Debates of Oct. 26th, 2020

Foreign Affairs

[Chrystia Freeland, Liberal, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance]

Mr. Speaker, let me just say that it is either ignorance or pure partisan insinuation to, in any way, suggest any similarity between a democratic government of Canada and the leadership of a communist regime, between any Canadian Parliament and the authoritarian government of China.

We need to draw these lines very carefully, and we need to use words such as “democracy” and “transparency” with great care. I do. I would urge the members opposite to do the same.

COVID-19 Emergency Response

[Alain Therrien, Bloc, La Prairie, QC]

Mr. Speaker, on September 30, five million Quebeckers found themselves in red zones, with the resulting business closures. The next day, the Quebec government announced financial assistance to businesses to pay for fixed costs.

The response from this government has been non-existent. It has been a month, and we are still waiting for help from the government. Today, the Quebec government will announce that the confinement will continue. It is in the second month of managing the pandemic; this Liberal government did not even get involved in the first.

When will SMEs be offered assistance? This is important.

[Chrystia Freeland, Liberal, Minister of Finance]

Mr. Speaker, I greatly appreciate the very important question.

I absolutely agree that SMEs need help to cover fixed costs. In the coming days, I will present measures to the House to help businesses. I hope the Bloc Québécois will vote in favour of these important measures.

[Alain Therrien, Bloc, La Prairie, QC]

Mr. Speaker, I have been discussing this with the government since the pandemic hit. It was agreed that businesses need help with their fixed costs. When did we agree to put that in the motion? On April 11. That was over six months ago. After threats of an election, the Liberals are telling us that they are finally going to help businesses. SMEs have been waiting for six months.

How many bankruptcies have occurred because of their inaction?

[Chrystia Freeland, Liberal, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance]

Mr. Speaker, we have already given a lot of help to SMEs across Canada, including through the emergency wage subsidy and the Canada emergency business account, which goes directly to SMEs. I agree that we need to do more, and we will in the coming days.

I hope all members in the House will support these important measures.

Indigenous Affairs

[Jagmeet Singh, NDP, Burnaby South, BC]

Mr. Speaker, the Neskantaga First Nation has not had access to clean drinking water for 25 years. Five years ago, the Prime Minister promised clean drinking water to all indigenous communities. Five years have passed, and the people of Neskantaga have had to be evacuated during a pandemic because they do not have running water.

Will the Prime Minister admit today that he never intended to keep his promise?

[Chrystia Freeland, Liberal, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance]

Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague for his question.

I have to disagree with the member. True, the lack of clean drinking water in indigenous communities is a tragedy and a Canadian crisis. Our government is working on it. We have made progress, but we still have a lot of work to do, and we will do it.

[Jagmeet Singh, NDP, Burnaby South, BC]

Mr. Speaker, for 25 years, the first nation of Neskantaga has not had access to clean drinking water. Five years ago, the Prime Minister promised all indigenous communities that they would have access to clean drinking water. Five years later the first nation of Neskantaga has had to evacuate during a pandemic. Will the Prime Minister admit today that this was just another empty promise that he had no intention of keeping?

[Chrystia Freeland, Liberal, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance]

Mr. Speaker, I cannot agree with one of the assertions of the leader of the NDP. I know that he knows that in our government, like his party and I believe like all members of this House, we all understand that the boil water advisories are a national tragedy and a national shame. Our government is working earnestly to get those advisories lifted. Ninety-one long-term advisories have been lifted since 2015, but I would be the first to admit that there is a lot more work to do and we are going to do it.

Health

[Gérard Deltell, Conservative, Louis-Saint-Laurent, QC]

Mr. Speaker, more and more Canadians are realizing that, unfortunately for the Government of Canada, the Minister of Health is becoming an embarrassment. I do not want to talk about the photo of her yesterday at Pearson airport. Rather, I want to talk about her management of rapid tests. First, she dragged her feet when it came time to approve them. Now, she is starting a fight with the provinces, as if we need this in the middle of a pandemic. On Friday, in an interview on CTV, she said that some provinces had chosen to deny the government's guidance.

Why is she lecturing the provinces again?

[Patty Hajdu, Liberal, Minister of Health]

Mr. Speaker, I want to thank all the provinces and territories for working on national testing guidance that indeed can guide provinces and territories how best to shepherd and use testing resources to get to the best outcomes, which is to truly understand where the virus is and how to trace the close contacts and then isolate people who are potentially infected with the virus. It will take all hands on deck to do so, and we continue to support provinces and territories to have the best tools possible.

[Gérard Deltell, Conservative, Louis-Saint-Laurent, QC]

Mr. Speaker, by all means, let's talk about supporting the provinces, which are particularly in need of rapid tests. My province of Quebec has a major problem: it passed the milestone of 100,000 cases in the last few days, and it really needs rapid tests.

Now the minister has started distributing the rapid tests. It has not been completed yet, but some distribution has taken place. What we are seeing is that Quebec did not get nearly enough.

Does the minister think that the Quebec government did not follow the guidance and therefore does not deserve her help?

[Patty Hajdu, Liberal, Minister of Health]

Mr. Speaker, when it comes to delivering procurement supplies, whether it is rapid testing, whether it is personal protective equipment or anything else, we work closely with provinces and territories to develop a sharing agreement. That is exactly what has happened with rapid tests as well, and many of them are out the door this week, arriving in provinces and territories in the days to come.

I want to thank all of my colleagues, the ministers of health, for working out these agreements that allow us to have a shared approach to ensuring the resources get to where they are needed the most.

[Pierre Paul-Hus, Conservative, Charlesbourg—Haute-Saint-Charles, QC]

Mr. Speaker, over the weekend, we learned that Canada might be three months behind other countries like the United States or Great Britain in getting vaccines.

The Prime Minister's performance in managing COVID-19 reminds me of a baseball player who always swings just a second too late. He was late in closing the border and late in getting rapid testing. Now, the government is signing contracts that will not give us access to a vaccine until three months after our allies.

How does the Prime Minister always manage to ensure that Canada is lagging behind other countries?

[Anita Anand, Liberal, Minister of Public Services and Procurement]

Mr. Speaker, the hon. member is somewhat mistaken in the analysis he is providing. On the contrary, we have signed seven agreements with vaccine suppliers, we have signed agreements for over two billion items of PPE to support our health regime. In addition, regarding delivery dates, we are working very aggressively with our suppliers to ensure that Canadians will have access to vaccines as soon as they pass Health Canada approval.

[Pierre Paul-Hus, Conservative, Charlesbourg—Haute-Saint-Charles, QC]

Mr. Speaker, could the minister explain why she frightened Canadians this morning in a press conference by saying that the Conservative motion concerning the Standing Committee on Health would be problematic?

She just gave us some information. It is not hard to get the facts. Will the minister agree to pass our motion and for the work to be done for Canadians? Above all, will she stop frightening everyone?

[Pablo Rodriguez, Liberal, Leader of the Government in the House of Commons]

Mr. Speaker, after trying to plunge the country into an election last week, the Conservatives are moving another motion that our greatest experts and scientists are saying is dangerous. It is dangerous because it undermines the negotiation of contracts for vaccines, tests and protective equipment.

What is important here is to not let partisanship jeopardize the work of the government. Instead, we should be working together for all Canadians.

Access to Information

[Luc Berthold, Conservative, Mégantic—L'Érable, QC]

Mr. Speaker, the Minister of Health said last week, “not once has a Canadian asked me to put more resources into freedom of information officers.”

That is false, completely and utterly false. One Canadian in particular did precisely that, and she was not just anyone. The Information Commissioner of Canada tweeted that she was very disappointed by the minister's statement.

Will the Prime Minister, who tried to trigger an election last week against the backdrop of a pandemic, do the right thing and vote in favour of transparency and our motion this afternoon?

[Patty Hajdu, Liberal, Minister of Health]

Mr. Speaker, we take openness and transparency very seriously. I will be speaking with the Information Commissioner later this week about her concerns and make sure we are living up to our commitments at Health Canada to provide information as it is requested by Canadians.

[Luc Berthold, Conservative, Mégantic—L'Érable, QC]

Mr. Speaker, a Liberal member once told the House that redacted documents with information missing were not disclosures, that non-answers in the House were not disclosures and that rhetorical personal attacks were not disclosures. Who said that? It was the Prime Minister himself.

This government has been and continues to be an advocate of openness and transparency since it was elected, yet we have a minister who refuses to support a motion to shed light on her management of the pandemic. This afternoon the government is going to vote in favour of hiding information from Canadians. Why?

[Pablo Rodriguez, Liberal, Leader of the Government in the House of Commons]

Mr. Speaker, a Conservative member said the following:

The decision on what to reveal is made by non-partisan public servants, for whom it has long been a tradition not to reveal cabinet confidences. That has been the case going back to all previous governments of all party stripes.

Who said that? It was the member for Carleton.

Justice

[Rhéal Fortin, Bloc, Rivière-du-Nord, QC]

Mr. Speaker, the Liberals are so used to cronyism that they do not even notice it anymore.

Last year, they got caught looking up candidates for judicial appointments in the infamous “Liberalist” database to see which ones had donated the most. The Liberals are so accustomed to doing this that they kept doing it even after they got caught. The Prime Minister could even admit as much to the House.

Do the Liberals realize that ordinary people, normal people, I should say, might not think Liberal Party connections should increase a person's chances of becoming a judge?

[David Lametti, Liberal, Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada]

Mr. Speaker, Canadians expect judges to have all the information they need to understand the whole context of cases before them, and they respect the principle of judicial independence. They also expect their leaders to work together across party lines in Canadians' best interest. We implemented a transparent, merit-based judicial appointment system that promotes diversity. I am very proud of the results.

Public Services and Procurement

[Rhéal Fortin, Bloc, Rivière-du-Nord, QC]

Mr. Speaker, the minister is not listening to the questions. That is not what I was talking about.

As I said, the Liberals are so used to cronyism that they do not even notice it anymore. There is also the matter of the $237-million contract for medical equipment that they awarded to FTI, a shell company that did not even exist seven days before it got the contract and that does not even manufacture medical equipment, which is why it subcontracted the job to Frank Baylis, a Liberal who had a seat here until less than a year ago.

A newly created company does not just get $237 million from the federal government during its first week of existence. Why did the government choose FTI, if not as a favour to Frank—

[The Speaker, Liberal, Anthony Rota]

The hon. minister.