Debates of April 20th, 2020

COVID-19 Pandemic

[Jamie Schmale, Conservative, Haliburton—Kawartha Lakes—Brock, ON]

Madam Chair, which off-reserve and non-status indigenous groups were at the table making the decisions on how to best allocate those $15 million?

[Marc Miller, Liberal, Ville-Marie—Le Sud-Ouest—Île-des-Soeurs, QC]

Madam Chair, this is not a question of being at the table; this is a question about engaging with my ministry, engaging with our staff to express need and to let us know what communities need.

Again, these are emergency funds, emergency resources, that we are pushing out. There are also resources that money cannot necessarily buy, such as deployment or surge capacity, a number of multi-faceted elements that we deal with as we look at the epidemic curve if and when it hits an indigenous community. It is really done on a distinctions basis, and as a community expresses need, we will deal with it as quickly as we can.

[Jamie Schmale, Conservative, Haliburton—Kawartha Lakes—Brock, ON]

Madam Chair, just to clarify, did the government consult at all with the three First Nations Fiscal Management Act institutions prior to designing the $336-million indigenous business fund?

[Marc Miller, Liberal, Ville-Marie—Le Sud-Ouest—Île-des-Soeurs, QC]

Madam Chair, indigenous businesses are the backbone of indigenous communities and their economies. Indeed, they are the backbone of the Canadian economy.

On the weekend the Prime Minister announced $306 million in support for indigenous businesses in forms of loans, repayable loans, emergency support. These are initiatives that fill a gap that the announcements we made before have not necessarily been able to address.

I would note that a number of indigenous businesses in particular are run by women. They are smaller in nature and are in need of the support of the Government of Canada. We will not leave them behind.

I would like to thank NACCA for its support. The 59 aboriginal financial institutions that we will flow these funds principally through will be the principal administrators of them.

If the member opposite has a particular group that he would like to see funding for or that is in particular need, I would ask him to contact my office, but more importantly, the aboriginal financial institutions that serve these businesses so well.

[Jamie Schmale, Conservative, Haliburton—Kawartha Lakes—Brock, ON]

Madam Chair, the indigenous services minister stated that his department sent packages of PPE supplies to first nations across canada. However, there are still first nations communities that are reporting little access to this life-saving equipment.

Can the minister report on how many first nations communities are still waiting for their PPE?

[Marc Miller, Liberal, Ville-Marie—Le Sud-Ouest—Île-des-Soeurs, QC]

Madam Chair, that is a very important question and we need to frame the premise. Indigenous Services Canada has said that it will leave no community behind. To date, we have delivered over 550 PPE orders and equipment into communities, ones that come principally on demand from those communities. They are in addition to any PPE that is provided by the provinces or the territories, or in the case of British Columbia, from NHA. It is not an absolute number, but it is a very important indication of the amounts we have deployed into communities.

We have a limited appreciation of knowing what the burn rate is on that personal protective equipment, so communities are engaged with my staff, and indeed my staff is working around the clock to get that equipment out as quickly as it can. Again, if a community needs PPE, it should engage directly with me if it does not feel it is getting it from other sources.

[Michael Cooper, Conservative, St. Albert—Edmonton, AB]

Madam Chair, yesterday the Government of Australia joined with the United States in calling for an independent international investigation into China's handling of COVID-19.

Does the government support such an investigation, and if not, why not?

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

Madam Chair, let me start by pointing out that the coronavirus is a global pandemic which knows no ideology and in order to best fight that pandemic and best protect Canadians, it is essential to work with and share information with all countries where that pandemic exists. Having said that, it is also very important for all of us as members of the international community to share as much information, and information which is as accurate as possible, in order to protect our own people and also in order to protect the rest of the world.

I hope that all members of this House would agree with my next statement. I believe very firmly that it is in the DNA of democracies to be far more transparent than any authoritarian regime can ever be. That is one of the reasons I believe so strongly in democracy, and I think that is why we are here in this House this afternoon.

[Michael Cooper, Conservative, St. Albert—Edmonton, AB]

Madam Chair, is the government satisfied with the WHO's response to COVID-19?

[Patty Hajdu, Liberal, Minister of Health]

Madam Chair, we remain firmly confident in the advice of the officials who have served us so well during this time of pandemic here in Canada, and of course we engage closely with the World Health Organization. Dr. Theresa Tam is a special adviser to the special committee on COVID-19.

It is really important that for any outbreak we have an international global response. In fact, the World Health Organization has helped to coordinate that response for other infectious diseases that have recently threatened global health. Therefore, we continue to work with the organization to ensure that we combine the research and evidence and data that we, as Canadians, are collecting with that of the world so that we can come to a conclusion of this particular illness.

[Michael Cooper, Conservative, St. Albert—Edmonton, AB]

Madam Chair, the Deputy Prime Minister is quite correct about the importance of sharing information as we fight COVID-19, and yet the jurisdiction that has been really the gold standard in terms of fighting COVID-19 has been Taiwan and it has been shut out of the WHO.

At the end of January, I posed a question to the Prime Minister, asking whether the government supported Taiwan's inclusion in the international discussions at the WHO about COVID-19. The Prime Minister answered in the affirmative. When will the government put those words into action and formally request Taiwan's participation?

[Patty Hajdu, Liberal, Thunder Bay—Superior North, ON]

Madam Chair, we have discussed over and over the importance of ensuring that no country is left behind in the response to COVID-19. Yes, the Prime Minister responded in the affirmative to that question, and I remember it well, that all countries should have a voice with the WHO and that we will need to work together as a world.

As long as there is one case of COVID-19 in any country, none of us is safe. That is why it is so important that we have a collaborative approach through international bodies like the World Health Organization and through strong partnerships like the G20 and G7 and many other organizations, such as CEPI and Gavi. These are international organizations that work on infectious disease protocols and vaccine production. These are really important international bodies because they help our world coordinate responses to illnesses which, as we can see, know no borders.

[Michael Cooper, Conservative, St. Albert—Edmonton, AB]

Madam Chair, the WHO in March issued a statement indicating that it was up to member states to determine the status of Taiwan. Again I repeat: Why will the government not put its words into action and formally request Taiwan's participation?

[Patty Hajdu, Liberal, Thunder Bay—Superior North, ON]

Madam Chair, there is evidence informed by the research that is being coordinated through the solidarity trials of the World Health Organization. We are a partner in those trials, as the member knows, which are seeking vaccines and other antidotes to COVID-19. It is very important that the world work together and that all countries have an opportunity to participate, not only in the research but also in the benefits of that research.

[Tom Kmiec, Conservative, Calgary Shepard, AB]

Madam Chair, the government announced for the energy sector $1.72 billion for orphan well remediation, an emissions reduction fund and a business credit availability program. The first idea actually comes from Bill C-221, which is the MP for Lakeland's bill. A Conservative MP suggested it. The problem is the PBO's costing for that original private member's bill was $30 billion upwards of private sector investment. Seeing that WTI is trading today as low as minus $40.32, when can Albertans expect the rest of the energy subsidy help?

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

Madam Chair, the long-awaited announcement of $1.7 billion for an active well cleanup and $750 million for methane reduction are very positive steps for the energy sector for Alberta, Saskatchewan and B.C. They do not need to take my word for it. I am going to quote Premier Jason Kenney, who said, “Thank you to the Prime Minister...for announcing $1.7 billion to accelerate cleanup of orphaned and abandoned wells in Canada's energy sector. This is critical to getting thousands of people in the energy sector back to work immediately.”

The premier is right, and we are glad to be contributing to that.

[Tom Kmiec, Conservative, Calgary Shepard, AB]

Madam Chair, I will finish the quote. The premier also said that was a good first step. To paraphrase, Sonya Savage, Alberta's energy minister, said on CTV News, “I'd like to see the rest of the package now, please, as well.”

As I said, WTI is trading at minus $40.32. That was the bottom. This will reset tomorrow, which means the May futures prices will be around $20 starting tomorrow.

One of the things the energy sector and workers are expecting and have heard from the Prime Minister and his ministers is on the liquidity program provided through the BDC. It is aimed at small and medium-sized businesses, but the BDC does not list criteria size on its website or anywhere else.

What are the parameters to ensure that outcome that small and medium-sized oil and gas companies can access the help that they need?

[Mary Ng, Liberal, Minister of Small Business]

Madam Chair, the BCAP that we have put forth provides government guarantees to Canada's financial institutions, banks and credit unions, and are absolutely available to Canadian small and medium-sized businesses of all sectors. These are not only the $40,000 interest-free loans that are available, but indeed loans that go up to $12.5 million are available to Canada's small and medium-sized businesses, including those in the oil and gas sector.

[Tom Kmiec, Conservative, Calgary Shepard, AB]

Madam Chair, with all due respect to the minister, she did not quite answer my question. I was asking the criteria for size. The American payroll wage subsidy program lists a small business as 500 employees or less. Everything is bigger in America it seems.

Again, for these BDC loans for small and medium-sized businesses that small and medium oil and gas companies want to access, what is the criteria for size? Is it wages? Is it revenue? Is it an FTE count? I would like to know the number, please.

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

Madam Chair, of course, for the small business loan of $40,000, as members already know, it is a payroll size of $20,000 to $1.5 million. That is the eligibility criteria for that category of loans. For other loans that are available, they are up to $12.5 million, and one can go to the financial institution and get access to that funding.

[Tom Kmiec, Conservative, Calgary Shepard, AB]

Madam Chair, another part of the announcements was that the BDC said it would only issue loans to operators that were financially viable prior to the current economic environment. I would like to know from the government what day it used to determine the prior financial viability.

It is minus $40 for WTI with an expectation that the price will continue to slide, and just to remind the government, Alberta's Premier Jason Kenney did mention that this year there was the full expectation of a negative price for Western Canadian Select. If we have negative pricing for WTI, we will have negative pricing for Western Canadian Select. Therefore, when is financial viability determined? On what date is that determined?

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

Madam Chair, it is really important for us to support all small businesses across the country, including those very important businesses in Alberta in the oil and gas sector. We want to make sure that those businesses are absolutely supported through the lending program. We have unleashed enormous liquidity into the marketplace, and we want to make sure that those businesses also get access to that liquidity through financial institutions.

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

Madam Chair, the Canadian north has had many challenges. We have heard over the last number of months promises made by the government that it is going to help our northern communities, but it simply has not been the case. For example, many of these businesses that operate in the north do this solely by hiring contractors for their labour.

Can the minister tell me if the Canada emergency business account will be modified to take into account the special needs that businesses in the north have?

[Mary Ng, Liberal, Minister of Small Business]

Madam Chair, absolutely, we are continuing to do the work. We are listening to businesses all over the country, particularly the businesses that are in the north. We are continuing to do this work, which is not done yet, to make sure that businesses get the cash flow support they need during this difficult period.

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

Madam Chair, many businesses across the north have very different needs than the rest of the country, from short seasonal work to exploration work that does not always generate revenue right away. We have made the Minister of Finance aware of these concerns.

When will the Canadian emergency wage subsidy be amended to consider the needs of the north?