Industry Committee on May 11th, 2020

[Michelle Rempel, Conservative, Calgary Nose Hill, AB]

No, they did come from these organizations, Minister. The WHO put that out on March 13.

[Steven Guilbeault, Liberal, Laurier—Sainte-Marie, QC]

They did not come from la Société de l'Acadie du Nouveau-Brunswick, la Fédération professionnelle des journalistes du Québec or the Institute for Canadian Citizenship.

[The Chair, Liberal, Sherry Romanado]

That is all the time for this round.

[Michelle Rempel, Conservative, Calgary Nose Hill, AB]

Are they now in charge of what coronavirus information is?

[The Chair, Liberal, Sherry Romanado]

MP Rempel Garner, that is the end of that round.

Our next five-minute round of questions goes to MP Hutchings.

[Gudie Hutchings, Liberal, Long Range Mountains, NL]

Thank you, Madam Chair.

Minister, thank you for being with me tonight. I, too, live in a province where culture, heritage and tradition are very strong and important, here on the east coast in my riding of Long Range Mountains in Newfoundland and Labrador. We, too, as all Canadians, recognize how important arts, culture, sports and heritage are in the lives of our artists, creators and athletes. They keep us united more than ever.

Can you bring us up to date on some of the measures that you are taking to support them through this COVID crisis?

[Steven Guilbeault, Liberal, Laurier—Sainte-Marie, QC]

There are a number of things that we've done very early on. When the crisis started, one of the things that Canadian Heritage announced—it's the same with the Canada Council for the Arts—was that we would honour our existing agreements with organizations for events that were planned, whether or not these events took place. What we told organizations was that, within reason, they could use the funds from the federal government to compensate some of the losses related to COVID-19.

We have accelerated the deployment of existing programs. Also, what we wanted to make sure of was that broader economic measures that were adopted by the federal government would be accessible for arts, cultural and sports organizations. We wanted to make sure that if an author receives a copyright cheque, it doesn't disqualify him from being able to apply for the CERB. As an author myself, and as someone who receives very small copyright cheques every now and then from my editor, that's never for money you've made in the last 14 days. It's for money you made six months ago, or a year or a year and a half ago.

We made sure that the more economy-wide programs we had were well adjusted and adapted to the arts and culture sector. On top of that, we've announced this $500-million emergency aid package to help where more help is needed.

[Gudie Hutchings, Liberal, Long Range Mountains, NL]

Great.

Minister, many organizations in my riding are reaching out as they're facing great uncertainty, just as they are all across the country. If their festival, their event, is cancelled, are they going to lose their funding? I think you've indicated that you're going to accept and look after them. At this time, when the new round of funding comes open, will you be accepting new applications?

[Steven Guilbeault, Liberal, Laurier—Sainte-Marie, QC]

Absolutely—

[Gudie Hutchings, Liberal, Long Range Mountains, NL]

I have another question for you, Minister. I've had many questions from groups, especially musicians, about how they have cultural festivals. Would their funding be able to help them if their event is cancelled due to COVID-19? Would they be able to move that funding and use it to help them do a virtual event?

[Steven Guilbeault, Liberal, Laurier—Sainte-Marie, QC]

The answer to your first question—I almost interrupted you, my apologies—is yes, absolutely. Our programs are going ahead. Grants and contributions are continuing to happen within Canadian Heritage.

On the second part of your question, the answer is yes. One of the things we are doing is showing the maximum flexibility that we can within our current programs. They weren't designed for the COVID-19 pandemic, so we have to adapt them as quickly as possible and give the flexibility that our partner organizations need to make it through this crisis.

[Gudie Hutchings, Liberal, Long Range Mountains, NL]

Great. Thank you, Minister. Don't worry about interrupting me. I speak a little too fast. It's another tradition of the east coast.

Minister, it's so important at this time that people get their information from a reputable source. We've all heard of fake news. What advice do you give Canadians on how to make sure of the information they are getting on COVID-19, in terms of what they need to do, what they should be doing and where they should be going, is accurate?

[Steven Guilbeault, Liberal, Laurier—Sainte-Marie, QC]

If there is one piece of advice I would give Canadians, it's to go to trusted news information. Go to your local, regional, provincial and federal health care agencies to get the best possible information. We've seen all sorts of things on the web, many of them, unfortunately, misleading or simply wrong regarding COVID-19. It's important that people verify the source and verify the information they're getting.

[Gudie Hutchings, Liberal, Long Range Mountains, NL]

That's great. Thank you so much.

[Steven Guilbeault, Liberal, Laurier—Sainte-Marie, QC]

It's just like doctors, I guess. Get a second opinion.

[Gudie Hutchings, Liberal, Long Range Mountains, NL]

That's right. Thank you so much, Minister.

Madam Chair, thank you so much.

[The Chair, Liberal, Sherry Romanado]

Thank you very much, Ms. Hutchings.

We will begin the next round of questioning.

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

[Sébastien Lemire, Bloc, Abitibi—Témiscamingue, QC]

Thank you, Madam Chair.

First of all, I would like to mention that I find it unfortunate that Minister Monsef left the meeting before all the opposition parties had a chance to get through the three rounds allocated to them. However, I will still ask my question.

There's $750 million for the Broadband Fund. There is $1.5 billion for the Connect to Innovate program. That's a total budget of $2.5 billion, essentially to connect all Canadians.

What is the ratio so far between private money and public money for currently funded projects?

[Steven Guilbeault, Liberal, Laurier—Sainte-Marie, QC]

I thank the member for Abitibi--Témistamingue for his question.

I'll be pleased to forward this question to my colleagues Ms. Monsef and Mr. Bains. As you know, this does not fall under the purview of the Minister of Canadian Heritage.

[Sébastien Lemire, Bloc, Abitibi—Témiscamingue, QC]

The deputy minister is present and may be able to answer the question.

The document provided by the Department of Finance talks about innovating to build a better Canada. Since the creation of the Connect to Innovate program in 2016, the federal government has leveraged $554 million from the private sector and other levels of government, which has funded 180 projects to date.

Is the private sector making a concrete contribution to this? Has it injected new money into this area? What are we waiting for to get to the $8 billion that is required? Will the federal government have to make investments to get the private sector to do the same?

[Steven Guilbeault, Liberal, Laurier—Sainte-Marie, QC]

Again, I'm not able to answer that question.

Can the deputy minister answer the question, if he is still present?

[Simon Kennedy, Deputy Minister, Department of Industry]

Yes, I'm ready to answer questions.

The share of private sector investment depends on the project. For the private sector, it is more difficult to invest in some projects because communities are remote from their network, among other things. I can say, however, that the ratio for the most recent program, Connect to Innovate, is about one to one, one dollar from the private sector and one dollar from the government.

My colleague is online and she knows the technical details, if you want to have a more in-depth discussion about it.

[Sébastien Lemire, Bloc, Abitibi—Témiscamingue, QC]

In the first round of questions, the minister mentioned that he could not answer my question. Can I take up that time again to ask a sub-question, Madam Chair?

[The Chair, Liberal, Sherry Romanado]

I'm sorry, your time is up, Mr. Lemire.

Mr. Masse, you have the floor for two and a half minutes during this next round of questions.

[Brian Masse, NDP, Windsor West, ON]

Thank you, Madam Chair.

Minister Guilbeault, this continues my questioning with regard to your cabinet decision. You're aware that you've raised $3.47 billion in spectrum auctions since you've been elected. You were at cabinet. You're scheduled, budgeted, to spend $170 million of that for the Canadian connectivity program. At the same time, you'll be spending significantly right now for arts and culture in Canada, including important connections to communities like mine, with over 300 years of francophone cultural connection that we're extremely proud of. We're also faced with the United States bombarding us with their media sources.

What do you say to those Canadians who have to wait for another 10 years for connectivity when your government is pocketing the lion's share of the $3.47 billion in spectrum auction that you received, and at the same time you're going to be rolling out programs for arts and culture in Canada that will have to wait, for a good majority of Canadians in rural and remote areas, and that in some areas will very expensive to access, because the rates are so high? Why is that acceptable?