Debates of Nov. 3rd, 2020

Opposition Motion—Consequences of the Pandemic on Canadian Workers and Businesses

[Maxime Blanchette-Joncas, Bloc, Rimouski-Neigette—Témiscouata—Les Basques, QC]

Madam Speaker, I thank my colleague for his speech.

The Bloc Québécois supports this motion.

In May, I was in the House and I questioned the Minister of Innovation, Science and Industry on the problems associated with commercial rent. We already knew at that point that the program was not working very well, since only 10% of businesses were eligible for it, according to a survey undertaken very early on by the Canadian Federation of Independent Business. June, July, August, September and October have gone by and now it is November. It is only now, on November 2, that the government is tabling an amendment to this program. What happened?

That is unacceptable. Meanwhile, we have been receiving calls every day from entrepreneurs, businesses and organizations. They are exhausted. They are trying to find solutions. We had the solution, which was to change the program to make it more inclusive, to make it so that it is not just an option for building owners but for tenants as well.

The Canada emergency wage subsidy is also inconsistent. It supports businesses over a longer period of time but provides them with less support. I am thinking of the tourism industry in particular. I have spoken to representatives of the Alliance de l'industrie touristique du Québec in recent months. Every week, we review the situation. The organization is speaking out about the current situation because tourism operators are getting less income and support from the government. This is a very difficult time for them. We are currently dismantling the tourism industry, which took decades to build, because it is not receiving support from the government in a timely manner. That is a big problem.

On April 11, the Bloc Québécois proposed an amendment to the motion that sought to add fixed costs to the various government programs. We even had the approval of the Deputy Prime Minister. However, since then, nothing has happened. It is now November and the government is proposing a program like the regional relief and recovery fund, a standardized program that includes—

[The Assistant Deputy Speaker (Mrs. Alexandra Mendès), Liberal, Alexandra Mendes]

Order. The hon. member for Courtenay—Alberni.

[Gord Johns, NDP, Courtenay—Alberni, BC]

Madam Speaker, when it comes to the commercial rent assistance program, on April 9, my colleague from New Westminster—Burnaby brought forward to the government the idea and concept for a commercial rent assistance program. We were baffled when it came back with a program that was landlord-driven and tied to mortgages. We want to learn more and get answers on that through the ethics and various different committees as to why the program was created that way. We hear of ties to the Prime Minister's Office and his chief of staff, which raises a lot of questions that need to be answered. We wanted to see this as a tenant-driven program. We wanted to see it tied to the—

[The Assistant Deputy Speaker (Mrs. Alexandra Mendès), Liberal, Alexandra Mendes]

Resuming debate, the hon. member for New Westminster—Burnaby.

[Peter Julian, NDP, New Westminster—Burnaby, BC]

Madam Speaker, I would like to give a shout-out to my colleague, the hon. member for Courtenay—Alberni. He has been the strongest advocate for small business in this Parliament. He does extraordinary work and I would like to underscore his amazing defence of small businesses.

I would also like to give a shout-out to the New Westminster Chamber of Commerce, of which I am a long-time member, and the Burnaby Board of Trade of which I am also a member. Coming out of the small and medium-sized business sector, which I will talk more about in a moment, it is fair to say that we are at a crucial period in this pandemic when we need to pay attention to small businesses.

I will flag the issues around small businesses and the government's slow response. However, with respect to the pandemic response, the NDP has been very proud to force the government to do a whole range of things that it was not willing to do initially. Two areas where the government has failed the most is certainly people with disabilities, who have had to wait seven months and are only now getting a one-time emergency payment that does not, by any means, reach all people with disabilities, and also the small business sector.

The small business sector, as my colleague from Courtenay—Alberni pointed out, saw a program put into place that was simply inadequate. I will come back to that in a moment. It is important to note that the government was very quick to respond when the big banks asked for a handout. Within a span of a few days, according to the Office of the Superintendent of Financial Institutions, $750 billion, three-quarters of $1 trillion, was available through various federal government institutions in liquidity support.

That contrasts vividly with how slow the government has been in responding to the challenges faced by small businesses. Nothing is sadder than to see people in the small business sector, who have given their lives to their small businesses, which build communities and create jobs in their communities, turn the key in the door for the very last time and slip it through the mail slot because they simply cannot continue the hemorrhaging of their personal financial resources for their businesses.

The government's initial response was, to say the least, inadequate. We will recall that the government initially put forward a 10% wage subsidy. The member for Burnaby South, the national leader of the NDP, said that was absolutely insufficient, given the size and scope of the pandemic. Those in the NDP caucus worked together and forced the government to put in place a 75% wage subsidy. That has managed to save a whole range of small businesses.

As the member for Courtenay—Alberni outlined so eloquently, we also said that, like many other countries that have put in place commercial rent assistance, we needed to have a robust response from Canada. Instead of a robust response on commercial rent relief, we saw a program that was set up for commercial lenders. The Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Finance, member for Central Nova, who is normally a very measured person, reacted very badly when we asked the questions that were on the minds of so many owners of small business across the country.

The facts are the following.

Fact one is that the commercial rent assistance program that was initially put in place was a failure. There is no doubt that two-thirds of the businesses that desperately needed that support were not able to access it because it went through landlords.

Fact two is that this was an untendered contract that was basically handed over to a company that employed as its vice-president the spouse of the chief of staff to the Prime Minister. There are very obvious questions, when a program is a failure, as to why that happened. The government still has not answered those questions in any sort of fulsome way.

Fact three is that program was set up by a commercial lender to benefit landlords that had commercial mortgages. There is a clear contradiction in that. Not only did the program not worked but a commercial lender was able to set something up that, in a very real sense, was perplexing. A commercial lender was saying that those who had commercial mortgages could access this program.

These are legitimate questions. That is why we have been saying from the beginning that the program the government is announcing to replace it needs to be retroactive for all small businesses that were unable to access any sort of commercial rent relief from April right through until the end of September.

The NDP will continue to be determined on this fact and the member for Burnaby South, the member for Courtenay—Alberni and the entire NDP caucus believe strongly that those supports, which were denied to so many small businesses over the course of the last few months, have to be available retroactively for those businesses that need it the most.

I mentioned earlier that I was going to talk a little about my situation and my experience as the head of an SME. It was a social enterprise with about 50 employees. I am proud to say that it won two Consumer Choice Awards, in 2003 and 2004.

I understand why people might be concerned. Founders and owners of SMEs want their employees to be able to keep their jobs and their businesses to continue to operate.

Having said that, the current situation, which was created by the Conservatives and continues under the leadership of the Liberals, puts SMEs at a huge disadvantage. Web giants do not have to pay taxes in Canada and do not have the same obligations as SME owners. This needs to be corrected to make it fair for everyone.

In addition, the largest Canadian companies that use tax havens often take their money offshore and are not subject to tax laws. This needs to change. The NDP is pushing for these changes to be made during the pandemic, but also after the pandemic.

I want to briefly outline why the NDP feels so strongly, unlike the previous Conservative regimes and the current Liberal government, that we need to put in place a level playing field for small and medium-sized businesses in the country.

That starts with a fair tax system. We can no longer afford the $25 billion that go to overseas tax havens. We support the motion today because the audits the CRA does so frequently on small businesses are not applied to corporations that are named in the Panama papers, Bahamas papers or Paradise papers. CRA has admitted that it simply has not been able to do any of the audits, follow-ups or bringing to account any of these big businesses involved with overseas tax havens. We also believe web giants need to pay their income tax and we need to have a level playing field.

The NDP is proposing other things to be put in place for small businesses. We want to put in place a fair tax system. We also believe that the small business tax rate should go down by 1%. This helps to stimulate jobs in the local economy.

We believe in a significant investment in housing. The newly re-elected John Horgan in British Columbia, the B.C. NDP government, has invested more in housing in the past three years than the federal government and all other provincial governments put together. It has physically built more housing units than all other governments. The Liberals promise, throw out vast figures and eventually they will fund it, but they are far behind the B.C. NDP government in having turnkey housing units that people can access.

We also believe in putting in place pharmacare and ensuring our health care system is enhanced. The medicare system is a $3,000 per employee, cost competitive advantage for Canadian businesses. Pharmacare would be a $600 advantage on top of that. Not only does it mean that employees are treated fairly, but it takes the burden off small businesses and allows employees to have a full range of social benefits.

These are the kinds of things we propose for small businesses to help them get through this pandemic and in the period afterward, to prosper and contribute to Canada's prosperity and jobs across the country.

[Kevin Lamoureux, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the President of the Queen’s Privy Council for Canada and to the Leader of the Government in the House of Commons]

Mr. Speaker, it is important to recognize that a year ago none of the programs we are referencing existed. It is through the fine work of hard-working civil servants, the cabinet and other elected officials, who worked with governments and small businesses from all regions of country, that we came up with programs to get us through this COVID pandemic. The government has been very clear that we will continue to be there to support small businesses, as we have been from the get-go.

It is my understanding, from listening to the member, that the NDP will be supporting the Conservative motion. Could the member clarify this?

[Peter Julian, NDP, New Westminster—Burnaby, BC]

Mr. Speaker, I think it is pretty clear that we need to provide the supports for small businesses. We honestly believe the CRA is targeting small businesses rather than targeting the massive amount of money going to overseas tax havens. It is $25 billion a year, as evaluated by the Parliamentary Budget Officer. The CRA has done absolutely nothing to curb the massive tax evasion that takes place through the use of overseas tax havens.

Given the pandemic and the sheer size and scope of what we are seeing with overseas tax havens, we believe the audit function needs to be there.

[Ben Lobb, Conservative, Huron—Bruce, ON]

Mr. Speaker, with regard to the CEBA loans, there are about 30 or 40 businesses in my riding right now that cannot get through the process. They have applied through their banks and now they cannot get a hold of anybody in the government to have them approved. This is a big problem, and I am sure there are cases all across the country.

Could the member talk about the stress business owners are under when they are able to meet requirements but not able to get a loan? It is almost as though the government has put this program out there but made it impossible for businesses to receive the money. I am talking about the recent CEBA loans.

[Peter Julian, NDP, New Westminster—Burnaby, BC]

Mr. Speaker, the reality is that when we look at where the government has been putting complications in place, often people who need to get the response as quickly as possible are affected. People with disabilities have had to go through incredible hoops over six months for a $600 payment. Small businesses are having to jump through all kinds of hoops to access programs, and the commercial rent relief program was not even available to two-thirds of the small businesses that desperately needed the support.

Contrast that with the big banks and the massive liquidity supports: $750 billion, with no conditions. The banks were not required to lower their interest rates to zero like many credit unions did. They were not required to eliminate interests or penalties. Their profit so far in the pandemic, and we will hear new figures shortly, is $15 billion, with no conditions at all. That contrast is evident to everybody.

[Alexis Brunelle-Duceppe, Bloc, Lac-Saint-Jean, QC]

Mr. Speaker, I thank my hon. colleague for his speech.

At the start of this pandemic, we heard about collaboration. I believe that there has been collaboration in the House because we absolutely had to implement emergency programs quickly. There is a reason they are called emergency programs.

Nevertheless, the Bloc Québécois was the first to identify shortcomings in the Canada emergency commercial rent assistance program. This government waited six months to change this program.

In my hon. colleague's opinion, why did it take the government so long to change this emergency assistance, when it took only two weeks for it to take advantage of the Canada emergency wage subsidy and serve the interests of its own party?

[Peter Julian, NDP, New Westminster—Burnaby, BC]

Mr. Speaker, that is a very good question.

People with disabilities waited for six months. SMEs have a bogus program that does not work and that has created a great deal of controversy. In fact, one of the executives of the company that was chosen without a call for tenders is the spouse of the Prime Minister's chief of staff. When we ask these questions, the government refuses to answer and often reacts very emotionally.

However, the government granted $750 billion in aid to the banking sector in a matter of days with no strings attached. I think it is obvious that this government's priority is not people or SMEs, but the banking sector.

[Steven Blaney, Conservative, Bellechasse—Les Etchemins—Lévis, QC]

Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to be coming to you today from Lévis and to say hello to everyone watching, my parliamentary colleagues and the Canadian people.

First let me say that I will be sharing my time with an entrepreneur, the member for Cloverdale—Langley City, who is a remarkable business woman. She is also a mother and a grandmother several times over, not that anyone could tell by looking at her. She built a business with over 200 employees. I am very proud to serve alongside her.

I would also like to take this opportunity to congratulate my colleague, the member for New Westminster—Burnaby, who just expressed himself in impeccable French. I congratulate him on speaking and answering in French, one of our two national languages.

Today is a great day for the House of Commons and for our country because our leader, the leader of the Conservative Party, has decided to focus Parliament's attention on what drives our economic activity, keeps our regions alive and sustains Lévis's economy: our businesses, specifically our small businesses. These include restaurants and businesses in the transportation sector. There are many businesses in the manufacturing sector here, as well as in the tourism sector.

We know these businesses have been struggling for over six months. Of course, health regulations are putting enormous pressure on them, but our role as parliamentarians is to ensure that government measures do not become an added burden. These businesses have enough to deal with, given the impact of the pandemic and health requirements. They do not need measures that cause them even greater harm.

Sadly, based on what we have seen over the past few weeks and months, we know that when we as parliamentarians ask the Liberals questions, we get no answers. I sent several letters to the former finance minister, Mr. Morneau, asking him to take immediate action to support our businesses and to rectify inconsistencies over time. I received no response to those letters.

Unfortunately, we have seen that the Liberals are always very quick to help their friends. I am thinking of WE Charity and the purchase of medical equipment from a former Liberal MP at twice the going rate. That is not what our businesses want to hear. People have experienced immense hardship here in my riding. Our businesses have had trouble recruiting workers over the past six months because labour is scarce due to the disincentives put in place by the federal government.

What our leader is proposing today will provide businesses with more flexibility. For those just joining us, the motion moved by the Conservatives is meant to make the commercial rent assistance program more flexible.

The measure brought in by the Liberals was basically ineffective. Ninety per cent of businesses either had to close or saw a drop in traffic, but they still had to pay their rent in full or make arrangements with their landlords, who may or may not be willing to accommodate them.

Many businesses have been penalized by commercial rent, which is why we are asking for some flexibility regarding audits, so that we can provide support in the area of taxation, for example. As we are in the midst of the second wave, we must not add any further burden that will affect the financial health or morale of our struggling businesses.

One example of this is the wage subsidy, which the Liberals unfortunately brought in after implementing the CERB. Our businesses are the backbone of our economy. They are what I call the real economy. They are what will get us through the crisis now, and they are what will remain when the crisis is over.

The Liberals are plunging our country further and further into debt. There are no fiscal anchors. We eventually need to be able to pay back all the money spent during the crisis. Of course we want to support our businesses, our families and our workers, but we must do it wisely with targeted measures. Unfortunately, the measures brought in by the Liberals have hurt our businesses.

I will give two concrete examples.

The first is a pharmacist in my riding who called to tell me that he was having a hard time finding employees. Young people did not want to work because they were receiving the Canada emergency response benefit, the Canada emergency student benefit and the infamous Canada student service grant. This pharmacist, who was playing a vital role in fighting the pandemic, was facing an additional challenge because of the government. As I said, fighting the pandemic is already hard enough without the government making it harder. That is the first problem.

The second example, and second problem, concerns the overlapping measures that have not delivered the intended results. This is what happened to a restaurant owner whose employees told him that they were better off claiming government benefits than working part time. He was already in a tough spot, with food delivery for example, and now he was having a hard time retaining staff.

What we are telling the minister and the government is to ensure that the measures are effective and to make adjustments. That is the role of Parliament. The letters I have sent have been ignored. The government prorogued the session and we have learned that the Liberals were prepared to give money to their party cronies who had given hundreds of thousands of dollars to the Prime Minister's family members. They were also prepared to award contracts for twice the price to firms that provide equipment that they can obtain elsewhere for half the price.

Our vision is different, and that is why, as Conservatives, we stand up for our businesses. That is also why I hope the Liberals will support the motion we are putting forward, which calls for flexibility, for red tape reduction for bureaucrats and businesses and, at the same time, for ensuring that commercial rent is in fact paid directly to businesses rather than through a third party whose interest is not at stake.

That is what today's motion is really about. Earlier, I heard some speeches. What matters for our businesses is how to maintain the employee-employer relationships. Yesterday I spoke to a tourism company that has buses. The hardest part for this company is that the wage subsidy is not helping much. It is going through a difficult period because its revenue has been dropping for more than six months. Given the second wave, this remains a very difficult period.

It is therefore important that our measures be well targeted. Unfortunately, the government does not have fiscal anchors, which creates a burden. We want to support our businesses, but, sooner or later, we will have to be able to reimburse those sums, which have been poorly invested and have also harmed our wealth creators.

We must not kill the goose that lays the golden egg. The Liberals do not seem to be concerned about that right now, but, as our leader says, supporting people and businesses, especially those in the tourism and restaurant industries, is our primary concern. The purpose of today's motion is to give them a bit of breathing room so that they can get through this period and so that when this pandemic is over, when we have the vaccine and we have overcome these difficulties, we will still have these businesses, which will have managed to survive and create the wealth we need. It is not the government that creates wealth, it is our businesses.

In closing, I want to recognize businesses in Bellechasse—Les Etchemins—Lévis such as Bubble T, Rotobec, Exceldor and even the likes of Desjardins, which we rely on during this time. We need to be there for them. Let us adopt this motion. I urge the Liberals to support today's motion so that we can get through the pandemic with our businesses intact, once this crisis is nothing more than a bad memory.

[Marie-Hélène Gaudreau, Bloc, Laurentides—Labelle, QC]

Mr. Speaker, I have a very specific question for my colleague.

He just talked about the importance of giving businesses room to breathe because we are in an unprecedented crisis. Considering the need for breathing room and money, I would like to know whatever became of the taxpayer money that his party got from the Canada emergency wage subsidy. There was talk of paying that money back, and I would like to know when that will happen in order to help our businesses.

[Steven Blaney, Conservative, Bellechasse—Les Etchemins—Lévis, QC]

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

We are right in the middle of a pandemic, which is why we Conservatives will vote for measures that support families, seniors and businesses. Members may recall that we did so in 2008 during the economic crisis. We agreed to open the fiscal purse strings, but it was always with two objectives in mind: a fiscal anchor and targeted measures.

The current Liberal government is like a ship adrift, without direction, without objectives. It does not have a fiscal anchor, which creates uncertainty in the markets, to the point where credit rating agencies have downgraded Canada's rating. For our part, we want to maintain the social safety net, and that is why we want a responsible plan, which today includes support for business.

[Leah Gazan, NDP, Winnipeg Centre, MB]

Mr. Speaker, we know that small businesses were the largest employers in the world.

In Winnipeg Centre, as the second wave comes in, we are now under code red restrictions. Businesses, including deer + almond, owned by Mandel Hitzer, one of the top Canadian chefs in the country, who has been featured on the Food Network, worry about 50% of the businesses closing down as a result of the federal Liberal government's failure to support small businesses, but also as a result of its provincial counterparts under the Pallister government, who have failed to support small businesses almost completely.

When my hon. colleague mentioned getting rid of programs, I became very concerned. When he is talking about getting rid of programs, which programs is he referring to? We cannot afford any more cutbacks to our support of small businesses.

[Steven Blaney, Conservative, Bellechasse—Les Etchemins—Lévis, QC]

Mr. Speaker, I can share with my hon. colleague from Winnipeg Centre that we are unfortunately in a red zone too. I wish her community well as we struggle to flatten the curve.

What I can tell colleagues is that we want programs that are efficient and targeted, especially toward our small and medium-sized enterprises, and programs that do not have a negative impact, such as some of the measures implemented by the Liberal government did.

I want to reassure my colleague that we want those measures. We want to support efficient measures for small and medium-sized enterprises. That is the goal of the motion today and why I seek support from other members. I can understand why my colleague from the other party will support it. I think it is a step in the right direction. We need to be there to help and support our small and medium-sized businesses without being a barrier for them, as they go through the pandemic.

[Larry Maguire, Conservative, Brandon—Souris, MB]

Mr. Speaker, as my colleague pointed out, 82% of our economy depends on small businesses in Canada. The government has related to them as a less than efficient means of raising the economy. I think the words “tax cheats” came up years ago from the Prime Minister in regard to small businesses.

As well, my colleague mentioned bus lines. I have small businesses in my area that are still not eligible for some of those opportunities that will help them, such as CEBA loans, particularly. With the bus lines in my area there are no school tours or travel anymore. Can he expand on his comments about the bus lines, as well as any others that may fall through the cracks?

[Steven Blaney, Conservative, Bellechasse—Les Etchemins—Lévis, QC]

Mr. Speaker, I wish my colleague from Manitoba well.

Yesterday, I spoke to an owner of a business, Autocar, who shared with me that we need to improve the federal programs in order to support businesses through this difficult crisis. That is why I am proud that my colleague and I are supportive of the motion, which seeks to support our businesses in their time of need so that, when we get through this, they are still with us, safe and contributing to our wealth.

[Tamara Jansen, Conservative, Cloverdale—Langley City, BC]

Mr. Speaker, during this pandemic a great divide has been perpetrated on the nation by the Liberal government, a schism of enormous proportions. Over the last seven months, we have seen certain kinds of good, hard-working Canadians be dealt blow after blow, while other kinds of Canadians were handed cheques and assistance at every turn. No injustice was too much for one bunch and no perk was too generous for the other.

As the government began to impose lockdowns and restrictions across the country, it treated Canadians like two different classes of people: the good and the bad, the honest and the cheat, the employee and the employer.

This distinction is no new thing for the government. For years the Prime Minister has been going after small businesses calling them tax cheats, suggesting they are all hiding their ill-gotten gains by taking advantage of loopholes in the system, buying equipment as a tax writeoff or hoarding money and calling it a rainy day fund. I will tax that, said Mr. Morneau. If people have a family business and want to sell the farm to their son, the government plans to make them pay over 80% of the sale price in taxes if they want to pass it on to the next generation, because everyone knows that, for the current Liberal government, passing a farm from father to son is clearly a tax dodge if ever there was one.

What happens in a pandemic when a government sees small business as the enemy of the proletariat and itself as the saviour? We see financial support programs that discourage going back to work while punishing the big bad barber, brew pub or banquet hall around the corner. Let us take the restaurant and hospitality industry as an example.

In my riding there are hundreds of unique and exciting establishments gathered in every neighbourhood. Shiraz Grill on a one-way street in Langley serves up Persian and Italian food. It is delicious. Right across the street is Viva Mexico where one can have a truly authentic Mexican experience. A little closer to the Willowbrook mall, people can experience the taste of Thailand at the Naka Bistro. Further down the Fraser Highway is the ever-popular Dublin Crossing, where people can eat their fill of bangers and mash while tapping their toes to a live band of Irish rovers.

Every one of those restaurants I just mentioned is owned and operated by a hard-working entrepreneur, the majority of whom are new Canadians who have brought the colour of their culture to our communities, along with jobs and economic prosperity for us all. They took on great risks and responsibilities in their quest to create a new and better life for themselves in Canada. Little did they know that their new country now has a government that punishes risk-takers and job creators like themselves.

When their doors were closed in early March, they just buckled down and pivoted to takeout. Owners and their families worked long hours to get food to our homes in a safe way. While their wait and kitchen staff stayed home on CERB, they called their nieces and nephews, their aunts and uncles to please help with the cooking and cleaning or owners would lose their dream.

Seven months in, the entire sector teeters on the brink of extinction. After the restaurant industry invested $750 million of its own money to train staff, enforce social distancing, implement health checks and adapt for contactless delivery and curbside pickup, they continue to live under the constant threat of lockdowns and further restrictions. The government has offered them almost no help besides a wage subsidy that disproportionately helps some businesses while being useless to others, or rent subsidies that were impossible to access until our current motion forced the government to improve it.

Now the Liberals have instructed CRA to start aggressively auditing any business that applied for the wage subsidy. If people made a mistake in their calculations, they will be charged a penalty of 275% of the amount they claimed. If the Prime Minister had been charged a 275% penalty for his illegal quarter-million dollar trip to the Aga Khan's island, he would owe almost three quarters of a million dollars. What did he actually pay in fines and penalties? He paid a measly $500.

The Liberal government has declared war on our small businesses, the backbone of our economy. Mom and Pop shops across this country are the target of sustained attacks that do not appear to be ending any time soon. The government has exhausted all credible excuses to explain away its continued failure to answer the call of Canada's small business owners. For months my opposition colleagues and business leaders across Canada have identified serious problems with the COVID-19 relief programs, which have allowed too many small businesses to fall through the cracks.

The government keeps claiming that it creates jobs in this country. The government does not create jobs. Canadian entrepreneurs do. If this Liberal government does not begin to understand that concept, our economy is going to be decimated. One can only rob Peter to pay Paul for so long. For every small business forced into receivership, we lose the jobs and revenues those businesses create.

Canadians were told that a prorogued Parliament would give time for a quality restart plan to be corrected, and they believed that. However, what did the Liberals come back with after six weeks of a shuttered Parliament? Nothing, nada, bubkes. The government promised to come back to this session with a plan. Where is the plan? How do I tell the businesses in my riding that the support they need is going to lapse without new legislation? Where is the plan to improve the programs that have not worked for so many businesses? Where is the sector-specific support for airlines, travel and tourism, agriculture, energy, any of it?

We constantly hear how hard this government has been working for Canadians, but from where I am sitting, Canadian businessmen are getting a lump of coal in their stockings for Christmas.

Honestly, we need to get to actual work here. The finance committee should be conducting pre-budget consultations right now. We should be hearing from Canada's business leaders about what they need during this economic crisis. Instead, the Prime Minister sends his MPs to filibuster the committee, talking out the clock to avoid releasing WE scandal documents. Machiavelli, Aristotle, Plato, all the philosophers are dragged by their hair into our meeting to justify the Liberal cover-up.

There is a very serious crisis happening in our country. Many small business owners are not sleeping at night. They are absolutely desperate, and no one is listening. They are begging and pleading for this government to make a plan, an actual plan, not just a band-aid solution. I have met with them face to face. I have seen the anxiety and agony in the eyes of men and women who have poured their whole heart and soul into a dance studio, coffee shop, travel agency, hair salon, chiropractic clinic, pharmacy, restaurant or clothing boutique. The list is endless. They are under extreme stress, and it comes out in the form of migraine headaches, rashes all over their bodies and even heart attacks. Their stress comes from a government that does not have a plan, so they cannot make a plan either. Entrepreneurs will find solutions. They just need to know where they stand. Give them clarity and they will figure out the rest.

The scorecard shows that our country has spent the most of all G7 countries, yet has the worst economic performance. There is no one else to blame for this disaster except the Liberals. They keep throwing money at programs that are nothing more than band-aid solutions. We need to get our economy moving again, but since the government seems incapable of stopping the bleeding, let us at least make sure that whatever band-aid solutions we apply actually work. The government is working hard to turn Canada into a benefit-based economy with no end in sight, while making it more and more impossible for businesses to find workers.

We need to show leadership here and give businesses clarity and equitable treatment. Right now, every level of government is knocking on the federal government's door demanding compliance to rules that have not even been written. With workers' compensation, Health Canada, bylaw officers and police, there is a never-ending stream of busybody bureaucrats that are making things up as they go. Health officials are even encouraging Canadians to report on their neighbours for perceived infractions.

Have we lost our minds? Do we really want a police state? I recognize that these bureaucracies are not the federal jurisdiction, but it is this government's lack of leadership and transparency that is causing so much confusion.

At first, we were told masks do not work. Now we are told something completely different: Wear one. In the beginning, the virus did not spread from person to person, and now we cannot even have our own children over for coffee. The message has been godawful. Half of Canadians are scared to death and do not believe a word the government is saying. Why are rapid at-home tests not in the hands of Canadians? Why is this government not doing that and making it a top priority?

Let us strategically target our efforts on protecting the vulnerable while allowing the healthy to safely get back to business. Why, after seven months, is our tracking and tracing failing so miserably? We need to focus on getting things back up and running, and not on scaring our country to death.

[Kevin Lamoureux, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the President of the Queen’s Privy Council for Canada and to the Leader of the Government in the House of Commons]

Mr. Speaker, talk about utilizing Conservative backroom talking points. That is what came to my mind as I listened to what the member had to say in regard to the resolution.

There was very little in that speech that I would concur with, other than the fact that business owners, just like all Canadians, are having a very difficult time. The government is doing its very best to provide the supports necessary. Heaven forbid if it were Stephen Harper who was in government. At least with a Liberal government we have a government that truly cares and believes it needs to provide programs to support Canadians and businesses.

Does the member not recognize that the CERB program was in fact a good program, contrary to what her speech might have implied? Does the member not recognize that by helping Canadians through the CERB program, the government is helping businesses?

[Tamara Jansen, Conservative, Cloverdale—Langley City, BC]

Mr. Speaker, the fact that the hon. member did not find anything of value in my speech shows how little of a connection Liberals actually have with business people.

What I said comes from the heart because I live it, and many people in my riding are living it. I am meeting them. I am visiting with them. We needed CERB because of what the government has been doing.

Now I am begging the government to find a plan. We need the Liberal government to find us a plan to get us out of here, not just band-aid solutions.

[Maxime Blanchette-Joncas, Bloc, Rimouski-Neigette—Témiscouata—Les Basques, QC]

Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague from Cloverdale—Langley City for her speech.

Indeed, the Bloc Québécois is in favour of that. In our view, these famous amendments should have come long before now, because they are essential for the economic well–being of the people in our communities.

I would like to hear her views on start-ups. Here, in my riding of Rimouski-Neigette—Témiscouata—Les Basques, several businesses have informed me that they were not eligible for the various programs. For instance, they could not get the Canada emergency wage subsidy because their operations started in 2019 and therefore they could not provide figures for previous years, which was one of the program's eligibility criteria.

What does my colleague think the federal government should do to help start-ups so they can keep their heads above water during this historic crisis?

[Tamara Jansen, Conservative, Cloverdale—Langley City, BC]

Mr. Speaker, I could not agree with my hon. colleague more. There are still many start-ups and small businesses that are falling through the cracks. That is why the motion is asking for more flexibility.

We need to make sure that, when we get on the other side of this pandemic, we still have small businesses that are actually functioning.

[Heather McPherson, NDP, Edmonton Strathcona, AB]

Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank the hon. member for highlighting the importance of small businesses in our communities.

I am from Edmonton Strathcona. It is the heart of the restaurant scene in Edmonton. We know that Alberta has been deeply hit by COVID-19. The Canadian Federation of Independent Business has said that there is a higher risk of small businesses closing in Alberta than anywhere else in the country. Between March and May, 8,500 businesses closed in Edmonton. I will be supporting this motion.

As New Democrats, we have been proposing ideas throughout this pandemic. We have been able to move the government to increase the wage subsidy from 10% to 75%. We have been able to improve business supports, the CERB process, and supports for seniors, students and people with disabilities.

What has the Conservative Party proposed? What are its original thoughts on how it would move forward in the pandemic?

[Tamara Jansen, Conservative, Cloverdale—Langley City, BC]

Mr. Speaker, perhaps my hon. colleague could first of all take a look at the motion we have here today. All of the things the member mentioned, which supposedly came from the NDP, have been our suggestions.

Conservatives work hard to make sure that everybody is taken care of in the small business world because without our small businesses, we are nowhere.