Debates of April 11th, 2020

COVID-19 Pandemic

[Dane Lloyd, Conservative, Sturgeon River—Parkland, AB]

Mr. Chair, what do N95 masks, endotracheal tubes, dressing trays, face shields and catheters have in common? They are all critical in our fight to save Canadian lives from COVID-19. However, they are also single-use plastics that are going to be labelled as toxic under schedule 1 of the Canadian Environmental Protection Act.

Canadians are shocked to see how ill equipped we are to manufacture needed medical supplies. Instead, we rely on Chinese, American and European suppliers to meet our demands. This puts Canadian lives at risk, and it is time to promote plastics manufacturing in Canada.

Would the government agree that banning single-use plastics, including medical equipment, and declaring plastic to be toxic is not a good idea?

[Navdeep Bains, Liberal, Minister of Innovation]

Mr. Chair, my hon. colleague has highlighted the importance of our efforts to mobilize industry to look at made in Canada solutions. I would like to highlight and underscore some of the efforts we have made in terms of securing important personal protective equipment.

We have sourced more than 230 million surgical masks, and over 17 million have already been delivered. We have roughly 75 million N95 masks on order. In the coming days, we expect to have over two million more masks in Canada's possession. We have received nearly 10 million pairs of medical gloves.

We have taken appropriate steps to make sure that we protect front-line health care workers.

[Dane Lloyd, Conservative, Sturgeon River—Parkland, AB]

Mr. Chair, we know that many Canadians are isolated at home, but some Canadians suffered isolation long before COVID-19. I am speaking, of course, about our veterans who have noone else to turn to and who may be home alone during this crisis without assistance.

What actions is Veterans Affairs Canada taking to reach out to all veterans to make sure that they are okay and getting the help they need during this time?

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

Mr. Chair, we are very aware that there are communities of particularly vulnerable Canadians who need particular support during this crisis. That, of course, includes our veterans, many of whom are also older people and so fall into a category doubly at risk. We are very much focused on them.

I want to take this opportunity to thank all of the individual Canadians who are making such efforts to reach out to fellow Canadians who are suffering from the necessary isolation.

[Dane Lloyd, Conservative, Sturgeon River—Parkland, AB]

Mr. Chair, we need to be sure that the government is taking action, particularly on this.

Is the government tracking a significant increase in mental health issues and suicides? What actions is it taking to protect Canadians from taking their lives at this particularly stressful time?

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

Mr. Chair, that, I am sad to say, is an excellent question.

One of the prices we are all seeing right now through this period of physical distancing is that more Canadians are suffering from mental health problems. We are very much focused on it. Health Canada is definitely putting forward some measures to be sure to help people at this time.

I also want to encourage individual Canadians to keep doing what they have been doing, which is to help their neighbours, friends and family.

[Dane Lloyd, Conservative, Sturgeon River—Parkland, AB]

Mr. Chair, we have learned recently in a Global news report that there are no public health officials at Canada's land borders. Is this the case, and if so, why is this still the case?

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

Mr. Chair, when it comes to our land borders, we have taken unprecedented action to restrict travel between Canada and the United States. We have done this with great care. It has been important to restrict non-essential travel even as we have taken steps to ensure that essential travel, the travel which is necessary for trade, the travel which is necessary to keep food in our grocery stores, the travel which is essential to get medical devices across the borders, continues to happen. That is work that is being done in close collaboration with the United States. It is being done by CBSA, and CBSA works closely with the provinces and with Health Canada.

[Dane Lloyd, Conservative, Sturgeon River—Parkland, AB]

Mr. Chair, the Canadian energy industry, particularly in my province of Alberta but also in Newfoundland and Labrador, is under attack by predatory dumping from the Saudi Arabian kingdom and from the Russian government. This is a short- and medium-term oil crisis that threatens 10% of Canada's GDP and significant tax revenue.

What actions is the government going to take beyond the wage subsidy to ensure that our industry survives in the face of this unrelenting attack from foreign governments?

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

Mr. Chair, our government, working closely with the Province of Alberta, has been very engaged in efforts at the G20, in efforts led by the NAFTA energy ministers to ensure that this unacceptable international manipulation of the price of oil comes to an end. The G20 energy ministers meeting yesterday did bring some positive results, and we will continue to be very engaged in this important issue.

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

Mr. Chair, I asked earlier about parental benefits, and the minister answered that the CERB will not affect them, which is good, but we already knew that. What we do not know is, if expectant parents have not met their hourly thresholds due to layoffs, whether the government will adjust the program to allow them the benefits.

Can the minister please tell these concerned parents what to expect?

[Carla Qualtrough, Liberal, Minister of Employment]

Mr. Chair, we are currently looking at consequences for a number of groups of their ability to meet the eligibility criteria for EI moving forward. I think also of substitute teachers who are not able to get the hours they need now because they are not in schools teaching. We know that while this may seem a little ways off, this is a very pressing issue for Canadians, and we are digging in on it right now.

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

Mr. Chair, the minister earlier said that changing the worker eligibility to add seasonal workers who are currently not working would require a legislative change. Presumably, this would be to section 6(1)(a), to remove the criteria, “ceasing working for reasons related to COVID-19”.

Earlier she said to the member for New Brunswick Southwest that it would take a regulatory change.

How would people who did not cease working due to COVID-19 be covered without changing the section of the act? I really need to know and Parliament needs to know if we are going to have to come back to fix this section of the act so that we can meet what the government has agreed to today with the motion, under point r)?

[Carla Qualtrough, Liberal, Delta, BC]

Mr. Chair, if it is the intent of this Parliament to change the overall criteria of the CERB, that is a legislative requirement. Under the first emergency response legislation there is regulatory power, for lack of a better word, given to me as minister, to make certain classes of workers or types of income exempt from the requirements of the act. That is the provision under which we would be able to, through regulation, exempt seasonal workers.

The other thing is that we have a complementary act through the EI Act, where we could make regulatory changes because seasonal workers are covered under employment insurance.

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

Mr. Chair, I appreciate the minister's contribution here, but I again do not want to see mistaken or flat out wrong information going out. Parliamentarians are struggling to deal with the many questions Canadians have and we do not want to further muddy the waters.

Over the past few days, I have heard from many people who applied for EI after March 15 and have not been paid, despite the fact the government said that applicants were processed. Why is it fair that someone who applies for CERB today will get paid in two days, but others have been waiting for weeks?

[Carla Qualtrough, Liberal, Delta, BC]

Mr. Chair, the numbers we are dealing with in this crisis, with respect to EI applications between March 15 and April 6, and CERB combined applications since, are extraordinary. Let me give you some numbers.

Yesterday, April 10, 231,000 people applied for CERB. That includes EI and non-EI eligible. This week alone, it was 3.32 million. Since March 15, 5.85 million Canadians have applied and we have processed 5.26 million of these. Understanding there are still 600,000 applications in the queue, we are working around the clock.

I also offer a shout-out to public servants for their incredible work on this.

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

Mr. Chair, I believe in supporting our public servants as they support Canadians, but that was not an answer to the people who are sending me emails and asking specifically about this.

The Canada summer jobs program has been altered and we have sent multiple letters with questions, with no formal response. We expected the government would have removed those applicants who are no longer operating due to COVID, but now it expects the overworked offices of MPs to do that for them. Why is the government putting all responsibility on managing program applicants on MP offices and giving them only a week to do so?

[Carla Qualtrough, Liberal, Delta, BC]

Mr. Chair, I am sure the member opposite would agree that members of Parliament are uniquely positioned to know the needs and what is going on in their community. They are not alone in this. We also have Service Canada public servants working around the clock, contacting employers to determine if they want to keep offering these jobs or if they would like to amend the job descriptions that they want to offer young people.

We thought it was very important to give members of Parliament, who again are on the ground, the opportunity to work with us to ensure that maybe organizations that historically had not even existed until this crisis had the opportunity to get a 100% wage subsidy for young people for this summer.

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

Mr. Chair, MPs work every year with Service Canada in order to be able to have this program go forward, but why make all MPs' offices responsible for removing unsuccessful applicants, finding new ones and managing the operations of this instead of simply having a second intake for essential organizations to apply?

[Carla Qualtrough, Liberal, Delta, BC]

Mr. Chair, we are having a second intake that will be a combined effort of MP offices and Service Canada. In order to get this out as quickly as possible, we felt the best way forward would be to take an all-hands-on-deck approach so that it did not take weeks and months, but in fact days. We know this is a lot to ask of MPs, but we are there and Service Canada is there to support them.

[John Nater, Conservative, Perth—Wellington, ON]

Mr. Chair, even before COVID-19 hit, the processing capacity for the agriculture sector was already in dire straits, especially in Ontario. I would like to know from the government what efforts it is making to ensure there are adequate CFIA inspectors to ensure that pork, beef and poultry can be processed?

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

Mr. Chair, our agricultural sector has never been more important for Canada and Canadians than it is today. It is quite appropriate for us, at a time of a global pandemic and at a time when borders are facing greater questions and restrictions than ever before, to really be concerned about food security here at home. That is why we are very focused on supporting agricultural workers, supporting farmers and definitely supporting the food processing sector.

[John Nater, Conservative, Perth—Wellington, ON]

Mr. Chair, for regions of this country where tourism is a major industry, including the Niagara region and my riding of Perth—Wellington, events like the Stratford Festival, the Stratford Summer Music and Drayton Entertainment are all going to be significantly affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. The Stratford Festival alone has $135 million of economic activity.

In the past, during the SARS crisis and during the 2008-09 economic downturn, the government brought forward plans to deal with the tourism sector, the arts and culture sector and the hospitality sector. They are all affected.

What plans will the government bring forward specifically for these sectors?

[Bill Morneau, Liberal, Minister of Finance]

Mr. Chair, we very much recognize that the sectors the member identified, the hospitality sector, the arts and culture sector and the tourism sector, have been impacted in a very damaging way. There are other sectors as well like the airline sector and the energy sector that are significantly impacted.

What we are looking to do is make sure that we have credit support for businesses of all sizes, from small to large, and we are looking at whether there need to be some specific measures for specific industries as well. As we have more information, we will certainly come forward.

[John Nater, Conservative, Perth—Wellington, ON]

Mr. Chair, the government's modelling has shown different scenarios depending on whether it is a 2.5% or 5% infection rate across the country, showing anywhere from 11,000 to 22,000 deaths. As we all know, these models change as different actions are taken by the government.

As these models change, would the government commit to providing updated models to this House and to Canadians on a weekly basis?