Debates of March 13th, 2020

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

I understand that there is an agreement between the parties to have some brief statements.

Statements Regarding COVID-19

[Mark Strahl, Conservative, Chilliwack—Hope, BC]

Madam Speaker, I rise today on behalf of the official opposition to offer my thoughts and prayers to the Prime Minister, his wife, all parliamentarians and indeed all Canadians who are experiencing or know someone affected by COVID-19.

I would also like to thank all public health officials and front-line health care workers who are working around the clock to keep Canadians healthy and safe.

These are extraordinary times. With the World Health Organization declaring COVID-19 a global pandemic, it is incumbent on everyone to exercise the highest degree of caution. My colleagues and I, in direct collaboration with our friends across the aisle, have come to an arrangement to suspend Parliament while ensuring the government continues to have the authority and capability to provide our country with necessary financial supports.

There continue to remain significant questions about the Government of Canada's management of this pandemic. While we understand that COVID-19 does not respect borders, the government can consider measures to further contain the virus from spreading, such as more vigorous screening upon entry, mandatory quarantine for those who enter from high-risk countries and potentially stopping incoming and outgoing flights from high-risk areas. The government's relying on Canadians to have enough supplies to weather the pandemic is simply not enough.

Canadians need to be reassured that the government is prepared to assist and support those affected by the coronavirus. We also need to see a comprehensive plan to protect the health and safety of all Canadians.

We as the official opposition will continue to do our elected duties outside of the confines of Parliament and will continue to press the government for the answers Canadians deserve.

Stay healthy. God bless you all, and God bless Canada.

[Yves-François Blanchet, Bloc, Beloeil—Chambly, QC]

Madam Speaker, the motion I want to speak to has not been formally moved yet. I am not sure what that means from a procedural standpoint. I will proceed and the House can decide thereafter.

To all Quebeckers back home concerned about the spread of a virus that may, in some cases, be life-threatening, I wish them courage.

I wish a speedy recovery to all those who will get sick in the coming weeks, including, of course, the Prime Minister's wife.

It is also my wish that we deal with this challenge before us swiftly, wisely and carefully. I ask that we restrain our propensity for playing politics and instead become protectors of the common good. That is what the Bloc Québécois will do.

Nevertheless, the suspension of Parliament should not mean and will not mean that the Bloc Québécois will be less present or less vigilant with regard to anything that might be detrimental to the interests of Quebec. The Bloc will continue to offer proposals to better serve those interests.

In light of how vigorously and quickly the coronavirus is spreading, numerous possible responses have been proposed. Time will tell which responses were appropriate. We will have to learn from this experience.

One thing that seems to have been handled poorly and inconsistently is border crossings: protocols, equipment, training, detection, referrals, quarantine and, in some cases, some level of shutdown.

If it cannot be avoided, accelerating an economic slowdown—I realize that is an oxymoron—recession or crisis is a cure that is worse than the disease in some ways. History has also taught us that the earliest victims of a crisis are the most vulnerable members of society.

Members can see why the Bloc Québécois is pushing for major accommodations in the employment insurance system and for changes that give seniors in the regions more purchasing power as soon as possible. Parliament may not be sitting, but the Bloc Québécois will be watching closely and speaking up. We were elected to be here and stand up for our people. We understand why this has to happen, we accept it, and we were part of the conversation that led to this morning's motion. However, we will insist that lost sitting days be made up, especially given the minority government context.

The coronavirus pandemic will leave an indelible mark on our planet, on Quebec and on Canada. Our response to the pandemic will also have a long-lasting economic impact. Let us therefore choose wisely.

Finally, it is important that compassion be the main principle guiding our decisions and actions. I remain committed to working to mitigate, as much as possible, the impact and suffering this crisis might have on Quebeckers.

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

Madam Speaker, today our thoughts are with Ms. Grégoire and the 155 other Canadians across the country who have contracted the coronavirus.

In this place, Canadians often see how our parties differ, and the differences we have. They see the questions we ask each other in question period. What Canadians often see is the variety of opinions within this House of Commons.

Today, however, we see all parties and all members of Parliament coming together with the same mission. That mission is to confront the challenge of coronavirus in Canada and to do our part to minimize the dangers of this virus going further in the public sphere.

Unanimity is rare, but it is important when we face a challenge that affects all of Canada. It is important that members come together and confirm that we will work collaboratively.

Canadians come together when there are challenges. That has always been the hallmark of our character. Today, as we know, public health officials told us that it is important for members of Parliament, like everyone else in Canada, to maintain the social distancing that is so important to assure we do not see a rapid multiplication of the virus.

Our health officers across the country, and I would like to give a shout-out to Dr. Bonnie Henry from British Columbia, have been tirelessly working to ensure Canadians understand the implications of not having that social distancing. The reality of our parliamentary life is that we travel across the country. If we did not take this hiatus, we could have members of Parliament bringing the virus back to Ottawa, or taking the virus from Ottawa to their home constituencies.

We definitely need to co-operate and follow the advice of health officials, who have made it very clear that it is vital to maintain social distancing to prevent the virus from spreading.

In the meantime, we will be where we should be. We will be in our ridings assisting our constituents, pressing to make sure those workers who have to make the difficult choice between putting food on the table or going to work, when they know they should be in self-quarantine, are taken care of. We will be making sure that we are absolutely funding and investing in a health care system that is able to meet the challenges of the virus. We also have to make sure indigenous communities are not left aside, as they have been in past pandemics, and that all the resources they need are available to them.

Our role is to be in our ridings assisting the public and ensuring that we contribute to the efforts to fight the virus.

We will do our part. Members of Parliament are speaking with one voice today to say that we will do our part.

Today we are unanimous in saying that we are going to work together. We are going to take a little break to help fight the virus.

To conclude, on behalf of the NDP caucus, I would like to thank the employees and staff, the administration on Parliament Hill, the security guards who are so brave and courageous, and the staff who maintain this infrastructure that serves Canadian democracy so well. We will miss them, but we know we will be back.

We know as well that Canadians will beat this virus. We will be able to celebrate that fact when we reconvene.

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

I thank the member for New Westminster—Burnaby.

The hon. member for Saanich—Gulf Islands on a point of order.

[Elizabeth May, Green, Saanich—Gulf Islands, BC]

Madam Speaker, I am seeking the unanimous consent of the House to speak.

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

Does the hon. member for Saanich—Gulf Islands have the unanimous consent of the House?

[Some hon. members]

Agreed.

[Elizabeth May, Green, Saanich—Gulf Islands, BC]

Madam Speaker, I will not take long, but as this is a unanimous consent motion, I want to put on the record that the Green Party caucus consents. These are not normal times.

We are thinking of our friends in the House who are now at risk from the virus. We are thinking of our country. We are thinking of Ms. Grégoire Trudeau and we wish her a speedy recovery. This epidemic affects everyone, all of our loved ones, friends and constituents.

We cannot tell moment to moment what lies ahead with the spread of COVID-19. I want to express thanks to the Canadian public health authorities at every level and in my own province, particularly B.C. public health officer Bonnie Henry, who has been handling what was quite clearly spreading, and the British Columbia minister of health Adrian Dix and others who have taken strong precautionary action.

I have confidence in our health authorities. I have confidence in Canadians. We gather in groups, and goodness knows, as members of Parliament, we gather in groups and travel on airplanes. It is incumbent upon us to accept that we have to stop our work in this place. Hopefully it is only for five weeks, so we again can take on the business of the nation. I think it is fair to say that as much as we travel on airplanes, we do not want to find, when history looks at what happened with COVID-19 in Canada, that members of Parliament were vectors of disease. We need to take on board our responsibilities.

Therefore, I join with all colleagues in thanking our health authorities for their diligence and the Minister of Health. We are blessed to live in a country with responsible government that does not try to make up the science as it goes along.

The Green Party consents to the adjournment and looks forward to seeing everyone again in this place, and in good health.

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

Madam Speaker, I rise in the House today in extraordinary circumstances.

I would like to sincerely and warmly thank all the parties in the House for working with us at such an important time.

I can assure Canadians that the priority of the government and all members of the House is to ensure the health and safety of every Canadian. That is why we are moving the following motion:

That, notwithstanding any standing order, special order or usual practice of the House, following the adoption of this order, the House shall stand adjourned until Monday, April 20, 2020, provided that:

(a) the House shall be deemed to have adjourned pursuant to Standing Order 28;

(b) for the supply period ending on March 26, 2020, the eighth allotted day shall be the final allotted day;

(c) the order for the deferred recorded division on the opposition motion standing in the name of the member for Vancouver Kingsway, considered on March 12, 2020, be discharged and the motion be deemed adopted on division;

(d) the motions to concur in Supplementary Estimates (B) for the fiscal year ending on March 31, 2020, and interim supply for the fiscal year ending on March 31, 2021, be deemed adopted on division and the appropriation bills based thereon be deemed to have been introduced and read a first time, deemed read a second time and referred to a committee of the whole on division, deemed considered in committee of the whole, deemed reported without amendment, deemed concurred in at report stage on division, deemed read a third time and passed on division;

(e) there shall be 10 allotted days in the supply period ending on June 23, 2020;

(f) a bill in the name of the Minister of Finance, entitled An Act to amend the Financial Administration Act (special warrant), be deemed to have been introduced and read a first time, deemed read a second time and referred to a committee of the whole on division, deemed considered in committee of the whole, deemed reported without amendment, deemed concurred in at report stage on division, deemed read a third time and passed on division;

(g) currently scheduled committee meetings shall be cancelled;

(h) the order of the day designated for Monday, March 30, 2020, for the consideration of the budget presentation, shall be undesignated;

(i) if, during the period the House stands adjourned, the Speaker receives a notice from the House leaders of all four recognized parties indicating that it is in the public interest that the House remain adjourned until a future date or until future notice is given to the Speaker, the House will remain adjourned accordingly;

(j) Bill C-4, An Act to implement the Agreement between Canada, the United States of America and the United Mexican States, be deemed read a third time and passed;

(k) during the period the House stands adjourned, the House may be recalled, under the provisions of Standing Order 28(3), to consider measures to address the economic impact of COVID-19 and the impacts on the lives of Canadians;

(l) the government’s responses to petitions 431-00042 to 431-00045 be tabled immediately and questions on the Order Paper numbered Q-245 to Q-259 be made into orders for returns and that the said returns be tabled immediately;

(m) the government provide regular updates to representatives of the opposition parties;

(n) any special warrant issued under the Financial Administration Act may be deposited with the Clerk of the House during the period the House is adjourned;

(o) any special warrant issued under the Financial Administration Act and deposited with the Clerk of the House shall be referred to the Standing Committee on Public Accounts and the committee shall meet to consider any warrants referred to it within 20 sitting days; and

(p) the House call on the Auditor General of Canada to immediately conduct an audit of the special warrants issued under the Financial Administration Act and that the Auditor General of Canada report his findings to the House no later than June 1, 2021.

Madam Speaker, this decision was taken to help keep all Canadians safe and healthy. We made this decision together, with all the parties, and we did not make it lightly.

Our action today demonstrates that we take this challenge seriously. I want to thank all of the health care workers and professionals.

From the bottom of my heart, I want to thank all health care professionals, who are going through tough times at work as they help us through this crisis.

To Canadians, workers and families; to children concerned for their parents; to sisters and brothers concerned for loved ones and friends, we are all united. We will face this together, and we will get through this together.

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

Does the hon. member have the unanimous consent of the House to move the motion?

[Some hon. members]

Agreed.

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

The House has heard the terms of the motion. Is it the pleasure of the House to adopt the motion?

[Some hon. members]

Agreed.

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

(Motion agreed to)

(Business of Supply. On the Order: Government Orders:)

March 12, 2020—Mr. Davies (Vancouver Kingsway)—Consideration of motion.

(Motion adopted on division)

(On the Order: Government Orders:)

March 5, 2020—President of the Treasury Board—Consideration of motion to concur in the supplementary estimates (B) for the fiscal year ending March 31, 2020.

(Motion adopted on division)

(On the Order: Government Orders:)

March 5, 2020—President of the Treasury Board—Consideration of motion to concur in interim supply.

(Motion deemed adopted on division)

(Bill C-10. On the Order: Government Orders:)

Bill C-10—President of the Treasury Board—Consideration of Bill C-10, An Act for granting to Her Majesty certain sums of money for the federal public administration for the fiscal year ending March 31, 2020.

(Bill introduced, read a first time, read a second time and referred to a committee of the whole on division, considered in committee of the whole and reported without amendment, concurred in at report stage on division, read a third time and passed on division)

(Bill C-11. On the Order: Government Orders:)

Bill C-11—President of the Treasury Board—Consideration of Bill C-11, An Act for granting to Her Majesty certain sums of money for the federal public administration for the fiscal year ending March 31, 2021.

(Bill introduced, read the first time, read the second time and referred to committee of the whole on division, considered in committee of the whole and reported without amendment, concurred in at report stage on division, read a third time and passed on division)

(Bill C-4. On the Order: Government Orders:)

March 11, 2020—Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Intergovernmental Affairs—Third reading stage of Bill C-4, An Act to implement the Agreement between Canada, the United States of America and the United Mexican States.

(Bill read the third time and passed)

(Bill C-12. On the Order: Government Orders:)

Bill C-12—Minister of Finance—Consideration of Bill C-12, An Act to amend the Financial Administration Act (special warrant).

(Bill introduced, read the first time, read a second time and referred to committee of the whole on division, considered in committee of the whole and reported without amendment, concurred in at report stage on division, read the third time and passed on division)

Question No.245

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

With regard to the electoral district of Skeena—Bulkley Valley, between the fiscal year 2005-06 and the current year: what are all the federal infrastructure investments, including direct transfers to municipalities, regional district associations or First Nations, national parks, highways, etc., broken down by fiscal year?

(Return tabled)

Question No.246

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

With regard to the Canada Infrastructure Bank: (a) what is the complete list of infrastructure projects financed by the bank since June 1, 2018; (b) for each project in (a), what are the details, including the (i) amount of federal financing, (ii) location of project, (iii) scheduled completion date of project, (iv) project description; and (c) what are the details of projects currently proposed for the bank, including the (i) proposed date of commencement, (ii) location of project, (iii) proposed federal financing, (iv) project description?

(Return tabled)

Question No.247

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

With regard to the Investing in Canada Infrastructure Plan: (a) what is the total amount of approved funding; (b) what is the complete list of approved projects; and (c) for each project in (b), what are the details, including the (i) value of approved project, (ii) total amount of federal financing, (iii) location of project, (iv) project description, (v) scheduled completion date?

(Return tabled)

Question No.248

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

With regard to the Investing in Canada Infrastructure Plan: (a) what is the total amount of allocated funding not yet spent; (b) what is the complete list of proposed projects not yet assigned federal funding or assigned funding, but not yet commenced construction; and (c) for each project in (b), what are the details, including the (i) value of proposed project, (ii) total amount of federal financing, (iii) location of project, (iv) project description, (v) proposed completion date?

(Return tabled)

Question No.249

[Shannon Stubbs, Conservative, Lakeland, AB]

With regard to the Trans Mountain Pipeline and Expansion Project: (a) what are the revenues generated by the Trans Mountain Pipeline, broken down by quarter, since the pipeline was purchased by the government; (b) what are the operating expenses less loan interest payments to run the Trans Mountain Pipeline, broken down by quarter, since the pipeline was purchased by the federal government; (c) what are the interest payments on the loan used to purchase the Trans Mountain Pipeline, broken down by quarter, since the pipeline was purchased by the government; (d) what is the profit or loss, broken down by quarter, on the Trans Mountain Pipeline since the pipeline was purchased by the government; (e) are the revenues generated by the Trans Mountain Pipeline covering the annual operating and interest payments on the loans the government used to buy the Trans Mountain Pipeline and Expansion; (f) on what date is the pipeline scheduled to be completed, including the month and year; (g) on what date is the pipeline scheduled to enter service, including the month and year; (h) what is the current estimated cost of construction for the Trans Mountain Expansion Project; (i) on what date was the Minister of Finance, or his office, advised in writing or verbally, by officials from either the Department of Finance or a Crown corporation or a government contractor that the estimated cost of construction for the expansion was more than $7.4 billion; and (j) on what date did the government become aware that the cost of completing the Trans Mountain Expansion Project was estimated to be greater than $7.4 billion?