COVID-19 Pandemic Committee on May 6th, 2020

[Philip Lawrence, Conservative, Northumberland—Peterborough South, ON]

Madam Chair, once again I will ask. What will the cost of a carbon tax be for farmers in 2020?

[Mona Fortier, Liberal, Ottawa—Vanier, ON]

Madam Chair, the most urgent priority right now is the health and safety of Canadians. As we support Canadians through this time, we also have to ensure long-term economic, environmental and physical well-being. Putting a price on pollution is a critical part of Canada's plan to tackle climate change.

[Philip Lawrence, Conservative, Northumberland—Peterborough South, ON]

Madam Chair, as the government will not answer my question, I will answer it myself.

The Canadian Federation of Independent Business said that for the average farmer, the carbon tax will cost $14,000.

I have a private member's bill that would help relieve this burden. As part of team Canada, will the government support my private member's bill to remove the carbon tax from propane and natural gas?

[Mona Fortier, Liberal, Ottawa—Vanier, ON]

Madam Chair, again I will continue by informing the honourable member that we need to continue to put a price on pollution. It's a critical part of Canada's plan to tackle climate change, and it is the most affordable and effective way to reduce greenhouse emissions.

[The Acting Chair (Mrs. Alexandra Mendès), Liberal, Alexandra Mendes]

Mr. Lawrence, you have time for a very short question.

[Philip Lawrence, Conservative, Northumberland—Peterborough South, ON]

Thank you. I have a different topic.

Women have been disproportionately affected in the COVID pandemic. In a recent survey, almost twice as many women as men lost their jobs. What will this government do to commit to helping women return to the workforce, given that they bear a disproportionate burden of child care?

[The Acting Chair (Mrs. Alexandra Mendès), Liberal, Alexandra Mendes]

The honourable President of the Treasury Board has the floor for 15 seconds.

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

This is a very important question. Unfortunately, I don't have time to answer it, but you're exactly right. Investments in child care, investments in family support, investments in fighting domestic violence, investments in housing, investments in training, investments in Canadian housing benefits in Canada and investments in child benefits are all important to support women.

[The Acting Chair (Mrs. Alexandra Mendès), Liberal, Alexandra Mendes]

Mr. Ste-Marie has the floor.

[Gabriel Ste-Marie, Bloc, Joliette, QC]

Thank you, Madam Chair.

France, Danmark and Poland will not help businesses that use tax havens. Belgium, Italy, the United Kingdom and even the European Union are looking into the issue. Here, nothing is happening. The Journal de Montréal reported that businesses using tax havens will finally be able to benefit from federal assistance. After suggesting that rules will be tightened, the Prime Minister has gone back on his decision.

There is something paradoxical in the fact that banks and multinationals that have been involved in tax avoidance for years are now calling on taxpayers' solidarity. This is a reminder that the tax system is deeply unfair. Everyone pays their share, except for Bay Street banks and multinationals that are involved in tax havens.

We have a $250-billion deficit, but it is for funding emergency measures that are necessary. Businesses that use tax havens receive their share of assistance, and not only for wage subsidies. I am thinking of the upcoming bailout programs, the purchase of rotten assets or the massive liquidity injection for banks. They are continuing to report their profits in their shells in Barbados or the Bahamas.

Why isn't the government dealing with the legal use of tax havens?

Please, I am asking the minister not to talk to me about the Canada Revenue Agency's efforts to track down fraudsters. I am asking the government to make illegal what is immoral.

[The Acting Chair (Mrs. Alexandra Mendès), Liberal, Alexandra Mendes]

The honourable minister has the floor.

[Mona Fortier, Liberal, Ottawa—Vanier, ON]

Thank you, Madam Chair.

I thank my honourable colleague for his question.

Since the beginning of the crisis, we have implemented an economic plan to meet the needs of workers and Canadians. We focused on programs that will help pay workers, so that they can keep their jobs. This means that the Canada emergency wage subsidy is the solution.

We will continue to ensure that, if a company is evading taxes, it will have to face legal consequences. That includes the potential exclusion from federal emergency programs in a way that targets its decision-makers, especially management, boards of directors and shareholders.

[Gabriel Ste-Marie, Bloc, Joliette, QC]

I want to return to the example of the five major Toronto banks. They are receiving massive liquidity injections. They are benefiting from the purchase of their assets that have lost all value. They are receiving government assistance.

At the same time, they all have one or several branches in tax havens that enable them to report their profits earned in Canada as if they were earned in the empty shell in the tax haven. They are doing this to pay less tax here. That is unacceptable, and it has to change.

Why isn't the government taking action?

I remind the minister that the change can be made through a simple amendment to the Income Tax Regulations, in section 5907, which contains the problematic wording that enables businesses and major banks to avoid paying their taxes here. That is completely legal, but entirely immoral.

[Mona Fortier, Liberal, Ottawa—Vanier, ON]

Once again, during this unprecedented crisis, we have focused our efforts on enabling workers to keep their jobs. That is why we have implemented the wage subsidy for businesses.

Of course, we will continue to fully prosecute businesses that are avoiding taxation. We are clear: in everything we are doing, we will target those who are responsible, and not innocent workers. An employee is an employee, regardless of whom they work for.

[Gabriel Ste-Marie, Bloc, Joliette, QC]

Madam Chair, I have a question for the minister.

Will the government prosecute banks that legally declare their profits in tax havens?

[Mona Fortier, Liberal, Ottawa—Vanier, ON]

Since 2015, we have made historic investments in the Canada Revenue Agency to ensure that it has the tools it needs to catch violators and bring them to justice. The CRA currently has more than 50 active investigations on international tax evasion.

As I said earlier, the fight against tax evasion is a priority for our government. We have been very clear: anyone who violates the law to avoid paying their fair share will suffer serious consequences.

[The Acting Chair (Mrs. Alexandra Mendès), Liberal, Alexandra Mendes]

The floor belongs to Mr. Ste-Marie. Please be brief.

[Gabriel Ste-Marie, Bloc, Joliette, QC]

Thank you, Madam Chair.

The Canada Revenue Agency is doing more, but it's not enough. The $1 billion that the Minister of Revenue keeps mentioning is a ridiculous figure. For example, it even includes an employee hired to replace a retired employee. This has nothing to do with the approach in the United States or Europe.

Will the government outlaw the immoral use of tax havens by Toronto banks and multinational companies?

[The Acting Chair (Mrs. Alexandra Mendès), Liberal, Alexandra Mendes]

Minister Fortier, you have five seconds.

[Mona Fortier, Liberal, Ottawa—Vanier, ON]

Once again, I want to thank my honourable colleague for his question.

We're going through an unprecedented crisis. We're making efforts to protect workers and their jobs. We'll continue to make the wage subsidy available to ensure that these workers are paid.

[The Acting Chair (Mrs. Alexandra Mendès), Liberal, Alexandra Mendes]

Mr. Scarpaleggia has the floor.

[Francis Scarpaleggia, Liberal, Lac-Saint-Louis, QC]

Thank you, Madam Chair. I'll be sharing my time with the member for Kanata—Carleton.

My question is for the Minister of Health.

First, I want to thank the minister and the other members of the government for their excellent work under the leadership of the Prime Minister. They're working hard around the clock to deal with this pandemic.

A number of my constituents who work in the private sector, especially the people in the retail or manufacturing industries, are wondering how they'll obtain the personal protective equipment needed to ensure their safety when they return to their jobs. For these businesses and workers, this issue poses a serious challenge, especially since there's no centralized distribution network, as is the case for the health care system.

Our government has just announced the creation of a council that will look at the supply issue. Can the minister explain the role of this council? Can she tell us about the plans to support businesses when it comes to personal protective equipment as the economy reopens?

[Patty Hajdu, Liberal, Thunder Bay—Superior North, ON]

Thank you very much.

To revive the economy, we must know that Canadians are safe.

While our primary focus is the needs of front-line workers and health professionals, we're also actively exploring how we can help organizations and businesses that provide essential services across Canada with the personal protective equipment that their workers need. The COVID-19 supply council is bringing together a group of leaders from the private and not-for-profit sectors who will provide further advice on establishing diversified and adaptable supply chains for key items, such as masks, gloves, disinfectants, etc., as this situation continues to evolve.

This council builds on our collaborative approach to help us meet current and future supply needs.

In leveraging their extensive experience and networks, they will provide us with valuable input on how we can best streamline and strengthen our approach to ensure that Canadians have access to what they need to stay safe at work. We need to work together, obviously, with provinces and territories, workers and businesses. This will ensure that we can have strong and stable supply chains into the future.

[The Acting Chair (Mrs. Alexandra Mendès), Liberal, Alexandra Mendes]

We'll go to Mrs. McCrimmon.

[Karen McCrimmon, Liberal, Kanata—Carleton, ON]

Thank you, Madam Chair.

I would like to begin by offering my sincerest condolences to the people of Nova Scotia, to the colleagues, friends and loved ones of the people who lost their lives, both in the RCMP and the Canadian Armed Forces, and those who are struggling with such sorrow. I just want them to know that we are mourning with them.

These are challenging times, so I have a question for the President of the Treasury Board.

In these times when there is very little precedent, designing an emergency economic system would require some innovation and require some approaches different from what had been used in the past, but we do need some strategic guidance. You need to have an idea of what considerations are important, or what things to keep in your mind when you're trying to design something that hasn't been done before.

I would ask the hon. member for his ideas on how we help make this happen.