Finance Committee on April 16th, 2020

[The Chair, Liberal, Wayne Easter]

Thank you, Minister. I know you have to go. We've held you a little over time, but thank you for coming later today. We appreciate that very much.

We do appreciate all the work you're doing and all that the officials are doing. There's great feed-in from the caucuses of all parties. I've even said, “My god, the centre is listening more now, when we're in our ridings, than when we're in Ottawa.” That's a good thing.

[Bill Morneau, Liberal, Toronto Centre, ON]

Can I just take a moment?

[The Chair, Liberal, Wayne Easter]

Yes.

[Bill Morneau, Liberal, Toronto Centre, ON]

We know that we're doing this virtually. We know that it's different. I want to say that this sort of accountability, we think, is very important.

It's very important for our democracy that we can meet virtually.

I'm going to continue to want to make sure that we give you information from the Department of Finance, that we find a way to be as accountable as we can be, given that we're in a challenging situation. We recognize that's important.

I know there are a lot of people working behind the scenes, translators and people doing the technology. I want to thank all of them too, because they are doing essential work and we know that they couldn't be at home.

Thanks, everyone, for making this happen today. We're looking forward to keeping you up to date. I know that my officials, who have been working very hard, are available now as well, as are officials from CRA and other places. I'm sure they'll be able to answer your questions.

Thanks very much.

[The Chair, Liberal, Wayne Easter]

Thank you very much, Minister. Good luck wherever you head from here.

Colleagues, the list will be this. We'll turn to officials now. We'll go to five minutes.

Elizabeth May, if you want in for a question at some point, raise your hand. I don't see you now, but you can raise your hand.

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

I'm not going to ask for a question in this round, Mr. Chair. I'm saying goodbye to my friends.

Thank you very much.

[The Chair, Liberal, Wayne Easter]

Thank you very much, Elizabeth.

Members, I'll give you the full list so everybody knows where they are.

We'll be starting with Mr. Cooper, and then it will be Ms. Dzerowicz, Mr. Ste-Marie, Mr. Julian, Mr. Cumming, Mr. Fragiskatos, Mr. Morantz, Mr. Poilievre and Mr. McLeod.

If anybody else wants in, send me a note at my P9 if I missed anybody.

You're on, Mr. Cooper, for five minutes.

[Michael Cooper, Conservative, St. Albert—Edmonton, AB]

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you to the officials for making themselves available today. I want to direct my questions to the finance officials.

My question relates to the wage subsidy and, in particular, when the portal will be up and running. It was on April 1 that the Minister of Finance provided details of the new enhanced wage subsidy. It was at that time that a timeline of three to six weeks was provided. Two weeks ago, the minister appeared before this committee, and he indicated, or at least officials indicated, that they were optimistic it would be closer to three weeks rather than six weeks that the portal would be up and running. By this time next week, it will be more than three weeks, so I want to ask the officials whether small businesses can look forward, at this time next week, to being able to apply through the portal.

[Andrew Marsland, Senior Assistant Deputy Minister, Tax Policy Branch, Department of Finance]

Mr. Chair, perhaps I could ask my colleague Frank Vermaeten from the CRA to answer that question. They've been working very hard to stand up this system.

[The Chair, Liberal, Wayne Easter]

Frank, you're on.

[Frank Vermaeten, Assistant Commissioner, Assessment, Benefit and Service Branch, Canada Revenue Agency]

We definitely have been working very hard to stand up the portal. It is a significant undertaking. It's much more complex than the CERB, for example, but we are making excellent progress. Our plan is to open the portal on April 27, if everything goes according to plan, and so far everything has.

So we'll open that on April 27. Then, about during the week of May 4, we'll be in a position to process and release payment for most of those applications, the ones that don't need additional review. Later on that week, some of those payments will start going out for those on direct deposit.

That's our plan. We're certainly happy to keep you posted on that.

[Michael Cooper, Conservative, St. Albert—Edmonton, AB]

Just to clarify the timeline, on April 27 the portal will be up and running. If one were to apply on April 27, could they count on the money being deposited by May 4?

[Frank Vermaeten]

It would be a little later than that. By May 4, we should be able to process those applications that don't need additional review. We're hoping that is around 90% of them. Then they get sent to PSPC. It takes a couple of days to issue those payments with respect to direct deposit, but certainly our plan would be that during that week, that money would be available.

[Michael Cooper, Conservative, St. Albert—Edmonton, AB]

Again, just to clarify the timeline, on April 27 the portal is opened, and one applies. On May 4 the application is processed, and then money is deposited. Is the process timeline about a week between the application, processing, and then delivery?

[Frank Vermaeten]

For the first application, it will be about a week. For subsequent applications, it will be more like a couple of days.

[Michael Cooper, Conservative, St. Albert—Edmonton, AB]

Thank you for that.

This question has been asked, but there hasn't been an answer provided. I'm hopeful that perhaps one of the finance officials will be able to shed some light, because it is an issue of importance in my riding and throughout the provinces of Alberta and Saskatchewan. It's with respect to our energy sector. The minister stated on March 25 that relief would come in a matter of days or weeks. We're now almost a month since that statement.

Can any officials shed light on when relief can be anticipated to be delivered?

[The Chair, Liberal, Wayne Easter]

Who wants to try that one, folks?

[Evelyn Dancey, Associate Assistant Deputy Minister, Economic Development and Corporate Finance Branch, Department of Finance]

I'll take that question.

[The Chair, Liberal, Wayne Easter]

Go ahead.

[Evelyn Dancey]

As both the Prime Minister and the Minister of Finance have said, and you rightly quote, the government is very much aware of the extremely challenging circumstances in Canada's energy sector from the double whammy of the OPEC+ supply glut and the demand depression resulting from the physical distancing requirements of COVID-19. This is something that I and my team are working on, so I'm happy to say what I can about it.

We've been working really hard at understanding the situation and giving thought to options that will make a difference and that will meet the needs of a range of companies in the sector in different regions of Canada. I'm not able to [Technical difficulty—Editor] right now, as the government will need to move forward with [Technical difficulty—Editor], but I assure you—

[Michael Cooper, Conservative, St. Albert—Edmonton, AB]

I appreciate that, and I don't want to cut you off, but my question was with respect to the timeline. The minister was initially pretty specific about weeks, even days, and it's now almost a month.

You may not have an answer. If you don't have an answer, maybe that is the answer. Again, I would like to know, and my constituents would like to know, what the timeline is, because the clock is ticking and people out here are hurting.

[The Chair, Liberal, Wayne Easter]

I think, Michael, it would be the minister's decision to make that point.

Evelyn, I'll let you finish your comment. Then we'll go to Ms. Dzerowicz.

You've made your point, Michael. I think it's been heard loud and clear.

[Michael Cooper, Conservative, St. Albert—Edmonton, AB]

Yes.

[Evelyn Dancey]

I just want to say that it continues to be the case that this is a pressing and recognized challenge. I know it's not what you would like to hear, but it really is a “stay tuned”. We're very near.

[The Chair, Liberal, Wayne Easter]

Thank you, both.

Thank you for making the point, Michael.

We'll turn to Ms. Dzerowicz, and then Mr. Ste-Marie.