COVID-19 Pandemic Committee on May 19th, 2020

[The Chair, Liberal, Anthony Rota]

We're now at noon. I'll call this meeting to order.

Welcome to the ninth meeting of the House of Commons Special Committee on the COVID-19 Pandemic.

I understand there is an agreement to observe a moment of silence in memory of Captain Jennifer Casey, a member of the Snowbirds team who died on Sunday in a crash in Kamloops.

[A moment of silence observed]

Today's meeting is taking place by video conference. Before speaking, please wait until I recognize you by name. When you're ready to speak, please activate your microphone. When you aren't speaking, leave your microphone on mute.

I would like to remind the honourable members that if you want to speak in English, you should be on the English channel, and if you want to speak in French, you should be on the French channel. Should you wish to alternate between the two languages, you should change the channel to the language that you are speaking each time you switch languages.

In addition, please direct your remarks through the chair and speak slowly and clearly all the time to help our interpreters.

Finally, we strongly recommend that you use the headsets. I noticed almost everyone has picked up a headset. It's very much appreciated, not only by your fellow members of Parliament but also by the interpreters.

I understand there are no ministerial announcements today.

We'll now go to presenting petitions for a period of not exceeding 15 minutes.

I would like to remind the members that any petition presented during a meeting of this special committee must have already been certified by the clerk of petitions.

Mr. Genuis.

[Garnett Genuis, Conservative, Sherwood Park—Fort Saskatchewan, AB]

Thank you very much, Mr. Chair.

I'm pleased to be presenting two petitions today. The first one deals with Bill C-7, a piece of government legislation that seems to remove many of the safeguards associated with the existing euthanasia regime. Petitioners are concerned about efforts to remove many of these safeguards. They note, in particular, the removal of the 10-day reflection period. They know that the reflection period can already be waived by physicians in certain situations, but this legislation proposes to eliminate that reflection period entirely.

The second petition deals with another piece of legislation, Bill S-204, a bill composed in the Senate which seeks to make it a criminal offence for someone to go abroad to receive an organ for which there was not consent. Petitioners are very supportive of this petition. It's noted as well that world health officials have actually praised China's organ transplant regime despite problems we know of dealing with organ harvesting and trafficking.

I commend these petitions for the consideration of members today.

[The Chair, Liberal, Anthony Rota]

Mr. Manly.

[Paul Manly, Green, Nanaimo—Ladysmith, BC]

Mr. Chair, I have a petition today sent in by members of my constituency of Nanaimo—Ladysmith.

It calls upon the House of Commons in Parliament assembled to commit to upholding the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples and the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada's Calls to Action by immediately putting a halt to all existing and planned construction of the Coastal GasLink project on Wet'suwet'en territory, ordering the RCMP to dismantle its exclusion zone and stand down, scheduling nation-to-nation talks between the Wet'suwet'en nation and the federal and provincial government—something that has already happened, and I'm sure that the petitioners would be pleased that the government has taken that action—and prioritizing the real implementation of the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.

[Tony Van Bynen, Liberal, Newmarket—Aurora, ON]

I have a point of order. I can't hear you, Mr. Chair.

[The Chair, Liberal, Anthony Rota]

Can you hear me now? Okay, very good. Technology is not perfect.

The next petition will be presented by Ms. May.

Ms. May.

[Elizabeth May, Green, Saanich—Gulf Islands, BC]

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

It's an honour to present a petition. It was certified by the clerk. Petition number 431-00198 relates to the ongoing opioid crisis. The petitioners call on the House to declare this a public health emergency and to take all the immediate steps that are necessary to address this crisis.

I note that the number of deaths from the opioid crisis in Canada far exceeds the number of deaths from COVID-19. The petitioners call on the government to declare this a public health emergency; to move expeditiously to assist moving towards protecting the people who are victims; to deal with this issue as a public health crisis, not as a criminal matter; and to work towards the decriminalization of drugs so that we can save lives in Canada that are at risk due to the opioid crisis.

[The Chair, Liberal, Anthony Rota]

We'll now proceed to the questioning of ministers.

Ms. Alleslev.

[Leona Alleslev, Conservative, Aurora—Oak Ridges—Richmond Hill, ON]

Thank you very much, Mr. Chair.

Over the weekend, we learned of a tragic accident during the CF Snowbirds' Operation Inspiration tour to salute Canadians for doing their part during this pandemic.

On behalf of the Conservative Party of Canada, I would like to extend our deepest condolences to the family and friends of Captain Jennifer Casey and to the entire military community on this profound loss. We also send our thoughts and strength for a full recovery to Captain Richard MacDougall who was seriously injured in the incident.

Could the Prime Minister provide an update on the incident investigation?

[The Chair, Liberal, Anthony Rota]

The right honourable Prime Minister.

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Chair, I thank the member opposite for her question and her words. It is with heavy heart that we grieve the loss of a member of the Snowbirds team who had been flying across the country to lift up Canadians during these challenging times. Our thoughts are with the families of Captain Jennifer Casey, Captain Richard MacDougall and the entire Canadian Forces Snowbirds team during this difficult time. Our thoughts, in particular, are mourning Captain Casey, who was another brave Nova Scotian lost during these very, very difficult times for that province.

We thank the emergency personnel in Kamloops who responded so quickly to this tragic incident. A flight safety team will investigate the incident, and until the investigation concludes, the CT-114 Tutor fleet will be on operational pause. Our hearts go out to everyone.

[Leona Alleslev, Conservative, Aurora—Oak Ridges—Richmond Hill, ON]

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

The Communications Security Establishment has warned that intellectual property that Canadian health organizations are developing associated with researching vaccines, treatments and tests for coronavirus are valuable targets for the Chinese Communist Party-backed hacking.

Has the Prime Minister or any member of cabinet been made aware of any cyber breaches?

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Papineau, QC]

Mr. Chair, as a government, we take extremely seriously the safety and security of Canadians and of our intellectual property. That's why the Communications Security Establishment continues to do extraordinary work in keeping Canada and Canadians safe. We receive regular updates from the CSE and from all our intelligence agencies on what we can do and what we continue to do to ensure that Canada is protected.

[Leona Alleslev, Conservative, Aurora—Oak Ridges—Richmond Hill, ON]

Mr. Chair, the Communications Security Establishment has indicated that there is a heightened risk and that increased measures are needed to protect Canadian national security interests at this time.

Could the Prime Minister let us know what additional measures the government is taking to heed these increased warnings and protect Canada?

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Papineau, QC]

We have, over the past years, increased the resources available to the CSE because we know how important it is to constantly remain vigilant in protecting Canadian networks, Canadian institutions and the safety and security of Canadians from cyber-intrusion and cyber-attacks. We continue to ensure that our national security agencies have the tools necessary to do what needs to be done.

[Leona Alleslev, Conservative, Aurora—Oak Ridges—Richmond Hill, ON]

Canada is a member of international organizations like the WHO. We expect to receive accurate and timely information that enables us to make decisions on the actions we need to take to keep Canadians safe. However, if the WHO doesn't validate and verify the information it shares with member states, it puts us all at risk.

Over the weekend, the international development minister said that it is not the WHO's responsibility to question the information provided by China in this pandemic. Right from day one, Canada has made bad decisions based on bad information from the WHO.

The crisis is not over. Is the government continuing to trust the information from the WHO without verifying it?

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Papineau, QC]

Mr. Chair, Canadians know well that this is a global crisis hitting locally in every country around the world, and we need strong global institutions to able to counter it. That is why we continue to support the work of the WHO. However, as we go through this, it is clear there will need to be improvements to the WHO and to the international institutions that serve us. Canada will be there, as we have been, to ask questions and demand answers.

[The Chair, Liberal, Anthony Rota]

Mr. Ste-Marie will ask the next question.

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

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

On April 11, the House passed a motion ordering the government to implement, over the short term, support measures for SMEs to cover their fixed costs.

What has the government done?

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Papineau, QC]

In terms of fixed costs, we acknowledge that the largest costs are associated with the payroll of many businesses. As a result, we've moved forward with the emergency wage subsidy. We've also implemented measures with regard to rent.

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

The payroll is indeed substantial, but these costs are variable.

I want to ask the Prime Minister my question again. What has the government done in terms of fixed costs and in keeping with the motion passed by the House?

The Prime Minister can answer my question in more time than it took me to ask the question.

[The Chair, Liberal, Anthony Rota]

Thank you for the clarification.

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Papineau, QC]

I want to thank the member, but I'll be brief.

We've implemented measures for commercial rent because we acknowledge that it constitutes a significant amount of money for many small businesses. We're working with the provinces to ensure that we support businesses in terms of fixed costs, including costs associated with commercial rent.

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

The Canada emergency commercial rent assistance isn't working. The Canadian Federation of Independent Business, or CFIB, is calling for a major overhaul of the program for small businesses. For example, the 70% drop in revenue criterion is excessive and will leave many SMEs on the sidelines.

The program excludes SMEs whose owners don't have mortgages. Chain stores are also excluded. When an SME is eligible for the program, it must depend on the co-operation of the building owner, which isn't automatic.

According to the Conseil québécois du commerce de détail, 40% of eligible business owners don't want to participate in the program.

Has the government assessed the program's effectiveness? How does it plan to make the program truly accessible?

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Papineau, QC]

Since the start, we've been setting up programs to provide timely assistance. As we identify flaws or weaknesses and we learn more about the impact, we've been making improvements to the programs. We're continuing to assess how the program is working, in order to strengthen and improve it.

The Liberal Party recognizes provincial jurisdictions. We know that we must work with the provinces when it comes to rent. The work will be done in partnership with Quebec and the other provinces.