COVID-19 Pandemic Committee on June 17th, 2020

[Bill Blair, Liberal, Scarborough Southwest, ON]

Working together in a pandemic is average. That's probably why it isn't working: the provinces aren't saying the same thing he does. His $14 billion proposal is widely denounced by the provinces and Quebec as a very systematic approach to invade areas of provincial and Quebec jurisdiction.

Now he's putting on a quasi-electoral show where he says, with an angry look on his face, that he's going to defend the interests of Canadians, as if that meant stepping on the bodies of the provinces. Is that the message he's trying to send?

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Papineau, QC]

Mr. Chair, all levels of government agree that we must do everything we can to protect Canadians during this pandemic and to ensure a safe reopening of the economy across the country.

At the federal level, we are proposing significant measures to help the provinces, such as the opening of modified early childhood centres to allow people to return to work, personal protective equipment and assistance to municipalities.

The safety of Canadians affects all levels of government. That is why we are working with the provinces and territories.

[Bill Blair, Liberal, Scarborough Southwest, ON]

He is not working with the provinces and territories. He just says so here. The provinces and territories are not saying that they are working with the Prime Minister. He says—this is his heritage—that he wants to encroach on their areas of jurisdiction by using federal money that comes from the provinces. There is no agreement or understanding; there is a denunciation of federal interference.

When we presented the federal government with a series of proposals that would demonstrate a spirit of co-operation with respect to Quebec's demands and our demands for Quebec, we were hung up on. There was no sound, no picture: he had made a friend who was going to vote for him.

Is that the Prime Minister's co-operation? Is that the message he is sending to Quebec and Quebeckers?

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Papineau, QC]

Mr. Chair, we fully understand that, for political and ideological reasons, the Bloc Québécois always wants to show that things do not work between the federal government and the provinces, particularly Quebec.

However, I can assure you that conversations are continuing with all the provinces, including Quebec. Positive discussions are continuing on how we can work together to ensure the health and safety of all Canadians. That is exactly what we are doing. That does not mean we will always agree, of course, but it does mean that we are having concrete conversations that will help Canadians. We are putting in place measures that will move us toward a safe reopening.

[The Chair, Liberal, Anthony Rota]

Mr. Singh, you have the floor.

[Jagmeet Singh, NDP, Burnaby South, BC]

Mr. Chair, families were weeks away from not knowing whether they could put food on the table before the government finally extended the benefits to help Canadians out. This should never have happened. Families should never have been worried about where they were going to get support just weeks away from their support running out.

What is the plan for August for families that may not be able to go back to work?

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Papineau, QC]

Mr. Chair, I agree with the honourable leader of the NDP. This should never have happened. We do not want to be finding ourselves in the midst of a global pandemic, yet we are. Every step of the way, as a government, we have been responding to be there for Canadians to help them by modifying, adjusting, expanding and extending, in this case, the Canada emergency response benefit for an additional eight weeks to make sure that Canadians are supported through this difficult time.

[Jagmeet Singh, NDP, Burnaby South, BC]

Will the Prime Minister accept and admit that the EI system is broken for most Canadians?

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Papineau, QC]

Mr. Chair, one of the things this pandemic has shown is that we need to do better around vulnerable Canadians, and we need to look at what we can do right now to help people. However, we also need to look at the longer term, including—

[The Chair, Liberal, Anthony Rota]

We'll go back to Mr. Singh.

[Jagmeet Singh, NDP, Burnaby South, BC]

Will the Prime Minister fix EI so that it helps all Canadians in need?

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Papineau, QC]

Mr. Chair, we're always happy to move forward on improvements to our systems to help more Canadians, and that's something that we're very much looking at every single day. We're focused on this crisis, however.

[Jagmeet Singh, NDP, Burnaby South, BC]

Will the Prime Minister improve EI to help all those who need it?

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Papineau, QC]

Mr. Chair, of course the priority is to help people in need right now, but improvements and changes to serve more people—

[The Chair, Liberal, Anthony Rota]

Mr. Singh has the floor.

[Jagmeet Singh, NDP, Burnaby South, BC]

Canadians living with disabilities have been ignored throughout this pandemic. We forced and pushed the government to commit to helping Canadians living with disabilities almost two months ago, but still there is no help for them. When will Canadians living with disabilities get the help they need?

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Papineau, QC]

Mr. Chair, from the beginning of this pandemic, the minister for Canadians with disabilities has worked with the community, worked to help out, and we as a government have stepped up on helping many, many people.

There is more to do, which is why we put forward legislation to send extra help to people with disabilities. Unfortunately, politics got in the way of that. We will continue to work on how to help people with disabilities.

[Jagmeet Singh, NDP, Burnaby South, BC]

Mr. Chair, New Democrats are prepared to support legislation that helps all Canadians living with disabilities. When will the government bring forward legislation that helps them? We will support that legislation right away.

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Papineau, QC]

Mr. Chair, we brought forward such legislation last week. Unfortunately, the Conservatives denied unanimous consent to be able to move forward to help people with disabilities with an extra $600—

[The Chair, Liberal, Anthony Rota]

We will go back to Mr. Singh.

[Jagmeet Singh, NDP, Burnaby South, BC]

It's been over two months. Canadians with disabilities need that help right away.

It's a matter of the choices that this government is making in terms of who it's choosing to help and who it's not helping. We just learned today what we've known for awhile: that the wealthiest 1% of Canadians own as much as the bottom 40%.

Will the Prime Minister make a choice to make the super-wealthy pay their fair share?

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Papineau, QC]

Mr. Chair, since we came to office, we've moved forward on making the tax system fair, on ensuring that everyone pays their part. The first thing we did was raise taxes for the wealthiest 1% so that we could lower them for the middle class and for people working hard to join it. We will continue to focus on helping vulnerable Canadians in this pandemic and going forward.

[Jagmeet Singh, NDP, Burnaby South, BC]

Mr. Chair, the right wing is going to be talking about fiscal prudence. I think it's a great thing to talk about, but fiscal prudence doesn't mean cutting services to people: It means cutting giveaways to the wealthiest.

Will the Prime Minister commit today to closing offshore tax havens, to closing loopholes that allow the wealthiest to continue to concentrate wealth in their hands while working people suffer?

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Papineau, QC]

The Liberal Party has always been the party that has understood that fiscal responsibility goes hand in hand with helping the most vulnerable. We came into this COVID crisis with the best balance sheet in the G7. We put that to use to help Canadians get through this, and we will have an economy that will come roaring back because of the strength of all Canadians.

[The Chair, Liberal, Anthony Rota]

We'll now stop for a quick pause so that our staff can switch in a safe way.

We will now resume the meeting.

Mr. Rayes, you have the floor.