COVID-19 Pandemic Committee on May 14th, 2020

[The Acting Chair, Conservative, Bruce Stanton]

The honourable Minister of Seniors.

[Deb Schulte, Liberal, King—Vaughan, ON]

I'd like to give a real example of where there have been changes to the program that have allowed seniors to connect. Where they were brought together physically in a facility a couple of times a week, now they are brought together virtually to do their exercise and to access important information. I've heard these seniors. I joined them one day on their Zoom session, and they have shared with me how incredibly life-saving this initiative has been.

[The Acting Chair, Conservative, Bruce Stanton]

All right. Now we move on to the honourable member for Provencher, Mr. Falk.

Mr. Falk, go ahead.

[Ted Falk, Conservative, Provencher, MB]

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

In my riding of Provencher, we have many small and medium-sized businesses and employees...to be able to function. However, I'm hearing many stories of Canadians who have been offered their old jobs back, but are choosing not to return to work because they are currently receiving more money from the Canada emergency response benefit than they would be from returning to work.

Why has the Prime Minister failed these small and medium-sized businesses again? What will he do to ensure that folks are always better off working than staying home?

[The Acting Chair, Conservative, Bruce Stanton]

Who is going to take this one?

[Ahmed Hussen, Liberal, Minister of Families]

Mr. Chair, I believe that Canadians, given the choice, will always choose to work. Canadians want to work. The Canada emergency response benefit was designed and was meant to help Canadians who are out of work, whose job disappeared or they were laid off because of the COVID-19 pandemic. We trust Canadians and we know that they want to work as a default.

[Ted Falk, Conservative, Provencher, MB]

Mr. Chair, that sounds nice, but in reality we know there are many folks who are taking advantage of this program. As provinces are starting to ease restrictions and businesses begin to reopen, they're counting on employees coming back to work, and they should be.

Some of these folks are very unclear, though.... If and when they do return to work, are these CERB benefits that they've been receiving going to be taxable, and at what rate? Can the minister tell Canadians how, when and at what rate the Canada emergency response benefits will be taxed?

[The Acting Chair, Conservative, Bruce Stanton]

The honourable Minister of Employment.

[Carla Qualtrough, Liberal, Minister of Employment]

Thank you very much, Mr. Chair.

The CERB isn't taxed at source. It will be dependent, of course, on the individual's overall income next year at tax season as to how it will be taxed. It's not a question I can answer with any specificity because it will be absolutely dependent on the individual's overall tax situation.

[Ted Falk, Conservative, Provencher, MB]

I want to thank the minister for being so clear.

Under the current criteria, small businesses must have a pre-existing business account to qualify for the Canada emergency business account benefit, but many sole proprietors simply use a personal chequing account and, thus they don't qualify. The Liberals have failed to consider these sole proprietors. Will the Prime Minister lift this restriction to ensure that these relief programs are accessible to all Canadian entrepreneurs?

[The Acting Chair, Conservative, Bruce Stanton]

The honourable Minister of Small Business.

[Mary Ng, Liberal, Markham—Thornhill, ON]

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

I want to assure sole proprietors and all businesses in the country, small businesses, how important you are and what you contribute to our Canadian economy. I just want to say that the work isn't done, and we continue to work on this so that we can provide support to your small businesses like the ones that are so important in the member's riding.

[Ted Falk, Conservative, Provencher, MB]

Statistics Canada designates a medium-sized business as one with between 100 and 499 employees. Small businesses can apply for the $40,000 Canada emergency business account loan and large businesses can apply for the multi-million dollar loans through the new, large employer emergency financing facility program, but what about medium-sized businesses? They don't seem to qualify for either one.

What is the Prime Minister going to do to provide cash flow assistance of this type to medium-sized businesses?

[Mary Ng, Liberal, Markham—Thornhill, ON]

I want to assure the member that there absolutely is lending support for those businesses he talks about. I would encourage those businesses to go to their bank or credit union, their financial institution. We are providing government-guaranteed loans that go all the way up to $12.5 million to those businesses of the size he talks about. Large or small, as well as medium-sized, businesses have this support.

[The Acting Chair, Conservative, Bruce Stanton]

Mr. Falk, we've got time for another short question and response. There are about 40 seconds left in total. Go ahead.

[Ted Falk, Conservative, Provencher, MB]

Businesses also must have a payroll of at least $20,000 to qualify for the Canada emergency business account, but newer, family-run businesses typically have no payroll because family members do all the work and are often paid simply by dividends. Moreover, these businesses tend to have less cash to cushion them when their expenses arise.

Will the government expand the eligibility of the Canada emergency business account to include these types of family-run businesses?

[Mary Ng, Liberal, Markham—Thornhill, ON]

Mr. Chair, the kind of business that my honourable colleague just mentioned is exactly the kind of family business that I spent many years working in, so I understand how important it is that they be supported during this difficult time. The work is not done. We will continue to make sure that we are supporting these businesses, and I hope to have more to say about that very soon.

[The Chair, Liberal, Anthony Rota]

The next question goes to Ms. Jansen.

Ms. Jansen.

[Tamara Jansen, Conservative, Cloverdale—Langley City, BC]

Thank you so much, Mr. Chair.

On May 4, dozens of my Conservative colleagues and I sent a letter to the Minister of Health. We were asking for an update on what she is doing to support negotiations with the pharmaceutical company Vertex to ensure that Canadians have access to Trikafta. This drug is the single biggest advancement in treating cystic fibrosis in history.

Has the Minister responded to our letter?

[The Chair, Liberal, Anthony Rota]

The honourable minister.

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

I know that many people have their eye on this drug, especially those from the cystic fibrosis community. We know this is a drug that shows great promise in treating cystic fibrosis. The challenge is that the manufacturer of Trikafta has not submitted an application to market this product in Canada.

[Tamara Jansen, Conservative, Cloverdale—Langley City, BC]

The question was: Has the Minister responded to our letter yet?

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

I am unaware of whether that response has gone out. I will check.

[Tamara Jansen, Conservative, Cloverdale—Langley City, BC]

Mr. Chair, as the Minister of Health is aware, this is especially urgent for cystic fibrosis patients, as their disease makes them particularly vulnerable to COVID-19. The healthier their lungs, the better they can resist this virus.

Can the minister inform the committee what she's doing to support the negotiations with Vertex to ensure that it is able to bring Trikafta to Canadians?

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

The challenge is that Vertex has not submitted an application, nor is it in negotiations with Canada to market this product. However, we do have the special access program that the member may be aware of. In fact, out of 98 patients who applied for special access to Trikafta, 95 were approved as of May 6.