COVID-19 Pandemic Committee on May 19th, 2020

[The Chair, Liberal, Anthony Rota]

Sorry, Mr. Barsalou-Duval. I'm on the English channel.

[Marc Garneau, Liberal, Notre-Dame-de-Grâce—Westmount, QC]

Mr. Chair, I have been—

[The Chair, Liberal, Anthony Rota]

One second, please....

Mr. Barsalou-Duval, can you use the French channel when you speak French?

[Xavier Barsalou-Duval, Bloc, Pierre-Boucher—Les Patriotes—Verchères, QC]

Okay.

[Marc Garneau, Liberal, Notre-Dame-de-Grâce—Westmount, QC]

Mr. Chair, I've been on the French channel since the beginning.

I didn't hear the last question.

[The Chair, Liberal, Anthony Rota]

We'll stop the clock. There's a technical issue.

Mr. Barsalou-Duval, could you repeat your last question, please?

[Xavier Barsalou-Duval, Bloc, Pierre-Boucher—Les Patriotes—Verchères, QC]

Over the weekend, Air Canada announced the layoff of 20,000 people. I was wondering whether the minister would at least ensure that the people whose flights were cancelled would receive a refund, since the Prime Minister said that he would be helping Air Canada.

[Marc Garneau, Liberal, Notre-Dame-de-Grâce—Westmount, QC]

As I said earlier, I understand the frustration of people who would have preferred a refund rather than a credit. The point is that our airlines are going through a very difficult time right now, since 95% of their revenue has disappeared.

[Xavier Barsalou-Duval, Bloc, Pierre-Boucher—Les Patriotes—Verchères, QC]

Air Canada stated that it laid off 20,000 people to preserve its cash flow, among other reasons. However, according to the March 31 financial statements, Air Canada has $6 billion in cash flow. Even if the company were losing $20 million a day, it would have enough money to meet its needs for almost a year. Of that $6 billion, $2.6 billion belongs to its customers. In many cases, these customers have lost their jobs and are far from being able to cover their expenses for a year.

Why did the Liberal government give an additional $800 million to the company without even requiring it to reimburse its customers?

[Marc Garneau, Liberal, Notre-Dame-de-Grâce—Westmount, QC]

Mr. Chair, we have introduced programs to help Canadian businesses such as the Canada emergency wage subsidy and the credit availability program for large businesses.

As everyone knows, airlines, including Air Canada, have lost 95% of their revenue, since people can't fly right now. Those companies have major expenditures nevertheless.

They all have fixed costs given their extensive assets, aircraft and other monthly expenses, and that's why they all need our help.

[Xavier Barsalou-Duval, Bloc, Pierre-Boucher—Les Patriotes—Verchères, QC]

Mr. Chair, I would like the Minister of Transport to explain why European and American airlines have to give people whose flights were cancelled refunds, but Canadian airlines don't.

[Marc Garneau, Liberal, Notre-Dame-de-Grâce—Westmount, QC]

Mr. Chair, I won't comment on measures other countries have taken.

What I will say is that Canada has a solid understanding of the health of its airlines. I also understand the frustration of those who would've preferred to receive refunds.

[Xavier Barsalou-Duval, Bloc, Pierre-Boucher—Les Patriotes—Verchères, QC]

Mr. Chair, the Civil Code of Québec and the Consumer Protection Act require airlines to refund customers for cancelled flights.

Why are the Canadian Transportation Agency and Canada's Minister of Transport encouraging airlines to break Quebec law?

[Marc Garneau, Liberal, Notre-Dame-de-Grâce—Westmount, QC]

Mr. Chair, the Canadian Transportation Agency is an independent body that makes its own decisions. It's a quasi-judicial tribunal, so I can't speak for it.

[Xavier Barsalou-Duval, Bloc, Pierre-Boucher—Les Patriotes—Verchères, QC]

The question was also for the Minister of Transport.

Why does the Minister of Transport think it's okay to confiscate people's money and not provide them with a service when it's against Quebec law?

[Marc Garneau, Liberal, Notre-Dame-de-Grâce—Westmount, QC]

Mr. Chair, I won't comment on the decision or opinion issued by the Canadian Transportation Agency.

[The Chair, Liberal, Anthony Rota]

Mr. Barsalou-Duval, you have 30 seconds left. That means 15 seconds to ask your question and 15 seconds to get an answer.

[Xavier Barsalou-Duval, Bloc, Pierre-Boucher—Les Patriotes—Verchères, QC]

Again, my question is for the Minister of Transport, not the Canadian Transportation Agency, although I would like to ask its officials the same question.

[Marc Garneau, Liberal, Notre-Dame-de-Grâce—Westmount, QC]

As Minister of Transport, my priority is the health of Canada's airlines because they are going to have to start operating again post-COVID-19.

[The Chair, Liberal, Anthony Rota]

We now continue with Mr. Serré.

[Marc Serré, Liberal, Nickel Belt, ON]

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Please note that I'll be sharing my time with the member for Cape Breton—Canso.

I'd like to take this opportunity to thank front-line workers in all essential sectors for their tireless work and tremendous dedication. Hats off to all the heroes!

I listened to voters about the need for better access to high-speed Internet and cellular networks in my riding of Nickel Belt and in northern Ontario. In an effort to find solutions, I met with local organizations, mayors, city councillors and high-speed Internet providers in the private sector. More than ever, the Internet is an essential tool, whether for front-line workers, businesses that deliver essential services, people working from home or students doing their schooling at home.

Can the Minister of Rural Economic Development describe our government's recent plan and tell us what was announced in the 2019 budget to ensure high-speed Internet and cellular service is available to all Canadians?

[Maryam Monsef, Liberal, Peterborough—Kawartha, ON]

Thanks to the leadership of members like my honourable friend from Nickel Belt, we developed a plan to bring reliable and affordable high-speed Internet to all Canadians, and the plan is working.

COVID-19 has added further urgency to our work. To Canadians in Nickel Belt and across rural communities, we have a plan to get you connected and we've got your back.

We're well on our way to connecting one million households to high-speed Internet, which was not part of the plan until we formed government in 2015. Our new program, the universal broadband fund, will connect hundreds of thousands more Canadians to high-speed Internet. We will be working with all willing partners to connect as many Canadians as possible to high-speed Internet as quickly as possible.

[The Chair, Liberal, Anthony Rota]

The next question goes to Mr. Kelloway.

[Mike Kelloway, Liberal, Cape Breton—Canso, NS]

Thank you, Mr. Chair. It gives me a great deal of pleasure to be able to ask a question to our government in such a historic manner.

After weeks of working with local industry representatives in the fishery and hearing their concerns, I was very proud to hear the Prime Minister and the Minister of Fisheries and Oceans announce nearly half a billion dollars to support the fishing sector. With the announcement of the new fish harvester benefit and the new fish harvester grant, many licence-holders will now be able to access similar supports to other small and medium-sized businesses across the country.

Further, by committing to making changes to employment insurance benefits for harvesters and sharespersons, we've helped reduce the stress that such uncertainty caused to the industry by this pandemic.

Mr. Chair, this announcement is very commendable; however, there is always more to be done. With that in mind, I would like to ask the honourable Minister of Fisheries and Oceans to outline for the House how these measures will support fish harvesters and sharespersons during this pandemic.

[Bernadette Jordan, Liberal, Minister of Fisheries]

Thank you, Mr. Chair, and I want to thank my colleague for Cape Breton—Canso for his many texts, phone calls and emails. He represents his area and the fishers in that area very well. A lot of what he fed to us and our department was able to form part of what we announced last week. I want to thank him for his advocacy.

In rural coastal communities, the fishery is sometimes the only thing we have for our economic driver. That is why it was so important for us to support our harvesters. Last week, we announced close to half a billion dollars going to the fish harvester benefit, which will allow harvesters and sharespersons to collect $847 a week for up to 12 weeks in this very difficult time. We also announced the fish harvester grant, which is a $10,000 grant to harvesters that will be able to help with their fixed costs. Making the change in the employment insurance is going to be a huge win for our fishers. They are going to be able to base their EI claims on last year's season, and that is going to be extremely helpful, because this year we're not really sure what's going to happen.

We will continue to work with our harvesters and industry partners to make sure that we're addressing their needs as we go forward. We know that these are very challenging times and we will make sure that we are there for our fishing sector.