Human Resources Committee on Nov. 24th, 2020

[Jamie Schmale, Conservative, Haliburton—Kawartha Lakes—Brock, ON]

Is that okay with the chair? Some of it was robotic. Peter Kent's waving too.

Maybe restate just that last little bit, as it just went silent, if that's okay with you, Mr. Chair.

[The Chair, Liberal, Sean Casey]

Yes, by all means. I'm not having any trouble with the sound quality, but if you are, you want to hear your answer.

Go ahead, Mr. Robertson.

[Gary Robertson]

Again, my apologies.

My understanding is that, year-to-date, and that goes up to the end of September as that's when we most recently tracked, the number of bankruptcies that we've had is 186 versus 223 in the same period last year. That represents 83%, so that's fewer bankruptcies than normal. However, during that same period, the number of individuals associated with those bankruptcies went from 7,900 last year to over 9,000 this year, so the number of individuals who have benefited from the WEPP has gone up by 15%.

What I want to say is that last year, which we're comparing it to, was an unusual year. We had very high volumes last year, so the volume to date is about 1.5 times our normal annual volume.

[Jamie Schmale, Conservative, Haliburton—Kawartha Lakes—Brock, ON]

Okay. It must be my computer if everyone else is hearing okay.

Can you tell us, if you have these figures handy, how much money has been paid out to cover the outstanding wages to employees as a result of COVID-19 shutdowns?

[Gary Robertson]

I don't have the exact number. I will turn to Brenda in case she does. What I do know is that the average payment is between $4,000 and $4,500, but she might have the precise number.

Brenda, is there any chance that this is the case?

[Jamie Schmale, Conservative, Haliburton—Kawartha Lakes—Brock, ON]

I'm sorry, sir. I did not hear a word you said, and Peter is waving his hand, too. Peter Kent is saying that he can't hear either.

[A voice]

Me too.

[Gary Robertson]

Okay, so, I'm going to try again. I had stated—and, again, I apologize that I don't have the precise total number—that I do believe that the average payment for the individuals who have accessed it is somewhere between $4,000 and $4,500 each.

Brenda, if you could confirm that, it would be helpful.

[Brenda Baxter]

The total that's been paid out as of September 30, 2020, for the fiscal year is just over $29 million to recipients. This is monies that were owed to them.

[Jamie Schmale, Conservative, Haliburton—Kawartha Lakes—Brock, ON]

Thank you.

Can you tell us how the shutdown of Service Canada during the early months of the pandemic affected the clarity of information required by employees in order to apply for the WEPP?

[Gary Robertson]

I can comment that it actually wasn't a large challenge for us with regard to this particular program. Service Canada does manage it on our behalf, but what happens is that the bankruptcy folks or trustees actually administer most of the calculations. They provide the packages in final format to Service Canada, and then they process it.

We have a service standard of 35 days. This year, we're meeting it 99% of the time, so we're feeling like the payment frequency and timeliness is pretty high this year, even though the volume of individual applicants has gone up.

[The Chair, Liberal, Sean Casey]

Mr. Schmale, you're out of time, but you had some technical difficulties, so please ask one more question if you have another.

[Jamie Schmale, Conservative, Haliburton—Kawartha Lakes—Brock, ON]

Thank you.

Yes, I will. I just had technical difficulties on that last little piece, but I was able to read your lips and I think I got my answer. I don't know about anyone else who might not be watching on Zoom, CPAC or another platform.

About Service Canada and its closures, I think many MPs across Canada had to pick up where Service Canada left off when they shut down. Can you give us a number, if you're aware, for how many Service Canada offices are still closed?

[Gary Robertson]

I don't have that information. It's not something we manage within the labour program.

In the unlikely event that either Elisha or Mark happens to be aware, I might turn to them.

[Mark Perlman]

Yes, I can answer that.

Out of the 317 Service Canada centres, 300 are now open, and we currently have plans under way to reopen the remainder.

The whole intent or the purpose is to make sure we're opening them safely with the right social distancing, personal protective equipment and guard services to manage the traffic in and out to ensure that the safety of our employees as well as our clients is maintained.

[Jamie Schmale, Conservative, Haliburton—Kawartha Lakes—Brock, ON]

I need a headset like that. That was clear as a bell.

Thank you, everyone.

[The Chair, Liberal, Sean Casey]

Thanks for hanging in there, Mr. Schmale.

Mr. Dong, you have five minutes.

[Han Dong, Liberal, Don Valley North, ON]

Thank you very much, Mr. Chair.

I also would like to thank all the witnesses for joining us tonight.

I listened, and I heard you say that the safety and well-being of our employees are very important. That's true. In my riding, I reached out to employers and workers on the front line during this COVID pandemic. I have heard that they are being very innovative, following the rules, protecting their employees, social distancing, allowing employees to work from home and supporting their work at home, which is great, but it's still very challenging.

With regard to the Canadian Centre for Occupational Health and Safety, can you tell us the steps you've taken that speak directly to the concerns of Canadian workers and employers, especially during COVID? Nobody was really prepared for it, so everything had to be learned and executed in a rather quick fashion. Could you tell us some of the steps you've taken?

[Gary Robertson]

I can. What I should do is be clear. While I am currently the acting deputy minister of the labour program, in addition to that and separate from that, I also happen to be the chair of the council for CCOHS. It's from that perspective that I'll respond.

What I would say is that they have undertaken a significant amount of work to ensure that people were well positioned to respond, again, in all sectors and across all jurisdictions within Canada. They've issued a large number of tipsheets. They have a significant amount of training material that they've released for free, which is normally for a charge. I can tell you it's running into the hundreds of thousands of dollars, but there's not a person on council who has a concern with that. It's understood what a benefit it is to workers across the country.

They've advised a number of folks, including the court systems across Canada, on their reopening so that they could do those successfully. I think we will have all noted that this happened without too many hiccups, which was quite great. They've also established MOUs with a number of organizations, such as PHAC, so that they can operationalize information that's of a public health nature in an employment context.

[Rosemarie Falk, Conservative, Battlefords—Lloydminster, SK]

I have a point of order, Mr. Chair. I'm having a very hard time hearing the answer. It's very choppy and coming in and out. I don't think I could say that I heard any of his answer.

[The Chair, Liberal, Sean Casey]

This is strange. The clerk tells me that in the room they're not having any trouble. For me, it's clear as a bell.

[Jamie Schmale, Conservative, Haliburton—Kawartha Lakes—Brock, ON]

I'm in the same boat. It's choppy.

[Leah Gazan, NDP, Winnipeg Centre, MB]

I can't hear either, Mr. Chair.

[Adam Vaughan, Liberal, Spadina—Fort York, ON]

It's bouncing in and out. It's sounds like an open channel.

[The Chair, Liberal, Sean Casey]

Okay.