Evidence of meeting #20 for Finance in the 43rd Parliament, 1st Session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was communities.

A recording is available from Parliament.

On the agenda

MPs speaking

Also speaking

Cécile Arbaud  Executive Director, Dans la rue
Véronique Laflamme  Spokesperson, Front d'action populaire en réaménagement urbain
Shayne Williams  Chief Executive Officer, Lookout Housing and Health Society
Paul Taylor  President and Chief Executive Officer, Head Office, Mortgage Professionals Canada
Elaine Taylor  Chair of the Board of Directors, Head Office, Mortgage Professionals Canada
Jim Bell  Chief Executive Officer, Siloam Mission
Dan Clement  President and Chief Executive Officer, United Way Centraide Canada
Maureen Fair  Executive Director, West Neighbourhood House
Mary Robinson  President, Canadian Federation of Agriculture
Barry Friesen  General Manager, Cleanfarms
Derek Nighbor  President and Chief Executive Officer, Forest Products Association of Canada
Lynn Napier  Mayor of Fort Smith, Northwest Territories Association of Communities
Martin Caron  First Vice-President, Union des producteurs agricoles
Jean-Maurice Matte  Mayor, Ville de Senneterre
Scott Ross  Assistant Executive Director, Canadian Federation of Agriculture

3:55 p.m.

Liberal

The Chair Liberal Wayne Easter

Maureen Fair will take it.

Go ahead, Maureen, and we'll have to wrap up with that.

3:55 p.m.

Executive Director, West Neighbourhood House

Maureen Fair

The partial answer is that I think it's one of the ways, but I'm really impressed with the City of Toronto's taking over hotels. This has afforded a bunch of homeless people the chance to have their own room, their own bathroom and to self-isolate with a TV. It's way safer and it's a really wonderful model.

Are we going to evict them at the end of the COVID pandemic? That's a future discussion.

3:55 p.m.

Liberal

The Chair Liberal Wayne Easter

I know we always run out of time. It has been a very challenging and interesting panel in terms of where we can go from here, with some good ideas coming out that we will all pass up the line through our various portfolios.

With that, I want to thank all the witnesses for appearing on this new way of doing things during these trying times.

Thank you all.

We will suspend for a few minutes and come back to start our next panel.

4:10 p.m.

Liberal

The Chair Liberal Wayne Easter

I'm not going to go through a lot of the formalities we have when we start a meeting. I will just call the meeting to order, to save time.

It is meeting number 20 of the House of Commons Standing Committee on Finance. We're operating under the order of reference of Tuesday, March 24, to look at the government's response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

I would ask the witnesses—

4:10 p.m.

Liberal

Michael McLeod Liberal Northwest Territories, NT

Mr. Chairman, I'm just checking to see whether the NWT Association of Communities has signed on.

4:10 p.m.

Liberal

The Chair Liberal Wayne Easter

Is the Northwest Territories Association of Communities on yet? Mayor Napier, I can see you but I can't hear you. We'll start with the other witnesses and come back to you later.

I would ask the witnesses to try to keep their presentations to about five minutes. We always run out of time, and there are six witnesses.

We're starting with the Canadian Federation of Agriculture.

Mary Robinson, go ahead.

4:10 p.m.

Mary Robinson President, Canadian Federation of Agriculture

Mr. Chairman and committee members, thank you for the opportunity to appear before you and speak to the difficult realities that farmers and food supply chains across Canada are facing due to the COVID-19 pandemic. These next days and weeks are essential if we are to ensure Canada's domestic food supply is secure both now and into the future.

My name is Mary Robinson and I farm on a sixth-generation family farm in P.E.I. I'm also president of the Canadian Federation of Agriculture. Today I'm joined by CFA's assistant executive director, Scott Ross.

The CFA is Canada's largest general farm organization, providing a unified national voice for the 200,000 farm families across Canada. Whether through travel restrictions, social distancing or closure of critical businesses, food systems around the world are being challenged by these new operating conditions. This global uncertainty highlights the importance of a well-functioning supply of affordable and nutritious Canadian food, a critical factor in good public health. This must be the leading priority behind the direct public health impacts of COVID-19.

Canadians have always been able to depend on farmers to grow food. Today, Canadian farmers need immediate help from our federal government to continue fulfilling that responsibility. Without it, Canadian consumers could see a decrease in the amount and variety of food at their local grocery stores, as well as higher prices in the months ahead. I applaud the collaborative efforts of all levels of government in mobilizing their resources to protect Canadians' health, demonstrating what can be accomplished in the face of urgent challenges when we work together.

There is no shortage of issues Canadian farms and supply chain partners are facing. Our first concern is the labour shortage impacting farms and food processing. We welcome many of the measures taken to date. However, continued logistical challenges will likely see many Canadian farmers still short on critical labour needs. This extends to processors and other key buyers of agricultural products, who continue to experience disruptions and reduced capacity.

The second concern is the increasing unexpected costs COVID-19 is placing on Canadian farmers. Supply chain disruptions, like plant closures in livestock, already see farmers having to hold on to livestock where they can or face immediate animal welfare challenges and the prospect of depopulation where they cannot. Regardless, this equates to additional expenses and reduced production. Meanwhile, shifts in the retail and food service landscape have seen markets evaporate overnight, leaving farmers with few options, if any. These challenges are eroding the confidence they need to invest in planting a crop and maintaining livestock herds, decisions that must be made now and directly affect the availability and affordability of foods later this year.

A domestic supply is the one source of food we truly can depend on. This year, more than ever in my lifetime, we will need Canadian farmers to produce food and set our country up to best weather this storm.

The CFA is calling for an emergency preparedness plan that gives farmers confidence to overcome these challenges, targeting investments in a number of key areas.

The first is a flexible and responsive emergency fund giving farmers and food businesses confidence that there will be expedient financial support to help them address unforeseen challenges.

The second is enhancement to Canada's BRM suite to address immediate financial constraints through AgriInvest and provide confidence that farmers will receive adequate support from AgriStability if they do see significant losses this year.

The third is prioritizing access to PPE, second only to health, to ensure all agri-food workers feel safe coming to work.

Finally, further measures are needed to encourage Canadians to work on farms and in Canada's food-processing plants.

Canadian farmers are resilient, hard-working people who take pride in the fact that every day they feed Canadians. If government invests now in mitigation and preparedness, it will ensure our food system is secure and our grocery stores continue to be well stocked with safe and affordable food, while preventing far more costly issues down the road and positioning the agri-food sector to help drive Canada's economic recovery and prevent long-term reductions in Canada's capacity to produce food.

I thank you all for your time and welcome any questions you may have.

4:15 p.m.

Liberal

The Chair Liberal Wayne Easter

Thank you.

We'll go to Cleanfarms, with Barry Friesen.

April 17th, 2020 / 4:15 p.m.

Barry Friesen General Manager, Cleanfarms

Thank you very much for the opportunity to address the members of the House of Commons finance committee.

My name is Barry Friesen and I'm the general manager of Cleanfarms. I've had the fortune of living in four provinces from coast to coast, from B.C. to Prince Edward Island to Nova Scotia, and now Ontario. My first job was on a farm, so I'm very proud to be talking about this.

I'll start by mentioning that I've worked in agriculture now permanently for 10 years. I've never been prouder to work in the industry and with farmers, and with people like Mary and Martin, who are in this for the long haul.

Cleanfarms is a Canadian non-profit steward organization created and funded by the Canadian crop protection industry, comprising agriculture manufacturers, retailers and growers. We work across the agricultural value chain to recover waste from Canadian farms: plastic packaging such as jugs, barrels and totes; large plastic grain storage bags and silage wrap; seed, pesticide and fertilizer bags; and twine. We are one of the many industries that support Canadian farmers. Our work also contributes to a growing circular economy for plastics and helps maintain the health and well-being of the rural environment.

I've been asked to speak about how Cleanfarms is managing operations within the challenges of the government's response to the COVID-19 restrictions. For context, the ag and agri-food industry contributes over $100 billion annually to Canada's GDP. At the same time, it promotes food security here and worldwide and employs 2.3 million people. Managing issues beyond industry's control, whether in weather or politics, is the norm, but as you've already heard, COVID is pushing way past business as usual and many farmers are being forced to make unthinkable decisions.

Over many years, ag has proven itself as a leader in innovation, and growers place huge investments in their businesses. At the same time, this industry is focused on sustainability and protecting land, air and water, because if it isn't, Canadian ag won't exist. This is a lifelong commitment, and it's where plastics and Cleanfarms come in.

Plastics are vital tools for farmers. From plastic packaging crates to plastic jugs and totes to plastic film wraps that safeguard crops after harvest, plastics protect Canadian agriculture. Cleanfarms helps farmers recycle this packaging and promotes a circular economy in ag. Effective packaging is especially valuable when the supply chain is under pressure, as with the recent rail disruptions and now with COVID.

For example, while we're discussing the impact of COVID today, thousands of tonnes of grains worth millions of dollars remain securely stored on farmers' fields in grain bags. Grain bags are those long plastic tubes you see across the Prairies. For some growers, grain bags can be the difference between survival and disaster, and when they can't be used anymore, Cleanfarms collects them for recycling back into new products. This is just one example of the sustainable systems that are in place now to mitigate disruptions and promote food security during and after COVID.

Right now ag retailers across the country are working to make sure farmers have what they need to begin planting. In these challenging times, this may mean delivering products like crop inputs to farms ahead of schedule to avoid the impacts of transportation disruption. This is possible because these materials, pesticides and fertilizers are safely stored in plastic packaging.

We need to think of the recycling phase as well, where COVID is also having an impact. We're working closely with staff at over 1,600 collection sites across Canada, helping them put in place physical distancing precautions that are so important to ensuring growers can safely return their empty containers for recycling. COVID is adding cost and new pressures to these operations.

At the same time, domestic and international recycling supply chains are slowing down and entering crisis mode. Recycling plants were facing pressure before COVID and are closing for the health and safety of their workers, creating stockpiles of plastics that can't currently be recycled into the economy and turned into new products. There's a huge investment in this industry, and we don't want to turn the clock back to 2008, when investments were lost and we had to rebuild essentially from the ground up.

Despite COVID-19, Cleanfarms teams are still at work with our ag partners trying to figure out how to recover more plastics and other materials so they remain a valuable part of our economy. We need to support the ag supply chain so we can manage these plastics to protect the environment. To do this, we need to support the industries that enable Canada to be self-sufficient, competitive and sustainable. We must protect jobs and the environment, reduce food waste and promote food security. Our partners are doing all of this in the face of COVID, and we will do our part, recycling the plastic products and packaging that are so vital to ag productivity.

In closing, I'd like to thank the government for the support that is being directed to agriculture communities to enable them to continue with the essential work they do, and I'd like to thank the committee for the opportunity to share these additional concerns and comments with you today.

4:20 p.m.

Liberal

The Chair Liberal Wayne Easter

Thank you very much, Barry.

We'll turn to Mr. Derek Nighbor from Forest Products Association of Canada.

4:20 p.m.

Derek Nighbor President and Chief Executive Officer, Forest Products Association of Canada

Thank you for the opportunity to share perspectives from Canada's forest sector and its workers.

FPAC represents Canada's wood, pulp, paper and wood bio-products manufacturers. We're a $73-billion annual industry, directly employing some 230,000 Canadians across over 600 communities.

FPAC is grateful for the Government of Canada's and provincial governments' recognition of the essential nature of our sector, our products, our supply chain and our workforce.

Rarely have Canada's forest products been of such high profile. From a 241% increase in the demand for toilet paper to the need for sanitary wipes and paper towels and pulp that goes into protective masks and hospital gowns, wood pellets, biofuels to green energy that feeds heating systems in provincial power grids, we've embraced our role as an essential provider. Our workers and partners along the supply chain have been incredible. Mary talked a bit about that. We can't say thank you enough to our mill workers, our further manufacturers, truck drivers, railroaders, retailers...I could go on.

Given the moments of protectionism we've seen in recent weeks, I'm also proud that we have this sustainable and valuable natural resource right here at home so we can provide for Canadians.

Despite the current headwinds, I must say that our sector is quite optimistic about the future, but there's no doubt that the next two to three quarters are going to be brutal.

That said, we are looking to 2021 and beyond, and we view our sector as having an opportunity to be one of the bright lights in Canada's economic recovery, especially in our rural and northern communities. Wood products are increasingly becoming the building material of choice. They come from a renewable source and from among the best-managed forests in the world. Our wood waste isn't wood waste at all. Wood chips from our sawmills are being turned into everything from toilet paper to bioplastics. Paper towels are being turned into biofuels. It's our contribution to a more circular and lower-carbon economy.

Our industry is not looking for a bailout. What we're looking for is bolstered cash flow supports to keep our businesses operating through these difficult next two to three quarters. Remember, we're an industry that hit our low point in the market in 2018, and 2019 was difficult. About $3.6 billion of Canadian industry softwood lumber duties are sitting in a U.S. bank account now, and we can't wait to get that.

Across the country, over the next 36 months, we have hundreds of millions of dollars in shovel-ready projects, ready to go, that will further improve environmental performance, drive economic growth, and sustain jobs in northern and rural communities, where there are often few options, or in some cases where we're the biggest game in town.

The rest of 2020 is going to be about survival.

Thus far, well-intended federal programs like the wage subsidy program are leaving a large majority of players in our sector and our workers behind, and the effectiveness and speed at which we need liquidity supports remains a big question mark.

This is what we're facing. Lumber markets have collapsed, with a nearly 40% decline in prices in recent weeks, leading to the temporary closures of dozens of sawmills. At last count, we were at 39 sawmill closures across the country, and this has put thousands out of work.

As well, some of those essential products that I talked about earlier are made possible because of Canada's pulp mills, but with sawmills going down, our pulp mills are starting to suffer. They can't get the chips they need to make their in-demand products, so some of them are starting to announce downtime as well.

In addition, with offices closed, stores closed, advertising revenues down and schools out, our newsprint and paper markets are collapsing around us as well.

Despite falling markets, with increased supports there is an opportunity to keep more of our mills operating and more of our people working. Right now, most sawmills in Canada have come out of their winter harvests and our log yards are pretty full, so it would be great to process more of our log inventories. This is where an improved wage subsidy program would be of interest.

We're a highly integrated sector. Our sawmills are our industry's heartbeat. We need to find a way now to keep our sawmills operating so chips can continue to feed our pulp and paper mills. If we don't have chips flowing, our industry's biggest artery is cut off, and thousands more will be out of work.

Here are a couple of proposed fixes on the wage subsidy side.

Many of our companies have multiple segments and mills, and they just don't meet the criterion of a business with a 30% revenue decline. If there were a measure to consider a mill-by-mill approach or a more segmented approach, thousands more people could continue to work.

We're also a proponent of a sliding-scale approach. We found the 75% threshold to be very generous and of great interest, but we'd be equally interested for our companies facing a 10% or 15% decline to maybe qualify for a 40% or 50% subsidy. That creativity would be a big help to us as well.

Wage subsidies aren't a magic bullet. Our biggest issue—and I think it's similar for our friends in agriculture—is about liquidity: managing increased operating costs, working through falling prices and markets, and making our credit payments. We've just not seen the evidence yet that the BCAP out of EDC is going to deliver what we need.

We need supports now that move with speed and ease in the face of markets that are falling off a cliff, measures that are not going to force companies to provide more security. Many just don't have the flexibility to do that. We need measures that are responsive to the reality of the crisis, and we need our lenders to be prepared to take more risks than our main street banks.

We have a few other ideas. I'll defer those, maybe, to the Q and A portion. I have a couple of suggestions around worker supports that we're working on with our friends at USW and Unifor. I'll defer those to the Q and A as well.

I look forward to your questions. Thank you.

4:25 p.m.

Liberal

The Chair Liberal Wayne Easter

Thank you, Derek.

Now we will turn to Mayor Napier from the Northwest Territories Association of Communities.

4:25 p.m.

Lynn Napier Mayor of Fort Smith, Northwest Territories Association of Communities

Thank you so much for the opportunity to present to all of you regarding the government's response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

I'm Lynn Napier, the mayor of Fort Smith and president of the Northwest Territories Association of Communities. We proudly represent 33 communities of the Northwest Territories that vary in size from 52 to 21,000. Our members are both indigenous communities and traditional municipalities, but all are northern and remote to varying degrees.

We have been fortunate enough to present to this committee in the past and have highlighted our four main federal priorities as infrastructure, climate change, housing and broadband. The current pandemic has really highlighted the importance of these priorities and how much they impact on the resilience of northern communities.

We've been very pleased to hear of the programs announced to date to mitigate the economic impacts on both individuals and businesses. Further, the more recently announced health and social services support for northern communities was very welcome. When our territorial government, residents and businesses are doing better economically, so are our communities. Despite the support program's name, little or none is actually going to local communities. We are, however, going to need additional programs to support local governments.

As you know, local governments are relied upon to keep essential services running. We have 33 communities that deliver water, sewer and landfill services; provide fire protection, planning and building services, as well as transit and recreation services; and protect our most vulnerable populations.

We're working tirelessly to ensure that we maintain these services, but we are also very concerned. COVID-19 has led to not only many additional tasks for communities; it is also compromising their ability to raise revenues, whether they are taxes or user fees. This poses a particular challenge because of the small size of our communities, especially when they cannot legally carry a deficit budget. We're going to require particular support from the territorial and federal governments.

I would like to highlight some unique areas of challenge in the north that make us particularly vulnerable to the virus and to its impacts.

We have a large cohort of vulnerable populations, including those on income support, the homeless and those with mental health and addiction challenges. Well in excess of 50% of our housing is overcrowded and insufficient.

The last month of self-isolation has really highlighted the inadequate broadband connectivity in our communities and proven a barrier to education, working from home, telehealth and participation in the digital economy on an unprecedented level.

The lack of proximity to health care services as a result of our communities' remoteness is making community leadership very anxious. This is further compounded by the fact that we are over 50% indigenous, which is a particular risk factor with respect to COVID-19.

We are already seeing significant impacts on our two main industries: the mining and oil and gas industry, and tourism. Last but not least, our existing supply chain issues are only likely to become worse.

Our communities will require support for the immediate response to COVID-19. The funding should be provided as quickly as possible. Community governments are already experiencing significant impacts. To get this funding out the door as quickly as possible, it should be allocated-based and distributed on a base-plus basis.

Direct municipal financial impacts will also need to be addressed as well, whether they relate to reduction in tax revenues, user fees or additional costs. We hear estimates that one in four businesses may not survive the pandemic. That would mean a significant loss of tax revenue. Closed recreational facilities cannot generate user fees. Without these financial supports, communities will be forced to reduce services even more, or those that can will have to raise taxes at a time of economic instability. With northerners already subject to a very high cost of living even before COVID-19, this will have a significant impact and may put some residents into insolvency or force them to leave.

With respect to planning for the critical economic stimulus recovery phase, I am pleased to let you know that local governments are agile enough to be important partners. We commissioned a report by The Conference Board of Canada's centre for the north, which clearly demonstrated that community governments' expenditures have the largest impact on the NWT economy. For example, local government expenditures generate 13 jobs per $1 million expended, while territorial and federal projects generate seven and six jobs per $1 million respectively. Local governments are absolutely the best bang for the buck.

The expansion of the gas tax fund with a continued allocation-based distribution across Canada on a base-plus basis is the best way to get stimulus dollars to our communities.

Also, although housing funding is not funded to communities, it is incumbent upon us to highlight the critical importance of increasing the funding for housing in the Northwest Territories. This not only will serve as an economic stimulus, but will also address many of the social determinants of health in the communities and, in the long run, make communities more resilient.

We would be very pleased to provide advice on how best to design the various funding programs for the greatest effectiveness in the north. We're best positioned to help various programs navigate the challenges in the north. We ask that you not wait to contact us until there's little or no uptake on a program. We do it so much that we even have a brochure on it.

We wish to thank you for the invitation to present to you this afternoon. We hope that you continue to consult with us, with the Government of the Northwest Territories, our sister organizations across Canada and the Federation of Canadian Municipalities.

Thank you.

4:35 p.m.

Liberal

The Chair Liberal Wayne Easter

Thank you very much, Madam Mayor.

I'll turn to UPA and Mr. Caron.

4:35 p.m.

Martin Caron First Vice-President, Union des producteurs agricoles

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Ladies and gentlemen of the committee, thank you for inviting the Union des producteurs agricoles to comment on the COVID‑19 pandemic and the agricultural challenges it has created, specifically in rural and remote communities.

Agriculture is the main economic activity in rural areas. Together with the agri-food sector, agriculture contributes more than $112 billion to Canada's economy every year and is responsible for one in eight jobs. Agricultural production alone generates annual revenues of more than $60 billion. What's more, Canadian farmers invest nearly $8 billion in their businesses every year.

Hundreds of communities all over the country depend on agriculture to promote land use, sustain local services and support the operation of schools and other public services. Without agriculture, Canada would be uninhabitable.

Canadian farmers now have to compete with countries whose social, environmental and health standards are significantly lower than ours. We also have to compete with farmers who receive greater government assistance than we do, in the United States, in particular, and it's becoming harder and harder for us to remain competitive in that context.

The COVID‑19 pandemic is a major crisis on an unprecedented scale, and the agricultural sector is not unscathed. Plant and animal production have been hit hard. The market upheaval has forced each and every farmer to take on enormous risks just to keep production going. We are pressing ahead into the unknown.

AgriStability, AgriInvest and AgriRecovery, the government's risk management programs for farming businesses, are not designed for a situation like this. We need to know now whether the government is going to be there, as we take huge financial risks to keep production going.

The Canadian Federation of Agriculture, or CFA, made a series of recommendations, which Ms. Robinson talked about earlier. The CFA is calling on the government to create an emergency fund for the agri-food sector and to restore the AgriStability program to 2013 levels prior to the funding cuts. The CFA is also recommending an enhancement of the AgriInvest program in 2020. The Canadian government has to make it clear to farmers that it will be there if the situation gets even worse in the coming months.

To support the future of rural communities, land use and food chain continuity, the Canadian government has to restore business risk management program funding to what it was before the 2013 budget cuts. The COVID‑19 pandemic is shining a light on an urgent problem in the agri-food sector, which is the result of years of withdrawal by the federal government.

In times of crisis, Canada's food security hinges on the ability of the country's farmers to feed the population. The prevailing health crisis is putting a strain on farmers around the world. It's tough to predict where inventory levels and food prices will be in the months ahead. Which vegetables will we be able to import, and how much will they cost?

Not sending a clear message to Canada's agri-food sector now is akin to putting the population at great risk.

4:35 p.m.

Liberal

The Chair Liberal Wayne Easter

Thanks very much, Mr. Caron.

Before I forget, Mary, the CFA likely sent your emergency proposal to the minister. If you could also send that proposal through the clerk of the finance committee, we'll distribute it to our members also. It would be a document we could use.

We will turn now to the Ville de Senneterre and Mayor Matte.

4:40 p.m.

Jean-Maurice Matte Mayor, Ville de Senneterre

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Good afternoon everyone, and thank you for the opportunity to address the committee on behalf of Quebec's municipalities.

To start, I'd like to point out that I had trouble getting connected for the meeting. In a pandemic, when everyone is in isolation, the importance of a strong Internet network in every region and municipality across the country becomes very apparent.

Senneterre is located in northeastern Quebec, in the Abitibi‑Témiscamingue region. With a population of 1,300, it spans a vast area of 16,512 km², making it one of Canada's biggest municipalities. Forestry is the main economic activity. As a central town, it's a major urban hub in rural Quebec. Offering government, business and industry-related services, the municipality serves a number of small surrounding communities, or buttress communities, as we call them.

The town is also located in a major indigenous region, where 8% of the population is indigenous. The region is home to three indigenous communities: Cree, Atikamekw and Algonquin. With the current crisis, everyone seems to have forgotten the crisis we were dealing with in January and February, the rail crisis stemming from unresolved indigenous issues. We must not close our minds to that reality.

The Abitibi‑Témiscamingue region depends on mining, forestry, agriculture and tourism. As you can imagine, these four economic drivers have been hit hard by the current situation. The crisis's impact on Quebec's municipal community and on small communities has been severe, especially for remote rural communities, which very often revolve around a single industry. In our municipality, it's forestry, so we feel it's important that any economic recovery plans include opening the border to support forestry. Our plants are still operating today because we need chips, but tomorrow, we'll need to ship lumber to various markets, especially the U.S., which buys the bulk of what we produce. The border must be opened without restriction to the lumber trade.

Senneterre is home to 21 outfitters, most of which serve European and American customers. I can tell you that we don't expect any Americans to come up for bear hunting or fishing this year. Outfitters will probably have a tougher time. Clearly, we need to support our tourism industry with significant and targeted assistance, especially for outfitters.

As far as the role of municipalities is concerned, thus far, their primary focus has been emergency management and they've taken steps to provide some relief for property tax payments. When it comes to supporting individuals and businesses, municipalities will be there to help them get back on their feet. Nevertheless, much is expected of the higher levels of government, namely, provincial and federal authorities. That means there are certain expectations as regards support for individuals and businesses, expectations that the programs put in place have in part satisfied.

The Union des municipalités du Québec is currently working on a municipal economic recovery plan, which it will submit to the provincial government. Some of the measures will also be submitted to the federal government, including the municipal water infrastructure fund, or FIMEAU in French for short. Roughly 50 of the projects that the provincial government has approved are being looked at by federal public servants. In many cases, it's just a matter of rubber-stamping the proposals. It's important that these projects get under way quickly or at least that they be ready to go for the recovery phase.

The gas tax fund is another priority for the Union des municipalités du Québec. Not only does the fund need to be enhanced, but it also needs to be adjusted for broader use. It should allow for community-level projects, not just major infrastructure projects such as water and sewer work. It's also necessary to repair municipal garages and fire stations. The fund needs to be adjusted and enhanced.

Furthermore, we need to put our young people to work. In April, it's no longer realistic to stick to the work placement and summer job programs put forth in January. We need to allow for a broader use of youth summer job funding. In Quebec City, a major shift towards a decentralized public service is happening, something the federal government should seriously consider.

Small is beautiful.

The government should consider delivering local and economic development services in Quebec's regions. Doing that would put more people to work in offices and require more employment services in Quebec's regions. The government needs to explore ways to decentralize the public service to bring it closer to the people it serves.

I had a few other points to make, but I'll probably get a chance to come back to them during the question and answer period. I think my five minutes are already up.

4:45 p.m.

Liberal

The Chair Liberal Wayne Easter

Thank you very much, Mr. Mayor.

I'll give the order of questions. I think we can go to regular rounds of six minutes.

Mr. Généreux will be up first, then Mr. McLeod, Mr. Ste-Marie and Mr. Julian.

Mr. Généreux, we'll go with a six-minute round. Go ahead.

4:45 p.m.

Conservative

Bernard Généreux Conservative Montmagny—L'Islet—Kamouraska—Rivière-du-Loup, QC

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you as well to all the witnesses.

Thank you very much, everyone, for being there.

I'm going to go right to Jean-Maurice.

Thank you for being here. Your comments were very informative. Has the Union des municipalités du Québec, or UMQ, estimated the potential tax losses? Will the UMQ ask the federal government outright for compensation for the losses?

4:45 p.m.

Mayor, Ville de Senneterre

Jean-Maurice Matte

The UMQ updates its information daily with the reports that come in from the municipalities. Today, from one caucus to another, we're doing the rounds, consulting urban centres, local municipalities, regional towns and big cities. In the next few days, we should have a clear picture of the impact COVID‑19 is having on municipal taxes. That said, it won't be until next year that we can truly measure the full impact of the crisis at the municipal level.

4:45 p.m.

Conservative

Bernard Généreux Conservative Montmagny—L'Islet—Kamouraska—Rivière-du-Loup, QC

Do you expect a significant number of businesses to close in your region?

4:45 p.m.

Mayor, Ville de Senneterre

Jean-Maurice Matte

We anticipate potential closures in the service sector. The economic development authorities are in the process of assessing that. We're in the midst of the crisis, so everyone is trying to get their own sense of the situation right now. The mining sector is going to start up again, the forestry sector is in a downturn, and things will be very tough for the agricultural sector. In terms of the tourism sector, it won't be on people's minds this year.

4:45 p.m.

Conservative

Bernard Généreux Conservative Montmagny—L'Islet—Kamouraska—Rivière-du-Loup, QC

Very well. Thank you.

Now I'm going to turn to farming. This is for Mr. Caron and Ms. Bouffard.

I'm from Montmagny—L'Islet—Kamouraska—Rivière‑du‑Loup, and as you probably know, it's very much a farming region. It's home to many small farms as well as very big farms, some of which are among the largest in Quebec, in fact.

A lot of people have talked to me about the $40,000 in assistance available to businesses in Quebec. Many small farms aren't eligible because they are set up as partnerships, or sociétés en nom collectif, as they are known in Quebec.

Do you have a specific request for the government on that front?

4:45 p.m.

First Vice-President, Union des producteurs agricoles

Martin Caron

That's a good question, Mr. Généreux.

We just sent a letter to the federal government asking it to make some adjustments, given that a number of farm businesses don't meet the program criteria you just mentioned. Fixing that as soon as possible would make a real difference because farms need quick access to liquidity.

4:50 p.m.

Conservative

Bernard Généreux Conservative Montmagny—L'Islet—Kamouraska—Rivière-du-Loup, QC

That's what I hear a lot. For about two weeks now, farmers have had to dump milk. I raised the issue in the House of Commons on the weekend, but the minister wasn't there.

I know your office and the minister's have been in contact about the dumping of milk. Do you see a solution for the short term?

We are also hearing from consumers that they're only allowed to buy so much milk at the grocery store, so there is a major dichotomy. On the one hand, farmers are discarding millions of litres of milk produced in Quebec, and on the other, consumers are being told they can't buy as much as they would like.

What do you have to say about that?