 million from the Auditor General's budget and fired 60 employees from the Auditor General's office.

[The Acting Chair (Mrs. Alexandra Mendès), Liberal, Alexandra Mendes]

Mr. Blanchet has the floor.

[Yves-François Blanchet, Bloc, Beloeil—Chambly, QC]

Thank you, Madam Chair.

The government is trying to pass a bill that contains quite a few measures, some of which may be helpful. However, it doesn't contain a necessary measure, one that would prevent political parties from accessing wage subsidies and require them to repay subsidies they should have never been entitled to receive.

Does the Prime Minister think immorally funding the Liberal Party of Canada is more important than passing the bill he will be introducing tomorrow?

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Papineau, QC]

We are introducing a bill that will make it possible to provide financial support to Canadians with disabilities. We are going to expand access to the wage subsidy and ease restrictions around the Canada emergency response benefit. These measures will help Canadians, and that is our focus.

We encourage the other parties to work with us to help Canadians.

[Yves-François Blanchet, Bloc, Beloeil—Chambly, QC]

The Liberal Party's proposal to expand access to the wage subsidy is, in and of itself, concerning, because the party is also benefiting from the measure. Nevertheless, some of the measures to expand access are probably worthwhile.

On another topic, does the government care so little about the bill it's introducing that it's willing to undermine the legislation just to hold its ground on not delivering an economic update?

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Papineau, QC]

Madam Chair, we remain open and transparent about the investments we are making to help Canadians, about the funding we are providing to small businesses, about the assistance we are giving to workers across the country, and about the supports for seniors, students and, soon, Canadians with disabilities.

We are here to help Canadians, and we are being fully transparent about what we are doing.

[Yves-François Blanchet, Bloc, Beloeil—Chambly, QC]

The government hung a sign on the doors of Parliament indicating that it's closed because of COVID-19, but the government still has to answer to the people of Quebec and Canada, in accordance with the rules of Parliament, not to mention the Constitution, which do not belong to the government.

Can the Prime Minister tell us whether he thinks his bill is more important than the Canadian Constitution?

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Papineau, QC]

Everything we are doing, as a government and as a party, respects the Canadian Constitution, which is of the utmost importance to us and to all Canadians.

[Yves-François Blanchet, Bloc, Beloeil—Chambly, QC]

Is the Prime Minister's bill more important than the exclusive jurisdiction of Quebec and the provinces over health?

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Papineau, QC]

We have always worked with the provinces on important issues such as health care. That's why our government sends tens of billions of dollars every year to the provinces for their health care systems, and we will continue to provide health transfers.

A few months ago, we transferred half a billion dollars to the provinces because of the pandemic. We will keep working with them, while respecting their areas of jurisdiction.

[Yves-François Blanchet, Bloc, Beloeil—Chambly, QC]

Madam Chair, it's almost as though we are watching two plays simultaneously, but the scripts don't match up. Fans of Astérix will remember the arsenic cake scene. In our case, the script reads “insipid cake”. We are left without an answer or any substance.

Does the Prime Minister want his bill to pass?

[The Acting Chair (Mrs. Alexandra Mendès), Liberal, Alexandra Mendes]

I would remind Mr. Blanchet to respect the decorum that should be kept in the House and to avoid insults.

The right honourable Prime Minister has the floor.

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Papineau, QC]

Madam Chair, I'm sure that all members of the House want to see more assistance for Canadians living with disabilities. They also want to see an expansion of the wage subsidy and more flexibility in the Canada emergency response benefit. That's why I'm confident we'll be able to work together tomorrow to help Canadians through this bill.

[Yves-François Blanchet, Bloc, Beloeil—Chambly, QC]

Madam Chair, [inaudible].

Does the Prime Minister want the co-operation of the opposition parties?

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Papineau, QC]

Madam Chair, I think all Canadians expect the opposition parties and the government to work together to take real action for citizens. That's exactly what we are going to do.

[The Acting Chair (Mrs. Alexandra Mendès), Liberal, Alexandra Mendes]

Mr. Blanchet, please be brief.

[Yves-François Blanchet, Bloc, Beloeil—Chambly, QC]

Consequently, does the Prime Minister logically agree to invite the premiers of the provinces and Quebec to a first ministers' conference on health transfers?

[The Acting Chair (Mrs. Alexandra Mendès), Liberal, Alexandra Mendes]

The right hon. Prime Minister has 10 seconds to respond.

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Papineau, QC]

I've been meeting with the provincial premiers every week for several weeks now. We've discussed health care funding many times, and we will continue to do so.

Our 12th meeting took place last week, and we're going to continue holding these meetings.

[The Acting Chair (Mrs. Alexandra Mendès), Liberal, Alexandra Mendes]

Mr. Singh.

[Jagmeet Singh, NDP, Burnaby South, BC]

Madam Chair, for a family that started receiving the CERB in March, the benefit will end in July, even though many people can't return to work.

Will the Prime Minister commit to extending the 16-week CERB period?

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Papineau, QC]

Madam Chair, from the beginning, we've been there to help families in need who had lost their paycheques because of COVID-19 by providing the Canada emergency response benefit.

We'll continue to be there for families in need in the months to come. We're looking at how best to help them while the economy begins to recover. We'll be there for Canadians.