Government Operations Committee on May 4th, 2020

[Leah Anderson]

My colleague Alison might be able to give you that answer.

[Alison McDermott]

Sorry, I don't have the number at my fingertips. Let me see if I can find it in the last report. Obviously, these are changing daily but I'll come back to you with that.

[Ziad Aboultaif, Conservative, Edmonton Manning, AB]

Okay, we would appreciate that.

The next question is, if we continue to go on like this until the fall, how much money do you think we will need to commit to to hold us through this difficult time?

[Alison McDermott]

I'll just say that in terms of the package itself that has been announced to date, it is quite a generous package of $150 billion or so of direct support, $85 billion of liquidity through the tax system, and very significant additional liquidity support under the business credit availability program. This is not the fiscal cost, but the financial value of those measures comes up to more than $500 billion. It's a very big package and we're—

[The Chair, Conservative, Tom Lukiwski]

Thank you very much. We're considerably over time.

We'll now go to Monsieur Serré.

Mr. Serré, you have five minutes.

[Marc Serré, Liberal, Nickel Belt, ON]

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

My first question is for the Department of Finance officials, and it has to do with access to the Canada emergency response benefit in my riding of Nickel Belt.

Could you tell me a little more about the support that has been given recently specifically to seasonal workers and self-employed workers with respect to their eligibility for the Canada emergency response benefit?

[Suzy McDonald]

With respect to the Canada emergency response benefit, we have designed the program to ensure that those who have exhausted their employment insurance benefits by December 29 can apply for and receive the Canada emergency response benefit, including seasonal workers.

We have also ensured that people can have up to $1,000 of employment income without losing their benefits. As I was saying earlier—I don't know if you were able to hear me—we are still reviewing and adjusting the program to ensure that people get the support they need. However, the program isn't really designed to support everyone. We have a number of programs that need to complement each other to support Canadians.

[Marc Serré, Liberal, Nickel Belt, ON]

Thank you.

My second question has to do with loans given by banks. Many of my constituents in Nickel Belt are a little worried. They are wondering if the banks are going to give the money out fast enough and if the federal government has chosen the right intermediary.

At the Department of Finance, do you believe that the procedures in place are rigorous enough to ensure that banks channel funds directly to businesses?

[Suzy McDonald]

I believe my colleague Leah Anderson will be able to answer your question.

[Leah Anderson]

The transmission was very choppy, so as I understand it, you are wondering about the processes in place by the banks to flow money to businesses and whether appropriate controls are in place. I would say, yes, the funding that is being delivered through the Canada emergency business account is being delivered in conjunction with Export Development Canada, and we work very closely with financial institutions to make sure that they have appropriate policies and procedures in place to disburse the funds appropriately.

[Marc Serré, Liberal, Nickel Belt, ON]

My other question is that because of COVID-19, we have a lot of colleges, universities, a lot of the provincial areas really hurting as far as—

[The Chair, Conservative, Tom Lukiwski]

Mr. Serré, could I interrupt just for a second? Excuse me, sir. I won't dock you any time for this.

Could please slow down your cadence, sir? The interpreters are having a bit of a difficult time following.

[Marc Serré, Liberal, Nickel Belt, ON]

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

My next question is related to provincial support. We have provinces, territories and municipalities that are really struggling because of COVID-19. Is there any planned support from the federal government for the provinces? That is one question.

Second, has the federal government looked at removing the debt ceiling for the territories?

[Suzy McDonald]

I didn't hear the last part of your question. Has the federal government looked at removing what?

[Marc Serré, Liberal, Nickel Belt, ON]

I'm talking about borrowing limits in the territories.

[Suzy McDonald]

All right. I'll answer first, then my colleague can round out my answer if she has anything to add.

The Government of Canada already provides significant provincial and territorial support on an ongoing basis. For example, in 2020-21, the federal government is providing $81.6 billion to provinces and territories through our major transfers. In addition to this, we provided a one-time funding payment of $500 million to provinces and territories, and that was received on March 30.

We're working closely with the provinces and territories to really understand their economic situation and also working with municipalities, which, of course, fall under provincial jurisdiction, but with whom we are having conversations to understand their needs.

With regard to some of the lending that's in place, perhaps Leah could add some more.

[The Chair, Conservative, Tom Lukiwski]

Thank you very much.

Now we'll go to Mrs. Block for five minutes, please.

[Kelly Block, Conservative, Carlton Trail—Eagle Creek, SK]

Thank you very much, Mr. Chair.

I thank our witnesses for joining us today.

We know that Bill C-13 enacted the Public Health Events of National Concern Payments Act, which allows the government to spend “all money required to do anything in relation to that public health event of national concern”. They have that authority until September 30.

I would note that the amount being spent by the government is staggering.

While our focus in this meeting today has been on the cost of the numerous income support programs for Canadians and businesses, I'm interested in knowing how much is being spent by the Departments of Health, PSPC, and, in particular, ISED on the procurement of personal protective equipment.

I would assume that the Department of Finance would be able to provide us with some of those numbers.

[The Chair, Conservative, Tom Lukiwski]

Mr. Marsland, or is there anyone there who—

[Andrew Marsland]

I am perhaps not the best person to speak to this, but I will try to answer the question.

In our report to the finance committee, we outlined the amounts dedicated to the areas the member alluded to. The report says that the total amount is $4.4 billion. The largest amount there is for funding to purchase personal protective equipment, but there is also significant funding in there to assist the provinces and territories in the COVID-19 response on a health basis, and support for medical research into vaccine development.

I hope that helps.

[Kelly Block, Conservative, Carlton Trail—Eagle Creek, SK]

That is $4.4 billion. Can you tell me how much is actually being spent or what kind of funding is available for manufacturers that are retooling right at this time to support our fight against COVID-19?

[Andrew Marsland]

I don't have that information, but perhaps we can endeavour to find out what information is available and provide it to the committee.

[Kelly Block, Conservative, Carlton Trail—Eagle Creek, SK]

Okay, I would appreciate that very much.

Recent reports in the media have tagged our deficit at approximately $252.1 billion this year. I know there are questions concerning the sustainability of the programs we have announced, legislated and are now implementing.

Can you tell me how far the amount of money we have announced and are willing to spend this year will take us in our fight against COVID-19?

[Alison McDermott]

Sure, I can look at that.

As mentioned, the authorities in terms of direct support measures come to approximately $150 billion. It really varies, measure by measure, how long or over what period those are expected to be expended.

Some of the big ones, like the Canada emergency response benefit, are available for a longer period of time. If you were on that benefit early in March, I think it would expire within four months, so we're looking at mid-June for that one. I think the CEWS goes through to July, so they're staggered.

As I said before, it's a bit early to have a strong sense of which ones and to what degree some of these may need to be extended. In either case, we wouldn't expect that they would be used at the same level or scope they're being used now. They're expected to be in that —

[The Chair, Conservative, Tom Lukiwski]

Thank you very much.

Unfortunately, Mrs. Block, we're completely out of time, but we will have additional time in future rounds.

We will now go to Madam Ratansi.

Welcome back to our committee.