COVID-19 Pandemic Committee on May 19th, 2020

[The Chair, Liberal, Anthony Rota]

The honourable minister has the floor.

The Leader of the Government in the House of Commons has his microphone muted.

[Pablo Rodriguez, Liberal, Leader of the Government in the House of Commons]

Yes, Mr. Chair, I'm sorry—

[The Chair, Liberal, Anthony Rota]

Sorry to interrupt you.

I want to tell those who are asking the questions that we're extending the time so that they don't lose any time. They have five minutes.

The honourable Leader of the Government in the House of Commons has the floor.

[Pablo Rodriguez, Liberal, Honoré-Mercier, QC]

Mr. Chair, I want to thank the member for his question.

The mere fact that we're engaged in a discussion and asking and answering questions shows that we can do some things differently. We must strike a balance between the fundamental role played by parliamentarians and compliance with public health guidelines. We believe that this balance has been achieved—

[The Chair, Liberal, Anthony Rota]

Mr. Rayes, you have the floor.

[Alain Rayes, Conservative, Richmond—Arthabaska, QC]

I want to point out to the Leader of the Government in the House, the government and the Prime Minister that, at this time, lockdown measures are being eased everywhere. Businesses are opening, almost without exception.

What's stopping the House from sitting in accordance with public health guidelines?

[Pablo Rodriguez, Liberal, Honoré-Mercier, QC]

I hope that my colleague isn't suggesting that 338 members sit in the House and then return home.

We're looking to strike a balance. We sent a document to the various parties last week and we're waiting for their response.

Parliament must be able to play its role while complying with—

[The Chair, Liberal, Anthony Rota]

Mr. Rayes has the floor.

[Alain Rayes, Conservative, Richmond—Arthabaska, QC]

I want to tell the Leader of the Government in the House that he had better avoid demagoguery. I specifically stated in my question that a small group would sit in accordance with public health guidelines. This isn't about asking 338 members to return to the House.

My question is for the Minister of Finance.

We know that the CESB has just been sent out. The money sent to people is retroactive to May 10. Some students contacted us to say that, after three weeks, they had the opportunity to return to work full time. They're wondering whether they need to pay back the CESB.

[Carla Qualtrough, Liberal, Minister of Employment]

Mr. Chair, we have put a limit of $1,000 on what a student can earn, which is exactly the same as the CERB. Of course, we are encouraging students to work as much as they can. Hopefully that will allow them to work full time and not avail themselves of the CESB. The CESB is there as a backstop for students who can't work or earn more than $1,000 a month.

[Alain Rayes, Conservative, Richmond—Arthabaska, QC]

I'll simply repeat my question.

Take the example of a student who has been receiving the CESB for three weeks because they're unemployed. However, they manage to find full-time employment. Therefore, they'll earn over $1,000 this month.

Does the student need to pay back $1,250 or $312.50 for each week of unemployment?

[Carla Qualtrough, Liberal, Delta, BC]

Thank you for the clarification.

Every four weeks, students will have to attest to whether they will be earning more than $1,000 in the upcoming period. If they will be, they are not eligible for the CESB.

[The Chair, Liberal, Anthony Rota]

Mr. Rayes, you have only 20 seconds left. Will your question be 10 seconds?

[Alain Rayes, Conservative, Richmond—Arthabaska, QC]

Mr. Chair, the Conservatives required that students be matched with available jobs before they could receive financial assistance, as stated in the bill passed.

Why hasn't the matching program already been implemented?

[The Chair, Liberal, Anthony Rota]

Minister Qualtrough, please respond in 15 seconds or less.

[Carla Qualtrough, Liberal, Delta, BC]

We are doing just that through our job bank. Thank you.

[The Chair, Liberal, Anthony Rota]

Now we'll go to the next questioner.

Mr. Bezan.

[James Bezan, Conservative, Selkirk—Interlake—Eastman, MB]

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

It's indeed a pleasure to be with everyone today.

I, too, want to offer my condolences to the family, the friends and particularly the colleagues in the Royal Canadian Air Force of Captain Jenn Casey, who perished in the Snowbirds accident this weekend. I'd like to extend them to the entire Canadian Armed Forces family. I also want to wish a speedy recovery to Captain Richard MacDougall.

Over the last couple of days, some aviation experts have called for the permanent grounding of the vintage 1960s Snowbirds fleet of CT-114 Tutors. The Prime Minister did allude to the fact that the Snowbirds are going to be grounded during the investigation.

If the investigation proves that this was mechanical failure, will the government be looking at grounding the fleet permanently?

[Bill Blair, Liberal, Minister of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness]

I want to join the member in expressing our very sincere condolences regarding the air force officer who was lost and our very sincere wishes for a speedy recovery of the injured captain.

The safety of our women and men in uniform is our top priority, and a Royal Canadian Air Force flight safety team is currently in British Columbia investigating the accident. As the Prime Minister indicated, the Tutor fleet has been placed on an operational pause, and, of course, Operation Inspiration has been delayed indefinitely.

As the investigation is ongoing, I believe it's inappropriate to speculate or provide information at this time. However, we will be monitoring that investigation and its results and advice very carefully.

[James Bezan, Conservative, Selkirk—Interlake—Eastman, MB]

Under the previous Conservative government, we launched a process of replacing the Tutors, back in 2012. The Trudeau government actually stopped that in 2018.

Why did the government stop the replacement program for the Tutors for our Snowbirds?

[Bill Blair, Liberal, Scarborough Southwest, ON]

I will simply reiterate, Mr. Chair, that the safety of our men and women in uniform is a top priority. As there is an investigation ongoing, we have temporarily paused the use of the Tutor fleet. The investigation will provide us with information.

I am not going to speculate or provide any additional information at this time, but we will monitor very carefully the results of that investigation and act as required.

[James Bezan, Conservative, Selkirk—Interlake—Eastman, MB]

Minister Blair, I was just asking when we were going to actually get around to replacing this fleet and why you paused it in 2018 and plan to have the Snowbirds fly until 2030.

While we're talking about jets for the Royal Canadian Air Force, let's talk about the CF-18 replacement program, which has been delayed by the Liberals on numerous occasions. The most recent delays happened in February of this year and again earlier in this month of May, pushing the deadline now until July 31.

My questions to the government are about this last delay. Was it related to the COVID-19 circumstances? Was it requested by the competitors, or was it requested by the government because of the lack of departmental staff to actually process the bids?

[Bill Blair, Liberal, Scarborough Southwest, ON]

I want to assure the member opposite that the replacement of the air fleet is a top priority for the government. We are working diligently toward making the best determination on the best equipment for our members. That process will proceed, as has been indicated. We remain committed to ensuring that our people have the best tools and the safest tools they need to do their job of keeping Canadians safe.

[James Bezan, Conservative, Selkirk—Interlake—Eastman, MB]

That was a non-answer. It didn't shed any light at all on what we were talking about with the CF-18 replacement.

In my next couple of questions, I want to switch to force protection. The media is reporting that a number of Canadian Armed Forces members who are serving on the front line in long-term care facilities have contracted COVID-19. I would like to know the total number of infections now in the Canadian Armed Forces. How many of those are related to serving in long-term care facilities? What is the government doing to continue with force protection of those who are serving during this pandemic?

[Bill Blair, Liberal, Scarborough Southwest, ON]

In response to requests for assistance from the Quebec and Ontario governments, we have provided over 1,400 personnel to 25 long-term care facilities in Quebec and committed 275 members to five facilities in Ontario. As of May 15, five Canadian Armed Forces members supporting these facilities have tested positive for COVID-19. We are prepared to provide regular updates on a weekly basis.

All of the CAF personnel in these facilities are thoroughly trained and provided with appropriate personnel protection. I take this opportunity to thank them for their dedication and commitment.