COVID-19 Pandemic Committee on June 17th, 2020

[The Acting Chair, NDP, Carol Hughes]

Mr. Vis, I would ask you not to interrupt others while they are speaking, out of respect for the House and out of respect for whoever has the floor, similar to when you had the floor and nobody interrupted you.

At this point in time we will take a pause for a change in staffing and we'll be right back.

[The Acting Chair, NDP, Carol Hughes]

We are ready to restart.

The honourable member for Huron—Bruce, Mr. Lobb.

[Ben Lobb, Conservative, Huron—Bruce, ON]

Thank you very much.

My first question is for the agriculture minister. I know she has been asked this question many times. It's in regard to the carbon tax.

Nothing seems more unfair to Canadian farmers than the carbon tax—the carbon tax that is applied when we heat our barns for our hogs, our chickens, our laying hens. As well, in the fall, when we go to dry our crops, we are charged this carbon tax.

I wonder whether she has had a chance to think further about it and has an update for farmers across this country on how she plans to stand up and help them out a bit.

[Marie-Claude Bibeau, Liberal, Compton—Stanstead, QC]

I just want to confirm that our pollution pricing policy is still designed to grow a clean economy and we are planning on doing a review in 2020 for the sectors most affected in terms of trade.

For more details, we can refer to my colleague, the Minister of Environment and Climate Change.

[Ben Lobb, Conservative, Huron—Bruce, ON]

The last time I was here for this version of Parliament, I was asking the Minister of Agriculture about AgriStability and AgriInvest, the basic farm programs that would help farmers in tough times. She referred to the website and said the farmer could plug in his numbers. She referenced that one of her farmers was going to get $11 a head from AgriStability, which I'm sure she regrets saying at this time.

Has she had a chance to further review this, to take a look and see what's out there? I still receive daily calls from farmers in my riding, pork farmers in my riding who need support. It seems as though they come up empty every time.

[Marie-Claude Bibeau, Liberal, Compton—Stanstead, QC]

Madam Chair, the businesses management programs are very important for our sector. We are grateful in Canada to have these programs. We are working hard with the provinces to improve them.

AgriStability is one way to support farmers when they have a loss in revenues. When we talk about the pork sector in particular, it is AgriRecovery, and the provinces are responsible for putting the program in place.

[Ben Lobb, Conservative, Huron—Bruce, ON]

I would suggest that's putting a lot of burden on the provinces. They are responsible for education. They're responsible for the delivery of health care and many other things. If you are trying to tell farmers today that there is no help from Ottawa in regard to these support programs, they would be very disappointed to hear that.

Is that what the minister is saying here today, that it is up to all the provinces and premiers to come up with these programs and that they will go it alone, without federal support, beyond AgriStability?

[Marie-Claude Bibeau, Liberal, Compton—Stanstead, QC]

That is absolutely not what I said.

The business risk management programs are cost shared, with 60% coming from the federal government and 40% from the provincial government.

When we talk about AgriRecovery, we move this program forward province by province.

[Ben Lobb, Conservative, Huron—Bruce, ON]

The minister is welcome to come back to Huron—Bruce any time she likes and give that answer to pork farmers, or just farmers in general. They will not like the answer she has provided them.

I have a question for the finance minister, if possible. I think we know where the expenditures are roughly going to be for this year. They're going to be in the neighbourhood of $600 billion-plus. I wonder if he has had an opportunity to take a look at what next year's expenditure would be. I wouldn't ask him about revenue, because that is going to be a little difficult to look at.

However, on the expenditure side, does he have a range that he could provide the House today?

[Bill Morneau, Liberal, Toronto Centre, ON]

Madam Chair, we will continue to provide updates to the House and to Canadians on the spending we're doing in order to support them and to support enterprises to get through this time.

We have provided details to the House of Commons finance committee on our expenditures to date. Of course, we will continue to support Canadians. The measure of that support will be directly related to the challenges they are facing, and that will follow the health outcomes in our economy.

[The Acting Chair, NDP, Carol Hughes]

Mr. Lobb, you have time for a brief question.

[Ben Lobb, Conservative, Huron—Bruce, ON]

I have one other question. I had an email from a constituent yesterday, and it's in regard to the charitable tax credits.

I wonder if the minister is looking at raising those rates to allow generous people in our communities to maybe make a larger donation to a charity that may be in need. Is that something they have looked at in the near term or in the long term?

[Bill Morneau, Liberal, Toronto Centre, ON]

Madam Chair, let me first of all just say that we are always encouraged when we see Canadians step forward and make charitable contributions. We have seen some pretty incredible contributions this week. In fact, there was one very significant $60-million donation for COVID relief from a family.

We're going to continue to advocate for that, and we have a very generous program of deductions available for charitable tax approaches, and that system is one we'll continue to look at in the future.

[The Acting Chair, NDP, Carol Hughes]

The honourable member for Beauce, Mr. Lehoux.

[Richard Lehoux, Conservative, Beauce, QC]

Madam Chair, in my riding, the livelihood of businesses like the Groupe Ferti in Sainte-Marie depends on foreign workers. Without them, they lose contracts as well as the expenses incurred to bring them over, which are not reimbursed.

When will the government help our small and medium-sized businesses?

[Marie-Claude Bibeau, Liberal, Compton—Stanstead, QC]

Madam Chair, I agree with my colleague that temporary foreign workers are absolutely essential to the agriculture sector. That is why we have invested 50 million dollars to help them implement the necessary measures for the mandatory quarantine period.

[Richard Lehoux, Conservative, Beauce, QC]

Madam Chair, my team is overwhelmed by the pleas we receive from small business owners, who no longer know what to do without the foreign workers. I’m one of 338 MPs, so imagine how many small businesses are in a similar situation across the country. Our businesses have received financial support, but what they need now is labour.

What is the government’s response to them?

[Deb Schulte, Liberal, Minister of Seniors]

Madam Chair, in order to ensure labour market needs in key sectors continue to be met, our government is facilitating the safe arrival of temporary foreign workers to Canada.

For temporary foreign workers who are already in Canada and impacted by COVID-19, we have additional strategies in place to address work rights and status restoration. We are continuing to ensure that we have the people we need to fill the essential jobs that Canadians rely on. It's important that we recognize the important work done by temporary foreign workers in Canada, and we will continue this program.

[Richard Lehoux, Conservative, Beauce, QC]

Madam Chair, businesses struggle to recruit local labour, in part because of four small letters. I will take the time to enunciate them well: C-E-R-B. Small and medium-sized businesses need labour to survive and they must also rely on foreign workers.

So, when will the government help them?

[Carla Qualtrough, Liberal, Minister of Employment]

Thank you, Madam Chair.

It's very important to understand that, as we move forward with our extension of the CERB by eight weeks, we continue to signal to businesses that we do not want to disincentivize work. In fact, that's why we're beefing up our attestation to include a requirement on workers to seek work and to take it when it's reasonable to do so.

We know there are jobs out there, Madam Chair, but there are also many Canadians who cannot find work, and we are there for them.

[Richard Lehoux, Conservative, Beauce, QC]

Madam Chair, several businesses and farmers in my riding, who rely on temporary foreign workers, have been extremely worried since the recent announcement that Guatemala and Mexico would no longer send workers to Canada.

How will Quebec manage to fill the thousands of job vacancies?

[Carla Qualtrough, Liberal, Delta, BC]

Madam Chair, we are very concerned about the cases of COVID in temporary foreign workers and those who have lost their lives, and we are making sure that we address the concerns raised by both foreign governments and by employers across the country.

We're taking steps. We are a country that values and is committed to worker safety, and we're doing everything we can to make sure all workers are safe and feel safe in their work environment.

[Richard Lehoux, Conservative, Beauce, QC]

Madam Chair, the Regional Relief and Recovery Fund is quite popular in Beauce. So much so that funds will soon be gone. As a matter of fact, the minister dipped into them to give them to people in Montreal. In rural ridings like mine, we’re getting leftovers, Madam Chair.

When will the minister unveil her real plan for the regions?

[Mélanie Joly, Liberal, Ahuntsic-Cartierville, QC]

Thank you, Madam Chair, for this opportunity to speak, since I strongly disagree with my colleague, because we have a good plan for the regions.

We’ve doubled the budget allocated to Community Futures Development Corporations, or CFDCs. My colleague was very happy when we did, as were, indeed, many of his Opposition colleagues. Of course, we know very well that there’s a huge demand. That is why we want to continue working with SMEs and supporting business owners in the regions, because regional businesses matter.

We’re there to help them.

[The Acting Chair, NDP, Carol Hughes]

You have time for one quick question, Mr. Lehoux.