COVID-19 Pandemic Committee on June 16th, 2020

[Randy Hoback, Conservative, Prince Albert, SK]

Mr. Chair, during the CUSMA negotiations, a deal was struck between the Liberal Party and the NDP that the government would notify this House 90 days before it starts any negotiations on any trade agreement. When will the minister notify this House?

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

Mr. Chair, I want to assure the honourable member that we will absolutely be sharing information. Right now, we are analyzing the most-favoured-nation tariff regimes schedule put out by the U.K.

[Randy Hoback, Conservative, Prince Albert, SK]

Mr. Chair, any meaningful attempts to reform the WTO needs buy-in from the United States. I think all countries agree on that. Has the minister discussed a WTO reform with the USTR, the United States trade representative?

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

Mr. Chair, the Ottawa Group is a consensus-based group, and any decisions will be taken together. Of course, any meaningful reform must include the U.S.—

[The Chair, Liberal, Anthony Rota]

We'll go back to Mr. Hoback.

[Randy Hoback, Conservative, Prince Albert, SK]

Has the U.S. been invited to the Ottawa Group meetings?

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

The Ottawa Group is a consensus-based group limited to WTO members who are committed to bringing forward ideas and proposals—

[The Chair, Liberal, Anthony Rota]

We'll go back to Mr. Hoback.

[Randy Hoback, Conservative, Prince Albert, SK]

Just as with any other trade agreement, the minister has committed to this House that she will publish the list of goals and responsibilities for the negotiations. When will she publish the list for the Ottawa Group?

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

Mr. Chair, I'm thrilled that we had an excellent meeting of the Ottawa Group yesterday where, as a group, we agreed to take concrete action.

[Randy Hoback, Conservative, Prince Albert, SK]

Will the minister be releasing a list of Canada's objectives we would like to see the new WTO's director-general pursue prior to the upcoming DG election?

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

We published an action statement from the Ottawa Group yesterday. I would encourage the member opposite to have a look. I'm certainly happy to send it to him.

[Randy Hoback, Conservative, Prince Albert, SK]

Going back to economic prosperity, we know that the U.S. has been having talks with other countries around the world. Has Canada yet been invited to this group?

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

I'm pleased to continue to pursue the objectives of trade diversification. I would remind the member that we have access to a billion and a half customers through our very robust—

[Randy Hoback, Conservative, Prince Albert, SK]

A billion and a half customers is fine if you have a functioning WTO, but if you don't have a functioning WTO, then a billion and a half customers may not be fully accessible to our suppliers, manufacturers and agriculture producers.

Can the minister confirm that she's in discussions with the U.S. in joining this economic prosperity group?

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

Mr. Chair, I want to assure the honourable member that nothing is more important than standing up and helping create markets for our Canadian businesses and to help our small businesses get more export-ready so that they can grow into the international marketplace.

This is work that we've committed to do, and we will keep working on it, particularly—

[The Chair, Liberal, Anthony Rota]

We'll go back to Mr. Hoback.

[Randy Hoback, Conservative, Prince Albert, SK]

Yesterday Saskatchewan presented a budget. Not only did they present the budget, but they'll also actually debate the budget and pass the budget in Parliament. There's full accountability. Why won't this government do the same?

[Pablo Rodriguez, Liberal, Leader of the Government in the House of Commons]

Mr. Chair, the House is sitting in this hybrid format so that people can participate in the House on the screens. I'm sure my colleague is happy to see that his own colleagues are able to ask questions and participate.

[The Chair, Liberal, Anthony Rota]

We'll now go to Mr. Williamson.

[John Williamson, Conservative, New Brunswick Southwest, NB]

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I will say that this is no substitute for Parliament, but I appreciate the opportunity.

New Brunswick families and businesses are rapidly making adjustments to manage and live with the coronavirus pandemic. Businesses here are opening and services are being offered. Families are preparing for summer and even planning ahead for a new school year in September.

We have a lot of work ahead of us. One notable absence is Service Canada. When does the government plan on opening its service counters to assist Canadians again?

[Ahmed Hussen, Liberal, Minister of Families]

Mr. Chair, our government is committed to ensuring that Canadians continue to have access to the benefits that they rely on through Service Canada. We have redeployed over 3,000 additional staff to ensure that Canadians continue to have access to their benefits. We've established a 1,500-agent call centre to make sure that people can get access to the phone lines to get the help they need.

[John Williamson, Conservative, New Brunswick Southwest, NB]

Service Canada is about more than providing COVID-19 information and benefits.

Provincial governments are working hard to adjust to Canada's new normal by opening up businesses and front-line government services. When will we see Service Canada play its role and open its service counters in our communities?

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

Mr. Chair, we're currently working with our world-class public health experts to determine how best to reopen the Service Canada network for the public. Make no mistake: Our Service Canada employees have gone above and beyond to ensure that Canadians continue to have access to the services that they rely on and the benefits that they need.

[John Williamson, Conservative, New Brunswick Southwest, NB]

Please don't hide behind health experts when the Prime Minister is appearing in the middle of large protests, yet is afraid to bring back the Parliament of Canada to do its business. In fact, the New Brunswick legislature is open for regular business. Bills are being studied, opposition input is being heard and MLAs are voting on legislation, not rubber-stamping government bills. By comparison, our Parliament is stuck in pretending it cannot function like other law-making assemblies.

Canadians are in the dark about our country's finances. When will the government table an economic update so taxpayers understand what was spent, what is owed by our kids and grandchildren, and what the government's fiscal footing looks like?