Debates of March 24th, 2020

COVID-19 Pandemic

[The Deputy Chair, NDP, Carol Hughes]

I have to allow for one more question from the Leader of the Opposition. There is the same amount of time for asking the question, basically.

The hon. Leader of the Opposition has one minute to ask a question.

[Andrew Scheer, Conservative, Regina—Qu'Appelle, SK]

Madam Chair, I will acknowledge that we are in agreement with much of what the finance minister has said. I think we are heading into some uncharted territory. There will be many Canadians who have never looked to government before for assistance who will now be looking to government. We must make sure that we find a way to provide that support to them, and help to keep people in their apartments and homes and able to put food on the table.

One way to ensure that the effects of this downturn last even longer is if the government or our central bank were to consider a quantitative easing measure. That is a guaranteed way to make sure that the lingering effects of this downturn will last years and years beyond what it needs to.

Will the finance minister commit to assuring the House that quantitative easing, printing money, is not something the government would support and certainly not something that the government would request the Bank of Canada to consider?

[Bill Morneau, Liberal, Toronto Centre, ON]

Madam Chair, first of all, to continue where I left off, our measure would ensure that every Canadian who is off work for any reason, which means they are not going to be able to have the income that they previously had if they had income the year before, will be able to get a wage subsidy. That, of course, will be very important in allowing them to deal with the challenge that they are facing. This would not only provide the employee with support, but would also ensure that the firm they work for is able to have that kind of support through those funds. That we see as critically important. It would allow those firms to have the people off work who need to be off work and the ones who are at work not at work.

With respect to anything to do with the Bank of Canada, I think it is important to note that the Bank of Canada is independent of government and will remain so under this government.

[The Deputy Chair, NDP, Carol Hughes]

I will remind members that it is five minutes for questions and comments together. If the question is posed for two minutes, then there is up to two minutes to answer. If there is only one minute left, then it means there is only 30 seconds to ask a question and 30 seconds to answer.

I would ask people to be mindful of the time and to look at me so that I can give them the signal.

The hon. member for Joliette.

[Gabriel Ste-Marie, Bloc, Joliette, QC]

Mr. Morneau, as you know, we are experiencing a pandemic of unprecedented proportions that is putting the economy on hold. Nearly one million people have submitted employment insurance claims. People are worried because they cannot get in touch with anyone at EI. They want to know when they will be getting their cheques.

Mr. Morneau, what will your government do to speed up the process and make sure people get an answer?

[The Deputy Chair, NDP, Carol Hughes]

I would remind the hon. member for Joliette to address his questions to the Chair.

[Gabriel Ste-Marie, Bloc, Joliette, QC]

Madam Chair, in committee of the whole, I believe we are allowed to use people's names.

[The Deputy Chair, NDP, Carol Hughes]

I can confirm for the hon. member that he must address his questions to the Chair and refrain from naming individuals in the House.

[Gabriel Ste-Marie, Bloc, Joliette, QC]

Madam Chair, it is my understanding that, in committee of the whole, we are allowed to name individuals.

[The Deputy Chair, NDP, Carol Hughes]

The hon. member for Joliette does not have the correct information. He must address his questions and comments to the Chair and refrain from calling members, including ministers, by their names.

The hon. Minister of Finance.

[Bill Morneau, Liberal, Toronto Centre, ON]

Madam Chair, that is a very important question. We know that access to these funds is very important to all Canadians who are struggling because of COVID-19. That is why we came up with a simple and rapid solution to ensure that people receive this money over the next two or three weeks. We are aiming for the first week of April. This is very important to them, and very important to our economy.

[Gabriel Ste-Marie, Bloc, Joliette, QC]

Madam Chair, I want to thank the Minister of Finance for reassuring the public in that regard.

It is important to ensure that no one falls through the cracks. We need to think about the unemployed, about the workers who have not accumulated sufficient hours to qualify for EI, and about self-employed workers. A program will be created for those individuals.

However, I am thinking of small business owners, who often do not even have any employees. In the technical briefings we have had so far, we have been told that when it comes to registered small businesses, people will not be eligible for the income support measure. Restaurant owners are often forced to shut down and will no longer have any income.

Aside from possibly deferring tax payments and granting access to loans, will there be anything else for these individuals, like the income support measure?

[Bill Morneau, Liberal, Toronto Centre, ON]

Madam Chair, we continue to come up with ways to ensure that our small and medium-sized business owners are in good shape.

To be eligible, individuals must have earned $5,000 or more in the past 12 months and find themselves with no income as a result of COVID-19. Those are the conditions. A small business owner therefore has the same access to benefits as anyone else. That is very important.

Of course, we will continue to think of ways to ensure that all Canadians are able to deal with this difficult situation.

[Gabriel Ste-Marie, Bloc, Joliette, QC]

Madam Chair, I want to thank the Minister of Finance for that clarification. This will ease a serious concern felt by many people in our communities.

With regard to the income support measure and payments, we are still waiting for the calculation grid. In the technical briefings, we have not yet been told what the calculation grid might look like or when we will have access to that.

Can the Minister of Finance indicate, first of all, what the calculation grid might look like, and second, when we might have access to that grid to assess the sums that might be available?

[Bill Morneau, Liberal, Toronto Centre, ON]

Madam Chair, we know the situation is changing rapidly. We therefore need more information. We will make an announcement when we are ready. It will be in the next few days, certainly. I know this is very important. We are working on getting the exact numbers very soon.

[Jagmeet Singh, NDP, Burnaby South, BC]

Madam Chair, my question is for the Minister of Finance.

We know that in the last week alone nearly a million Canadians applied for EI. Canadians are faced with an impossible choice: Do they stay home and help prevent the spread of an illness but risk not being able to pay their rent or put food on the table or do they go to work and risk the spread of the illness to their loved ones and themselves? People cannot wait until April or May for help. They need help immediately. There are many workers now who are in the gig economy, freelance and contract workers who need immediate supports.

Will the Minister of Finance consider our proposal to send, while we are in this crisis, $2,000 to each Canadian monthly and an additional $250 for each child? This form of universal basic income would provide direct support to Canadians who desperately need it.

[Bill Morneau, Liberal, Toronto Centre, ON]

Madam Chair, we are ensuring that all Canadians who are impacted by COVID-19 are in a situation where they can face up to this challenge.

The announcements we have made with this legislation allow us to create a benefit for everyone who has been in a situation where they previously earned revenue of $5,000 or more in the past 12 months, and because of sickness, because of quarantine, because they need to stay home to protect themselves and their family because their employer has asked them to stay home, and they are not receiving revenue as a result. Those people will have access to the benefit. That we think is critically important. I can assure the member that in that way we have in fact taken his very legitimate question and come up with a solution.

[Jagmeet Singh, NDP, Burnaby South, BC]

Madam Chair, I have spoken to indigenous leaders across the country. They are highlighting some serious concerns they have. Because of historic and ongoing injustices, indigenous communities have inadequate access to clean drinking water, housing, and health care services. As a result, leaders are concerned their communities will not be able to deal with COVID-19 if they are exposed and it starts to spread. They are concerned about the lack of resources, equipment and supplies.

What is the plan to ensure that indigenous communities get the supports they need? I also want to make it clear that isolation tents are not going to cut it. What is the plan to help indigenous communities in this crisis?

[Bill Morneau, Liberal, Toronto Centre, ON]

Madam Chair, in a time of challenge like we are facing, we recognize that Canadians in many different situations are facing extreme challenges which we have never seen before. We recognize that indigenous peoples, first nations, the Inuit nation and the Métis nation are indeed facing real challenges, especially when they live in places that are remote or unable to access appropriate health care. When we came out with our measures, we recognized this. We recognized it by putting more than $300 million into our package. We also recognized that we need to work together to consider the specific situations that people are facing in particular parts of our country.

We will be doing that right now, over the course of the next number of days. I would invite the member opposite if he has suggestions to get them to me and we will most certainly consider them.

[Jagmeet Singh, NDP, Burnaby South, BC]

Madam Chair, one of the big concerns we have is that while we are dealing with the immediate crisis of COVID-19 and the immediate impacts on society, we also need to make sure that we have a plan once this immediate health care issue is dealt with and we look at the recovery.

People need to know that they will have a job to return to. A lot of small businesses are struggling right now with the impacts of COVID-19. What I am suggesting to the government is that we need to increase the wage subsidy. Right now the government is proposing 10%. We are suggesting that what is needed is at least a 75% wage subsidy or more. Will the government commit to increasing the wage subsidy to at least 75% to help small businesses and ensure that workers have a job to return to?

[Bill Morneau, Liberal, Toronto Centre, ON]

Madam Chair, this situation is moving quickly. I appreciate that all of the members in this chamber have not in any way had the opportunity to fully understand what it is we are trying to achieve.

We are, in fact, delivering a wage subsidy directly to Canadians. What we are doing is making sure those Canadians who are furloughed from their employment, meaning they are not separated from their employment but they are off work and not able to get income from their employment, whether it be because they are at home or whether it be because they are sick, in those situations they will be getting the emergency benefit that we are proposing.

In that way, we can ensure the wage subsidy is not only that amount, but for employees who stay at work, it is the additional 10%.

[Dan Albas, Conservative, Central Okanagan—Similkameen—Nicola, BC]

Madam Chair, I would like to direct my question to the Minister of Employment.

Applications for regular EI have overwhelmed the system and no one can get hold of Service Canada to apply. With a whole new benefit, how will the caseload be managed to ensure that people can apply and how are staff resources being redirected to support Canadians?

[Carla Qualtrough, Liberal, Minister of Employment]

Madam Chair, we have intentionally created this new benefit separate from the EI system so that we can continue to process claims that were filed before March 15, and we can continue to process claims for other benefits, like maternity and parental benefits, since March 15. Any claim that has been filed since March 15 will be channelled into this new Canada emergency response benefit, and any EI claim that is filed between now and when this new application for this benefit arises will be also channelled into the new benefit.

I can assure members that we have redirected every single possible resource to Service Canada. I do not have the exact number, but I think it is about 1,300 people who have been redirected to work on processing these claims and answering these questions. We have had an enormous volume of EI claims. We have had an enormous number of questions to Service Canada. We are doing our utmost to answer them and respond as quickly as possible.

[Dan Albas, Conservative, Central Okanagan—Similkameen—Nicola, BC]

Madam Chair, many people who are about to go on parental leave have been laid off and have had to start EI, which will reduce the time that they can be on parental leave. Will their leave be extended to ensure that they can take their planned time with their new child?

[Carla Qualtrough, Liberal, Delta, BC]

Madam Chair, any EI entitlement that a worker currently has will not in any way be impacted by the new Canada emergency response benefit. Whatever someone is entitled to now he or she will be entitled to after the 16 weeks.