The hon. member.
House of Commons Hansard #27 of the 43rd Parliament, 2nd Session. (The original version is on Parliament's site.) The word of the day was ndp.
House of Commons Hansard #27 of the 43rd Parliament, 2nd Session. (The original version is on Parliament's site.) The word of the day was ndp.
Pierre Poilievre Conservative Carleton, ON
Mr. Chair, she cannot answer that question. Let us move to another.
Other than Italy, which G7 country has higher unemployment than Canada?
Chrystia Freeland Liberal University—Rosedale, ON
Mr. Chair, I am delighted to talk about jobs. Canada has recovered 76% of our job losses, and the U.S. is at only 52%.
Pierre Poilievre Conservative Carleton, ON
Mr. Chair, the question was this: Can she name even one country in the G7 other than Italy that has higher unemployment than Canada?
Chrystia Freeland Liberal University—Rosedale, ON
Mr. Chair, the more important, relevant figure is labour force participation. Ours is higher than that of the U.S., Japan, South Korea and Germany. The Economist has a piece this week about Canada's—
Pierre Poilievre Conservative Carleton, ON
Mr. Chair, all the countries she just listed have lower unemployment than Canada. She cannot name a single country outside Italy in the G7 that has higher unemployment than Canada. Is there a single country in the G20 that has a higher deficit as a share of GDP than Canada? If so, could she name that country?
Chrystia Freeland Liberal University—Rosedale, ON
Mr. Chair, again, I am sorry to have to teach economics to the member opposite, but the really relevant figure is the debt-to-GDP ratio and Canada today has the lowest debt to GDP ratio in the G7.
Pierre Poilievre Conservative Carleton, ON
Mr. Chair, talking down to Canadians will not change the facts. We should be speaking with Canadians in the spirit of respect. I ask a respectful question. Is there a single country in the G20 that has a higher deficit-to-GDP ratio than Canada? Could she name even one such country?
Chrystia Freeland Liberal University—Rosedale, ON
Mr. Chair, let me ask a respectful question in turn of the member opposite. Is there one country in the G20 that has done a better job than Canada in protecting its workers and its businesses?
Pierre Poilievre Conservative Carleton, ON
Mr. Chair, yes, there is Japan, Taiwan, South Korea and Germany. Japan, Germany and Taiwan all have lower unemployment and far lower mortality rates during COVID. The minister asked me to name a country? I just named them. This is how in the House of Commons it is possible for members to answer questions, and even members of the opposition can do it.
Maybe a member of the government could do the same. Could she name even one country with a higher deficit as a share of GDP, even one, in the G20?
Chrystia Freeland Liberal University—Rosedale, ON
Mr. Chair, it is important for the answers to be accurate. Let me just point out that Germany today has 238 new cases of COVID per million. Canada has 73 new cases of COVID per million. It is too high in Canada, but I want to be clear with Canadians. Right now, in the G7, we are doing a pretty good job. When it comes to employment we have a higher labour force participation rate than Germany and Japan. Germany is 55.9% and Japan is 62.2%. We are at 65%.
Michael Barrett Conservative Leeds—Grenville—Thousand Islands and Rideau Lakes, ON
Mr. Chair, the Liberals have filibustered the ethics and finance committees for over 45 hours to this point, with more to come I am sure, and it is all done in the name of a cover-up. This is to hide documents from Canadians and block the truth about the Prime Minister's corruption from coming to light.
Could the Deputy Prime Minister tell Canadians the amount of taxpayer dollars wasted to continue this cover-up and why these resources were better used filibustering these committees instead of getting help to Canadians who so desperately need it?
Chrystia Freeland LiberalDeputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance
Mr. Chair, let me be really clear. There has been no cover-up by our government. In fact, the Prime Minister and the Prime Minister's chief of staff testified at length before committee and took questions, as did the Clerk of the Privy Council. This matter has been thoroughly aired before Canadians. The questions have been asked and answered. What I would say for the member opposite and all members in the House is that Canadians really want us to focus on them and to get through COVID together.
Michael Barrett Conservative Leeds—Grenville—Thousand Islands and Rideau Lakes, ON
Mr. Chair, then why waste all the time and money filibustering at committees?
Chrystia Freeland Liberal University—Rosedale, ON
Mr. Chair, our government's intention and commitment is to focus on supporting Canadians. That is why we are here tonight. I am very glad, by the way, that we are—
Michael Barrett Conservative Leeds—Grenville—Thousand Islands and Rideau Lakes, ON
Mr. Chair, let us talk about an attempt at helping Canadians that failed, and that was first rent program introduced by the government. Many small business owners in my riding have reached out to my office, saying that the clock is ticking and time is running out for their businesses. We know these businesses are the backbone of our economy, but the government dropped the ball and outsourced the program when the CRA was more than capable of administering it. Why outsource it?
Chrystia Freeland Liberal University—Rosedale, ON
Mr. Chair, I agree with the member opposite that the CRA is highly competent and, in fact, I would like to take the opportunity now to say how grateful I am to all the hard-working people there.
That is why the new rent support program, like the wage subsidy, will be administered through the CRA. We know it can do it. We have a platform now with which businesses are familiar. That is why we are choosing that path going forward.
Michael Barrett Conservative Leeds—Grenville—Thousand Islands and Rideau Lakes, ON
Mr. Chair, we always knew the CRA could administer it. We are glad that the government has caught up.
Why did the government say it had no choice but to have MCAP administer the program to the tune of tens of millions of dollars in cost to Canadians?
Chrystia Freeland Liberal University—Rosedale, ON
Mr. Chair, as the member opposite knows very well, and as members in the House do, because I think we will be supporting these programs together, we have changed, significantly, the architecture of the rent support program. Now it goes directly to the tenants. Provinces and landlords are not involved.
Our new program is an improvement. Better is always possible. Members—
The Chair Conservative Bruce Stanton
The hon. member for Leeds—Grenville—Thousand Islands and Rideau Lakes.
Michael Barrett Conservative Leeds—Grenville—Thousand Islands and Rideau Lakes, ON
Mr. Chair, how many times did the minister's office or the PMO talk to Rob Silver about the rent program?
Chrystia Freeland Liberal University—Rosedale, ON
Mr. Chair, as the member opposite knows, I was not finance minister at that time. I can say that I never spoke to Mr. Silver about this program.
Michael Barrett Conservative Leeds—Grenville—Thousand Islands and Rideau Lakes, ON
Mr. Chair, the minister should take note of what happened to her predecessor.
The Baylis ventilator is produced cheaper, yet sold for $100 million more than its competitors. It follows the objective fact that the government will always put its Liberal friends to the front of the queue and line their pockets whenever it can.
Was Frank Baylis' deep connections to the Liberal Party of Canada the determining factor in awarding this contract?