Industry Committee on Nov. 24th, 2020

[Navdeep Bains, Liberal, Mississauga—Malton, ON]

The universal broadband fund has a couple of components. One is the rapid response initiative, which is designed for short-term projects to help support the communities most in need, and the program design creates flexibility. My colleague Minister Monsef is in charge of that fund, and she made a very clear commitment that the goal is to get those monies out as soon as possible so that we can support those communities.

[James Cumming, Conservative, Edmonton Centre, AB]

We have funds that were started earlier in your mandate and we have new funds announced. I think there are currently five funds that are dealing with broadband, and in particular with rural broadband. Would it not make some sense to have a more comprehensive strategy under one fund so that you could monitor results, make sure that Canadians are getting the connectivity that they want and simplify it for those suppliers?

[The Chair, Liberal, Sherry Romanado]

Be very quick.

[Navdeep Bains, Liberal, Mississauga—Malton, ON]

The goal is to leverage the different tools we have in our toolbox.

You are right that the CRTC has a fund in place. The Canada Infrastructure Bank is looking at this. We've put forward two meaningful programs. We've also made changes to the accelerated capital cost allowance to further accelerate investment. I'm confident that all of these initiatives together will enable us to reach the ambitious goals we've set and deal with the digital divide.

[The Chair, Liberal, Sherry Romanado]

Thank you, Minister.

I will remind MPs to please keep an eye on the cards. I want to make sure everyone gets their time.

Our next speaker is MP Duguid. You have the floor for six minutes.

[Terry Duguid, Liberal, Winnipeg South, MB]

Thank you, Madam Chair.

I want to thank the ministers for their excellent presentations and for being with us today.

My questions are for Minister Joly. As she will know, I'm a very proud westerner from Manitoba. No region of the country has been hit harder than the west—the provinces of Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Alberta and British Columbia.

I wonder if the minister could amplify on the RRRF, which she talked about in her presentation, and how it has helped our region specifically. I have been on calls with her with hundreds of businesses and many chambers of commerce. Could she talk about the RRRF funding, particularly as it relates to the west, and the double whammy and the triple whammy? I think she knows what I'm talking about.

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

Thank you, Terry. It's great to see you. Thank you for the question.

Obviously, we know that the western economy has been impacted by the pandemic and also by the drop in oil prices. We call that the double whammy. We're very much aware of what's going on right now.

Based on that, we decided to really work with western economic diversification. Through the great work of my dear colleague Terry Duguid, who is my parliamentary secretary, and many of our colleagues, we have been able to double the budget of western economic diversification because we saw that there was a clear need to do more.

In that sense, we tried also to work with the Community Futures organizations, the CFDCs all across the west to make sure the money was not only going to businesses that needed support in major cities, but also to businesses in the smaller towns across the rural parts of the west.

I also think that the west is not a monolithic bloc. It is not all the same. There are clear specific needs in the Prairies and there are clear specific needs in B.C. That is what we've been trying to do—to go closer to the ground, to do the right partnerships, and really to make sure that we protect jobs all across the west.

Based on that, we have been able to protect more than 23,000 jobs within a couple of months by making sure there would be interest-free loans to support these small and medium-sized businesses across the west through western economic diversification.

[Terry Duguid, Liberal, Winnipeg South, MB]

Thank you, Minister. I know you've been a champion for the west, even though you're a proud Montrealer. You look at the whole country and all of the regional development agencies.

You've also been a champion for tourism. Tourism in the previous Parliament didn't have the highest profile, frankly. You raised it up. You were able to argue for and procure a budget for tourism, but we know that tourism is the sector that has really been hit the hardest.

I wonder if you could talk about the tourism journey that you've been on and why tourism is so important to our country, as well as what you are doing now. I know there have been some sector-specific initiatives in Ontario, and perhaps you're looking at other regions of the country as well.

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

Thank you, Terry.

In 2019, we went through our best year ever when it comes to international tourism. I had the chance to be the minister in charge of the best year, but also now of the worst year since the Second World War. In 2019, we had 21.1 million international tourists coming to Canada, and that supported 1.8 million jobs, 4% of all the jobs across the country.

We know this sector has been really impacted by the border closures, which are not only affecting our downtown cores in Winnipeg, Toronto and Montreal but also a lot of towns across the country, from the Windsor-Essex region to beautiful Atlantic Canada and out to B.C.

We've made sure that these businesses have access to wage subsidies until next June. There is the CEBA, the $40,000 loans, which are now $60,000 loans, with a part forgivable. Also, there are rent relief and fixed-costs supports, awarded through the Bill C-9 legislation, which is now in force thanks to all our colleagues. Also, the regional relief and recovery fund, the RRRF, has been extremely helpful for businesses, and we've been able to support many across the country.

Actually, very many businesses in the tourism sector came to see us because sometimes they were falling through the cracks, and we wanted to help them. Just to give you an example, in the tourism sector in western Canada we've been able to support 15,000 jobs in that sector alone.

[Terry Duguid, Liberal, Winnipeg South, MB]

My final question, Minister, because we're running out of time, is regarding the RRRF, again, and the second round of funding. I was very honoured to announce $2.8 million in RRRF funding for business ecosystem support on your behalf. It's supporting 5,600 jobs. How is that funding a little different than the first round?

[The Chair, Liberal, Sherry Romanado]

Unfortunately, you are completely over your time, MP Duguid—my apologies. Hopefully, the minister will be able to answer that question in a subsequent round.

Mr. Lemire, you have six minutes. You may go ahead.

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

Thank you, Madam Chair.

Thank you to the ministers for being here.

I have a question for Minister Bains about competition.

A number of agricultural and agri-food groups have come out publicly against the fees supermarkets and retailers like Walmart have imposed, so the Bloc Québécois wants you to know it is concerned.

The Bloc Québécois is formally requesting that you instruct the Competition Tribunal to investigate the various barriers being imposed on suppliers and the power imbalance in business negotiations. I am referring to a joint email that I and my fellow member Yves Perron sent you on August 11; you have yet to reply.

[Taylor Bachrach, NDP, Skeena—Bulkley Valley, BC]

I believe you're too fast for the interpreters, Sébastien.

[Terry Duguid, Liberal, Winnipeg South, MB]

I have a point of order, Madam Chair.

[The Chair, Liberal, Sherry Romanado]

Yes, MP Duguid, you have a point of order.

[Terry Duguid, Liberal, Winnipeg South, MB]

Madam Chair, the interpreter is saying that my honourable colleague is speaking too fast for interpretation. You might want to start the clock again, because there was no interpretation the entire time.

[The Chair, Liberal, Sherry Romanado]

Mr. Lemire, could you please slow down?

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

Of course. I'm glad that my English-speaking counterparts are getting a taste of what I experience every day with interpretation. I should take this opportunity, by the way, to thank the interpreters for their excellent work.

Shall I start over, Madam Chair?

[The Chair, Liberal, Sherry Romanado]

Yes, please.

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

Minister Bains, a number of agricultural and agri-food groups have come out publicly against the fees supermarkets and retailers like Walmart have imposed, so the Bloc Québécois is formally asking you to instruct the Competition Tribunal to investigate the situation. I am referring to the various fees being imposed on suppliers and the power imbalance in business negotiations. My fellow member Yves Perron and I sent you that request jointly, by email, on August 11, and you have yet to respond.

Do you intend to instruct the Competition Tribunal to investigate the matter?

[Navdeep Bains, Liberal, Mississauga—Malton, ON]

Thank you for your question, Mr. Lemire.

I understand how challenging and complicated the situation is. I also understand your frustration.

I am going to switch to English.

I know there was some difficulty in the translation as well, so I'll speak in both official languages.

I understand the frustration and the concern raised by the honourable colleague. It is absolutely disappointing to see grocers impose these costly fees, which fall on thousands of Canadian food producers who are working hard to feed Canadians and support the communities during these challenging times.

Food producers and processors and their workers have played a critical role. I've said this on numerous occasions in the House of Commons during the pandemic. These are essential workers who are providing critical support. We recognize the issues raised by the members opposite and we share the concerns about fair market practices that should exist.

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

I gather, then, that you don't have a straight answer to the question we sent you by email two months ago.

I'll move on to another topic. The Yale report recommends that the industry minister—you, Mr. Bains—report to Parliament annually on the progress being made to deploy broadband services, including in rural and remote indigenous communities.

Are you planning to table a report soon, especially since you just spoke about leveraging the public-private partnership model? From what I have seen, the public-private investment model has not proven cost-effective in Abitibi-Témiscamingue, and that is why, come 2026, we could be among the last 2% of the population that is still without broadband connectivity. The fact is that delivering last-mile connectivity to the last citizen will never be cost-effective for the industry.

Do you plan to do anything about that?

[Navdeep Bains, Liberal, Mississauga—Malton, ON]

The tribunal is independent. The Competition Bureau is independent. They will look into the matter as they see fit.

I understand the problem around access to high-speed Internet. That is why we made investments in the connect to innovate program and other initiatives to help connect people all over the country, especially in Quebec's regions. We will keep working every single day to find solutions and make things better for people. High-speed Internet service is not a luxury; it is a necessity. It is a top priority for our government.

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

I'm happy to hear you say that.

During an economic downturn, businesses usually forgo investments in research. That means significantly less funding is available for collaborative research that brings together businesses, universities, CEGEPs and other partners. This could represent a loss of up to a third of the funding for a research program. That impact will be especially felt in Quebec's regions.

Would your government consider establishing a dedicated regional fund for collaborative research?

[Navdeep Bains, Liberal, Mississauga—Malton, ON]

That's a great idea.

That is precisely why we have invested in science, natural resources and development, as well as numerous programs and initiatives that help bring business and academia together to support collaboration.

We will keep looking for ways to advance the economic recovery. Having a strategy to stimulate economic recovery is key.

Thank you for your suggestion.