House of Commons Hansard #41 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

1:20 p.m.

Conservative

Bernard Généreux Conservative Montmagny—L'Islet—Kamouraska—Rivière-du-Loup, QC

Madam Chair, once a recommendation is received, is there someone running this country? Who decided to award this contract? Who signed it? Which minister signed the contract? Public servants do not sign contracts; ministers do.

Who is running the country right now?

COVID-19 Pandemic and Other MattersGovernment Orders

1:20 p.m.

Liberal

Bardish Chagger Liberal Waterloo, ON

Madam Chair, as I said, the non-partisan public service made a clear recommendation. We accepted this recommendation because our priority will always be to ensure that Canadians have the services they need during this pandemic.

COVID-19 Pandemic and Other MattersGovernment Orders

1:20 p.m.

Conservative

Colin Carrie Conservative Oshawa, ON

Madam Chair, on April 29 the Minister of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness promised, “steps have been taken to make it possible for victims to participate in those parole hearings virtually by phone or video conference.”

However, following his response, Lisa Freeman, who is a constituent of mine and whose father was murdered in Oshawa, was told by the Parole Board that it will no longer be implementing video conferencing. Why did the minister mislead Lisa Freeman? When will he stand up for victims of crime and give them the opportunity to again fully participate at parole hearings?

COVID-19 Pandemic and Other MattersGovernment Orders

1:20 p.m.

Scarborough Southwest Ontario

Liberal

Bill Blair LiberalMinister of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness

Madam Chair, the issue of victims and their families' being able to attend at parole hearings is an—

COVID-19 Pandemic and Other MattersGovernment Orders

1:20 p.m.

NDP

The Deputy Chair NDP Carol Hughes

I need to interrupt for a second. I am just wondering if the minister is having problems with his camera.

COVID-19 Pandemic and Other MattersGovernment Orders

1:20 p.m.

Liberal

Bill Blair Liberal Scarborough Southwest, ON

Yes, Madam Chair, unfortunately, although it is on, it is not getting my image. I look as good as I usually do, so I apologize for not being—

COVID-19 Pandemic and Other MattersGovernment Orders

1:20 p.m.

NDP

The Deputy Chair NDP Carol Hughes

We will continue. Go ahead, Minister.

COVID-19 Pandemic and Other MattersGovernment Orders

1:20 p.m.

Liberal

Bill Blair Liberal Scarborough Southwest, ON

Madam Chair, I would like to answer the question. I will provide a more fulsome description of myself later, if members would like.

It is a very important issue that the member raises. We have been working with the Parole Board to implement teleconferencing options across the country to allow people to safely participate in these circumstances. I am not familiar with the precise circumstances of the case the member raises, but if he shares that with me I will make particular inquiries, because we know the attendance of victims at these hearings is important to them and we want to make sure sure that they have that ability.

COVID-19 Pandemic and Other MattersGovernment Orders

1:20 p.m.

Conservative

Colin Carrie Conservative Oshawa, ON

Madam Chair, I want to thank the minister, but I did ask him on April 29. That is what he promised, and that is not what the Parole Board delivered to victims of crime. The government has to start taking these issues seriously.

Nadim and his mom in Oshawa are struggling to get people back to work at their hair salon. Employees either want to make under $1,000 per month or wait until September to return. Why has the government not adopted our plan so that Canadians are incentivized to return to work?

COVID-19 Pandemic and Other MattersGovernment Orders

1:25 p.m.

Delta B.C.

Liberal

Carla Qualtrough LiberalMinister of Employment

Madam Chair, I can assure everyone in this House that the eight-week extension of CERB is absolutely reorienting toward incentivizing work, requiring people to look for and find work if they can. However, the reality is that people still need support and we are going to be there for them.

COVID-19 Pandemic and Other MattersGovernment Orders

1:25 p.m.

Conservative

Colin Carrie Conservative Oshawa, ON

Madam Chair, I would actually like to ask the minister about it, but the government is not giving its economic selfie until after question period.

Tracy from Oshawa, and thousands of travel agents, have suffered greatly due to the restrictions of COVID-19. What is the government's recovery strategy to support this industry?

COVID-19 Pandemic and Other MattersGovernment Orders

1:25 p.m.

Ahuntsic-Cartierville Québec

Liberal

Mélanie Joly LiberalMinister of Economic Development and Official Languages

Madam Chair, of course we are always there for all our business owners and entrepreneurs to make sure they can make ends meet. We know they are facing very difficult times during this pandemic and economic crisis. If my colleague has a specific case in mind, he can please come to see me. We will be able to find options together.

COVID-19 Pandemic and Other MattersGovernment Orders

1:25 p.m.

Conservative

Arnold Viersen Conservative Peace River—Westlock, AB

Madam Chair, Canada's unemployment rate is the highest in the G7.

What is Canada's unemployment rate?

COVID-19 Pandemic and Other MattersGovernment Orders

1:25 p.m.

Ottawa—Vanier Ontario

Liberal

Mona Fortier LiberalMinister of Middle Class Prosperity and Associate Minister of Finance

Madam Chair, currently we are supporting Canadian workers and making sure that our businesses are supported during this very difficult time.

COVID-19 Pandemic and Other MattersGovernment Orders

1:25 p.m.

Conservative

Arnold Viersen Conservative Peace River—Westlock, AB

Madam Chair, in May the unemployment rate in Canada was 13.7%.

What is Alberta's unemployment rate?

COVID-19 Pandemic and Other MattersGovernment Orders

1:25 p.m.

Liberal

Mona Fortier Liberal Ottawa—Vanier, ON

Madam Chair, again, we have been putting in every effort to make sure that we are supporting Canadians during these very difficult times. If they have lost their jobs or cannot work at this time, we have provided the Canada emergency response benefit.

COVID-19 Pandemic and Other MattersGovernment Orders

1:25 p.m.

Conservative

Arnold Viersen Conservative Peace River—Westlock, AB

Madam Chair, Alberta's unemployment rate is at 15.5%.

How many days has it been since Alberta's energy workers have been promised help?

COVID-19 Pandemic and Other MattersGovernment Orders

1:25 p.m.

Liberal

Mona Fortier Liberal Ottawa—Vanier, ON

Madam Chair, I can give the members today very high-level information about what we have been doing for Canadians, and this afternoon we will be giving a clearer picture and a snapshot of our economic and fiscal agenda.

COVID-19 Pandemic and Other MattersGovernment Orders

1:25 p.m.

NDP

The Deputy Chair NDP Carol Hughes

Is the hon. member for Peace River—Westlock also sharing his time? I just wanted to double-check.

COVID-19 Pandemic and Other MattersGovernment Orders

1:25 p.m.

Conservative

Arnold Viersen Conservative Peace River—Westlock, AB

Madam Chair, I am sharing my time with my good friend, the hon. member for Northumberland—Peterborough South.

How many years has it been since Alberta has received net equalization?

COVID-19 Pandemic and Other MattersGovernment Orders

1:25 p.m.

University—Rosedale Ontario

Liberal

Chrystia Freeland LiberalDeputy Prime Minister and Minister of Intergovernmental Affairs

Madam Chair, all Albertans should be proud of the contribution that Alberta and Albertans make to Canada's economy. We know that Alberta and the energy sector are an essential part of the strength of our country.

COVID-19 Pandemic and Other MattersGovernment Orders

1:25 p.m.

Conservative

Arnold Viersen Conservative Peace River—Westlock, AB

Madam Chair, it has been 45 years.

What is the amount Alberta is shortchanged because of the cap on fiscal stabilization?

COVID-19 Pandemic and Other MattersGovernment Orders

1:25 p.m.

Liberal

Chrystia Freeland Liberal University—Rosedale, ON

Madam Chair, the question of fiscal stabilization and whether it is something that should be updated and modernized is a very good one. Bev Dahlby has done some excellent academic research on that, and it is something that we are looking into.

COVID-19 Pandemic and Other MattersGovernment Orders

1:25 p.m.

Conservative

Arnold Viersen Conservative Peace River—Westlock, AB

Madam Chair, will the government remove the cap on the fiscal stabilization program, yes or no?

COVID-19 Pandemic and Other MattersGovernment Orders

1:25 p.m.

Liberal

Chrystia Freeland Liberal University—Rosedale, ON

Madam Chair, as I said, Bev Dahlby has done some great work on this. We are looking carefully into it.