Evidence of meeting #21 for Human Resources, Skills and Social Development and the Status of Persons with Disabilities in the 43rd Parliament, 2nd Session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was changes.
A video is available from Parliament.
5 p.m.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Sean Casey
Mr. Blaikie, your time is well past. You took two minutes to ask the question. The least you can do is let her answer it, even though we are out of time.
Are you finished, Minister?
5 p.m.
Liberal
Carla Qualtrough Liberal Delta, BC
Yes. I don't know if the officials have a number, but I think that's a CRA question.
5 p.m.
Deputy Minister, Employment and Social Development, Department of Employment and Social Development
The reason there isn't a number is that the way Parliament designed the benefit wasn't just looking at the 2019 tax income to determine eligibility. People could also use the first three months of the year, so it could be any 12 consecutive months.
That's what's taking CRA time, in terms of giving people the chance to explain whether they had additional income that would put them over the income threshold. They're working with them, as you indicated, Minister, on flexibility on the repayment side.
5 p.m.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Sean Casey
Thank you, Mr. Flack and Mr. Blaikie.
Next we have Ms. Falk, please, for five minutes.
5 p.m.
Conservative
Rosemarie Falk Conservative Battlefords—Lloydminster, SK
Thank you, Chair.
Minister, I want to thank you as well for coming to committee. I appreciate when ministers are willing to come and especially take questions from the opposition.
Something I want to touch on quickly are the exemptions. I noticed in the bill, but also in your opening remarks, the exemptions when it comes to medical travel internationally and people being able to access this benefit. I totally understand that, because in Canada there are some treatments that are not available for whatever reason—it could be bureaucracy or whatnot—or have not been approved yet, so people go elsewhere. I appreciate that the government has acknowledged that sometimes people travel with people as well.
If someone leaves the country for compassionate reasons, whether that is taking care of an ailing parent, grandparent or child, a spouse even, in another country, or maybe they could be attending a funeral—and I think we have to be very careful not to assume that every other country is in the same status that we are, with restrictions and lockdowns and that type of thing, as we've seen with the U.K.—are those people excluded from accessing these benefits?
5:05 p.m.
Liberal
Carla Qualtrough Liberal Delta, BC
Thank you for this really important question.
What we've done with this process is leaned on the existing quarantine system of the Canada Border Services Agency and the Public Health Agency. There are lists of types of travel and types of work that upon re-entry into Canada, depending on where you fit, you have to quarantine or not. The vast majority of Canadians have to quarantine.
If you are required to quarantine under the Quarantine Act then, no, you will not be eligible for benefits for those two weeks. That would likely cover the examples you have given, not the ones at the beginning—
5:05 p.m.
Conservative
Rosemarie Falk Conservative Battlefords—Lloydminster, SK
You're saying that it was intentional to leave out people travelling for compassionate reasons.
5:05 p.m.
Liberal
Carla Qualtrough Liberal Delta, BC
The intent was to use the quarantine system that existed and not to create yet another system for Canadians, and another set of lists and rules on quarantine for decision-makers, when the public had become used to this system and understood they had to quarantine.
If you have to quarantine, if you're ordered to quarantine upon re-entry into Canada, you will not, unless you meet one of the exemptions you mentioned at the beginning, be eligible for these benefits for two weeks.
5:05 p.m.
Conservative
Rosemarie Falk Conservative Battlefords—Lloydminster, SK
Thank you, Minister.
Chair, I'd like to pass the rest of my time to Ms. Dancho.
5:05 p.m.
Conservative
Raquel Dancho Conservative Kildonan—St. Paul, MB
Mr. Chair, could you tell me how much time there is?
5:05 p.m.
Conservative
Raquel Dancho Conservative Kildonan—St. Paul, MB
Okay.
Minister, if you'll allow me, I'd really appreciate the opportunity, since I was expecting supplementaries and mains today and what I'm going to ask about is coming down the pipe in two weeks, to ask about CELA and NNELS.
Would you grant me that opportunity?
5:05 p.m.
Conservative
Raquel Dancho Conservative Kildonan—St. Paul, MB
Thank you. I appreciate that.
As you know, three million Canadians who have print and visual impairments, like blindness, cerebral palsy and the like, are provided with accessible learning material from these national non-profits, CELA and NNELS.
I first learned about this program in my former job with the province. CELA and NNELS help provide these resources to rural communities, which, as you know, have very limited resources with their libraries being much smaller.
When they approached me to say that the government is planning to phase out this very small amount of money, which is $4 million of funding over the next four years, I was very concerned. I have a lot of MPs telling me that they're getting complaints from their constituents about this.
I would ask that you consider in the next two weeks ensuring that this funding does not get cut, and I'd love for you to respond. It would be great if you could confirm that you will keep this funding. Could you let me and the committee know if you're planning to cut...?
5:05 p.m.
Liberal
Carla Qualtrough Liberal Delta, BC
The bottom line is that we are not going to let these organizations flounder because of COVID. We have worked very hard as a government on accessible publishing. It started four years ago with the Marrakesh treaty. We put in place this working group with the publishing industry and NNELS and CELA. Everybody was going to work together with the common goal of making publishing accessible by creating books accessible at birth, so we wouldn't need organizations to convert these books into accessible formats. We all agreed on a work plan. CELA and NNELS were at the table. In the fall economic statement, we announced the next three years in this transition, but it has become....
We've been working with these organizations. I'm meeting with them on Monday. We are not going to let people not have access to books. I wish they hadn't publicly raised quite such an alarm. I have already apologized to them that they felt they had to do that. They are going to be fine. Their funding is going to be stable. COVID has changed so many of our timelines around these kinds of journeys. I'm totally on top of this, and we have conveyed that. I'm meeting with them on Monday.
5:10 p.m.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Sean Casey
Thank you, Ms. Dancho and Minister.
The last questioner is Mr. Vaughan, please, for five minutes.
5:10 p.m.
Liberal
Adam Vaughan Liberal Spadina—Fort York, ON
Thank you.
Just to be clear, compassionate grounds is a grounds for exemption under the program if CBSA agrees. Is that not right?
5:10 p.m.
Liberal
Carla Qualtrough Liberal Delta, BC
Yes, but then they wouldn't have been put into quarantine. I guess what I'm saying is—
5:10 p.m.
Liberal
Carla Qualtrough Liberal Delta, BC
There are for sure, yes. I guess what I was saying was that, for us, the system looks at who's been told they have to quarantine. If you've been told you have to quarantine, you're not eligible for those two weeks, but if you have been told you don't have to—
5:10 p.m.
Liberal
Adam Vaughan Liberal Spadina—Fort York, ON
Got it. I just wanted to establish that there are compassionate grounds.