Finance Committee on April 1st, 2021

[The Chair, Liberal, Wayne Easter]

I'm sorry—

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

I'll come back to that on my next turn.

[The Chair, Liberal, Wayne Easter]

We have to move on.

We have Mr. Johns, followed by Mrs. Jansen.

Gord, go ahead.

[Gord Johns, NDP, Courtenay—Alberni, BC]

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Mr. Siddall, I know the government is celebrating the 4,777 units for the rapid housing initiative. I'm sorry. I live in Port Alberni and we have lost so many people, every week, to suicide, overdose, substance abuse and health-related issues from being homeless. Right now, with the isolation and the marginalization of people due to COVID, people are struggling. They can't deal with their mental, physical, emotional, spiritual or economic health if they have nowhere to go. They were counting on a rapid housing application. We know B.C. is building half the non-market housing in this country, but when they got rejected, we know that the rejection means people are dying.

What percentage of people who are homeless in this country will that first round cover?

I'm sorry. This is very emotional for me.

Second, did you ask the minister to top up the amount that was asked for? It's my understanding that the requests that came in were fivefold over what was delivered.

[Evan Siddall]

I'm happy to respond to that question.

I'm very sorry about this. Needless to say, at CMHC we share in the tragedy and the fact that the pandemic has made things worse for homeless people and has likely increased the number of homeless people.

I don't know the number you're looking for. We did receive applications for about four and a half times the project stream, which is half of the amount, of the $500 million. Therefore, we had to say no to many more than we said yes to. We are hoping for more money in the rapid housing initiative.

[Gord Johns, NDP, Courtenay—Alberni, BC]

Did you go back to the minister and say that we have fivefold applications to the envelope that was open and ask, “Will you top it up, given that we're in a crisis?” We can find hundreds of billions of dollars for supports for people, but for the homeless, we found $1 billion—that's it.

[Evan Siddall]

Yes. The minister has all this information. He then would submit a request to the Minister of Finance for the budget. That's between them. That's not my decision.

[Gord Johns, NDP, Courtenay—Alberni, BC]

Just to put this on the record, in the Ahousaht Nation, where I live, 48 people have died, and in Hesquiaht, a tiny little first nation, 18 have, and not one of them from COVID—almost all young people, all preventable. I'm sorry to have so much anger, but this was preventable. These were lives that could have been saved.

I'm going to switch to this. Starting in April, Mr. Julian and I put out several calls to establish an emergency [Technical difficulty—Editor] program. When the CECRA program was announced and then eventually turned into the CERS program, we asked the government several times to backdate support for businesses that needed assistance, because they couldn't access it, for a number of reasons. It was strangely created. First, you had to have a mortgage backing it, and then, second, if your landlord didn't apply, you were exempt.

Is there an obstacle or a reason why the government can't backdate it? Those people who didn't get help are going out of business right now.

[Evan Siddall]

I can't give you an answer to why it can't be backdated. It's a question for others.

I can tell you that CMHC has no ability to do retail-type distribution. We went through mortgages because our relationship is with landowners. It's with owners. That was a program we actually could give effect to. At the time, as I recall, the government was having a hard time trying to find a way to deliver a program. It has since happened through CRA, in presumably what you think is a better way. We were scrambling to try to get something that actually worked. That was the constraint in which we were working.

[Gord Johns, NDP, Courtenay—Alberni, BC]

Right, and then it got figured out. We kicked and screamed and the government finally figured it out. It figured it out, but now it won't backdate it for those people who got excluded. Why?

[Evan Siddall]

I can't answer that question. That's not within my expertise—

[Gord Johns, NDP, Courtenay—Alberni, BC]

Okay.

Now, on the handling of the contract on the Canada emergency rent subsidy program for MCAP, what was the process for that? For the company that engages in commercial mortgages to receive the Canada emergency rent subsidy program and administrative contract.... It was an $84-million contract. How was the stipulation put in place for that? Originally, of course, it was for rent assistance that was tied to commercial mortgages, as I've outlined. There's a clear conflict of interest. Could we get information in reply on how that contract was given?

[Evan Siddall]

I think we've disclosed this. We talked to.... You realize this had to happen very quickly, and CMHC didn't have the ability to do it. We engaged in a competitive process with two firms and we selected the low bidder, and they were—

[Gord Johns, NDP, Courtenay—Alberni, BC]

Have you had any discussions with the government on who would have been best suited for the program? Obviously, you know the concerns politically around this.

[Evan Siddall]

Yes, we selected the two firms that we thought had the capacity to do it. It was a very technical process and required expertise. It required risk management. These were the two firms that could do it, and that's why we went to them. The fact that they're in the business you would say presents a conflict, but if we went to somebody otherwise, they couldn't do the job.

[The Chair, Liberal, Wayne Easter]

This is your last question, Gord.

[Gord Johns, NDP, Courtenay—Alberni, BC]

Ms. Coates, your organization is a fairly new one. Thank you for the work you're doing, by the way.

It was organized as a direct result of the pandemic. I'm working with other organizations that are in similar situations, certainly with start-ups that are being ignored and that have been abandoned, and with sole proprietors, who have had difficult barriers in terms of getting access to programs. Can you talk about your communication with government and how responsive they have been to your needs and concerns?

[Judith Coates]

Thank you for that question.

We have had many meetings with members of Parliament, senior policy advisers and a few ministers. We are not getting the answers that we would like. With regard to commission recalls, we're being told that we are being considered, but we aren't being told when that will happen or how we are being considered. We're concerned, and we have a lot of anxiety that we are still going to be falling through those cracks.

[The Chair, Liberal, Wayne Easter]

Thank you, all.

Turning to five-minute rounds, we have Mrs. Jansen and then Mr. Fragiskatos.

[Tamara Jansen, Conservative, Cloverdale—Langley City, BC]

Thank you very much.

My questions are for the Association of Canadian Independent Travel Advisors. First off, just the fact that so many of my colleagues have asked you questions is a testament to the work that you have been doing on behalf of your members. That's absolutely amazing, ladies. Good on you.

You refer to sector-specific aid. What other countries are doing this?

[Nancy Wilson, Co-Founder, Association of Canadian Independent Travel Advisors]

I'll address that, if I may.

[The Chair, Liberal, Wayne Easter]

Go ahead, Ms. Wilson.

[Nancy Wilson]

Australia is one of the countries that we have focused on. Australia introduced a $128-million aid package that was specifically targeted for travel advisers and tour arrangement service providers back in December, after it became apparent to the government that this sector was in crisis, exactly as we are.

Australia has been refunding their customers for trips cancelled due to COVID. The government recognized this need for support due to the practice of commission recalls from airlines and travel suppliers. As they worked through this process, they realized that the scope of refunds was wider than initially believed, so they've allocated an additional $130 million in a second round of the program.

[Tamara Jansen, Conservative, Cloverdale—Langley City, BC]

Wow.

[Nancy Wilson]

We feel that this type of funding is going to be critical for all travel advisers across the country, should consumer refunds go ahead as expected and if our request that a stipulation be added to an airline bailout package for travel adviser commissions to be protected is not met.