Industry Committee on April 29th, 2020

[Tracy Gray, Conservative, Kelowna—Lake Country, BC]

Minister, for this plan that you're putting together, what date will you be disclosing this plan you're working on?

[Mélanie Joly, Liberal, Ahuntsic-Cartierville, QC]

I didn't mention a definite plan. I think—

[Tracy Gray, Conservative, Kelowna—Lake Country, BC]

Are you not working on a plan for tourism?

[Mélanie Joly, Liberal, Ahuntsic-Cartierville, QC]

That's not what I said. I said that I'm having conversations and we're really making sure that the existing measures can apply.

What I can also tell you is that I had a conversation, and I don't think it's public, with the G20 ministers of tourism last Friday. Tourism is down by 45% as of now internationally, and we think that at the end of summer it will be down by 70%, so this is definitely an industry that is deeply affected. We'll have to make sure that we take that into account when we're talking about recovery.

[Tracy Gray, Conservative, Kelowna—Lake Country, BC]

Thank you, Minister. It would be really great to know if you're working on a plan, especially with tourism. Ensuring that the government does its job to make sure that the provinces have enough ventilators, PPE and testing kits, so that they can have accurate information and so that businesses can better prepare as we reopen our economy will be very important.

Minister—

[Mélanie Joly, Liberal, Ahuntsic-Cartierville, QC]

If you have ideas for a plan, please feel free. It would be great to have a conversation about it and to hear your ideas would be important.

[Tracy Gray, Conservative, Kelowna—Lake Country, BC]

As you've said, you've been speaking to a lot of people in the tourism industry. I've seen lots of correspondence forwarded from many people in the industry, so I'm sure you've had lots of communication as well.

Minister Joly, I want to let you know about a specific example where your measures for tourism operators are really falling through the cracks. In my riding, Pedego electric bike rental in Oyama, owned by Sheila and Murray Fraser, and A Vista Villa, which is a beautiful bed and breakfast in Kelowna owned by Sherry Cote, have something in common: They rely on tourism. They've recently invested in capital expenditures and they're both not eligible for the Canada emergency business loan because they did not have $20,000 in payroll last year. They pay themselves, but they're not part of a payroll system.

We know that your government is well aware of this. I questioned the Minister of Small Business last week on this. As the minister responsible for tourism, are you going to fix this requirement?

[Mélanie Joly, Liberal, Ahuntsic-Cartierville, QC]

I think you could tell Sherry and your other constituents to have a conversation with Western Economic Diversification in Kelowna. I think it's worth it. That's why we came up with funding, and I think this could definitely be another tool in their tool box as they're trying to find—

[Tracy Gray, Conservative, Kelowna—Lake Country, BC]

What I'm hearing you say, if I'm hearing you correctly, is that your government is not looking at amending this. You're looking at them applying for a different program other than this. They won't be able to apply for this particular program.

[Mélanie Joly, Liberal, Ahuntsic-Cartierville, QC]

Tracy, I don't think there's an issue with translation.

What I am telling you is that it would be great for them to have access to another option, and of course, they can have a conversation with WD. Being the member for Kelowna, having at heart the interests of your constituents, I think providing that information to them will help them, because people are going through anxious times and we're here to calm their anxieties.

[Tracy Gray, Conservative, Kelowna—Lake Country, BC]

Great, thank you for that information.

I have a couple of questions for Minister Bibeau, if I may.

Under the regulatory reconciliation and co-operation table work plan set out by the Canadian Free Trade Agreement, the federal-provincial standardization of food and meat inspection regarding abattoirs is due to be completed in 2020. One of the concerns raised in the table is the high cost and the amount of time it takes to register a meat processing abattoir federally so that it can export interprovincially. Can you confirm if this specific issue has been resolved?

[The Chair, Liberal, Sherry Romanado]

Unfortunately, MP Gray, that's all the time we have.

The next round of questions goes to MP Lambropoulos.

You have five minutes.

[Emmanuella Lambropoulos, Liberal, Saint-Laurent, QC]

Good evening.

First, I would like to thank Minister Bibeau and Minister Joly for joining us this evening to answer our questions.

My first question goes to Minister Bibeau.

A number of people in my constituency are not able to take advantage of the Canada emergency response benefit and the programs that the government has established. These are vulnerable people and they need help with food. Moisson Montréal and a number of food banks in my constituency are trying to provide food to the most vulnerable.

Can you tell us which programs or measures your department has established to provide food aid?

[Marie-Claude Bibeau, Liberal, Compton—Stanstead, QC]

Yes, food banks have been particularly affected by the arrival of COVID-19. In addition to having to face an increased demand, they have lost a lot of volunteers, because they are often seniors.

We have established a fund of $100 million. Of the $70 million spent to date, $50 million has been turned over to the Food Banks Canada network. In Quebec, the money has mainly gone to the Food Banks of Québec, Second Harvest, Community Food Centres Canada and the Salvation Army.

We want to make sure that all regions are covered first. It is possible that a smaller organization may not yet be affiliated to one or other of those main partners. If the community in which it is located is already helped by one of those partners, however, we will recommend that it try to become associated with that partner. However, if we see that a community is not receiving assistance because of its location or its culture, we are going to make a particular effort to find an additional partner.

[Emmanuella Lambropoulos, Liberal, Saint-Laurent, QC]

Thank you very much.

Another major issue is protecting our workers in meat processing plants. Since an outbreak of COVID-19 can affect our food quality and Canadians' health, what measures has the government put in place to protect these workers?

[Marie-Claude Bibeau, Liberal, Compton—Stanstead, QC]

You are right to say that there are issues in some plants because the nature of these jobs puts workers very close to each other. In the beginning, before all the protective measures could be implemented, there was some contamination, yes.

Here is how it works in processing plants. It is the employer's responsibility to implement good protective measures, as recommended by the local public health agency, which is often a provincial entity. The Canadian Food Inspection Agency is only responsible for food safety. These three partners will obviously work together and share all the information required. We want to ensure that our inspectors at the agency are well protected and that they work in a safe environment.

Through various Canadian partnerships and funding to the provinces, initiatives have been launched to provide financial assistance to businesses so they can implement these measures to protect their workers.

[Emmanuella Lambropoulos, Liberal, Saint-Laurent, QC]

Thank you very much.

My last question is for you, Ms. Joly. As you have said, Madam Minister, tourism is...

I'm told my time is up, I am sorry.

[Mélanie Joly, Liberal, Ahuntsic-Cartierville, QC]

I will be happy to answer your questions later, Ms. Lambropoulos.

[The Chair, Liberal, Sherry Romanado]

Mr. Perron, you now have the floor for two and a half minutes.

[Yves Perron, Bloc, Berthier—Maskinongé, QC]

Good evening, everyone.

I'd like to thank the witnesses and the ministers for being here.

Not surprisingly, I am going to address Minister Bibeau once again.

Ms. Bibeau, I want to come back to the ratification of the Canada-US-Mexico Agreement, or CUSMA. Today, dairy producers and processors issued a news release reminding us that they had received a formal promise that CUSMA would not come into force before August 1. However, a few days ago we all learned that it will take effect on July 1.

The producers are anticipating significant losses. Once again the dairy industry is being sacrificed repeatedly, and we could have waited a few days before ratifying the agreement. I am telling you this because I want to talk about compensation. An initial instalment was made to dairy producers. In general, however, promises are made, commitments are made, but the producers have not seen the money they were promised.

In the current context and with the motion we passed on March 13, you now have the opportunity to release funds and provide compensation for 2020 and 2021 to supply-managed sectors that were sacrificed in trade agreements. Do you intend to do that?

[Marie-Claude Bibeau, Liberal, Compton—Stanstead, QC]

Thank you for your suggestion.

You know that the dairy sector is of particular concern to me because there are hundreds of dairy farmers in my riding. You also know how the free trade agreement with the United States is a much broader trade issue. This agreement allows us to stabilize and revitalize the entire trade partnership with the United States and ensure that our food supply chains with the United States are maintained. We can see how important that is right now.

On the subject of compensation, the commitment to the dairy sector is clear. The first payment has been made. You will understand that we are devoting all our energy to the hardest-hit sectors. We have a firm commitment to poultry and egg producers. We will come back to that when we get our heads above water and we have been able to help the sectors that are hardest hit.

[Yves Perron, Bloc, Berthier—Maskinongé, QC]

Based on your answer, it is not at all part of the plan. I would point out, Minister, that this is a golden opportunity to inject money into a sector that is suffering greatly from the COVID-19 crisis. Any way to inject money is a good way. There is a lot of talk about providing loans.

[The Chair, Liberal, Sherry Romanado]

I am sorry, sir. Your time is up.

[Yves Perron, Bloc, Berthier—Maskinongé, QC]

Two and a half minutes is not very long. I am just going to finish up.

We must not increase debt, but we must invest in farms.

[The Chair, Liberal, Sherry Romanado]

Thank you very much.

Our next round of questions goes to MP Masse.

You have two and half minutes.