Human Resources Committee on April 30th, 2020

[Ahmed Hussen, Liberal, Minister of Families]

Thank you so much, Mr. Chair and committee members.

Before I begin, I'd like to take a moment to express my sincere condolences to the families and loved ones as well as the crew members of HMCS Fredericton who were affected by yesterday's tragic accident involving the crash of a Royal Canadian Navy helicopter, carrying six members of the Canadian Armed Forces, off the coast of Greece. As our Prime Minister said today, all of them are heroes. Our Canadian Armed Forces members serve our country with amazing dignity and courage.

Mr. Chair, I am pleased to be here with you today as we continue our important work to support Canadians and protect them from the COVID-19 virus and its inevitable consequences. There is no question that we have to continue working together, and quickly, to ensure that Canadians have the supports they need. That is why our government implemented an emergency response plan to protect Canadians' health and shelter them from the financial hardships that are resulting from this pandemic.

As the Minister of Families, Children and Social Development and as the minister responsible for the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation, I'm proud to present the government's COVID-19 plan and related measures under my portfolio.

To help families with the cost of caring for their children during this challenging time, the Government of Canada is providing a one-time enhancement to the Canada child benefit. This means that families who are currently eligible for the Canada child benefit will receive an extra $300 per child as part of their May 2020 payment. There is no need to apply for this additional amount.

Committee members, as the COVID-19 situation evolves, Canadians are becoming more and more concerned about their ability to pay their rent and their mortgages.

This situation underscores how crucial it is to make sure that everyone has a safe place to call home.

That is why we have put measures in place to help Canadians stay in their homes and find appropriate shelter to protect themselves and their families. Our first and foremost defence measure for all Canadians who are financially impacted by COVID-19, whether they are homeowners, landlords or renters, is the Canada emergency response benefit. This being said, it is important to note that housing providers have a most important role to play in safeguarding public health and protecting our economy. We are all in this together.

This is how the government is taking concrete action to help Canadians find a place to call home.

There is help available for homeowners who are having difficulty paying their mortgage due to the COVID-19 outbreak. If their mortgage is insured through the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation, Genworth Canada or Canada Guaranty, the government has put the following options in place: temporary short-term deferral of mortgage payments for up to six months; loan re-amortization, making lower mortgage payments over a longer period of time; adding missed payments to the mortgage balance and spreading them over the repayment period; or a combination of the above options. Canada's six major banks and mortgage lenders have announced measures to support all homeowners in the eventualities where mortgages would not be insured by CMHC.

Landlords who are having financial difficulties also have access to the same relief measures as homeowners, such as mortgage payment deferral. These measures will allow landlords to show compassion and patience to their tenants in these extraordinary times.

Tenants who cannot pay their rent because of financial difficulties related to COVID-19 should contact their landlord. All provinces and most territories, representing nearly all of Canada's population, have issued full or partial eviction bans. The government expects housing providers to act compassionately and refrain from evicting their fellow Canadians, especially housing providers who have received funding support or mortgage insurance from CMHC.

It is also important that renters, homeowners and tenants who are still able to pay their rent do so on a regular basis. Canadians must continue to remember that financial relief measures are for those who need it the most.

The COVID-19 pandemic in Canada is also having real and tangible public health, economic and safety impacts on all Canadians. Those experiencing homelessness are at a heightened risk of contracting and transmitting COVID-19. The government has to ensure that the sector serving the homeless has the support it needs to prepare for, prevent and manage any COVID-19 outbreaks.

In addition to the $157.5-million investment announced to support people experiencing homelessness through the existing federal program called reaching home, the government has provided $15 million to help the large urban centres that faced immediate and urgent needs at the start of the pandemic. This includes funding to purchase beds and physical barriers for social distancing and to secure additional accommodation space to reduce overcrowding in shelters. The government is investing this money quickly through our existing community partners. In addition, we also moved $50 million directly to women's shelters to enable them to deal with the consequences of COVID-19. This funding will enable communities to quickly invest in services that have the most impact based on their circumstances and needs.

Last, we acted quickly to support charities and non-profit organizations. These organizations have always been at the forefront in helping the most vulnerable in our communities. At a time when they're being called on to do more by more Canadians, they're finding that they're facing unprecedented challenges as there is a drop in donations and a drop in the number of volunteers available to deliver their services. That is why we made sure these organizations were eligible for the wage subsidy. We also announced a $350-million emergency support fund that will help the sector respond to COVID-19.

Committee members, we are all in this together. By addressing the financial needs of Canadians, the government is doing its part to mitigate the spread of the COVID-19 virus and protect Canadians during this pandemic.

Thank you, and I will be very happy to answer any questions you may have.

[The Chair, Liberal, Sean Casey]

Thank you very much, Minister.

We're going to start off with Ms. Kusie for six minutes.

Ms. Kusie, you have the floor.

[Stephanie Kusie, Conservative, Calgary Midnapore, AB]

Minister, it's a pleasure to finally see you. I'm so sorry that we haven't had the opportunity to meet. I was very happy to have a meeting with your colleague the parliamentary secretary; it's just unfortunate it was not with you. I hope we will be able to do that sometime in the future, after we return from this.

I want to thank you very much for your response to two of the letters I wrote. I received the responses today. I thought it was a bit unfortunate that I received them today, on the day of the committee meeting, but thank you nonetheless. I still look forward to receiving responses to the additional letters, one regarding maternity benefits, as discussed previously by my colleague Rosemarie, and one regarding the registered disability plan, which I'll talk about a little more later.

I want to talk first about Service Canada. We've heard a lot about it today, and I am also hearing about it from my constituents and constituents across the country. In particular, some of the most vulnerable communities, including seniors and Canadians in rural communities, have had trouble accessing Service Canada through telephone lines, given the closure of the service centres. I'm hearing really unfortunate things, such as individuals attempting to contact Service Canada 100 times in a day and individuals who wait for two hours on the phone only to hear a dial tone or busy signal and then the call hangs up. I've also heard of one client who phoned Service Canada every day for 30 days consecutively and was not able to get hold of anyone.

Despite our letter and despite your reply.... I will point out that in your letter, Minister, your reply admits that there can be delays of up to two hours. This is still not being addressed.

Within our letter, we did make suggestions, the first one about local numbers. Perhaps using local and regional numbers would assist. Perhaps you could implement a callback system whereby if a constituent was able to leave a message, they could receive a call back.

Minister, I would like to know, please, if you have considered these options, either implementing regional numbers for better service or a callback service.

[Ahmed Hussen, Liberal, York South—Weston, ON]

Mr. Chair, we are, as a government, really committed to ensuring that Canadians have access to the benefits that are provided by Service Canada which they rely on.

After reviewing our operations, we closed in-person Service Canada offices to limit the risk of COVID-19 exposure for our clients. Then we redeployed our focus to online and telephone services, which continue to remain open to better serve Canadians. We quickly implemented solutions to ensure that Canadians without access to reliable Internet connections would continue to be served. We also made sure that we have continuing direct community outreach to rural communities and vulnerable communities. We have created special phone lines for vulnerable Canadians to speak with Service Canada agents.

Our top priority remains ensuring that Canadians can get the benefits they need while protecting their health and safety.

I want to also invite my officials to provide a bit more detail on the regional aspect of the questions that you asked.

[Lori MacDonald]

Thank you.

[Stephanie Kusie, Conservative, Calgary Midnapore, AB]

Thank you very much, Minister. Perhaps we can move to that at another time and get the response offline.

Another concern I'm hearing about is that individuals who have previously contacted a member of Parliament's office and then contacted Service Canada are being told that they cannot be serviced by Service Canada as a result of previously having contacted a member of Parliament's office. I want to get assurance from you, Minister, that this is not the case and that any individual, even if they have previously contacted a member of Parliament, can receive service from Service Canada.

[Ahmed Hussen, Liberal, York South—Weston, ON]

Obviously members of Parliament have a role in advocating on behalf of their constituents, but at the same time the services of Service Canada are available to all Canadians regardless of who they have consulted first. In fact, on that point, not only do we have an MP line but we now have added an email service that can be used by members of Parliament, and the service standard there is actually pretty good. We commit to getting back to all members of Parliament within two business days.

[Stephanie Kusie, Conservative, Calgary Midnapore, AB]

I appreciate that, Minister. However, as I said within the letter, we are still hearing there is still a two-hour delay and we are not seeing improvement despite the weeks that have been given to Service Canada to improve these services specifically for the vulnerable such as seniors and those in rural areas. We also heard about individuals, Service Canada employees, being sent home with not enough equipment to do their work, and EI employees taking too long to train or leaving their newly found positions as a result of just finding it too difficult to assume the training. I hope that you will work with Service Canada in an attempt to better serve Canadians, Minister.

Thank you.

[Ahmed Hussen, Liberal, York South—Weston, ON]

Mr. Chair, how much time do I have to answer that question?

[The Chair, Liberal, Sean Casey]

You have almost none, so be very quick.

[Ahmed Hussen, Liberal, York South—Weston, ON]

I would just say that we've had unprecedented volumes. I know that our officials and our team are doing everything they can to make sure we are serving Canadians promptly, but we are dealing in a context of really unprecedented demand in terms of the volume of calls.

[Stephanie Kusie, Conservative, Calgary Midnapore, AB]

Thank you.

[The Chair, Liberal, Sean Casey]

Thank you, Minister.

Thank you, Ms. Kusie.

Mrs. Gill and Ms. Chabot will be sharing the speaking time.

Mrs. Gill, you may go ahead.

[Marilène Gill, Bloc, Manicouagan, QC]

Good evening, Minister.

Good evening everyone.

I have a question about a vulnerable population. The COVID-19 virus spreads quickly in environments where vulnerable people live together in many cases. I'd like to paraphrase what Ghislain Picard, the chief of the Assembly of First Nations Quebec–Labrador, said yesterday. He called on all levels of government, including the federal government, to support first nations in light of risk factors that make them the most vulnerable to the pandemic.

As you are well aware, they are a vulnerable population for health reasons, on the one hand, and because of overcrowding, on the other. They have large families, with several generations living together in conditions that the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation described as unsafe and substandard in a 2019 briefing note. Not to mention the fact that a third of the indigenous population does not have access to housing.

I'd like to know, then, whether you consulted first nations regarding their housing needs during the crisis, because they aren't able to house the people in their communities or quarantine those who contract COVID-19. If you did consult them and you did consider their requests to the government, what changes has your department made to help them, given that they are a vulnerable population?

[Ahmed Hussen, Liberal, York South—Weston, ON]

Mr. Chair, we recognize that many indigenous communities are facing unique and unprecedented challenges as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. We're closely monitoring the situation. Our priority is to protect the health, safety and well-being of indigenous communities during this really challenging time.

Across the federal government, various relief measures are under way and new funding is available to support indigenous communities and housing providers in managing this pandemic. We continue to explore other solutions and flexibilities that will alleviate some of the financial impacts of the COVID-19 outbreak. Through CMHC, we've introduced loan payment deferrals, reporting and agreement flexibilities, workarounds for on-site progress inspections and have stopped subsidy suspensions to support indigenous communities, housing providers and homeowners during this difficult time.

CMHC is also working hard to ensure funding continues to flow for on-reserve programs that help build new housing and repair existing housing while being sensitive to the working environments of many indigenous communities right now that have needed to close or restrict access to their communities.

Funding for capacity development and skill training is also available to indigenous communities. Most of all, we're trying to ensure that indigenous communities know that we're here for them. We will continue to work with them, and deal with any difficulties or financial hardship they encounter.

[The Chair, Liberal, Sean Casey]

Mrs. Gill, you have less than three minutes left.

[Marilène Gill, Bloc, Manicouagan, QC]

All right.

Thank you, Minister, but I'm going to repeat my question. I asked whether indigenous communities had been consulted regarding their housing needs in light of the pandemic. That was my first question.

I had asked a second question. I understand that we are talking about regular programs, in terms of the funding available for the 27,000 or so indigenous families or households. Was there any consultation on their specific housing needs related to the pandemic? How have you tailored your support to address their requests?

I didn't get an answer to my first two questions, so I just rephrased them.

[Ahmed Hussen, Liberal, York South—Weston, ON]

The consultation process is ongoing.

I also want to emphasize that despite the pandemic, the national housing strategy programs continue uninterrupted. Through the national housing strategy, we co-developed distinctions-based housing strategies with our partners in first nations, Métis and Inuit communities that are founded on the principles of self- determination, reconciliation, respect and co-operation and backed by more than $1.5 billion in investments. We also invested nearly $650 million to support indigenous households in community housing and for indigenous housing projects through the national housing co-investment fund.

We will proceed to work with our indigenous partners to—

[Marilène Gill, Bloc, Manicouagan, QC]

Thank you.

My understanding, then, is that no supports were adapted and no consultation was carried out with respect to housing.

I hope that is going to change because these are very vulnerable communities that were already in need. We are talking about a third of the indigenous population. Indigenous people make up 15% of the population in my riding, and that number is going up every year. I think they are entitled to live in safe and healthy conditions, so I hope they can count on that.

I have a quick question about seasonal workers in such sectors as tourism and fisheries. They are incredibly worried right now about the end of CERB and the fact that there may not be a tourist or fishing season so they could end up with no eligible hours at the end of the summer.

What will happen to them? Will they receive assistance? Will they receive support through a specific program, or will they fall by the wayside with nothing to help them support themselves?

[The Chair, Liberal, Sean Casey]

Make a very short response, please.

[Ahmed Hussen, Liberal, York South—Weston, ON]

The seasonal workers now have access to the Canada emergency response benefit. We made that change in response to the advocacy to be included in the CERB.

[Marilène Gill, Bloc, Manicouagan, QC]

They won't qualify for EI next year.

[The Chair, Liberal, Sean Casey]

Thank you, Mrs. Gill.

[Marilène Gill, Bloc, Manicouagan, QC]

Thank you.

[The Chair, Liberal, Sean Casey]

That was all the time you had.

Folks, it wouldn't be a human resources meeting unless the chair made an error for which he had to apologize. This is that point in the meeting.

Mr. Dong, I am terribly sorry to have missed your turn. It is now your turn, and after you will be Ms. Kwan.

Mr. Dong you have the floor for six minutes.