Debates of April 11th, 2020

COVID-19 Pandemic

[Jagmeet Singh, NDP, Burnaby South, BC]

Mr. Chair, some credit unions have recently waived interest rates entirely, so a 0% interest rate is what they are charging on their credit cards, while banks are still charging astronomical interest rates. The six big banks in Canada, BMO, CIBC, National Bank, RBC, Scotiabank and TD, reported more than $46.5 billion in profits last year.

Will the Prime Minister use the federal government's powers to force those banks to waive interest rates entirely during this crisis?

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Papineau, QC]

Mr. Chair, the Minister of Finance has been closely engaged with the banks over these past weeks. We have seen strong movement by the banks with respect to helping people who are particularly hard hit financially because of COVID-19. They have agreed to help us administer the small business loan.

We know there is more the banks can do and we have been working with banks and credit unions to make sure they do more to recognize that the way we support Canadians through this situation will ensure we come out of this situation in the best possible shape, all of us.

[Jagmeet Singh, NDP, Burnaby South, BC]

Mr. Chair, during the 2008 financial crisis we saw bailouts that effectively bailed out corporations that then took the money, left Canada and left workers high and dry. The workers lost their jobs while those companies and corporations took billions of dollars from Canada.

Will the government ensure we are going to prohibit any CEO bonuses and stock buybacks for the companies that receive government subsidies or bailouts and ensure that the money goes directly toward workers with strings attached to keep people employed, not to enrich the corporation, its shareholders or its executives?

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Papineau, QC]

Mr. Chair, we recognize that challenges and crises past had some of the impacts the member opposite talked about. That is why we made sure the big measures we have put forward are entirely focused on Canadians, on workers. The Canada emergency response benefit helps people who have lost their jobs because of COVID-19. The wage subsidy makes sure that people are staying connected to their jobs even though they cannot be paid by their employer anymore. The government will pay them up to 75% of their salary so that when this is through, Canadians will still have a connection to those jobs and our economy can get going again.

Everything we have done has been focused, first and foremost, on Canadians and not on corporations as a nebulous entity.

[Pierre Poilievre, Conservative, Carleton, ON]

Mr. Chair, I have a yes or no question. Military intelligence warned of the deadly coronavirus in a briefing to the government in early January. Did the Prime Minister, his office or any member of the cabinet see these briefings, yes or no?

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

Mr. Chair, Canada, as a member of the Five Eyes, as a member of NATO, as a member of NORAD, is a close intelligence partner with all of those allies, very much including the United States, and is privy to a great deal of intelligence. Of course, the global pandemic is an issue that has concerned our intelligence agencies and those of our partners, so we have been in close communication with them.

[Pierre Poilievre, Conservative, Carleton, ON]

Mr. Chair, did any member of the cabinet see that intelligence from our military, yes or no?

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

As I have said, Mr. Chair, our intelligence sharing is very important. Our intelligence sharing with our allies during this global pandemic, which poses particular security challenges, has been very energetic, and we continue to work with them.

[Pierre Poilievre, Conservative, Carleton, ON]

Mr. Chair, the question was and is this: Did any member of the cabinet see that military intelligence, yes or no?

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

Mr. Chair, part of the basis on which we are able to work closely with our partners, including when it comes to sharing intelligence, is sharing with Canadians only what we are able to.

[Pierre Poilievre, Conservative, Carleton, ON]

Mr. Chair, we know that the intelligence exists and we know that the military warned the government of the dangers of the coronavirus in early January. After January 22, how many people did the government allow into Canada from the Hubei province, the province from which the virus originated? How many were there?

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

Mr. Chair, when it comes to border control, our government is very aware of the importance of ensuring that people coming into the country today are subject to mandatory quarantine. That quarantine is being enforced. That includes Canadians and non-Canadians. As Canadians know as well, there are strict limits today on anyone who is not Canadian entering the country.

[Pierre Poilievre, Conservative, Carleton, ON]

Mr. Chair, how many people were allowed into Canada from Hubei province after the government received intelligence from our military showing the danger of the coronavirus?

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

Mr. Chair, we became aware that the coronavirus was indeed a threat and that there were a number of places around the world from which we were receiving people who could have the contagion of the coronavirus. That is why at the border we were very clear about giving clear instructions about the need for self-isolation.

[Pierre Poilievre, Conservative, Carleton, ON]

Mr. Chair, after the government received intelligence from our military about the dangers of the coronavirus in China, it allowed 2,000 people from the Hubei province, the most affected province, to come into Canada.

Were these 2,000 people quarantined, yes or no?

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

Mr. Chair, as I hope the member opposite knows, “quarantine” is a very specific legal term, and the measures of quarantine are currently in place. Prior to that obligatory quarantine being in place, incoming travellers, whether they were Canadian or not, were very clearly told to self-isolate.

[Pierre Poilievre, Conservative, Carleton, ON]

Mr. Chair, they were told to self-isolate but not required to self-isolate. Therefore, the government allowed thousands of people into this country who came from the affected regions, even though the government had briefings explaining the danger of doing just that.

On which date will the first wage subsidy be in the hands of a small business employer?

[Bill Morneau, Liberal, Minister of Finance]

Mr. Chair, we are obviously working as hard as we can to make sure that the wage subsidy gets into people's hands as rapidly as possible. With the passing of this legislation, organizations will be able to go to their banks to make it even faster. My expectation is that, within two to four weeks or so, we will see that get into companies' hands.

[Pierre Poilievre, Conservative, Carleton, ON]

Mr. Chair, the United States has delivered 220,000 loans and wage subsidies to small businesses. The money has already been in the hands of small business employers for weeks now south of the border.

In Canada, the applications just opened for the $40,000 emergency business loans. How many small businesses have received cash in hand from those loans to date?

[Bill Morneau, Liberal, Toronto Centre, ON]

Mr. Chair, the program and the approach we have taken are focused on people and ensuring that we get funds into their hands as rapidly as possible. We saw millions of Canadians, in excess of three million people, come onto the Canada emergency response benefit this past week. We saw the opening of a special loan opportunity with banks, which started this past week as well, for more than a million small businesses. We are working as hard as we can to make sure we are supporting individuals and small businesses.

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

Mr. Chair, this is for the Minister of Employment. Will expectant parents who will no longer meet their necessary hours to access full parental leave benefits due to COVID-19 layoffs be granted any assistance to ensure they can access those benefits?

[Carla Qualtrough, Liberal, Minister of Employment]

Mr. Chair, we know, as the Prime Minister and others have mentioned, that the number one goal of getting out the CERB was to get it into the hands of as many Canadians as possible. We are working now to make sure that in the long run there are not consequences in terms of EI eligibility, whether that be hours worked or number of weeks accumulated, that would negatively impact certain already vulnerable populations.

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

Mr. Chair, the Prime Minister announced earlier that the CERB would be changed to allow people to work and be eligible. This motion today calls on the government to make those changes. It is being stated both here in the House and in the media that the program is now open to those who work.

Can the minister please confirm that the CERB still requires no employment income and that these changes still have yet to be made? When will they be made?

[Carla Qualtrough, Liberal, Delta, BC]

Mr. Chair, it is extremely simple and straightforward. The eligibility criteria for the CERB is, in fact, legislated. Someone has to have earned more than $5,000 in income, be a resident of Canada and has to have stopped working for COVID reasons.

We know that there are people earning very low amounts of money and we have committed to creating a threshold under which Canadians can continue to earn income and access the CERB. We are working on that and decisions will be made on that shortly.

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

Mr. Chair, can the minister explain whether legislative changes would be required to the CERB for this to come into effect?