COVID-19 Pandemic Committee on June 15th, 2020

[Doug Shipley, Conservative, Barrie—Springwater—Oro-Medonte, ON]

Thank you, Chair.

Over the course of the pandemic, has the government been using all avenues possible to source much-needed PPE in Canada?

[Navdeep Bains, Liberal, Mississauga—Malton, ON]

Madam Chair, we have been very clear that we have a made-in-Canada initiative that has engaged companies across the country. Over 700 companies have retooled and scaled up their operations for personal protective equipment to help front-line health care workers.

[Doug Shipley, Conservative, Barrie—Springwater—Oro-Medonte, ON]

Madam Chair, I need to ask very quickly which ministry and minister are responsible for the sourcing of PPE in Canada.

[Navdeep Bains, Liberal, Mississauga—Malton, ON]

Madam Chair, this is a collective effort. I work with the Minister of Health and the minister for procurement , and we coordinate with the provinces and territories to make sure there are appropriate levels of PPE to help front-line health care workers and essential workers across the country.

[Doug Shipley, Conservative, Barrie—Springwater—Oro-Medonte, ON]

Thank you for that clarification. That will make this question all the more pertinent.

My riding of Barrie—Springwater—Oro-Medonte is the home of Southmedic Inc. Southmedic is a renowned medical supply business. For over 37 years, it has provided front-line health care workers with an extensive line of PPE and other essential products required when dealing with respiratory illnesses. This company specializes in respiratory illness equipment. Southmedic currently employs over 700 people, and it has been recognized as one of Canada's best-managed companies by Deloitte on numerous occasions.

Since the beginning of the pandemic, both I and the member for Barrie—Innisfil have been attempting to obtain some assistance for Southmedic from the federal government. Calls and emails were falling on deaf ears.

In early May, I wrote a letter to Minister Anand outlining the situation. I received a letter back from the minister dated May 27 indicating that this issue of Southmedic falls under the mandate of the Minister of Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada. I have heard nothing more.

When will the federal government reach out and help this great Canadian company and therefore ensure that all front-line workers will have the proper PPE they require?

[Navdeep Bains, Liberal, Mississauga—Malton, ON]

Madam Chair, I'd like to thank my honourable colleague for his question.

He knows full well that this is a very challenging time. That is why we had a call to action to engage Canadians right across the country. Since then, we've seen over 6,000 companies step up to offer solutions and ideas, and over 700 companies have retooled their efforts.

I acknowledge that some companies are still engaging with the government, and we'll continue to explore all possible options to make sure we continue to procure the necessary levels of personal protective equipment to protect Canadians and to protect front-line health care workers. That has always been our priority. I want to thank the outstanding Canadian companies that have come forward and have helped us in this endeavour. We continue to look forward to working with them.

[Doug Shipley, Conservative, Barrie—Springwater—Oro-Medonte, ON]

Thank you for that answer.

Just to follow up, there's no retooling required at this company. They could have been up and going very quickly. They just needed a little assistance at the beginning.

Moving on to a different issue, while walking to my office this morning, I stopped at my local small family-run coffee shop and was discussing the current economic situation with the two owners of the establishment. They indicated they are having a very tough time surviving this economic downturn. The only thing keeping them hopeful is that soon the public service will start returning to work, and therefore their business will begin to return.

Could the government please give us some indication as to what the plans are for returning the civil service back to work safely, and when?

[Jean-Yves Duclos, Liberal, President of the Treasury Board]

Thank you, Madam Chair.

I'm delighted to answer this question. This is a very important topic, but I'd like to take the opportunity first to thank our public servants, who have worked very hard in the last few weeks, both personally and professionally.

In fact, today is a wonderful day to say that, because today is the start of National Public Service Week. That's one more reason to thank them for their dedicated work. They are not going to go back to work. They've been at work for the last few months—in different circumstances, but they have been working very hard to deliver the services and the support Canadians need and deserve.

[The Acting Chair, NDP, Carol Hughes]

Next we'll go to the honourable member for Selkirk—Interlake—Eastman, Mr. Bezan.

[James Bezan, Conservative, Selkirk—Interlake—Eastman, MB]

Thank you, Madam Chair.

My questions are for the Minister of National Defence.

First of all, I want to thank the great men and women of the Canadian Armed Forces for the fantastic job they're doing in Operation LASER, serving on the front lines battling COVID-19.

Can the Minister of National Defence give the House an update on exactly where we are at with the number of Canadian Armed Forces members who have been infected with COVID-19?

[Harjit S. Sajjan, Liberal, Minister of National Defence]

Madam Chair, I want to echo the member opposite's comments in thanking our Canadian Armed Forces members.

Currently, we have 13 active cases in the Canadian Armed Forces, but in the long-term care facilities we currently have 50 cases. No member has been currently hospitalized. We have also conducted very thorough reviews of our protection protocols as well.

[James Bezan, Conservative, Selkirk—Interlake—Eastman, MB]

Through you, Chair, Minister Sajjan, does that number of active cases include the active cases that are in long-term care facilities right now in Operation LASER?

[Harjit S. Sajjan, Liberal, Vancouver South, BC]

Madam Chair, as I stated, the 50 cases are strictly from the long-term care facilities. The 13 cases I mentioned are not in the long-term care facilities. Just to give the actual clarification, no member has been currently hospitalized.

[James Bezan, Conservative, Selkirk—Interlake—Eastman, MB]

In those numbers, Madam Chair, can Mr. Sajjan say how many of those cases in long-term care facilities are active and how many are recovered?

[Harjit S. Sajjan, Liberal, Vancouver South, BC]

Madam Chair, I don't have the exact number. What I can say to break it down further is that in Quebec we currently have 36 and in Ontario we have 14. As well, 36 of the members have been out of isolation.

I'll get more details and pass them on directly to the member, Madam Chair.

[James Bezan, Conservative, Selkirk—Interlake—Eastman, MB]

Thank you, Minister.

Madam Chair, I have a quick question while we're still talking about Operation LASER.

The President of the Treasury Board has said, “The Canadian Armed Forces will be present as long as their presence is needed in Quebec”. This contradicts what Prime Minister Trudeau is saying, which is that we have a hard deadline of June 26 for the withdrawal of our troops for Operation LASER. That means taking our troops out of our long-term care facilities.

Minister, is June 26 the hard date for the winding down of Operation LASER?

[Bill Blair, Liberal, Scarborough Southwest, ON]

Thank you very much, Madam Chair. I'm delighted to have the opportunity to clarify for the House.

We've been in very extensive discussions with the Province of Quebec, with my counterpart Minister Guilbault, and we are working very diligently to ensure we have a sustained, appropriate response to the request from Quebec for assistance. That response will result in a transition from the currently deployed Canadian Armed Forces to the deployment of paid volunteers, trained personnel who will take on the important role of providing services to those Canadians who need our help in Quebec.

[James Bezan, Conservative, Selkirk—Interlake—Eastman, MB]

I'll go back to the Minister of National Defence.

The Department of National Defence auditors have called out the Liberal government for mismanagement over the $553-billion investment in our Canadian military through the defence policy. Only three people have been assigned to oversee the rollout of this money. This is a $553-billion investment in our armed forces, and only three people are managing it.

Could the minister tell us how that is even possible? Is this the reason that over 100 projects are currently behind schedule?

[Harjit S. Sajjan, Liberal, Vancouver South, BC]

Madam Chair, first of all, I want to highlight the unprecedented investment that we're making in defence.

We have conducted internal reviews of our procurement. The report the member opposite is talking about is from the previous year. This is the ongoing work we're doing to make sure that we make procurement better.

When it comes to the management of this, it's conducted by me and the minister of procurement . We are working toward making our procurement even better. We have already streamlined some aspects of our procurement and we'll continue to do more as well.

[James Bezan, Conservative, Selkirk—Interlake—Eastman, MB]

Minister Sajjan, you've had this report since November of 2019. You've been rolling out this plan since 2017. Only three people are overseeing an expenditure of $553 billion. This is taxpayers' money.

Are we going to see more cuts because you have been unable to actually roll out these dollars?

[Harjit S. Sajjan, Liberal, Vancouver South, BC]

Madam Chair, I can assure you we're not going to be cutting. We'll be investing in our defence.

[The Acting Chair, NDP, Carol Hughes]

Before I go to the next speaker, I want to remind members that they are to address their questions and comments directly through the chair.

We will go now to the honourable member for Fort McMurray—Cold Lake, Mr. Yurdiga.

[David Yurdiga, Conservative, Fort McMurray—Cold Lake, AB]

Madam Chair, the Canada summer jobs program has many challenges. I've seen many indigenous communities in my riding rejected for funding even though they had received funding in previous years.

Here are a few examples of communities that were rejected: Beaver Lake Cree Nation, Buffalo Lake Métis Settlement and the Métis Nation of Alberta, Region 1. The list goes on.

Could the Prime Minister explain why so many indigenous communities have been denied funding from the Canada summer jobs program?

[Ahmed Hussen, Liberal, York South—Weston, ON]

Madam Chair, we recognize the important role that the Canada summer jobs program plays in supporting employers and young workers in our community across the country every year. We're working very hard to help employers adapt to the realities of the COVID-19 pandemic and are supporting young Canadians as they begin to look for summer employment.

We are introducing increased flexibilities into the Canada summer jobs program to hire youth, while also providing more supports to employers that deliver essential services to Canadians.

[David Yurdiga, Conservative, Fort McMurray—Cold Lake, AB]

Madam Chair, that didn't really answer my question.

Why are so many indigenous communities left out of the Canada summer jobs program? This is very important to my community and to communities throughout the province. Will the government investigate why these communities were rejected?