Debates of March 9th, 2020

The Economy

[Some hon. members]

Oh, oh!

[The Speaker, Liberal, Anthony Rota]

I want to remind hon. members that interrupting someone who is speaking is a lack of respect. This is something we want to bring back to the chamber, and it is up to all of us to do that.

The hon. Deputy Prime Minister.

[Chrystia Freeland, Liberal, University—Rosedale, ON]

Let me be clear, Mr. Speaker. As Canada faces this serious challenge to public health and also to our economy, our government will be focused on working together with all Canadians to respond to this challenge, and not on taking cheap partisan shots.

[Gérard Deltell, Conservative, Louis-Saint-Laurent, QC]

Mr. Speaker, since those people have been in government, 200,000 energy sector workers have lost their jobs in Canada. More than seven projects have been cancelled and more than $150 billion in investments have evaporated. To date, this happened only out west, but now Quebec is being affected by the abandonment of the GNL Québec project. The backers of the project said that major projects in Canada are no longer attractive because of this government's political instability.

How can the Deputy Prime Minister defend such an abysmal record with respect to creating jobs and, especially, attracting major projects that create jobs for all Canadians?

[Chrystia Freeland, Liberal, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Intergovernmental Affairs]

Mr. Speaker, our government believes that working with the resource sector to create good jobs and attract investment is a priority. Canada has over 400 major resource projects in the planning stages or under way. That is more than last year and includes the largest private sector investment in Canadian history, the LNG Canada project, which our government strongly supports.

[Gérard Deltell, Conservative, Louis-Saint-Laurent, QC]

Mr. Speaker, maybe the Deputy Prime Minister could talk to her colleagues, including those at Canadian Heritage, who must have been happy to learn that GNL Québec's plan for the Saguenay—Lac-Saint-Jean project was shelved because of this government's policies and because it let a rail crisis drag on for more than four weeks, giving global investors the impression that there are no more opportunities for major projects in Canada.

What will the government do to fix the situation?

[Chrystia Freeland, Liberal, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Intergovernmental Affairs]

Mr. Speaker, I want to note once again that the natural resources sector is a priority for our government. We understand that this sector supports many good jobs across the country. We are working with major investors. I also want to note that the largest private sector project in Canadian history is the LNG Canada project, which our government strongly supports.

[Alain Therrien, Bloc, La Prairie, QC]

Mr. Speaker, a month later, the blockade at Kahnawake has finally been lifted, but that does not mean that the rail crisis is over.

Today, the government must take responsibility for its lack of leadership on this file. For example, in my riding, Exo spent more than $1 million to try to replace commuter trains. Manufacturers and exporters in Quebec lost between $20,000 and $50,000 a day. This was quite costly to our businesses.

Will the government present a compensation plan to the victims of the collateral damage of its inaction on the rail crisis?

[Chrystia Freeland, Liberal, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Intergovernmental Affairs]

Mr. Speaker, we know that the blockades had some very real consequences for Canadians, including Quebeckers.

We needed to find a peaceful and lasting resolution. I want to point out that by engaging in dialogue, we have reached a tentative agreement with the Wet'suwet'en. This is a good thing for all Canadians. All blockades have been removed and rail service has resumed. This is also a good thing.

Health

[Alain Therrien, Bloc, La Prairie, QC]

Mr. Speaker, we did not get an answer.

We have not yet started dealing with the impact of the rail crisis and now the new coronavirus crisis is causing concern. This same government is the one managing our borders. This same government is the one managing our airports. This same government is the one that will be preventing the coronavirus from getting into the country. There is cause for concern. Last week, the Customs and Immigration Union sounded the alarm. Border officers are not getting any support to identify people with the virus. This is hard to imagine.

The government messed up with the rail crisis. Everyone knows that. Does the government realize that there is no room for failure with the coronavirus?

[Chrystia Freeland, Liberal, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Intergovernmental Affairs]

Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank my colleague for this important question. I will begin by describing the whole-of-government approach we are taking.

Experts are saying that this situation is likely to get worse before it gets better, in Canada and around the world. Our government will do whatever it takes to keep Canadians safe and keep our economy strong.

[Jagmeet Singh, NDP, Burnaby South, BC]

Mr. Speaker, people are deeply worried about the spread of the coronavirus, and they want to do their part. The Liberal government has suggested that people who might be infected should self-quarantine and stay at home from work. That is very difficult for workers who do not have sick leave. How are they going to pay their bills? How will they make that difficult decision?

People want to do their part to stop the spread of the coronavirus, but without sick leave, they cannot do so.

Will the government help people stay home?

[Chrystia Freeland, Liberal, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Intergovernmental Affairs]

Yes, Mr. Speaker, we will. We know that we must support Canadians who may not be able to work because of illness or quarantine. We have already reduced the EI waiting period from two weeks to one week, and we are committing to extending EI benefits to 26 weeks. We are planning for worst-case scenarios, as is prudent and correct for our government to do, and we are preparing further measures to support Canadian workers and our economy.

[Jagmeet Singh, NDP, Burnaby South, BC]

Mr. Speaker, health experts are concerned about the fact that our health care system is not equipped to deal with a coronavirus crisis.

That is not surprising given the fact that for decades both Liberal and Conservative governments have been cutting funding to health care. To support the crisis as it potentially increases, will the Prime Minister commit to reversing the Harper era cuts and properly fund our health care system?

[Chrystia Freeland, Liberal, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Intergovernmental Affairs]

Mr. Speaker, I was at Sunnybrook hospital on Friday and I must say I was so impressed by the hard work, intelligence and dedication of the health care professionals I met there. Our federal government will not hesitate to support Canada's health care system as necessary during this situation. We are already engaged in bulk procurement efforts. This is not a time to quibble about federal and provincial responsibilities. This is a time to work together, as we are doing.

Finance

[Pierre Poilievre, Conservative, Carleton, ON]

Mr. Speaker, when the sun is shining, responsible home owners repair the roof, strengthen the foundation and fill the cupboards for the coming winter. This government spent the sunny days wasting money, going into debt and stifling investment. Now, the roof is leaking, the foundation is cracking and the cupboards are bare.

What is the plan now?

[Sean Fraser, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Finance and to the Minister of Middle Class Prosperity and Associate Minister of Finance]

Mr. Speaker, my grandfather always warned me to never let anything as petty as the cold, hard facts get in the way of a good story, and it sounds like the hon. member has been speaking to my grandfather.

When I look at the argument he makes, it rests on false pretenses. Over the past few years, we have made investments in the Canadian economy that have seen 1.2 million jobs added, including more than 30,000 in the past month alone. We have also seen more than a million people lifted out of poverty.

If he does not want to take my word for it, I would direct him to the report of the Parliamentary Budget Officer, who confirmed that we have enough space in our budget to respond with the firepower we need in the event of a downturn. These things do not happen by accident. They happen because we have been putting measures in place to grow the economy and support Canadians.

[Pierre Poilievre, Conservative, Carleton, ON]

Mr. Speaker, it sounds like the hon. member had a wonderful and wise grandfather to whom he should have listened. His grandfather would have advised him to fill up the cupboards with supplies for a rainy day, and repair the roof and the foundation for the storm that inevitably comes. Instead, the Liberals added almost $100 billion of new debt, ground economic growth to 0.3% and shut down 150 billion dollars' worth of projects, all before the coronavirus problem even began.

How could they have left common sense behind and made us so weak and vulnerable?

[Sean Fraser, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Finance and to the Minister of Middle Class Prosperity and Associate Minister of Finance]

Mr. Speaker, I find it fascinating that the hon. member has a new-found interest in debt and economic growth. If we look at the record, while he was sitting around the cabinet table in the previous government, it added $150 billion to our nation's debt and had the lowest rate of economic growth since the Great Depression. I could not make this stuff up.

Through the measures that we put in place, we have seen more than 1.2 million jobs added to the Canadian economy, more than a million people lifted out of poverty, including 300,000 kids, and we now have the healthiest balance sheet in the G7. This is what success looks like. I would invite the hon. member to take a look and enjoy.

[Pierre Poilievre, Conservative, Carleton, ON]

Mr. Speaker, the member said he could not make this stuff up. He underestimates himself. I am glad that he brought up our record, because in the first two years after we took office we did what his grandfather would have done. We paid off $40 billion in debt to prepare for the crisis that we knew would one day come. As a result, we had a buffer. We were prepared and we had the strongest economy in the G7 through the great global recession—

[Some hon. members]

Oh, oh!

[The Speaker, Liberal, Anthony Rota]

Order, please. I thought we started off so well. I will not choose one side or the other, but as we sit here today, I want members to think about what their grandparents would think of them sitting in this room.

The hon. parliamentary secretary.

[Sean Fraser, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Finance and to the Minister of Middle Class Prosperity and Associate Minister of Finance]

Mr. Speaker, my grandfather turns 99 in May, and he is one of the few people I know who personally witnessed a government with a slower rate of economic growth than the Conservatives under Stephen Harper.

The fact remains that we have the healthiest balance sheet of any G7 economy. This is because we have been investing in measures that create economic growth and we have been putting in place policies that actually make sure ordinary Canadians benefit from that growth.

We are going to continue on a path to deal with the very serious challenges facing the Canadian economy, but we are going to work toward achieving economic growth, and growth that works for everyone.

Natural Resources

[Richard Martel, Conservative, Chicoutimi—Le Fjord, QC]

Mr. Speaker, on Thursday, we learned that Berkshire Hathaway, a company that was strongly considering investing $4 billion in the GNL Québec project, had decided to pull out. The company had chosen GNL Québec from among 100 liquefied natural gas projects around the world. It made its exit at a time when the Prime Minister is creating a climate of uncertainty never before seen in Canada.

What is the Prime Minister going to do to win back the roughly $200 billion in lost or delayed investments in natural resource projects?

[Peter Schiefke, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Environment and Climate Change]

Mr. Speaker, our government is committed to working with the resource sector to ensure that the best projects come to fruition. We know that investors and global consumers in Canada and around the world are increasingly looking for cleaner products and sustainable resource development.

We understand that GNL Québec is planning to continue with the evaluation process while seeking new investors for the proposed project.