I'll let Aden answer.
Evidence of meeting #48 for Finance in the 43rd Parliament, 2nd Session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was child.
A video is available from Parliament.
Evidence of meeting #48 for Finance in the 43rd Parliament, 2nd Session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was child.
A video is available from Parliament.
3:55 p.m.
Chief Executive Officer, Canadian Nurses Association
I'll let Aden answer.
3:55 p.m.
Policy Lead, Canadian Nurses Association
Thank you, Mr. Chair.
You're absolutely right. The need for disaggregated data is long overdue. As you know, we cannot make any changes in policy or in health care without the data to support it, and we've known that these inequities have existed in health for Blacks, indigenous people and people of colour across Canada. Having the disaggregated data to then identify how we can reallocate resources is crucial, so we're very glad to see that moving forward, and we look forward to continuing to participate in those discussions.
3:55 p.m.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Wayne Easter
Thank you very much.
I'm sorry to push people to be fast, but we're down to two and a half minutes for you, Mr. Fast, and two and a half minutes for Mr. Fraser.
Ed, you're on.
3:55 p.m.
Conservative
Ed Fast Conservative Abbotsford, BC
Thank you.
My question is for Ms. Mrozek.
Ms. Koutrakis just attacked your testimony indirectly without leaving you with an opportunity to respond, but I do want to clarify something. I believe it's your position that a national child care program should be means-tested. Is that correct?
3:55 p.m.
Senior Fellow, Cardus
Any benefits should go to all families and all parents and be means-tested, so yes.
3:55 p.m.
Conservative
Ed Fast Conservative Abbotsford, BC
All right.
Could you comment on timelines for getting a national day care system implemented? We're talking about federal-provincial negotiations that will take some time. We've had promises of national day care going back to 1993 and beyond, actually. This could take some years.
In the meantime, are you proposing something as an interim measure that could cover the need that many families feel, the need to provide them with some child care support so that moms and dads can integrate into the labour force?
3:55 p.m.
Senior Fellow, Cardus
A paper we wrote is called "Look Before You Leap: The Real Costs and Complexities of National Daycare” for a reason. It's not just a budgeting attempt of what national day care costs; it leads you to discuss and consider all of the very significant complexities. There will be nothing easy and nothing fast about putting this in place, and there is no way that it will be available as a COVID economic recovery plan.
The CCB, the Canada child benefit, is already in place. It exists and helps all parents already, and that's something that could be a useful tool in getting support to parents in need.
3:55 p.m.
Conservative
Ed Fast Conservative Abbotsford, BC
Do you want to have an opportunity to respond to Ms. Koutrakis' critique of your testimony?
3:55 p.m.
Senior Fellow, Cardus
I'll only say that there's plenty of peer-reviewed research that the U.S. is also considering, research by Canadian scholars of some repute—Baker, Gruber and Milligan, and Steven Lehrer at Queen's University—that shows poor outcomes for children. Child care is not about getting women into the workforce; child care is about the care of our youngest, and I think it matters whether they fare well in the type of care that they receive.
3:55 p.m.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Wayne Easter
Okay. We are going to have to move on to the last questioner. That will be Mr. Fraser for two and a half minutes.
3:55 p.m.
Liberal
Sean Fraser Liberal Central Nova, NS
Thank you, Mr. Chair.
That probably leaves me enough time for one question with a preamble, so here I go.
The number one issue that's been coming into my constituency office is a provincial issue, and it revolves around access to primary care, so my question is for our guests who have given testimony to that effect.
I think, Mr. Villeneuve, you hit the nail on the head. These people don't completely go without care; they end up having delayed access to care. They go to walk-in clinics. They go to ERs. They end up getting care much after they need it, when their condition has worsened, and it's been oftentimes delivered at a much greater expense to the taxpayer.
I'm wondering if you or Ann Collins could give suggestions on what the federal government can do to help expand access to family doctors and primary care providers. If you had one shot at this in the next minute and a half that you have remaining, solve this problem for us, and I'll be forever grateful for your advice.
3:55 p.m.
President, Canadian Medical Association
Thanks, Mike.
Thank you for the question. The answer is a $1.2-billion transition fund over four years, whereby provinces and the federal government as well would look to expand primary care teams and to look to see what measures communities need and to implement them.
Our young doctors want to work in a team-based care model that includes nurse practitioners, nurses, social workers and home care experts. Our seniors need family physicians for good primary care in order to stay in place at home. This is the way forward.
If you have a family doctor, you're lucky. Imagine what it would be like not to have a family doctor or a primary care provider team. This is a model that has been shown to be effective. The Prime Ministerhas said that primary care teams have the answer, and we want to work collaboratively to implement that model.
4 p.m.
Liberal
Sean Fraser Liberal Central Nova, NS
In five seconds, I can say thank you, and I would invite a further conversation if you'd make yourself available offline.
4 p.m.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Wayne Easter
That's a good point to end on.
To you people in the health care field, my wife is a retired nurse, and I get my ears burned every day. Thank you for your points.
Ann, we heard your thoughts on Bill C-25 and we will put those forward as well, not before our committee but before another one.
In any event, thank you to all the witnesses. This was a wide-ranging discussion during this panel, as many of them are. There were good questions and good responses, and that's what we like to hear. There's not always agreement in this committee, as you can see, but a good debate makes for better policy. Thank you very much.
For the committee, we will go to our fourth panel of the day right now.
Thank you to all the witnesses again.
The meeting is suspended for one minute.
4:06 p.m.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Wayne Easter
We'll call the meeting to order.
Welcome to meeting number 48 of the House of Commons Standing Committee on Finance.
Pursuant to Standing Order 108(2), the committee is meeting on the prestudy of Bill C-30, An Act to implement certain provisions of the budget tabled in Parliament on April 19, 2021 and other measures.
We welcome witnesses here on the fourth panel of the day to hear their views on Bill C-30. We welcome you all.
Just so witnesses know, when you're speaking, the only person who is seen on the screen is the person who is speaking, not the committee and witnesses as a whole.
With that, we will start with the witnesses, and please try to hold your remarks to about five minutes.
We'll start with Bonjour Startup Montréal and Liette Lamonde, president and CEO.
The floor is yours.
4:06 p.m.
Liette Lamonde President and Chief Executive Officer, Bonjour Startup Montréal
Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you to the members of the House of Commons Standing Committee on Finance for inviting me.
My name is Liette Lamonde, and I am the president and chief executive officer of Bonjour Startup Montréal, a not-for-profit organization whose mission is to better position Montreal's start-up ecosystem for success. We work to accelerate the creation, growth and influence of Montreal's start-ups by mobilizing a wide variety of partners. The ecosystem is made up of accelerators, incubators, investors, universities, large companies and, of course, governments.
Our organization was created in late 2018 by the OSMO and Montréal inc. foundations, with the financial support of the Quebec government, the City of Montreal and the private sector. In the fall, we received support from the Economic Development Agency of Canada for the Regions of Quebec for the first time.
Since our organization was created, we have launched many projects and initiatives to help fill the gaps in our start-up ecosystem, gaps attributable to its relative newness. Montreal's ecosystem is barely 10 years old. Compare that with Silicon Valley, which has been around for more than 40 years.
In that first decade, Montreal built a critical mass of start-ups, more than 1,300.
Montreal's young ecosystem is now entering the globalization phase, where Quebec start-ups move into the next phase of growth and break into international markets. A crucial step, this is when start-ups finally achieve significant economic and social success.
When an ecosystem is able to produce more companies in the league of Lightspeed and Shopify, it builds prosperity and experience.
The race to create thriving start-up ecosystems is not limited to Canada. It is a global race. Every big city is getting in on the investment, in the knowledge that start-ups are incredible drivers of innovation. If Montreal does not establish itself as a true competitor, not only will it stagnate, but it will also lose ground—literally.
April's federal budget provides continued support for small businesses, in the form of much-needed emergency programs to help them cope with the pandemic. The budget also includes significant investments in innovation. We are delighted to see that the government is leveraging innovation to support the economic recovery.
The budget contains measures to support the financing chain for start-ups such as the renewed venture capital catalyst initiative. Among the measures to support start-up innovation is the National Research Council's industrial research assistance program. The budget includes targeted supports for women entrepreneurs and Black entrepreneurs, which some start-ups will be able to take advantage of. Measures that support flagship sectors of Montreal's economy—clean technology, life sciences, aerospace and artificial intelligence—also appear in the budget.
As the voice of Montreal's start-up ecosystem, we applaud the amendments to the Canada Small Business Financing Act, such as extending the loan repayment period to 15 years and expanding loan class eligibility to other types of assets such as patents and trademarks. We believe these changes will help start-ups remain competitive in the context of a sustainable economic recovery.
Nevertheless, I would be remiss if I did not express one of our concerns: the federal government's underfunding of the start-up ecosystem in Quebec, specifically in Montreal. The start-up ecosystem in Montreal is falling behind other ecosystems in Canada. We placed 36th in Startup Genome's global ecosystem rankings, whereas Toronto-Waterloo placed 18th and Vancouver came in at number 25.
With their ever-growing potential, Quebec start-ups are drawing the attention of accelerator programs in Ontario, which are better funded and have their sights set on the cream of the crop in Canada. That means Montreal start-ups are at risk of being uprooted, threatening the very foundations of the area's ecosystem, particularly in the sectors I mentioned, as well as in disruptive technologies.
However, the real competition is not domestic, but international. That is why forward-looking measures are needed immediately to ensure Montreal's start-up ecosystem can continue to compete with comparable ecosystems around the world, ensuring the whole country benefits when Quebec start-ups grow.
This highlights the need for a scale-up platform in Quebec. Ontario has one, and it received $52 million from FedDev Ontario in 2019. Vancouver is looking for $39 million to build a similar platform, not to mention that a new economic development agency for British Columbia was recently created. Neither Montreal nor anywhere else in Quebec has a scale-up program, despite the clear need for one. With appropriate funding, we could fill that void. Funding should be evenly distributed across Canada's start-up ecosystems.
Montreal's start-up ecosystem is hitting its stride, as confirmed last week, when we learned that tech companies in the area had received a total of $1.15 billion in funding in 2020, almost as much as companies in Toronto.
However, there is still much ground to gain. As an ally of Quebec business and entrepreneurship, the federal government, through the Economic Development Agency of Canada for the Regions of Quebec, should support the ecosystem's efforts so that Quebec start-ups can contribute fully to the economy, both in Quebec and in Canada.
Thank you.
4:10 p.m.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Wayne Easter
Thank you very much, Ms. Lamonde.
We turn now to the Canadian Chamber of Commerce, with Patrick Gill, senior director, and Ms. Drigola, director of parliamentary affairs.
4:10 p.m.
Alla Drigola Director, Parliamentary Affairs and Small and Medium Enterprises Policy, Canadian Chamber of Commerce
Good afternoon, committee members.
Thank you for inviting the Canadian Chamber here today.
My name is Alla Drigola. I'm the Canadian Chamber's director of parliamentary affairs and SME policy. I'm joined by Patrick Gill, our senior director of tax and financial policy.
The budget contained several good-news items for businesses, including the extension of CEWS and CERS, the enhancement of the Canada small business financing program and the introduction of the new recovery hiring program. These are all critical to helping keep businesses afloat during this ongoing third wave, though we are still missing an important piece of the recovery story, and that is a proactive, clear and positive reopening plan.
Today I want to focus on two key recommendations for short-term needs.
The first is in relation to the missing reopening plan.
Earlier this week the Canadian Chamber and 60 of our fellow business industry associations, including a few of my fellow panellists here, co-signed a letter to the Prime Minister calling for the federal government to work closely with the premiers to develop a clear and consistent pan-Canadian reopening plan, and for the government to work with officials in other countries to set benchmarks that would enable the easing of border restrictions and travel quarantines.
A clear, forward-looking and specific reopening plan is critical to Canada's successful recovery, and must be an immediate priority for governments at all levels.
Our second recommendation is in relation to the CEWS and CERS programs.
Despite the good news in the budget that these programs have been extended, there is significant concern about the gradual phase-out of these programs starting in July. With this change, businesses with more than 70% revenue losses will receive a maximum of only 20% subsidy for both their wages and their rent by September. Businesses in the hardest-hit sectors, including tourism, travel, food services and accommodations, will make up the majority of that group and will need a longer runway for recovery.
Therefore, CEWS and CERS need to be maintained at their current respective 75% and 65% maximum rates through to the fall, and likely even beyond. The rent subsidy program also needs to be expanded to work better for medium-sized businesses and for those with locations in high-cost-of-living areas.
Beyond the transition from pandemic survival to recovery, a number of structural challenges remain that prevent Canada from reaching its full recovery potential.
I will now pass it over to Patrick to speak to some of the Canadian Chamber's recommendations for Canada's medium- and long-term economic recovery.
4:15 p.m.
Patrick Gill Senior Director, Tax and Financial Policy, Canadian Chamber of Commerce
Thank you, Alla.
Good afternoon, committee members.
The budget contained many positives points for businesses seeking to recover from the pandemic. Its focus on growth and jobs is an important step towards economic recovery, yet our country's drivers of growth will need to shift from public to private spending.
Our businesses from main street to the C-suite are seeking a clear and predictable plan to help them lead Canada's economic revival. Businesses are ready to kick-start our shared recovery, but they need the government to do its part in creating an encouraging business environment.
We must collectively become growth-minded when the pandemic ends, avoiding our historic 2% growth trap. While 2% reduces the federal deficit, it allows the federal debt to grow and it constrains opportunity for all.
There are several aspects of the budget that could be improved to spur Canada's economic revival.
First is unlocking business investment for recovery and job creation. For instance, while the budget moves forward with the acceleration of capital cost allowance deductions for Canadian-controlled private corporations on a temporary basis, the measure should be extended to publicly traded firms, as is typical under the CCA system. This, for instance, would help marshal the broadest scope of business investment.
Second, the government should be more ambitious in its approach to fixing Canada's costly and burdensome regulatory environment. Moreover, it should be cautious in how and when it adds new complexity to its regulatory frameworks. For instance, the proposed new regime for interest deductibility is one example of adding new complexity onto existing complexity.
Finally, moving towards a fiscal anchor rather than fiscal guardrails is warranted to guide and control expenditure choices. With significant spending committed in the medium term, a fiscal anchor would help impose discipline over fiscal policy decisions for the long term. Public debt can never be permitted to put public services at risk. Left unmoored, public debt risks being caught up by inflationary and credit pressures.
Again, thank you very much for having us here today.
We look forward to our discussion with you.
4:15 p.m.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Wayne Easter
Thanks to you both. Yes, we've seen your letter to the Prime Minister.
Turning to the Canadian Federation of Independent Business, we have Dan Kelly, president and CEO, who I believe has alsosigned the letter.
Welcome back, Dan.
Yes, get your headphones on or we will be giving you the gears.
4:15 p.m.
Daniel Kelly President and Chief Executive Officer, Canadian Federation of Independent Business
My apologies for not being better prepared, Chair.