COVID-19 Pandemic Committee on May 7th, 2020

[Taylor Bachrach, NDP, Skeena—Bulkley Valley, BC]

Mr. Chair, I'd like to shift gears a little bit. Faced with minimal health care capacity, remote indigenous communities in my riding are taking matters into their own hands. The Nuxalk have put up a checkpoint on Highway 20 to protect community members and prevent non-essential travel. In particular, it is to protect the three remaining fluent speakers of the Nuxalk language, these cherished elders in their community. The Haida on Haida Gwaii have set up a similar checkpoint, as have communities throughout British Columbia, yet federal support for indigenous communities amounts to only $39 million for all of the indigenous communities in B.C.

Does the Prime Minister not agree that more support is warranted to help indigenous communities in my riding and across the country?

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Papineau, QC]

Mr. Chair, from the very beginning, we made funds available to Canadians right across the country, particularly people in indigenous remote or northern communities who we knew would be facing more difficult challenges because of the existing vulnerabilities in their health care system and socio-economic circumstances. We have made unprecedented investments and we will continue to make the necessary investments, because we need to make sure that indigenous Canadians, and indeed all Canadians, have the supports they need to make it through this crisis.

[The Chair, Liberal, Anthony Rota]

We will continue with Mr. Berthold.

Mr. Berthold, you have the floor.

[Luc Berthold, Conservative, Mégantic—L'Érable, QC]

Thank you very much, Mr. Chair.

I am going to keep talking about the area of jurisdiction that the Prime Minister likes to talk about, except that I want to point out the incompetence of the Liberals in keeping their commitments on infrastructure projects.

My question is very simple. As the provinces gradually restart their economies, can the Prime Minister tell us how many projects that the provinces have submitted are waiting for approval from his government?

[Luc Berthold, Conservative, Mégantic—L'Érable, QC]

Mr. Chair, I hope that the length of the pause will not be taken out of my time.

[The Chair, Liberal, Anthony Rota]

No, I stopped the clock for your time.

Ms. McKenna, you have the floor.

[Catherine McKenna, Liberal, Minister of Infrastructure and Communities]

I'm sorry, Mr. Chair, I was on mute.

I'm very pleased with how we are working with the provinces and territories. I have spoken with all of my provincial and territorial counterparts over the last couple of weeks. Work on our historic infrastructure program is progressing well. My department has worked very hard to approve projects, and we will continue to do so.

It is very important to build projects that will create good jobs—

[The Chair, Liberal, Anthony Rota]

We are returning to Mr. Berthold.

[Luc Berthold, Conservative, Mégantic—L'Érable, QC]

We still haven't had a response.

How many projects are currently awaiting government approval?

I know that the minister has been meeting virtually with the provinces over the last few days. However, there are still hundreds of projects waiting for approval from the Liberal government.

Rather than wait for the right political opportunity to approve these files, will the minister commit today to respecting the provinces and approving by next week all the projects that are sitting on her desk?

[Catherine McKenna, Liberal, Ottawa Centre, ON]

Mr. Chair, I'm pleased with how we are working with the provinces and territories. We are approving projects. If the hon. member speaks to the provinces and territories, he will see how well we are working together. We will announce the approval of projects because it's very important for our economy, our communities and creating good jobs.

[Luc Berthold, Conservative, Mégantic—L'Érable, QC]

Does the minister understand that she hasn't told us how many projects are still pending?

The construction season is very short. Approval of a project in July means that work can't begin until next year, which won't help revive our economy.

[Catherine McKenna, Liberal, Ottawa Centre, ON]

I want to make it clear that we have approved hundreds of projects in the last few weeks. We will work with the provinces, territories, municipalities and indigenous communities to implement these projects. These projects are important for the economy and the environment, as well as for jobs—

[The Chair, Liberal, Anthony Rota]

We return now to Mr. Berthold.

[Luc Berthold, Conservative, Mégantic—L'Érable, QC]

Mr. Chair, while the minister is calling for a green recovery of the country's economy, public transit is at risk. Physical distancing measures will cause public transit use to drop for several months. The Union des municipalités du Québec estimates that the monthly losses are between $75 million and $100 million. Other countries have included public transit in pandemic relief programs.

Why isn't Canada?

[Catherine McKenna, Liberal, Ottawa Centre, ON]

Mr. Chair, we recognize the importance of public transit for our economy, since some essential workers use public transit. We are working very closely with our counterparts and are listening to the municipalities. As the Prime Minister said, it's the provinces that must help because the money—

[The Chair, Liberal, Anthony Rota]

We return now to Mr. Berthold.

[Luc Berthold, Conservative, Mégantic—L'Érable, QC]

Mr. Chair, once again, what we're hearing is that the government is passing the buck to the provinces. Unfortunately, the minister was unable to answer a single question about the number of infrastructure projects still on the federal government's desk, which is very important. Several large municipalities are waiting for the approval of projects.

Moreover, public transit systems are facing an extremely serious financial crisis. Ridership in most systems is down 85% to 90%. The Federation of Canadian Municipalities is asking for help for small communities, as well as large municipalities.

Why is the federal government ignoring the municipalities in the Canadian Federation of Municipalities at this time?

[Catherine McKenna, Liberal, Ottawa Centre, ON]

Mr. Chair, I can reassure the hon. member that we are working very closely with the municipalities. We are listening to the municipalities to find out what their issues are and how we can support them. Of course, we need the help of the provinces and territories.

In terms of the number of projects that we've approved, I would be happy to inform the hon. member of the exact number of all the approved projects that my department has been working very hard on over the past few months to approve projects to go forward.

[Luc Berthold, Conservative, Mégantic—L'Érable, QC]

Mr. Chair, do I have any time left?

[The Chair, Liberal, Anthony Rota]

No, your time is up.

We'll now go on to Mr. Fast.

[Ed Fast, Conservative, Abbotsford, BC]

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

This question is directed to the Minister of Foreign Affairs.

On March 28, the minister personally tweeted out a thank you to the People's Republic of China for donating PPE to Canada. This tweet happened within three hours of China's announcement of that gift. As it turned out, much of the PPE was defective and could not be used. More recently, Taiwan donated half a million surgical masks to Canada, yet here we are, two weeks later, and the minister has yet to personally thank Taiwan for its generosity.

Will the minister now thank this free and democratic country for its generous gift to Canadians?

[François-Philippe Champagne, Liberal, Minister of Foreign Affairs]

Mr. Chair, I'd like to thank my colleague for the question.

Indeed, we are very grateful to every nation for helping Canada. This is a global pandemic that knows no borders. We have been expressing our thanks to many nations that have contributed. We will continue to do so.

It is important in a time of pandemic, Mr. Chair, that we not play politics and that humanity comes together. I can say, after my COVID foreign ministers call, that the world community has come together to make sure that supply chains will remain intact and that we will have transit hubs and air bridges.

We will continue to work with every nation when it comes to health. This is a public good. We want to work together with everyone.

[The Chair, Liberal, Anthony Rota]

We will go back to Mr. Fast now.

[Ed Fast, Conservative, Abbotsford, BC]

Well, Mr. Chair, I didn't hear a “thank you” there, so I'm going to try again.

On May 4, the Government of Taiwan delivered 25,000 surgical masks to the Government of British Columbia. On hand were B.C. Minister of Citizens' Services Anne Kang and Minister of State for Child Care Katrina Chen, who, as ministers, officially thanked the Government of Taiwan for its donation.

Again, will the minister now do the right thing and, on behalf of Canadians, recognize the generosity of Taiwan and thank its government for that timely donation?

[François-Philippe Champagne, Liberal, Saint-Maurice—Champlain, QC]

Mr. Chair, as I said to you before, Canada is grateful to all who have given supplies to Canada. This is a common endeavour. We are thankful. We are grateful to every nation and we will continue to be.

As I said, when it comes to global health, when it comes to helping each other, I think it is a duty for all to come together. We are grateful and thankful for all those who have agreed to help Canada and Canadians from coast to coast to coast in times of need.

I've repeated that and have said many times in many forums that we are grateful and thankful to all of those who are helping Canada.