COVID-19 Pandemic Committee on June 17th, 2020

[Richard Lehoux, Conservative, Beauce, QC]

Madam Chair, the minister answered the question and told us that the program existed. However, more than half of businesses have not received an answer because of a lack of funding. What is the minister’s real plan? We need funding now.

[The Acting Chair, NDP, Carol Hughes]

The honourable minister has time to give a short answer.

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

We do have the funding. We’ve doubled the budgets. If Mr. Lehoux has a question or a project to submit, let him come to me so we can discuss it and resolve those situations.

[The Acting Chair, NDP, Carol Hughes]

Next is the honourable member for Sarnia—Lambton, Ms. Gladu.

[Marilyn Gladu, Conservative, Sarnia—Lambton, ON]

Thank you, Chair.

Last week the Prime Minister announced that immediate families of Canadians would be able to cross the border from the U.S. to address reunification issues like child custody, medical issues and spousal reunification, but people who are engaged and people who are long-term partners and who are not common law were excluded. In addition, it's left to the discretion of individual CBSA agents to determine whether or not they can come in.

Will the minister address this gap and provide clear criteria to the CBSA that includes fiancés and those who are long-term partners?

[Bill Blair, Liberal, Scarborough Southwest, ON]

I'll begin by thanking the member opposite for her question and her strong advocacy on this. I've appreciated her advocacy and her advice, but I would also remind her that the steps that we have taken were put in place to protect the health and safety of Canadians.

We have responded to concerns that were raised about the need to keep families together, and that's why we introduced, by order in council, very clear rules and instructions to CBSA. CBSA is doing the important job of ensuring that all travel to Canada is essential, and they are acknowledging and recognizing the exemptions that have been put in place, which are quite appropriate under the circumstances, Madam Chair.

[Marilyn Gladu, Conservative, Sarnia—Lambton, ON]

Excluding long-term partners and people who are engaged is actually a charter violation of discrimination based on people's family situation, so that needs to be addressed.

There are also property issues occurring. Many people in my riding store their boats over in Port Huron. Currently, because it's not considered essential travel, they have to go and hire a foreign national skipper to bring an extra boat to bring their boat over so that it can be cleared, instead of just being allowed to go and retrieve their property.

Will the minister provide an exemption for Canadians to retrieve their property from the U.S.?

[Bill Blair, Liberal, Scarborough Southwest, ON]

Again, I thank the member for the question, and I'm not without sympathy for Canadians who find themselves in that position, but I would simply remind the member, and all Canadians, that our first priority has to be the health and safety of Canadians. We have had to put in quite appropriate and necessary restrictions on non-essential travel. We're working very closely with the provinces and I will tell you that there have been strong concerns expressed by our provincial partners about ensuring that all international travel coming across the Canadian border is in fact essential. We are doing our best to uphold those rules.

At the same time, when people are faced with these difficult situations, we'll work with them to try to find solutions to their concerns.

[Marilyn Gladu, Conservative, Sarnia—Lambton, ON]

[Technical difficulty—Editor] truckers are going back and forth across the border every day as are other folks conducting commerce. There are many Canadians who own property in the U.S. who are not allowed to go to their property, which is a condition of their insurance and it is causing some hardship.

Will the minister create an exemption for them?

[Bill Blair, Liberal, Scarborough Southwest, ON]

The member opposite quite rightly identifies some of the hardships that Canadians, and all of us, have experienced as a result of this pandemic, but the steps that we have put in place are necessary to keep people safe. I'd also remind the member that the movement of essential trade and goods across our borders is what puts food on the shelves and pharmaceuticals in our drugstores. It provides Canadians and Canadian industry with the supplies and the equipment they need to do their jobs. The movement of essential workers is also something that is necessary and allowed.

[Marilyn Gladu, Conservative, Sarnia—Lambton, ON]

The minister needs to be aware that these Canadians who are being put through these hardships are willing to self-isolate and obey all the rules on both sides of the border, and they have a right to access their properties, which is being denied by the government extending the border restrictions.

Let's move on to the Minister of Finance.

The rent subsidy program is not working. There is no incentive for a landlord to apply and give up 25% of their revenue, so I'm not understanding why the government created a program that has no incentive to participate.

[Bill Morneau, Liberal, Toronto Centre, ON]

Madam Chair, I want to thank the member for the question so that I can repeat what I said earlier.

We've seen that the provinces have moved forward to restrict the evictions of commercial tenants in many cases. We know that this will help to ensure that commercial tenants and landlords can work together to come to an agreement. That is what the emergency rent proposal was intended to do. We are starting to see many more applications. I am confident that we will see this program as successful over the long term.

[Marilyn Gladu, Conservative, Sarnia—Lambton, ON]

Apparently, there's only 1% uptake in that program, so I would argue that this program is not successful and there's no incentive.

Finally, Norma is a 53-year-old student in my riding, who should be eligible for the student benefit because she goes to Lambton College. However, when she called to apply she was told that she's probably fraudulent because nobody attends school at 53. That is agism. What does the minister have to say about that?

[Carla Qualtrough, Liberal, Delta, BC]

I'd be happy to work with the member to see exactly what the circumstances of her constituent are and work to resolve them.

[The Acting Chair, NDP, Carol Hughes]

Next is the honourable member for Saanich—Gulf Islands, Ms. May.

[Elizabeth May, Green, Saanich—Gulf Islands, BC]

Thank you, Madam Chair.

We know what the COVID-19 emergency response from government looks like. One year ago today, on June 17, 2019, the House voted that we were in a climate emergency. When can we expect to see the government take the climate emergency similarly and seriously?

[Jonathan Wilkinson, Liberal, North Vancouver, BC]

Thank you, Madam Chair, and thank you to the honourable member for her question.

Climate change remains a high priority for this government. It is a crisis. It is something that we as Canadians need to address, as does the broader international community. We made a commitment to move forward to address and exceed the target that we had established previously. We made a commitment to achieving net-zero by 2050. We are fully committed to ensuring that we move forward in a manner that will allow us to achieve both.

[Elizabeth May, Green, Saanich—Gulf Islands, BC]

With all due respect, we know what the government looks like when it's taking an emergency seriously. It listens to the science and it applies the programs that science requires. In this case, the climate emergency, the scientific advice came in the IPCC report from October 8, 2018, that the window on 1.5°C, the Paris target, was closing. The current target put in place by Stephen Harper is five years old and is about half of what needs to be done.

If this government treated COVID-19 the way they treat climate, we would have told Theresa Tam, “We can't stay six feet apart. You'll have to be happy with three feet.”

Again to the minister, when will we see a target consistent with the science?

[Jonathan Wilkinson, Liberal, North Vancouver, BC]

Certainly, climate change is a science issue. It's not a political issue. It should not be a partisan issue. We are guided by the science in everything that we are doing. We developed the pan-Canadian framework, which has 50 different initiatives to allow us to reduce emissions. We said that we know we need to go further, and we are in the process of developing an updated plan that will ensure that we do that. We will be standing up a panel to consult the Canadian public on a pathway to net-zero by 2050, and are working actively every day to ensure that we do that.

[Elizabeth May, Green, Saanich—Gulf Islands, BC]

When will we see the requirement under the Paris Agreement for a new target tabled by Canada within calendar 2020?

[Jonathan Wilkinson, Liberal, North Vancouver, BC]

Madam Chair, we have been very clear that we would be updating our target in advance of the next COP. That has not changed. We will be doing that. I look forward to being able to bring that forward and discuss it with all Canadians.

[Elizabeth May, Green, Saanich—Gulf Islands, BC]

To the honourable minister, I don't know. It's very difficult because clearly there are well-intentioned ministers and well-intentioned people.

Do you know the difference between 417 parts per million of carbon dioxide in the global atmosphere with a well-intentioned minister and 417 parts per million with a disinterested or hostile minister? The answer is that there's no difference at all.

We are in a worsening climate emergency. I need to hear clearly from the minister, and I hope I will this time. Will we comply with the Paris Agreement and come up with a new target within calendar 2020?

[The Acting Chair, NDP, Carol Hughes]

I want to remind the member to address the questions to the chair.

The honourable minister may respond.

[Jonathan Wilkinson, Liberal, North Vancouver, BC]

Thank you, Madam Chair.

This government has been very clear. We are fully committed to addressing the climate crisis. It is an enormous priority for us. We have put a plan in place. We have worked very hard to develop an additional number of initiatives that will go forward with respect to a new plan and a new target, supplementing the work that was done by the previous Minister of Environment and Climate Change. We all feel extremely strongly about this in the House. Certainly it's the reason I got into politics in the first place. It's something that I've spent many years of my life working on, and it's something to which I personally, and the government as a whole, are firmly committed.

[Elizabeth May, Green, Saanich—Gulf Islands, BC]

I appreciate the good words, Madam Chair. I've heard them before. What I have not heard is the firm commitment to at least double our target within calendar 2020 to comply with our goal of holding to 1.5°C. It's a critical goal and the window is closing.

In COVID-19 this government has acted with resolve. It's been an astonishing whole-of-government approach. When will we see a similar level of commitment from this government to address the climate emergency?