COVID-19 Pandemic Committee on April 29th, 2020

[The Chair, Liberal, Anthony Rota]

I call the meeting to order.

Welcome to the second meeting of the special committee on the COVID-19 pandemic.

Pursuant to the order of reference of Monday, April 20, the committee is meeting for the purpose of considering ministerial announcements and allowing members to present petitions and question ministers of the Crown, including the Prime Minister, in respect to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Normally, there would be a take-note debate after the questions to ministers; however, since the House has been recalled for later today, this debate will not take place.

Today's meeting will be televised, just like a typical session in the House.

We will now proceed to presenting petitions for a period not exceeding 15 minutes.

I would like to remind members that any petition presented during the meeting of the special committee must have already been certified by the clerk of petitions.

Once their petition has been presented, we ask members to come and drop it off at the table.

There won't be a page coming to you. Please stay six feet away from the people who are at the table.

Presenting petitions, we have the honourable member for Kenora.

[Eric Melillo, Conservative, Kenora, ON]

Mr. Chair, I'm happy to present a petition, which has been signed by hundreds of Canadians across 10 provinces and territories, calling on the government to take immediate action to improve rural broadband connectivity across Canada. Many Canadians in rural and remote regions of our country do not have access to reliable Internet, and the signatories to this petition believe that this is an issue of equality, as the Internet is playing an increasingly vital role in all areas of life and not having access to it prevents people from participating in our economy.

Mr. Chair, this has become ever more apparent for those who are now attempting to work, take classes—

[The Chair, Liberal, Anthony Rota]

We have a point of order. We're not getting translation or interpretation. English to French is not working.

I'll keep speaking in English. Let me know when you hear it in French. It's happening here as well. It's not just the virtual thing that we have translation problems with.

Okay. Everything is working now. Could the honourable member for Kenora start off either right from the beginning or halfway through, whichever he is more comfortable with?

[Eric Melillo, Conservative, Kenora, ON]

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

I would like to say once again that I'm happy to present this petition, which has been signed by hundreds of Canadians across the country, calling for the government to take immediate action to improve rural broadband connectivity across Canada.

The signatories to this petition believe that this is an issue of equality, as many people do not have access to reliable Internet, particularly in rural and remote areas of the country, and this has made things increasingly difficult as our society and our economy become more and more virtual. This has become ever more apparent for those who are now attempting to work, take classes or access services from home during the current COVID-19 crisis.

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

[The Chair, Liberal, Anthony Rota]

Presenting petitions, we have Ms. May. I was reminded to use the names because we are in a committee setting, so I don't have to mention the ridings.

Ms. May, please.

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

I don't know my own name anymore. I'm Saanich—Gulf Islands. Thank you.

Mr. Chair, I rise to present a petition in this committee meeting. It's from residents throughout Saanich—Gulf Islands who are calling for further work to pursue marine protected areas.

They note that the government goals are significant and the World Parks Congress has called for significant no-take zones within marine protected areas. Specifically, constituents of Saanich—Gulf Islands are concerned to see the continuation of what used to be called the Strait of Georgia marine protected area, now known as the Salish Sea marine protected area.

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

[The Chair, Liberal, Anthony Rota]

Does anyone else want to present a petition?

Seeing none, we'll now proceed to the questioning of ministers.

I would like to remind honourable members that no member shall be recognized for more than five minutes at a time and that members may split their time with one or more members by so indicating to the chair.

Please note that, given the rapid exchanges at this point in the meeting, we will suspend proceedings every 45 minutes to enable the employees providing support for the work of the session to replace each other in complete safety.

I also want to remind honourable members that the guidelines are that the length of the answer should reflect the length of the question, so try to stay within those guidelines. I'll be enforcing that as we proceed.

Mr. Scheer.

[Andrew Scheer, Conservative, Leader of the Opposition]

Mr. Chair, I want to again draw the Prime Minister's attention to a very serious issue affecting employers all across the country, especially one in my own riding, Brandt Tractor.

Many companies have acquired other businesses and are unable to show a 30% drop in revenues because of the extra revenue from companies that they have acquired. There are over 3,000 people who work for Brandt, including 600 people who work for the company that they acquired, who are all facing layoffs if Brandt cannot be eligible for the same wage subsidy that has been made available to other employers.

This is a technicality. Suggestions have been made to the federal government to allow for companies in the same situation to access this program.

I did ask the Prime Minister about this a week ago. I wonder if he could give me an update as to whether or not these types of criteria will be brought in to allow for more workers to stay on the job.

[The Chair, Liberal, Anthony Rota]

The right honourable Prime Minister.

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Chair, we moved forward quickly with measures to help as many Canadians as possible, workers who want to remain on the payroll with the Canada emergency wage subsidy, and also with the Canada emergency response benefit for people who have lost their paycheques.

We moved quickly on strong measures that would hit as many people as possible, but we recognize there are gaps. That's why we brought in modifications after conversations with the other parties to adjust the period of time within which people could apply for the CERB or the wage subsidy. We're also going to move forward on other measures as they come up.

I will continue to look into the issue that the honourable member has brought up in regard to the company in his riding.

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

Mr. Chair, I do look forward to an update very quickly as it is the end of April and workers' jobs hang in the balance.

Provinces' plans to ease health restrictions are dependent on their ability to dramatically ramp up testing. Private companies have already created rapid blood tests that can provide results in under 20 minutes. These tests have been approved for use in Europe, Asia and in the U.S., but in Canada, they're still “under review”.

Will the Prime Minister commit to fast-tracking the approval process so that provinces have access to the tests that they need?

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Papineau, QC]

Mr. Chair, we are doing everything we can to ensure a fast, made-in-Canada response.

Thousands of Canadian businesses have applied to produce innovative medical equipment, including new test kits. As of yesterday, Health Canada has issued 113 new licences for medical devices, including 15 additional test kits.

Additional resources have been allocated to accelerate approvals, including recognizing or taking into account where approvals have been made elsewhere, but we will not compromise Canadian sovereignty or Canadian safety.

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

Mr. Chair, in March the Minister of Health signed an interim order to allow Health Canada to consider exactly that, other countries' approval of medical products. Recent reports, however, indicate that there are over 50 companies that are waiting for approvals to distribute test kits.

Has Health Canada issued any approvals under this interim order?

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Papineau, QC]

Mr. Chair, as of yesterday Health Canada has approved 15 additional testing kits. We recognize how important testing is for the long-term reopening of the economy. We need to make sure that we have that capacity right across the country.

I salute the innovative Canadian businesses that have moved forward on solutions and look forward very much to seeing them come into place, but we cannot compromise Canadian safety. We have seen what happened elsewhere around the world when faulty test kits were relied upon. We need to make sure Canadians are safe.

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

We are, of course, talking about an interim order that specifically allows Health Canada to look at other approvals granted by other organizations, like the European Union. Surely the Prime Minister would acknowledge the EU standards and the EU certification standards when there are Canadian companies manufacturing those test kits. Obviously, we're not talking about choosing between speed and effectiveness. Other countries have been able to impose and implement a fast-track system. Canada should be as well.

Mr. Chair, in 2018 a federal government document on pandemic planning advised that Canada's approach to dealing with pandemics should not be to follow the lead of the WHO but to make decisions based on Canadian expertise and intelligence. Can the Prime Minister explain why his government ignored that report?

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Papineau, QC]

First of all, Mr. Chair, in regard to the first half of his question, we recognize how important it is to approve reliable testing quickly, but for made-in-Canada tests, it is unlikely that they got EU approval or U.S. approval before Canadian approval. We are going through all the steps necessary for those Canadian innovators as quickly as possible.

In regard to our approach to this, we have been following international safety standards every single day but making sure we are protecting Canadians with all the best information we have. We have been doing that since the public health officials gathered all our provincial health officials on January 2, and we will continue to.

[The Chair, Liberal, Anthony Rota]

Mr. Blanchet, the floor is yours.

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

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Good afternoon.

Government representatives and representatives from the political parties are simultaneously discussing the treatment that seniors must receive and the way that we are going to get out of this difficult situation, using wording that is specific enough for us to understand each other and broad enough for the requirements to follow naturally in the time we have.

Meanwhile, I want to go back to another issue, but I do not want it to be seen as casting doubt on anyone's good intentions. The banking industry, let's say, and the government, let's say, are somewhat close historically. However, the Prime Minister indicated yesterday that companies engaging in tax avoidance would not have access to government programs. I want to make sure that the meaning of that sentence is very clear, very specific, and very precise.

Am I correct to understand that the government is implementing clear measures and a clear tracking of companies engaged in tax avoidance, that they will be identified by name, and they will have no access to the emergency programs during the pandemic?

[The Chair, Liberal, Anthony Rota]

The floor goes to the Right Honourable Prime Minister.

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Papineau, QC]

Companies engaged in tax avoidance and tax evasion face consequences in our system. That is ongoing, even during this time of pandemic. We are taking unprecedented steps to help Canadian workers to keep their jobs and to support them through this difficult time.

An audit process has been established for the extraordinary or unusual claims. At the same time, the fight against tax evasion continues to be a priority. Since 2015, we have made unprecedented investments in the Canada Revenue Agency in order to fight tax evasion and tax avoidance. Even during the pandemic, we will continue to ensure consequences for any company not paying its fair share of taxes.

[The Chair, Liberal, Anthony Rota]

Mr. Blanchet, you have the floor..

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

Mr. Chair, there is a difference between tax evasion and tax avoidance.

Tax avoidance is legal under Canadian law, which is perhaps where the scandal lies. I want to be very specific. If a bank doing business in Canada is engaged in tax avoidance by positioning money overseas in order to pay less tax in Canada, would it be automatically excluded from the support programs during the pandemic?

[The Chair, Liberal, Anthony Rota]

The Right Honourable Prime Minister has the floor.

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Papineau, QC]

We will still continue to deal very severely with those who do not pay their fair share of taxes. That is why, over the years, we have given more tools to the Canada Revenue Agency. We want to make sure that everyone pays their fair share of taxes.

Our priority, to help Canadians and to help workers, has been to give them the support they need, and that will continue.

[The Chair, Liberal, Anthony Rota]

Mr. Blanchet, the floor is yours.