Industry Committee on April 23rd, 2020

[Mary Ng, Liberal, Markham—Thornhill, ON]

Absolutely. My colleague the health minister works regularly with her international partners, as does the chief medical officer of health, who was part of the World Health Organization's advisory team, and we are looking at practices. We are also making sure that, across all regions in Canada, job number one is to make sure that we are stopping the spread of COVID-19, while supporting businesses during this time so they have the best possible opportunity to restart.

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

Minister, is the government studying other models in order to open the economy?

[Mary Ng, Liberal, Markham—Thornhill, ON]

With respect to studying other models, I think that question is better put to my colleague the health minister and the chief medical officer of health. Of course, we are working as a whole-of-government approach, and our focus has absolutely been on making sure that our businesses right now are supported through this very difficult time so we can help them be fine for that recovery when it is safe to do so.

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

The other question I have is about working with your provincial counterparts for testing. It's really important that we move essential health equipment such as test kits interprovincially, and that we ramp up testing with the provinces where they need it most. Is your government working with the provincial counterparts to make sure that the supply chains remain open, that the testing is happening across the country, and that the tests get to where they are needed most as quickly as possible?

[Mary Ng, Liberal, Markham—Thornhill, ON]

I think that testing question is best suited for my colleague, the health minister.

[The Chair, Liberal, Sherry Romanado]

Thank you, Minister.

Unfortunately, that's the end of your time, MP Gray.

The next five-minute round will go to MP Ehsassi.

[Ali Ehsassi, Liberal, Willowdale, ON]

Thank you, Madam Chair.

Thank you, Minister, for appearing before our committee. I want to thank you and your officials for working tirelessly over the course of the past month, and for having made changes to certain programs once you heard from various members across the country.

Allow me to start off with the first question that was put to you. There was an attempt by one of the members to perhaps imply that you like the situation we're currently in. I know, given your background and experience, that you certainly appreciate the hardship that businesses are going through, but you don't want to act in a reckless manner. You know it's important that our government collaborate with the provinces and municipalities and that we take the best advice from public health officials.

Unlike what the member was implying, would it be fair to say that you're very much concerned about all the hardships that businesses are going through at this point?

[Mary Ng, Liberal, Markham—Thornhill, ON]

Thank you very much for that question.

Absolutely. This is an unprecedented circumstance, and it is very difficult on so many people across the country. I have personally talked to many, and my teams have talked to many—into the thousands. There is no question that this is absolutely hard. Everything we are doing is to try to help them weather this unprecedented time.

I would also reference a quote from the president of the Business Council of Canada, whose president represents many Canadian businesses. He says, “Moving too quickly risks a resurgence of the virus, setting back the health of Canadians and the economic recovery.”

We're guided by science and medical advice. Job one here is to stop and slow the spread of this disease. In doing so, we need to support our businesses. We need to support the smallest of our businesses, those entrepreneurs who have spent their lives creating that opportunity. As an immigrant myself, who came to this country and grew up in exactly one of those businesses, I understand not only how hard it is but also that this hard work is your life's work.

So, what are we trying to do? We're trying to save jobs and businesses. We're trying to help Canadians through this, and we're helping. What we need to do is take the advice to make sure we're doing it in a way that keeps Canadians safe and continues to keep Canadians safe.

[Ali Ehsassi, Liberal, Willowdale, ON]

Obviously, we all appreciate how important entrepreneurs and start-ups are. This is really a time for innovative thinking. A lot of them are at the intersection of science and technology, and it's imperative that we provide them with the necessary tools. Could you tell me what you're doing to assist entrepreneurs and start-ups?

[Mary Ng, Liberal, Markham—Thornhill, ON]

Absolutely. When we heard at the very beginning that the wage subsidy, for example, was not covering companies that are starting up but also have employees, we changed that. The revenue reduction threshold was not something they could show, comparing this year to last year, because they're new. They can now use January-February as the baseline for this year. That's for newer businesses, but those innovative, high-growth start-up businesses also need our support.

Just a few days ago, the Prime Minister announced that we are helping those high-growth, innovative start-up businesses to get the support they need to weather this period through the industrial research assistance program. It's a $270-million program. A component of that also goes to young entrepreneurs, because we know that those very young entrepreneurs are also part of those innovative businesses.

[Ali Ehsassi, Liberal, Willowdale, ON]

Minister, allow me to echo what MP Gray said. I have heard from a few businesses that would have qualified for the Canada emergency business account but for one factor. That was that they didn't have pre-existing business accounts. I would therefore be grateful if you could kindly look into that so that we could provide assistance to those businesses as well.

[Mary Ng, Liberal, Markham—Thornhill, ON]

You have my commitment to look into that. Thank you.

[The Chair, Liberal, Sherry Romanado]

Thank you very much.

That is the end of your five minutes, Mr. Ehsassi.

Minister, I know you said that you could stay a little bit past 12 o'clock. Are you able to continue to stay?

[Mary Ng, Liberal, Markham—Thornhill, ON]

I am told by my team that I must get on to the next commitment. I apologize for that.

Madam Chair, I want to thank you and all the members on the committee. How wonderful it is to be back at INDU. Before being the minister, I served on INDU. I actually served with a number of people here on the committee. It's really nice being back at INDU and talking to all of my colleagues.

Thank you so much.

[The Chair, Liberal, Sherry Romanado]

Thank you, Minister.

I understand that also joining us are Emmanuel Kamarianakis, the director general for investment and innovation, and Kendal Hembroff, the director general for trade negotiations.

We will continue along. We have the departmental officials with us.

The next five-minute round goes to Mr. Dreeshen.

Mr. Dreeshen, can you hear me?

[Earl Dreeshen, Conservative, Red Deer—Mountain View, AB]

Yes, I can hear you. That's much better.

[The Chair, Liberal, Sherry Romanado]

You have five minutes, sir.

[Earl Dreeshen, Conservative, Red Deer—Mountain View, AB]

Thank you very much.

I believe I will be speaking to the deputy minister. I have just a few points.

As to why it's so important to have a relaunch strategy, we're seeing some small businesses in the downtowns of some of these small communities where everything has been shut down. Meanwhile, if you go into a larger community, all the box stores are busy. People are in there. They are buying things that typically would have been for sale in our small communities. This is why it's so important to get a relaunch strategy sorted out.

I come from a rural part of Canada. We know that there's a difference when you have places where the density is much higher. I think that's really critical. These small businesses know how to do the social distancing. They know the isolation methods and so on. Unfortunately, they're not being given a chance. Quite frankly, some of the measures that have been put forward are so difficult for them to be able to survive through. That's one of the key points I wanted to talk about.

Again, with regard to some of the discussions that the government has had, I know that last week the government made a commitment to expand access to credit for small and medium oil and gas companies across Canada. So far, no dollar amount has been provided, nor has there been any discussion of the financial mechanisms that the government plans to use in this regard. We know how serious an issue this is for small and medium enterprises here in my home province of Alberta. Billions of dollars of investment have left because of other things that have taken place in government over the last five years, but right now the situation is even more dire and desperate.

When can this vital sector of Canada's economy expect the government to follow through on its commitment of last week to provide tangible liquidity assistance? I'm not just asking what agencies or departments will be providing the interest. Small and medium enterprises need to know when this liquidity help will come and how much help they can expect to see at that point in time.

[Simon Kennedy, Deputy Minister, Department of Industry]

Madam Chair, I think that question is probably best directed towards the finance minister. My understanding is that the BDC is working with financial institutions on the oil and gas package.

I don't know whether my colleagues who are with me today would wish to add more, but I'm not in a position at the moment to provide you with a specific timeline. We're not leading that. That's being done by our other colleagues. However, we all understand the urgency.

I don't know if others on the line wish to weigh in—

[Earl Dreeshen, Conservative, Red Deer—Mountain View, AB]

That's great, but perhaps you could let me interject for a moment. I think when everyone hears “oil and gas”, they think it's about big companies and so on. Quite frankly, it's about a lot of small companies, about service rigs and everything else associated with that. Those are the ones that are really suffering at this particular point in time. The big oil and gas companies that people like to talk about and demonize all the time have opportunities to go to other places in the world. That isn't the case with the service rigs and the service facilities we have here. Those are the small and medium businesses we're talking about.

Yes, there are some loans that you can have. You can take a look at what you might be able to do with some of your employees. I just want to make sure that the small business department understands the significance of those particular businesses and the stress they're under.

[Simon Kennedy]

Madam Chair, I thank the honourable member for the intervention.

We are well aware of those issues. We are certainly working with our colleagues at BDC, the financial Crown corporations, and I would say more generally with the finance ministry and the other central agencies, to make sure that the small business perspective is brought to the table and that those issues are considered in the design of those programs.

I think the honourable member makes a good point, and we're very alive to that.

[Earl Dreeshen, Conservative, Red Deer—Mountain View, AB]

Thank you very much.

The second question I want to speak to you about has to do with agriculture. Sometimes people will just slough it off to the agriculture department, but quite frankly, it is small business. They are the great entrepreneurs that we have in the country.

The Canadian Federation of Agriculture called on the federal government to prioritize Canada's agri-food system to ensure that the food supply chain remains secure and reliable. The CFA also stressed that there should be an emergency fund set up to help farmers and agri-food businesses cope. Even at that, on Monday the G20 agriculture ministers pledged to co-operate closely and to take concrete actions to safeguard global food security and supply.

[The Chair, Liberal, Sherry Romanado]

Mr. Dreeshen, I'm sorry, but unfortunately that's your round of five minutes.

[Earl Dreeshen, Conservative, Red Deer—Mountain View, AB]

Okay, thank you so much.

[The Chair, Liberal, Sherry Romanado]

Our next round of five minutes goes to MP Lambropoulos.