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.
Chrystia Freeland Liberal University—Rosedale, ON
Mr. Chair, I am not sure what targeted bailouts the member opposite is referring to, but certainly with LEEFF there are very stringent conditions and that is entirely appropriate.
Luc Berthold Conservative Mégantic—L'Érable, QC
Mr. Chair, my question will be very simple. I will quote someone who has spoken a number of times tonight and who said:
That person said, “Let me be very, very clear.”
We have heard that many times, but I have never heard anyone as unclear as her this evening.
The Parliamentary Budget Officer has been critical of the fact that the minimal amount of information that is publicly available to track this spending is lacking, thus making it more challenging for parliamentarians to perform their critical role in overseeing government spending. Why is the government hiding information from Canadians?
Jean-Yves Duclos LiberalPresident of the Treasury Board
Mr. Chair, I thank my colleague for raising this question.
If my colleague carefully reads what has happened over the last few days, he will see that we have launched an open government information system that contains many files that he can access online. We also have a system that displays the supplementary estimates and the main estimates in detail, with hundreds of pages that he can easily access.
Luc Berthold Conservative Mégantic—L'Érable, QC
Mr. Chair, the Parliamentary Budget Officer says that there is currently no public government document that provides a complete list of all measures announced to date or updated cost estimates. Why are they so bent on refusing to provide these answers?
Jean-Yves Duclos Liberal Québec, QC
Mr. Chair, I commend and thank my colleague once again for his interest in this issue.
He knows very well that transparency and access to information are extremely important in normal times, and they are just as important in a pandemic. That is why we are working so hard with the Parliamentary Budget Officer and others to provide all the necessary information.
Luc Berthold Conservative Mégantic—L'Érable, QC
Mr. Chair, I would encourage the President of the Treasury Board to read the Parliamentary Budget Officer's report carefully.
Why is this government saying two different things? On the one hand, we have a Prime Minister who clearly says that he has no respect for Canadians' money, that he has not set a limit on future spending and that he will continue to borrow recklessly and without constraint. On the other hand, we have a finance minister who says she is setting limits but will not disclose what those limits are.
Where are we going with this government? How far into debt will this government plunge Canadians?
Jean-Yves Duclos Liberal Québec, QC
Mr. Chair, my hon. colleague again correctly brings up the importance of transparency and openness.
I encourage him once again to visit the InfoBase portal, which contains exactly 316 specific files dealing exclusively with COVID-19. As well, as I said, there is another portal where he will find a data set on the budgetary expenditures we are currently discussing.
Luc Berthold Conservative Mégantic—L'Érable, QC
Mr. Chair, the Liberals are stonewalling the Standing Committee on Finance, they are stonewalling the Standing Committee on Access to Information, Privacy and Ethics, they prorogued Parliament, and now they want us to believe that they are being transparent.
The President of the Treasury Board has obviously not read the Parliamentary Budget Officer's report. Why is he hiding information from Canadians?
Jean-Yves Duclos Liberal Québec, QC
Mr. Chair, on the contrary, we discuss these things every day.
In fact, we are doing so again today. That is why these discussions are important. I therefore congratulate my colleague and thank him for taking part in these discussions.
Luc Berthold Conservative Mégantic—L'Érable, QC
Mr. Chair, we are discussing, but we are not getting any answers.
We are asking for very simple things. When are the Liberals going to stop seeing Canadians' wallets as an all-you-can-eat buffet? Canada's workers of today and tomorrow and those who have not yet been born will have to pay the bill racked up by this Prime Minister, who thinks that nothing is too expensive if it can get him votes.
Why is he hiding all this information from Canadians? Why can he not give us the real numbers today?
Jean-Yves Duclos Liberal Québec, QC
Mr. Chair, I will respond to the first part of this question, which I find a bit disturbing.
I am sure that my colleague does not want to propose austerity as a solution to the current crisis. If that is what he has in mind, I think he should be more specific and explain to Canadians how an austerity program could help them during the public health and economic crisis we are going through.
Luc Berthold Conservative Mégantic—L'Érable, QC
Mr. Chair, I want the President of the Treasury Board to do the job he gets paid to do, which is to give Canadians the information they are entitled to so good decisions can be made.
I want the President of the Treasury Board to tell us when the Liberals will tell Canadians the truth and why they are so afraid of holding public meetings of the Standing Committee on Finance and the Standing Committee on Access to Information, Privacy and Ethics.
Jean-Yves Duclos Liberal Québec, QC
Mr. Chair, the member is absolutely right about the importance of committee work.
I am sure that he himself does a very good job in committee. I am sure that, like all members of the House, the other members of the committees he mentioned will do essential work to ensure high-quality, effective and transparent government programs.
Tamara Jansen Conservative Cloverdale—Langley City, BC
Mr. Chair, the pandemic relief programs have been unfair and way too often ineffective. Job creators in my riding have fallen through the cracks. For months they have been begging the government to fix the commercial rent assistance program, but were completely ignored. We are happy to see the Liberals are finally paying attention, but for so many it is already too late. Why all of a sudden did the government change it? Why did the government not adopt the Conservatives' sliding scale for rent relief six months ago?
Mary Ng LiberalMinister of Small Business
Mr. Chair, we have put a range of programs out to help small businesses. Those emergency measures are helping businesses keep their people on payroll and helping pay for those fixed costs that are so important to keeping their businesses alive. The small business loan is giving them some additional liquidity to bridge them through to better times beyond COVID-19. This program is in direct response to those businesses that want access to these important fixed costs directly. I am really pleased to be debating this legislation tonight.
Tamara Jansen Conservative Cloverdale—Langley City, BC
Mr. Chair, looking through the estimates, I noticed the Auditor General has still not been given the funds she needs to properly audit the government's out-of-control spending. Meanwhile, the same government is investing millions of new dollars in CRA to audit the books of small businesses with the threat of a 275% penalty. What are we, the Mafia or something? Why is the government aggressively going after the books of mom-and-pop shops, but refuses to open its own books?
Jean-Yves Duclos LiberalPresident of the Treasury Board
Mr. Chair, we have the fortune of having a strong Auditor General, with whom we are extremely pleased to collaborate. She is extremely engaged with us so we can provide her the supports that she and her office deserve and will need in order to carry out her important duties.
Tamara Jansen Conservative Cloverdale—Langley City, BC
Mr. Chair, businesses across Canada are calling on the Liberals to safely reopen the economy. The government owes them a way to get back to work in an environment that is fair and dependable. One day a business is open, the next day it is closed. One industry is supported while the other is ignored. Government incompetence has created a wild wild west. When will it present a plan that allows all of Canada's businesses to get back to work safely?
Chrystia Freeland LiberalDeputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance
Mr. Chair, let me start by being very clear that it is up to provinces and territories and provincial and territorial public health officers to make the very difficult decisions about whether additional targeted local lockdown restrictions are necessary. I think that we need to support our public health officers across the country where they are introducing these limited targeted local lockdowns. That is what it is going to take to fight the second wave and to stop a huge resurgence.
Tamara Jansen Conservative Cloverdale—Langley City, BC
Mr. Chair, NHL players took rapid tests before hitting the ice. Even pro poker players take rapid tests before they play in tournaments. If rapid tests allow athletes, celebrities and pro poker players to do their jobs, why not allow regular Canadian businesses, like cinemas, restaurants and event centres, to get back to work using on-site rapid testing?
Chrystia Freeland Liberal University—Rosedale, ON
Mr. Chair, I want to disagree very strongly with the core premise of that question. There is no silver bullet right now anywhere in the world. Countries like France and Germany that members opposite have cited as using rapid tests are currently experiencing such a surge in coronavirus, they have introduced draconian lockdowns.
Tamara Jansen Conservative Cloverdale—Langley City, BC
Mr. Chair, Canadians need the finance committee to get to pre-budget consultations. When will the government stop the cover-up and end the filibuster?
Chrystia Freeland Liberal University—Rosedale, ON
Mr. Chair, I feel so strongly about the previous question, I am going to finish my answer. We cannot peddle snake oil to Canadians and we have to be clear with Canadians that it is better to act quickly with limited local restrictions than to wait too long and have a raging virus.
Tamara Jansen Conservative Cloverdale—Langley City, BC
Mr. Chair, the Liberals have been filibustering for 30 hours. I just left another one. Will the government stop the cover-up and end the filibuster at finance committee, yes or no?
Chrystia Freeland Liberal University—Rosedale, ON
Mr. Chair, the government is very glad to be here in force this evening answering questions of all members of Parliament.