Evidence of meeting #25 for COVID-19 Pandemic in the 43rd Parliament, 1st Session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was chair.

A video is available from Parliament.

On the agenda

MPs speaking

Also speaking

1:15 p.m.

Conservative

Kelly Block Conservative Carlton Trail—Eagle Creek, SK

Thank you very much, Madam Chair.

Can the minister advise us how many contracts we have signed in total?

1:15 p.m.

NDP

The Acting Chair NDP Carol Hughes

We need a brief answer from the minister.

1:15 p.m.

Liberal

Anita Anand Liberal Oakville, ON

As I said, it's 25 domestic contracts here at home and hundreds across the world. We are ensuring that we meet Canada's health care needs.

1:15 p.m.

Conservative

Kelly Block Conservative Carlton Trail—Eagle Creek, SK

Madam Chair, how frequently are departmental officials in communication with all the manufacturers to whom PSPC has awarded a sole-source contract for PPE, in order to receive updates on their progress?

1:15 p.m.

NDP

The Acting Chair NDP Carol Hughes

The honourable minister has 12 seconds.

1:15 p.m.

Liberal

Anita Anand Liberal Oakville, ON

I can assure the honourable member that we are in touch with the manufacturers with whom we have contracts on a highly regular basis, because we want to make sure we have the PPE here in Canada to protect front-line health care workers.

1:15 p.m.

NDP

The Acting Chair NDP Carol Hughes

Mrs. Block, you have time for a brief question.

1:15 p.m.

Conservative

Kelly Block Conservative Carlton Trail—Eagle Creek, SK

Thank you very much, Madam Chair.

Are there any companies with whom we have contracts and whom we have not had any updates from since signing a contract with them?

1:15 p.m.

NDP

The Acting Chair NDP Carol Hughes

We need a very brief answer from the minister.

1:15 p.m.

Liberal

Anita Anand Liberal Oakville, ON

Madam Chair, the implication is that we are not on top of this file. I can assure the honourable member and everyone in the House of Commons that we are on top of it, and we will make sure we have the PPE now and into the future.

1:15 p.m.

NDP

The Acting Chair NDP Carol Hughes

Mr. Champoux, the honourable member for Drummond, now has the floor.

1:15 p.m.

Bloc

Martin Champoux Bloc Drummond, QC

Madam Chair, I'll be sharing my time with my colleague from Berthier—Maskinongé.

I'll start with an easy question for the government. If it found $1.320 billion lying around, would it know how to use that money wisely?

1:15 p.m.

Liberal

Mona Fortier Liberal Ottawa—Vanier, ON

Madam Chair, from the start, our priority has been to help Quebeckers and Canadians. Health and the economy were our top priorities—

1:15 p.m.

NDP

The Acting Chair NDP Carol Hughes

Mr. Champoux, you have the floor.

1:15 p.m.

Bloc

Martin Champoux Bloc Drummond, QC

Thank you, Madam Chair. I like to see the same old platitudes interrupted.

Taxing the GAFA group would bring in over $781 million. Charging GAFA royalties for content creators, which generate billions of dollars, would bring in $540 million. These two amounts combined total $1.32 billion. These are the pre-crisis figures reported by the Parliamentary Budget Officer. We know that the GAFA group's revenue soared with the crisis.

Why is the government waiting to pick up the money lying around and to ensure justice for journalists, the media, songwriters and artists, who are struggling like never before these days, and especially for all businesses in Quebec and Canada that are paying their fair share?

1:15 p.m.

Laurier—Sainte-Marie Québec

Liberal

Steven Guilbeault LiberalMinister of Canadian Heritage

Madam Chair, I want to thank my colleague for his important question.

I want to point out that the federal government has made almost $3 billion available to the arts, culture and media sector in recent months to help it get through this crisis. We've contributed $2.5 billion through the Canada emergency response benefit and the Canada emergency wage subsidy. We've provided $500 million in emergency measures for the sector. In addition, we've committed to tabling a bill to ensure greater fairness for Canadian distributors—

1:20 p.m.

NDP

The Acting Chair NDP Carol Hughes

Mr. Champoux, you have the floor again.

1:20 p.m.

Bloc

Martin Champoux Bloc Drummond, QC

I know that my colleague, the Minister of Canadian Heritage, wants this. I know that he wants to implement a royalty system, because we've already talked about it many times.

When will the government propose a fair royalty system? It would be only fair for content creators. I'm sure that my colleague, the Minister of Canadian Heritage, agrees with this.

1:20 p.m.

NDP

The Acting Chair NDP Carol Hughes

The honourable minister has 20 seconds to respond.

1:20 p.m.

Liberal

Steven Guilbeault Liberal Laurier—Sainte-Marie, QC

Madam Chair, my colleague and I agree on this notion of fairness.

I had committed to tabling a bill before June, but the pandemic obviously prevented this from happening. I'm committing today to tabling this bill when we return in the fall.

1:20 p.m.

NDP

The Acting Chair NDP Carol Hughes

Mr. Perron, the honourable member for Berthier—Maskinongé, has the floor.

1:20 p.m.

Bloc

Yves Perron Bloc Berthier—Maskinongé, QC

Madam Chair, on World Milk Day, I called for two tangible measures for the dairy industry: the allocation of import quotas to processors and a concrete announcement regarding compensation payments. The first matter has been resolved, and we're pleased about this. A little concrete action is good.

However, we now need a concrete approach to compensation. Can we have a date for the announcement and the payment?

1:20 p.m.

Compton—Stanstead Québec

Liberal

Marie-Claude Bibeau LiberalMinister of Agriculture and Agri-Food

Madam Chair, I'm pleased to see that my colleague is happy.

Yes, we answered the call of the dairy farmers by giving the Canadian Dairy Commission the lending capacity needed to purchase more butter and cheese in order to regulate supply based on demand.

In terms of our commitment to compensation following the signature of the agreement—

1:20 p.m.

NDP

The Acting Chair NDP Carol Hughes

Mr. Perron, you have the floor.

1:20 p.m.

Bloc

Yves Perron Bloc Berthier—Maskinongé, QC

We weren't talking about the Canadian Dairy Commission, another great success that we achieved by working together. We were talking about quotas.

I'll address the compensation issue. Dairy farmers received an initial payment last year, but they haven't received anything since then. The other supply-managed sectors, poultry and eggs, agreed on the compensation amounts last August, almost a year ago.

We need a date.