COVID-19 Pandemic Committee on June 18th, 2020

[Dan Albas, Conservative, Central Okanagan—Similkameen—Nicola, BC]

Madam Chair, is this a state secret? I asked a very simple question. Millions of Canadians have been attesting. Doesn't the government believe that the people should know what they will soon be attesting to?

[Jean-Yves Duclos, Liberal, Québec, QC]

Madam Chair, there are two different things. First, it will be asking whether Canadians have been able to seek and perhaps not been able to find reasonable work, and then the precise wording will be provided in due course.

[Dan Albas, Conservative, Central Okanagan—Similkameen—Nicola, BC]

People who lose their jobs for reasons not due to COVID and who are EI-eligible are being told by Service Canada to apply for EI and they will get the CERB instead, despite not being eligible for the CERB. Are these people counted in the CERB totals, and how will the audits for these people work later, because they aren't actually eligible for the CERB?

[Jean-Yves Duclos, Liberal, Québec, QC]

This is another important question, and the brief answer is that we have delivered the CERB both with vigour and with rigour: vigour because approximately eight million Canadians have received assistance, and rigour because from the very start, we did say that we would be monitoring and eventually correcting the fraud, all the errors that would have been made in the process.

[Dan Albas, Conservative, Central Okanagan—Similkameen—Nicola, BC]

Madam Chair, I would like to hear the minister answer with vigour and rigour. Are these people counted in the CERB totals, and how will the audits for these people work later, because they actually aren't eligible for the CERB?

[Jean-Yves Duclos, Liberal, Québec, QC]

This is a good opportunity to remind the member that we are in National Public Service Week and we have full confidence in the abilities of public servants to do the work with rigour and with vigour.

[Dan Albas, Conservative, Central Okanagan—Similkameen—Nicola, BC]

Madam Chair, I must say that these answers are not shedding very much light.

Is the department categorizing these applicants separately in the system, and are these people being paid out of the EI operating account? These are two very simple questions.

[Jean-Yves Duclos, Liberal, Québec, QC]

I'm pleased that the member has such great interest in this very important program. Eight million Canadians have received the benefit over the last few weeks. We know how important it is to preserve the social and economic fabric of our country, and we look forward to providing more information as it becomes available.

[Dan Albas, Conservative, Central Okanagan—Similkameen—Nicola, BC]

Madam Chair, I'm [Inaudible—Editor] every week that I'm here.

The issue of parents not qualifying for parental leave due to the loss of jobs due to COVID is getting worse. The government keeps saying they will fix the problem, but people are having children right now and are not qualified for benefits. When, please, will this be solved?

[Jean-Yves Duclos, Liberal, Québec, QC]

This is another important question. I have two quick answers.

First, the issue that we had a few weeks ago of mothers being on maternity benefits and not receiving the correct amount was resolved on May 8. The other issue, to which the member alludes, is going to be resolved. The minister is fully aware of it.

[The Acting Chair, NDP, Carol Hughes]

We can have a brief question from Mr. Albas.

[Dan Albas, Conservative, Central Okanagan—Similkameen—Nicola, BC]

Madam Chair, this Parliament gave massive powers for the Minister of Employment to solve this problem. What is the holdup?

[Jean-Yves Duclos, Liberal, Québec, QC]

We have put into place an emergency program, which is helping millions of workers and families across Canada. We are pleased and very grateful for the work of public servants in delivering those benefits. We look forward to continuing to deliver the important support that Canadians expect and require.

[The Acting Chair, NDP, Carol Hughes]

The honourable member for Carlton Trail—Eagle Creek, Mrs. Block.

[Kelly Block, Conservative, Carlton Trail—Eagle Creek, SK]

Thank you, Madam Chair.

Yesterday, during committee of the whole, I asked Minister Anand to simply outline what PPE was being purchased with the $500 million being requested in the estimates, but her answer was somewhat vague and full of generalities. Has Minister Anand been able to meet with her department to get the answer to my questions, and can she provide us with this list today?

[The Acting Chair, NDP, Carol Hughes]

The honourable minister.

[Anita Anand, Liberal, Minister of Public Services and Procurement]

Thank you, Madam Chair, and I thank the honourable member for her excellent questions throughout this sitting.

We are continuing to purchase face shields, gloves, gowns, hand sanitizer, N95 respirators, surgical masks, ventilators and other supplies that Canada's front-line health care workers need today, tomorrow and in the weeks and months ahead.

[Kelly Block, Conservative, Carlton Trail—Eagle Creek, SK]

Madam Chair, unlike the NDP, Conservatives don't believe in giving the Liberal government a blank cheque. It is our job to demand transparency on behalf of Canadians. Over the course of this session, it has been troubling not to get the answers we've been asking for.

Will the minister of PSPC uphold the principles of transparency and open government and give us the names of the companies that have received hundreds of millions of tax money in sole-sourced PPE contracts?

[Anita Anand, Liberal, Oakville, ON]

We are still in the middle of the pandemic, a period of extremely high global demand when our supply chains internationally are at risk. In the interests of protecting those supply chains to ensure we can get PPE to front-line health care workers who need it to protect themselves and Canadians, we must keep certain information confidential.

In the interests of transparency, however, we have placed a number of contracts on our website. My department and I have also appeared at committee a number of times, and we have a full website—

[The Acting Chair, NDP, Carol Hughes]

Mrs. Block.

[Kelly Block, Conservative, Carlton Trail—Eagle Creek, SK]

Thank you very much, Madam Chair.

It is better late than never that the Liberal government has come around to the concept of domestically sourced PPE. Yesterday, during committee of the whole, Minister Anand indicated that half of the face shields ordered would be made here in Canada.

Can she quantify her answer and tell us how many, at what price and by when?

[Anita Anand, Liberal, Oakville, ON]

In fact, what I said at committee was that over half of the face shields that have been produced have been produced here in Canada, and we will continue to ramp up domestic production so we can ensure we have full-scale supply chains operating well into the future, if a future stage of this pandemic should occur.

[Kelly Block, Conservative, Carlton Trail—Eagle Creek, SK]

Madam Chair, I thank the minister for that answer. Can the minister advise us as to how many Canadian manufacturers are producing PPE at this time?

[Anita Anand, Liberal, Oakville, ON]

We have signed well over 25 contracts with domestic manufacturers for the production of PPE here at home. We will continue to engage with domestic manufacturers across the country—

[The Acting Chair, NDP, Carol Hughes]

Mrs. Block.