COVID-19 Pandemic Committee on June 10th, 2020

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Chair, not only are we introducing a bill this afternoon to help Canadians with the Canada emergency response benefit and those living with disabilities, but we are also proposing to the opposition parties that we hold a debate and a vote on that. I hope the opposition parties will allow a vote and a debate in the House on this important bill.

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

Mr. Chair, the Prime Minister wants parliamentarians to vote on aspects of the government's spending. We want the Auditor General to be able to examine that government spending.

Under the government, the Auditor General has had to do more with less, and her ability to conduct audits is being affected. The Auditor General has indicated that she will be able to do half as many audits, despite an almost doubling in the size of government spending.

I have a simple question. Will the Prime Minister give the Auditor General the money she needs to do her job, yes or no?

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Papineau, QC]

Mr. Chair, we worked with the Auditor General to increase the funding of the Auditor General's office in 2018-19, and the equivalent of 38 full-time staff were added. We support the Auditor General, unlike the Conservative government, which fired 60 people from the Auditor General's office.

We are now proposing that we sit down to debate legislation this afternoon, and I certainly hope that members opposite will vote for debate.

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

The Prime Minister is again engaged in revisionist history. He well knows that it was the Auditor General's office that volunteered to make administrative efficiencies, which did not affect its ability to do the job. In fact, as the interim auditor general, John Wiersema, said, “We would not have proposed [this] if we didn’t think it was the right thing to do and that we’d be able to carry out our role for Parliament.” Only the government's refusal to grant that extra funding is hampering the Auditor General's ability to give Canadians the answers they deserve, and we wonder why.

This is the government that cannot explain where 20,000 infrastructure projects went and where five billion dollars' worth of supposed infrastructure investments have gone. They can't identify that. Then there is, of course, the $35-billion Infrastructure Bank, which has completed precisely zero projects.

Are these the reasons the Prime Minister is so intent on withholding funds from the Auditor General?

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Papineau, QC]

Mr. Chair, talking of revisionist history, Stephen Harper's Conservatives cut $6.5 million from the Auditor General's budget and fired 60 staff. On the contrary, we worked with the Auditor General's office and increased its funding and added the equivalent of 38 new full-time staff.

We will continue to demonstrate openness and transparency. We will continue to respect the officers of Parliament, whom the Conservatives, in their time in office, showed no respect for. We will continue to move forward in a way that has led, for example, to proposing debate and voting on important legislation this afternoon to help Canadians. The Conservatives don't seem to want that debate or vote.

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

Mr. Chair, it's no surprise that the Prime Minister likes to reach back into history from before the 2015 election to justify his position. The 2015 election was the only time he got more votes than the Conservative Party did, so I understand why he likes to live in the past.

In May, the interim auditor general said, “Ten years ago, we were completing about 27 performance audits every year. With our current resources, we expect to be able to deliver 14 performance audits each year.” That's half the number of audits, despite a massive explosion in government spending.

The Auditor General's office has requested more funds to be able to do the job that Canadians expect to be done. Will the Prime Minister give those additional funds to the Auditor General's office, yes or no?

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Papineau, QC]

Mr. Chair, we very much look forward to working with the new Auditor General to ensure that her office has the ability to continue the important audits and transparency measures that are foundational to our institutions.

Speaking of what is foundational to our institutions, this afternoon we're putting forward a bill that would help Canadians across the country, and we've proposed to debate and vote on that bill. It actually looks like the Conservatives and other opposition parties might not want this. They have been complaining about not having debates and votes in Parliament, and now they're proposing not to have them. That's a little head-scratching. We hope they're going to help Canadians.

[The Chair, Liberal, Anthony Rota]

We will continue with Mr. Blanchet.

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

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

We may have a chance here to replace a problem with a good opportunity.

This morning, we heard many groups and organizations that represent people with a disability express their concerns over the bill introduced by the government, which I feel is chocolate pudding containing cod liver oil.

We agree with the chocolate pudding. We are favourable to helping people with a disability. People don't know the rules. They don't know—I am telling them now—that a bill can be divided. It can be cut into parts and voted on in parts.

The rest of the bill can be enhanced. I am saying to the Prime Minister that, if he presents the part on disabled individuals, it will be passed at the speed of light. He won't even see it happen.

Is he prepared to divide the bill, so that we can work together to help people with a disability?

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Papineau, QC]

The bill that we are proposing this afternoon will certainly help people living with disabilities. We can always recognize that this is important, and every party should be open to it.

We will also increase the flexibility of the Canada emergency response benefit from four-week intervals to two weeks. We will also expand the scope of the wage subsidy so that more businesses will have access to it.

I am always willing to work with members of the opposition to ensure that we adopt these measures, all or some of the measures. We want to help Canadians. We look forward to debating and voting on this later today.

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

It is a glorious day. I heard “all or some of the measures.” That means that we are not adopting them all at the same time and that the bill is being split.

Can the Prime Minister confirm that he is in fact going to split his bill so that we can address the various components separately, since they have nothing to do with each other, and improve them, in keeping with our mandate as elected officials?

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Papineau, QC]

Our goal on this side of the House, and it is shared by all members of the House, is to help Canadians during the pandemic.

We have put forward a number of measures that will help Canadians in a tangible way. Yes, that includes Canadians living with disabilities, but it also includes businesses that cannot, but should be able to, access the wage subsidy. In addition, we are going to make the Canada emergency response benefit more flexible.

I look forward to continuing the discussions—

[The Chair, Liberal, Anthony Rota]

Mr. Blanchet has the floor.

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

We almost had some clarity, but one swallow does not make a summer.

Yes, there is a need for discussions on the Canada emergency response benefit. The government says that it wants to transform the program into something very coercive, without admitting that the lack of an employment incentive has essentially sabotaged another program, the wage subsidy.

That deserves some thought. That is what we are elected to do. We do not need to spend eight months on this, we can fix it in a few hours. When the government says that we are going to have to vote on this, it means rubber stamping its bill. We have the right to debate it, to have discussions and to improve it.

I watched the election on the night of October 21. It was a beautiful night. It was more fun than a hockey game. People elected a minority government.

Can the government admit that?

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Papineau, QC]

We are not proposing only to vote on this bill this afternoon, we are proposing to debate it. It is the role and responsibility of all of us in the House to exchange ideas and to work together to help Canadians. That is exactly what we are proposing this afternoon. It is about helping people with disabilities, increasing the flexibility of the CERB, and expanding the scope of the wage subsidy so that more businesses have access to it.

I look forward to debating this with my colleagues opposite.

[The Chair, Liberal, Anthony Rota]

Mr. Blanchet, you have 43 seconds left.

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

That will be enough.

I would be remiss if I allowed the Prime Minister to mislead people quite unintentionally—I say this in accordance with the Standing Orders. When we introduce a bill, we discuss it at second reading, we vote, we continue to discuss it and we send it to committee. All that can be done very quickly. However, we must be able to amend and improve this bill.

That is how the normal Parliament works. The government doesn't like being in a minority situation. It behaves as if it were a majority government, but it is not.

Can we follow the real procedures of Parliament, do a proper job, and then have a vote that is likely to suit the majority of members, not just the Prime Minister?

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Papineau, QC]

Mr. Chair, my hon. colleague seems to completely forget that we are going through a pandemic. The COVID-19 crisis requires different actions on our part. That is why we provided the text of the bill to the opposition parties four days ago. We have been working with them for hours over the past three or four days to amend the bill, if they had amendments to propose.

That is how we are taking action to help Canadians quickly during this crisis, and that is what we will continue to do.

[The Chair, Liberal, Anthony Rota]

Mr. Singh, you have the floor.

[Jagmeet Singh, NDP, Burnaby South, BC]

Mr. Chair, will the Prime Minister make a clear and direct commitment today to extend the CERB for families who need it?

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Papineau, QC]

Mr. Chair, we are introducing legislation this afternoon that will directly help Canadians living with disabilities, will expand the scope of the wage subsidy and will increase the flexibility of the Canada emergency response benefit. We hope to be able to debate it.

[Jagmeet Singh, NDP, Burnaby South, BC]

Will the Prime Minister extend the CERB for families in need, yes or no?

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Papineau, QC]

As I said, Mr. Chair, discussions are ongoing on that, but I can assure Canadians we will continue to be there for them and support them, as we have been.

[Jagmeet Singh, NDP, Burnaby South, BC]

Mr. Chair, a family that needs to buy groceries can't take those pretty words and buy groceries with them. We're asking the Prime Minister to extend the CERB for families in need. Will the Prime Minister do that, yes or no?

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Papineau, QC]

Mr. Chair, as I said, we will continue to be there for Canadians in the right way. We are engaged with stakeholders, with opposition parties and with Canadians to ensure that we continue to support them the way they need to be supported.