House of Commons Hansard #44 of the 43rd Parliament, 1st Session. (The original version is on Parliament's site.) The word of the day was chair.

Topics

COVID-19 Pandemic and Other MattersGovernment Orders

1:40 p.m.

Conservative

Ziad Aboultaif Conservative Edmonton Manning, AB

Madam Chair, was the Prime Minister aware of the vast real estate investment or real estate holdings of the WE organization?

COVID-19 Pandemic and Other MattersGovernment Orders

1:40 p.m.

Liberal

Bardish Chagger Liberal Waterloo, ON

Madam Chair, once again I refer the member and all Canadians to the testimony of the clerk yesterday at the finance committee. Members of all parties passed a motion to ensure this information was available. The clerk of the committee, as well as my deputy, have provided answers on the record for all to see.

COVID-19 Pandemic and Other MattersGovernment Orders

1:40 p.m.

Conservative

Ziad Aboultaif Conservative Edmonton Manning, AB

Madam Chair, what would that answer be, if the minister could advise us?

COVID-19 Pandemic and Other MattersGovernment Orders

1:40 p.m.

Liberal

Bardish Chagger Liberal Waterloo, ON

Madam Chair, the answer will be publicly available and will remind everyone that it was a recommendation by the public service. The non-partisan and professional public service does its due diligence, and I am confident it did its work before making a recommendation.

COVID-19 Pandemic and Other MattersGovernment Orders

1:40 p.m.

Conservative

Ziad Aboultaif Conservative Edmonton Manning, AB

Madam Chair, is the minister aware the WE organization has zero experience managing a contract of $900-plus million?

COVID-19 Pandemic and Other MattersGovernment Orders

1:40 p.m.

Liberal

Bardish Chagger Liberal Waterloo, ON

Madam Chair, our public service is very hard-working and really well informed. It knows when it is able, and has the capacity, to deliver programs and when we need to use a third party. I accept that—

COVID-19 Pandemic and Other MattersGovernment Orders

1:40 p.m.

Liberal

COVID-19 Pandemic and Other MattersGovernment Orders

1:40 p.m.

Independent

Jody Wilson-Raybould Independent Vancouver Granville, BC

Madam Chair, as has been mentioned today, B.C. tragically recorded 175 deaths related to drug overdose in the month of June. The opioid crisis is not new. This question is not new.

Recently, many voices, including the Canadian Association of Chiefs of Police, Premier Horgan and Dr. Bonnie Henry have been calling on the government to decriminalize simple possession of illicit drugs and to introduce a health care approach that diverts people from the criminal justice system.

When will the government act?

COVID-19 Pandemic and Other MattersGovernment Orders

1:40 p.m.

Thunder Bay—Superior North Ontario

Liberal

Patty Hajdu LiberalMinister of Health

Madam Chair, as the member opposite knows full well, the government has acted to reduce the harm for people who use substances. This started, by the way, with reversing quite a bit of harmful policy put forward by the Harper government that criminalized people who used substances and made getting effective treatments, including harm reduction supports, even more difficult.

We will always stand up for a health-based approach to substance use, and I commit to continuing this work with the provinces, territories and municipalities to truly understand the full range of tools they wish to utilize to help ensure more people—

COVID-19 Pandemic and Other MattersGovernment Orders

1:45 p.m.

Liberal

COVID-19 Pandemic and Other MattersGovernment Orders

1:45 p.m.

Independent

Jody Wilson-Raybould Independent Vancouver Granville, BC

Madam Chair, while I can appreciate the efforts made by the government in terms of family reunification, not enough progress has been made on the exemptions to travel restrictions for family members.

Can the government please present a clear timetable for when foreign-national committed partners and adult children of Canadians will be allowed to reunite with their families in Canada? All of them would be willing to sign affidavits and quarantine for the necessary time.

COVID-19 Pandemic and Other MattersGovernment Orders

1:45 p.m.

Eglinton—Lawrence Ontario

Liberal

Marco Mendicino LiberalMinister of Immigration

Madam Chair, this has been a very challenging time indeed for families. My department is working diligently to find innovative ways to ensure that as many families as possible are reunited. We continue to work will members from all sides of the House to accomplish that objective.

COVID-19 Pandemic and Other MattersGovernment Orders

1:45 p.m.

Independent

Jody Wilson-Raybould Independent Vancouver Granville, BC

Madam Chair, I understand the government will be releasing a discussion paper and possible draft UNDRIP legislation mirroring Bill C-262. I trust the government is aware that fundamental to the declaration's articles are the minimum standards for the survival, dignity and well-being of indigenous peoples.

Accordingly, to demonstrate the government's intent in legislating UNDRIP into Canadian law, and given the unfolding situation in Haida Gwaii and the refusal of the Queen Charlotte fishing lodge to respect the council of the Haida Nation's COVID-19 restrictions, I ask: Does the government recognize and support the right of the nation, i.e. its jurisdiction, to protect its homeland and the safety of its people, and in particular, its elders?

COVID-19 Pandemic and Other MattersGovernment Orders

1:45 p.m.

LaSalle—Émard—Verdun Québec

Liberal

David Lametti LiberalMinister of Justice

Madam Chair, I thank the hon. member for her work in this area when she was minister prior to my time as minister.

It is in my mandate letter that we implement the declaration before the end of this calendar year. It remains a priority for me. Once we have done that, we will be able to better address the kinds of questions that she is raising now. We feel the declaration will help reframe the relationship between people in Canada in a positive way moving forward.

COVID-19 Pandemic and Other MattersGovernment Orders

1:45 p.m.

Independent

Jody Wilson-Raybould Independent Vancouver Granville, BC

Madam Chair, there is nothing more essential than good governance, especially in a crisis. Canadians want parliamentarians to work together in the spirit of non-partisanship in order to support the government, and the House to do what is needed to address the social and economic crisis caused by COVID-19. Yesterday, Bill C-20 was an example of that.

That said, given recent controversies, and in light of the PROC committee report released yesterday and all of the other issues facing Canadians, will the government commit to reassess, in terms of transparency, accountability and good governance, and commit to bring full Parliament back in the fall?

COVID-19 Pandemic and Other MattersGovernment Orders

1:45 p.m.

Honoré-Mercier Québec

Liberal

Pablo Rodriguez LiberalLeader of the Government in the House of Commons

Madam Chair, I thank my colleague for her question.

It is our government's intention to bring Parliament back in its normal form as soon as possible. Obviously, we always take into consideration public health guidelines. If the guidelines indicate that we cannot all be here, we will find a way to vote remotely. That is what the government wants and I think that is what the NDP and the Bloc Québécois want, too.

Again, I wonder why the Conservatives will not agree to move in that direction even though that is the way to go if we want to conduct parliamentary business and vote remotely.

COVID-19 Pandemic and Other MattersGovernment Orders

1:45 p.m.

NDP

Gord Johns NDP Courtenay—Alberni, BC

Madam Chair, I will be splitting my time with the member for Windsor West.

As our economy starts to reopen, small businesses are forced to take on extra debt to adapt to the new normal. In just 10 days, their rent is due again and they will still need help. Although the CECRA has been extended, it has not been fixed. Just 12% of landlords have actually gotten rent relief for their commercial tenants.

Will the government fix this mess of a program and let tenants apply for the CECRA so their businesses can survive?

COVID-19 Pandemic and Other MattersGovernment Orders

1:45 p.m.

Toronto Centre Ontario

Liberal

Bill Morneau LiberalMinister of Finance

Madam Chair, we certainly recognize that there are important programs that have been put out, including the CECRA program to support small and large businesses. The CECRA program is increasing in terms of the firms that are using it.

Of course, the thing we all agreed to yesterday, the expansion of the wage subsidy and the lengthening of that program, will have an enormous positive impact on businesses trying to hire back employees. We see that all these programs have to be looked at together and we do continually look at these programs—

COVID-19 Pandemic and Other MattersGovernment Orders

1:45 p.m.

Liberal

COVID-19 Pandemic and Other MattersGovernment Orders

1:45 p.m.

NDP

Gord Johns NDP Courtenay—Alberni, BC

Madam Chair, wage subsidies, more debt and loans will not help businesses pay rent. Extension of programs that business owners cannot access certainly will not help pay rent. The Liberals keep saying they are here for small business, but they are not listening to what business owners saying they need.

Will the government allow tenants to apply directly for CECRA?

COVID-19 Pandemic and Other MattersGovernment Orders

1:45 p.m.

Liberal

Bill Morneau Liberal Toronto Centre, ON

Madam Chair, we are in fact trying to listen both to members, like the member's question here, and to small and large businesses. This program has been elongated. We have added a month to it, which has provided more security. We have looked at how we can best deliver other supports to small and large businesses. This does include a concessional part of loans, as well as expanding the wage subsidy, which will have a very important impact.

We will continue to consider changes and improvements, and we appreciate the member's insights and ideas in that regard.

COVID-19 Pandemic and Other MattersGovernment Orders

1:45 p.m.

NDP

Brian Masse NDP Windsor West, ON

Madam Chair, the federal government is responsible for temporary foreign workers, including farm workers. When the COVID-19 pandemic first became real, why did the government weaken safety standards?

COVID-19 Pandemic and Other MattersGovernment Orders

1:45 p.m.

York South—Weston Ontario

Liberal

Ahmed Hussen LiberalMinister of Families

Madam Chair, we did not do that. I acknowledge the hon. member's concern for temporary foreign workers. We are concerned about them and we hold employers—

COVID-19 Pandemic and Other MattersGovernment Orders

1:45 p.m.

Liberal

The Assistant Deputy Chair (Mrs. Alexandra Mendès) Liberal Alexandra Mendes

The hon. member for Windsor West.

COVID-19 Pandemic and Other MattersGovernment Orders

1:45 p.m.

NDP

Brian Masse NDP Windsor West, ON

Madam Chair, the government allowed farms to send in three-year-old reports. It suspended inspections and only conducted audits remotely. Why?