Finance Committee on May 17th, 2021

[Suzanne Kennedy]

Of course.

The government has earmarked funding to help oil-producing provinces. The government has announced support in the form of $1 billion for Alberta, $400 million for Saskatchewan and $320 million for Newfoundland and Labrador. It also announced a fully repayable loan of $200 million made to the Orphan Well Association of Alberta, to help with decommissioning orphan and inactive oil and gas wells.

On top of this, the government is supporting conventional and offshore gas and oil companies through the emission reduction fund.

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

Okay, thank you.

My other question, which is my main one, is this.

Do you have the formula that was used to calculate stabilization payments? If so, can you please forward it to us?

[Suzanne Kennedy]

Yes, it is included in the Act.

We can, of course, forward it to the committee.

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

Thank you so much.

[The Chair, Liberal, Wayne Easter]

Thank you, both.

Ms. Kennedy, you can send that to the clerk of the committee, and he'll distribute it.

Go ahead, Ms. Jansen.

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

Ms. Kennedy mentioned that provinces don't put money into the fiscal stabilization program. I'm just wondering where that money comes from.

[Suzanne Kennedy]

It's general revenue of the federal government.

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

Right, so it would be from taxes.

[Suzanne Kennedy]

That's correct.

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

I just wanted to make sure. I was wondering, where does it come from if it doesn't come from taxes?

[The Chair, Liberal, Wayne Easter]

Okay. I think we're clear on that one. Are there any further questions for Ms. Kennedy on division 11?

Go ahead, Ms. Dzerowicz.

[Julie Dzerowicz, Liberal, Davenport, ON]

This is just a quick question, Mr. Chair.

Thank you, Ms. Kennedy, for your excellent presentation and for your patience in answering all our questions. I have a quick question for you on the increase. I know you mentioned 2020-21 and 2021-22. Is it ongoing, or is it just for those specific years? I just want to make sure that the increase to $170 is ongoing moving forward.

[Suzanne Kennedy]

Yes, it's ongoing. It will be indexed to growth in GDP per capita in the future, with a provision that it cannot decline.

[Julie Dzerowicz, Liberal, Davenport, ON]

Thank you.

[The Chair, Liberal, Wayne Easter]

That will complete questions on division 11.

We'll turn to division 12, which is entitled “Federal-Provincial Fiscal Arrangements Act (Additional Health Payments)”.

Welcome back, Suzanne.

[Suzanne Kennedy]

Division 12 proposes to amend the Federal-Provincial Fiscal Arrangements Act to authorize a $4-billion payment to the provinces and territories through the Canada health transfer, allocated on an equal per capita basis. It is a one-time payment intended to support clearing health care system backlogs caused by the pandemic.

[The Chair, Liberal, Wayne Easter]

The payments to each province are listed in your binders.

I have Mr. Julian up first. We have Mr. Julian followed by Ms. Jansen.

[Peter Julian, NDP, New Westminster—Burnaby, BC]

Thank you very much, Mr. Chair.

It's a one-time payment, but we know that there is chronic underfunding in health care. We've seen that since years ago, when the funding formula basically did not meet the full health care needs of what we're seeing right across the country.

My question is, how do we ensure that the $4-billion, one-time payment becomes an annual payment?

[Suzanne Kennedy]

The Prime Minister has committed to discussions with the provinces on that. First ministers have instructed officials at the federal, provincial and territorial levels to have discussions about that, about what is required for health care funding, and where we are with that.

This is a one-time payment, due to the pandemic, while those discussions are ongoing.

[Peter Julian, NDP, New Westminster—Burnaby, BC]

Thank you for that.

I'll ask the same question I asked previously, which is, what is the timeline for that? At what point does the ministry see additional funding being regularized on an annualized basis? Is there a deadline, as we've seen with some of the other proposals that were outlined in the fall economic statement? Are there clear criteria about what the process will be over the next few months?

[Suzanne Kennedy]

There has been no announcement to that effect, so it's not a question I can answer.

[Peter Julian, NDP, New Westminster—Burnaby, BC]

Thank you.

[The Chair, Liberal, Wayne Easter]

We'll go to Ms. Jansen.

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

I'm just wondering how government will ensure that accountability measures are in place. What sorts of strings are attached to ensure that money is used and is actually clearing backlogs?

[Suzanne Kennedy]

It is similar to the Canada health transfer in that it's largely unconditional, but provinces and territories need to respect the principles of the Canada Health Act. It would be subject to the same.