Debates of April 20th, 2020

COVID-19 Pandemic

[Mary Ng, Liberal, Markham—Thornhill, ON]

Madam Chair, the Canadian emergency wage subsidy is, of course, available so that we can help keep our businesses and save our jobs. We know that businesses are much better primed for recovery when a business and its employees are together, which is why we have implemented a program to provide a 75% wage subsidy.

I want to remind everyone that the wage subsidy is there to help those businesses that have seen a loss in revenue. For businesses in March, it was 15%, and for April and May, a decrease in revenue will mean that one can get access to the emergency wage subsidy.

[Bob Zimmer, Conservative, Prince George—Peace River—Northern Rockies, BC]

Madam Chair, I thank the minister for highlighting the very reason I am asking her to fix it. Our companies do not qualify for it based on that reason.

Airlines in the north are critical for essential needs like food and medications. Can the minister please tell me what special considerations are being taken to ensure that these northern airlines are able to continue their important work that is specific to so many of these remote communities that rely on them for their very survival?

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

Madam Chair, the member opposite is quite right. In our conversations with the premiers of Yukon, Northwest Territories and Nunavut, the need for support for small northern airlines has absolutely been emphasized.

As the member opposite knows, some of these communities are fly-in, fly-out communities and are dependent on airlines for their food. Some of the business operations of those airlines are compromised because of travel restrictions, including the very tight and, I would say, very admirable restrictions these northern communities have introduced to protect themselves. For that reason, last week we announced a significant support package for the north, in part specifically to support airlines.

[Bob Zimmer, Conservative, Prince George—Peace River—Northern Rockies, BC]

Madam Chair, the U.S. duties on softwood lumber cannot be disbursed because they are under dispute, as ministers know. This only creates billions in held-up capital and also makes it harder for lumber companies to operate in this current situation. If lumber companies fail, then pulp mills will close and access to chips at a time when pulp products are needed for both PPE and consumer paper products like toilet paper.

Has the government approached the U.S. about releasing this money?

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

Madam Chair, those duties are indeed a real issue for the softwood lumber industry, which is going through a very difficult time. The member is right to point out how much we need that industry for its raw materials for PPE and toilet paper. It is great that Canada produces it.

We are in what I would say is very regular discussion with the U.S. about our trade dispute, and we continue to win cases.

We are also talking with leaders in the industry about ways we can support the industry.

[Bob Zimmer, Conservative, Prince George—Peace River—Northern Rockies, BC]

Madam Chair, our defences in the north need to be upgraded, and need to be upgraded now. The North Warning System is outdated and experts are reporting that our long and short-range radar is essentially obsolete.

Can the government tell Canadians if there are any plans to modernize this important defence system?

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

Madam Chair, that is another excellent question. One of the things I would say has been happening in recent days and weeks as we have been working with our North American partners on the border relationship has been a heightened appreciation on both sides of the border of the extent to which the security of Canada and the United States is dependent on our working together and our NORAD relationships.

Therefore, I would say that that question is very much on the agenda and is being discussed very positively with our neighbours.

[Andréanne Larouche, Bloc, Shefford, QC]

Madam Chair, I realize that managing this crisis is a challenge, and I commend the government's measures in support of Quebeckers and Canadians.

I do want to point out some grey areas in these measures that are making life difficult for many of my constituents in Shefford. There is one situation that is left out from the CERB for self-employed individuals. I had a call from a self-employed worker who was supposed to start offering dance classes this summer, but they have all been cancelled. She did not earn $5,000 last year and is therefore not eligible for the CERB.

How is she supposed to survive?

[Ahmed Hussen, Liberal, Minister of Families]

Madam Chair, I understand the concerns of the hon. member. It is an important question.

We are always taking feedback on the CERB. We have already heard from folks who were working but not making as much as they would make under the CERB, so we have expanded eligibility to include folks who are working but earning less than a thousand dollars. We have also included folks whose EI had run out in January.

We will continue to listen to Canadians to include as many people as possible and get the help that they need at this difficult time.

[Andréanne Larouche, Bloc, Shefford, QC]

Madam Chair, I could tell you about another case.

I got a call from a retiree whose pension is so meagre that he has to supplement it by working a part-time job. He lost his job, but he had not reached the threshold of $5,000 in annual earnings. His income has therefore taken a drastic hit, so much so that he is struggling to make ends meet. Today, people have been talking about improving seniors' purchasing power, and this is an example.

What is being done for all those in similar situations?

[Mona Fortier, Liberal, Minister of Middle Class Prosperity and Associate Minister of Finance]

Madam Chair, I thank the member for her very important question.

We want seniors to know that they are not alone. We are making sure that we include everyone in the emergency programs we have implemented.

With regard to seniors' financial security, our government has taken several new measures: introducing the extra GST credit payment for low- and modest-income Canadians, which amounts to close to $400 for single individuals and $600 for couples; reducing required minimum withdrawals from registered retirement income funds by 25%, which will preserve RRIF assets during a volatile market; deferring any new balances due until August 31 and extending the deadline to file income taxes to June 1; and making an investment in the United Way, food banks and other charities to help seniors get the supplies they need, such as groceries.

We know that there is still more work to do. We are going to work with all members of the House of Commons and various seniors advocacy groups to keep supporting seniors.

[Andréanne Larouche, Bloc, Shefford, QC]

Madam Chair, there is another case from the tourism industry. Two employees of the beautiful Maplewood Manor in Waterloo, the owner and the operator, pay themselves dividends instead of salaries. All events scheduled for the summer of 2020 have been cancelled, a loss of $60,000. They cannot get the $40,000 loan, and they do not want it anyway because they do not want to pay a loan with a loan. They cannot get the Canada emergency response benefit; it would not really help their business anyway.

This manor is considered a jewel of the Eastern Townships’ tourism industry.

[Mary Ng, Liberal, Minister of Small Business]

Madam Chair, we know that sectors such as tourism, as well as seasonal businesses, are facing the unique realities and challenges of COVID-19. That is why our government announced additional supports just last week through our regional development agencies, as well as through the Community Futures Canada network, so that we can help these businesses in that sector, as well as some of the businesses that operate in rural Canada. These are targeted measures that are going to protect Canadian jobs and support these very important small and medium-sized businesses that play such a key role in the local economies. We want to make sure that these businesses in the tourism sector are indeed supported.

[Alexandre Boulerice, NDP, Rosemont—La Petite-Patrie, QC]

Madam Chair, the crisis that we are going through also presents opportunities for transformation and profound change. Everyone is working hard and pitching in to find solutions and get through this together. Of course, I am thinking of those who work in the health, agriculture and food industries, as well as truckers, among others.

Everyone is making an effort, except for a few big corporations that cheat and do not pay their fair share. They hide their millions and their profits in the Cayman Islands or Barbados. These big tax havens are costing us billions of dollars at a time when we are in dire need of these resources to be able to provide services and fund all these new programs.

There are people who have set up small parallel systems and do not pay their taxes in Canada. The good news today is that two countries, Denmark and Poland, have announced that no company that hides its profits and millions of dollars in tax havens will get any help from the government. The NDP believes that this makes sense in the current circumstances.

My question is simple. If Denmark and Poland are able to do it, why would Canada not be able to do it too?

[Mona Fortier, Liberal, Minister of Middle Class Prosperity and Associate Minister of Finance]

Madam Chair, I thank my hon. colleague for his question.

The government has invested billions of dollars in fighting tax avoidance and tax havens, and we will continue to do so.

In fact, we have made a choice. We have chosen to create an emergency economic plan to help workers and Canadians in this crisis. We have created a number of programs, we have expanded them, and we will continue to improve them in order to ensure that we put workers and Canadians first.

[Alexandre Boulerice, NDP, Rosemont—La Petite-Patrie, QC]

Madam Chair, what I understand is that they are turning a blind eye.

This system is legal and they will not touch it, even though they have the opportunity to do so, and as we have seen in other jurisdictions, this would be the time and the opportunity to do so.

There is a whole group that has been somewhat left out right now, and that is students. We know that the NDP has been talking about them a lot lately. The needs are in fact starting to become dire. Some people are having trouble paying their bills. Obviously, if the Canada emergency response benefit had been universal, the problem would have been solved right from the start. That is not the case right now, and I want to pass on a fairly simple request.

One of the criteria to qualify for the CERB is having made at least $5,000 in the last 12 months. If scholarships or loans and bursaries counted as eligible income for students toward the $5,000, this would solve the problem for thousands of people.

Is the government considering this solution?

[Ahmed Hussen, Liberal, Minister of Families]

Madam Chair, I thank the hon. member for highlighting the plight of students in the context of COVID-19. We want to make sure that we support students at this difficult time. A substantial number of students would actually be eligible for the CERB, as they made a minimum of $5,000 last year in employment income.

However, we have already taken steps to ensure that the ones who are not eligible for CERB are supported in another way through the enhancement of the Canada summer jobs program, increasing the subsidy for employers in the business community to consider hiring Canada's summer job students by increasing that subsidy to 100%, lengthening the time period for the Canada summer jobs program itself, and continuing to listen to students to find other ways to support them.

[Alexandre Boulerice, NDP, Rosemont—La Petite-Patrie, QC]

Madam Chair, I recently heard quite a troubling story.

The person who told the story does not qualify for the CERB. He is unemployed, and he does not qualify for employment insurance either. He lives on social assistance. He gets $700 per month, and rent costs him $600. He has $100 left to live on every month. Luckily, he has friends and family. If the benefit were universal, he would not be in that situation.

There is something else that can be done, something else we have been asking for. The federal government could suspend mortgage payments. That would provide relief to this individual's landlord, and then a temporary suspension or reduction of rent payments could be negotiated, thus enabling the individual to buy groceries.

[Ahmed Hussen, Liberal, York South—Weston, ON]

Madam Chair, that is another important question around protecting homeowners and renters at this difficult time. We moved very quickly, and in fact, effective March 15, we made sure that we rolled out, through the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation, supports for homeowners in the form of an option to defer mortgages.

We have also supported Canadians to be able to pay their rent and to put food on their table through measures like the Canada emergency response benefit and increasing the Canada child benefit.

[John Brassard, Conservative, Barrie—Innisfil, ON]

Madam Chair, I was very interested in what the Deputy Prime Minister had to say at the start of this session on sharing information and the fact that transparency is the DNA of any democracy, including ours.

I want to go back to a question that I asked earlier today in question period regarding the medical intelligence, MEDINT cell in our country's military intelligence, which recognized in early January that the deadly novel coronavirus was in China and that it had the potential to spread across the world. Presumably, when that report was written, it would have gone to the chief of the defence staff, the Minister of National Defence, and I expect that the Privy Council Office would have briefed the Prime Minister.

What date was the Prime Minister briefed by the Privy Council Office with respect to this report?

[Patty Hajdu, Liberal, Minister of Health]

Madam Chair, I want the member opposite to know that since December 31, we have been aware of the outbreak from Wuhan, China. In fact, on December 31, Dr. Tam was alerted to the outbreak of illnesses, and at that time we still did not know what we were dealing with regarding this new virus on the scene. By December 31, Dr. Tam began notifying members of the Canadian Council of Chief Medical Officers of Health. By January 2, all members of the CCMOH were advised of the outbreak of illness by Dr. Tam, and by early January I was briefed by officials on the status of this new virus.

We were aware of this virus very early on and have been actively working on Canada's response to it.

[John Brassard, Conservative, Barrie—Innisfil, ON]

Madam Chair, my question was not about Dr. Tam. My question was about the Privy Council Office notifying and briefing the Prime Minister that this report exists within DND. When did that happen?

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

Madam Chair, as my colleague has said, the government has been closely tracking the incidents of the novel coronavirus and its spread. The Public Health Agency of Canada alerted all provincial health authorities on January 2, and on January 14 the Public Health Agency convened a meeting of the Canadian Council of Chief Medical Officers of Health.

To the member's point, in January the first meeting of the incident response group was convened by the Prime Minister. That is an emergency incident response group, and of course intelligence information is shared there.

Beyond that, the confidentiality of our intelligence sharing prevents me from going into detail.

[John Brassard, Conservative, Barrie—Innisfil, ON]

Madam Chair, businesses across this country are reeling and are anxious to see the emergency wage subsidy. When will that hit their bank accounts so that employees can go back to work?

[Mary Ng, Liberal, Minister of Small Business]

Madam Chair, we are working very hard to get this out as soon as we possibly can, because we know how urgent and how important it is for businesses to see this support for their employees.