Evidence of meeting #9 for Industry, Science and Technology in the 43rd Parliament, 1st Session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was businesses.

A recording is available from Parliament.

On the agenda

MPs speaking

Also speaking

Clerk of the Committee  Mr. Michael MacPherson
Simon Kennedy  Deputy Minister, Department of Industry
Paul Thompson  Associate Deputy Minister, Department of Industry
Emmanuel Kamarianakis  Director General, Investment and Innovation, Department of Foreign Affairs, Trade and Development
Kendal Hembroff  Director General, Trade Negotiations, Global Affairs Canada

12:30 p.m.

Liberal

Emmanuella Lambropoulos Liberal Saint-Laurent, QC

Thank you so much, Madam Chair.

I'd like to thank all the officials for being with us today to answer our questions, as well as the minister, who is no longer here, but that's okay.

I would like to first let you know that I have heard from a lot of the small businesses in my riding. I have very many of them. Many of them are really happy with a lot of the supports that have been put in place. I'd like to also thank you for all the hard work you've been doing behind the scenes. I'm sure that right now is a hectic period for all of you.

These small businesses obviously are going through a lot, and yes, what we've put in place has helped them until now, but they're obviously uncertain of what the future holds, as we all are. They're wondering what other supports will be available to them once the $40,000 loan, for example, has been used up.

Are we considering giving a second loan of that amount? Are we considering other measures to put in place in order to help support these small businesses?

12:30 p.m.

Deputy Minister, Department of Industry

Simon Kennedy

Madam Chair, I might suggest, if it's okay, that my colleague Paul Thompson speak to this. He's been doing a lot of work on the small business issue, including with our financial Crown corporations, so I'll turn it over to him.

12:30 p.m.

Paul Thompson Associate Deputy Minister, Department of Industry

Thank you very much for the question.

As my colleague Simon indicated, we're working very closely with small business owners and stakeholders to get feedback on the measures that are rolling out. We, of course, have talked about the Canada emergency business account. There are the two other loan programs through the Crown agencies, the EDC loan guarantee and the BDC co-lending program, which, combined, provide up to $12.5 million in additional lending possibilities for small businesses.

There's also the rent relief package, which would be the closest thing to new measures coming up that I would flag.

We're continuing to monitor the situation with lots of feedback coming in from stakeholders.

12:35 p.m.

Liberal

Emmanuella Lambropoulos Liberal Saint-Laurent, QC

You just mentioned the rent relief. Obviously, that's one of the biggest issues they have, being able to keep up with their payments.

What's the likelihood of being able to come up with an agreement with the provinces on this? What are the chances that they actually get the support they need with regard to their rent?

12:35 p.m.

Associate Deputy Minister, Department of Industry

Paul Thompson

As Minister Ng indicated, this is an area of shared responsibility with the provinces, so it is dependent on landing agreements with the provinces. There are very extensive efforts under way to do that, with full appreciation of the urgency with respect to May 1 and normal rent payment deadlines. This is just to say that both orders of government are seized with this issue and are working very hard.

12:35 p.m.

Liberal

Emmanuella Lambropoulos Liberal Saint-Laurent, QC

Okay, thank you very much.

Last but not least, I have a question about international trade. Obviously, we have a problem with getting the equipment that we need in our hospitals. We're trying to turn that inwards and make sure that our own Canadian industries are able to come up with the amount of equipment that we need, but obviously we still rely on our international partners.

What efforts have been made to make sure that we are still getting the equipment necessary from other countries that have [Technical difficulty—Editor]?

12:35 p.m.

Emmanuel Kamarianakis Director General, Investment and Innovation, Department of Foreign Affairs, Trade and Development

Madam Chair, it's Emmanuel Kamarianakis from Global Affairs.

We have been working closely with our trade commissioner service and we have repurposed them in a way to focus away from supporting exporters and toward finding supply chains that we can access to feed our domestic production and also acquire goods. We're working closely with our colleagues at PSPC, PHAC and Health Canada to make sure we have connections to the right suppliers and are matching what the need is with what the supply is locally.

12:35 p.m.

Liberal

Emmanuella Lambropoulos Liberal Saint-Laurent, QC

Okay, thank you very much.

Madam Chair, I'm sorry, I haven't been checking my time. Do you know how much I have left?

12:35 p.m.

Liberal

The Chair Liberal Sherry Romanado

You have one minute.

12:35 p.m.

Liberal

Emmanuella Lambropoulos Liberal Saint-Laurent, QC

Thank you very much.

In my riding, I also have one of the big companies, CAE, which is providing ventilators. It is working as part of the chain of companies that are providing ventilators to the Government of Canada.

There are many companies that have gone through the process but have not yet received a response. They are trying to provide equipment to our hospitals but have not yet received a response from the Government of Canada. What is the process to make sure that these companies are considered once they apply?

12:35 p.m.

Deputy Minister, Department of Industry

Simon Kennedy

Madam Chair, I can answer that question.

Briefly, we have had about 5,000 companies come through the ISED process. We have been really delighted and floored with the response from industry.

We have put in place a fairly sophisticated system to screen all the folks who come in, and we have called every single company back and have had a conversation with them. We've had a couple of hundred move on to the procurement stage.

12:35 p.m.

Liberal

The Chair Liberal Sherry Romanado

Mr. Kennedy, I'm sorry, but that's the time for that round.

We will now move to our two and a half minute round.

Mr. Savard-Tremblay, you have two and a half minutes.

12:35 p.m.

Bloc

Simon-Pierre Savard-Tremblay Bloc Saint-Hyacinthe—Bagot, QC

Thank you, Madam Chair.

I have a business question for the witnesses. We're talking about small and medium-sized businesses, which often export a great deal.

To your knowledge, have several countries implemented export restrictions on essential goods?

12:35 p.m.

Deputy Minister, Department of Industry

Simon Kennedy

I think that Mr. Kamarianakis from Global Affairs is in the best position to answer this question.

Certainly some countries have implemented restrictions.

I'll leave the floor to my colleagues.

12:40 p.m.

Director General, Investment and Innovation, Department of Foreign Affairs, Trade and Development

Emmanuel Kamarianakis

Okay. Thank you, Mr. Kennedy.

There are cases where countries have implemented restrictions. We're working with the people in our missions, embassies and consulates to coordinate and facilitate exports of the products needed for the networks in Canada. We're also monitoring developments in this area. We're in contact with our colleagues in the political and trade sectors to ensure that we have a model for keeping the supply chains open for Canada.

We're working on this on a daily basis.

12:40 p.m.

Bloc

Simon-Pierre Savard-Tremblay Bloc Saint-Hyacinthe—Bagot, QC

There has been a great deal of discussion about masks. We talked about them at this meeting. Could supply chains for other essential goods be disrupted to the point where shortages occur in other areas?

12:40 p.m.

Kendal Hembroff Director General, Trade Negotiations, Global Affairs Canada

Maybe I can address that question.

We have been tracking very closely the number of trade restrictions that countries have been taking in response to COVID-19. The vast majority of those measures to date have been in terms of essential medical items, but we've also seen a growing number of export restrictions placed on agriculture and agri-food.

12:40 p.m.

Bloc

Simon-Pierre Savard-Tremblay Bloc Saint-Hyacinthe—Bagot, QC

Perfect. Thank you.

Madam Chair, before I continue, can you tell me how much time I have left?

12:40 p.m.

Liberal

The Chair Liberal Sherry Romanado

You have 11 seconds left.

12:40 p.m.

Bloc

Simon-Pierre Savard-Tremblay Bloc Saint-Hyacinthe—Bagot, QC

Okay.

I want to thank the witnesses for their responses.

12:40 p.m.

Liberal

The Chair Liberal Sherry Romanado

The next two and a half minute question period goes to MP Johns.

12:40 p.m.

NDP

Gord Johns NDP Courtenay—Alberni, BC

Thank you very much.

We keep hearing the minister talk about small businesses and micro-businesses being a priority, but as I stated earlier, a recent poll through the B.C. Chamber of Commerce cites that 49% of small businesses with a staff of less than five aren't able to qualify for the current programs, CEBA or CERB.

I have an interesting one. It's around qualifying for the Canadian emergency bank account. Right now there is this bizarre clause which says that, if you are an entity owned by an individual holding public office, you are not eligible. This applies to school trustees, municipal councillors and mayors. I have a mayor in my riding who can't access it and needs it now. Was this an oversight? Clearly the only conflict that would be is whether you would want to sit on a school district board ever again if you can't access these federal programs, because they clearly have no influence over decision-making at the federal level.

12:40 p.m.

Associate Deputy Minister, Department of Industry

Paul Thompson

Perhaps I could take that question with respect to eligibility for the CEBA program, the Canada emergency business account. The eligibility exclusion you're referring to is for federal members of Parliament. It doesn't pertain to other—

12:40 p.m.

NDP

Gord Johns NDP Courtenay—Alberni, BC

That needs to be clarified on the website, because there are people who are not able to do that. They've gone to their lawyers and accountants and they've been advised not to apply based on that clause. If you could fix that, it would be a really important thing.

12:40 p.m.

Associate Deputy Minister, Department of Industry

Paul Thompson

We will certainly follow up.