Madam Chair, at every stage of our reflection, we have remained focused on Canadians, on the workers and families who might be affected by a loss of revenue because of COVID-19.
We did not ask whether people work for small businesses or large corporations, for local businesses or multinationals. We did not judge Canadians on whether they work for a company considered morally acceptable or for a firm that sells tobacco or cigarettes. We are not passing any moral judgments on workers. We are simply saying that if they have lost their jobs because of COVID-19, we will help them.
That approach is what allowed us to bring in the Canada emergency response benefit and the wage subsidy across the country to provide Canadians with the assurance that they can stay home, get their groceries and support their families. That has been our priority from the very beginning.
Yes, tax avoidance is a serious problem. That is why we have invested billions of dollars in the Canada Revenue Agency. We are working to introduce enhanced measures to tackle those issues.
At every stage of the fight against COVID-19, we have tried to prioritize help for workers, regardless of what kind of work they do.