House of Commons Hansard #45 of the 43rd Parliament, 1st Session. (The original version is on Parliament's site.) The word of the day was chair.
COVID-19 Pandemic and Other MattersGovernment Orders
Saint-Maurice—Champlain Québec
Liberal
François-Philippe Champagne LiberalMinister of Foreign Affairs
Mr. Speaker, I think my colleague should take his cue from his leader, who earlier mentioned staying the course. Bloc Québécois members would do well to stay the course and talk about the issues concerning Quebeckers.
What are people talking about? The member mentioned the Bloc leader, who was on vacation in the Gaspé region yesterday.
I will tell you what the people of Mauricie talk to me about. They talk to me about job creation, the economic recovery, health and safety as we look toward—
Yves Robillard Liberal Marc-Aurèle-Fortin, QC
Mr. Speaker, I will be sharing my time with the hon. member for Don Valley North.
Canadians were shocked and deeply saddened by the recent explosion in Beirut, Lebanon. I wish to express my solidarity with the Lebanese people in the wake of this tragic event that resulted in many victims and thousands of injured. I want to extend my sincere condolences to everyone who was affected by this terrible tragedy. My thoughts are also with the many people who continue to search for their loved ones. Friends and family of Canadian citizens in Lebanon can contact the Emergency Watch and Response Centre of Global Affairs Canada 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
In order to help the Lebanese people, our government is providing up to $30 million in humanitarian aid. Would it be possible for the Minister of Foreign Affairs to provide more details?
COVID-19 Pandemic and Other MattersGovernment Orders
Saint-Maurice—Champlain Québec
Liberal
François-Philippe Champagne LiberalMinister of Foreign Affairs
Mr. Speaker, I would first like to thank the member for his question and for his steadfast commitment to the entire Lebanese community. I would also like to thank many of my colleagues on both sides of the House, particularly the member for Laval—Les Îles, who has very close ties with Lebanon. Obviously, there is also the entire Lebanese community here in Canada. I can say that all members of the House played an important role in determining our response to this tragedy.
Like my colleague, I want to express my solidarity with the people of Lebanon following last week's tragedy, which left all Canadians reeling. On behalf of the Government of Canada, I would like to extend my sincere condolences to the families of the victims and, obviously, I wish a prompt recovery to those who were injured.
In order to respond to this tragedy, we have now set up an emergency matching fund and announced over $25 million in additional funding to deal with this crisis. That is a total of $30 million, which the Minister of International Development announced recently with the Prime Minister. These funds will help trusted partners meet the immediate needs of the people of Lebanon and assist with rebuilding efforts.
Canada has always stood with the people of Lebanon and we will continue to do so in the future, as they deal with this terrible crisis.
Han Dong Liberal Don Valley North, ON
Mr. Speaker, a team Canada response to COVID-19 has been essential in protecting the health and safety of Canadians these past few months and will continue to be important as we move forward in our continued response to COVID-19 and to recovery, but this pandemic has also had a significant economic and social impact on communities across Canada.
I have heard from many residents in Don Valley North who are asking for help in getting back to work in a safe and responsible manner. That is why I was so pleased to see the Prime Minister announce the Safe Restart Agreement that was reached with provinces and territories. I was especially happy to see the relief for the City of Toronto, which employs many front-line workers who are keeping our loved ones healthy and safe during this pandemic. In addition to providing services that residents of Don Valley North rely on, this includes support for the TTC, an essential service that so many of us rely on every day to keep us moving across the city.
Could the Minister of Infrastructure and Communities tell this House what the government is doing to help the safe restart of our economy?
Catherine McKenna LiberalMinister of Infrastructure and Communities
Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank the member for Don Valley North for his important question.
Now is the time to help communities like the City of Toronto to build back up from the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. That is a key part of the $19-billion Safe Restart Agreement between our federal government and the provinces and territories. This agreement includes $2 billion in federal funding, matched by provinces and territories, for cities and towns across Canada. It is funding that will support front-line workers and critical municipal services as we keep people safe during the economic restart.
The Government of Canada has also agreed to match more than $1.8 billion to help cities keep their transit systems running so that Canadians can get to work and home to their families safely. For Ontario, the federal government has committed $1 billion for public transit, which the province is matching.
We are supporting the front-line workers who are making an economic recovery possible because people depend on these critical front-line services, including public transit, to get safely back to work and to build back up our economy. If our cities are not running, our economy is not running. The Safe Restart Agreement will help Canada get back on track.
The Deputy Speaker Conservative Bruce Stanton
Resuming debate, we will go to the hon. member for Elmwood—Transcona.
Daniel Blaikie NDP Elmwood—Transcona, MB
Mr. Chair, please know that I will be splitting my time with the member for Winnipeg Centre.
Right now, there are millions of Canadian families sitting down at their kitchen tables who have been depending on CERB while they are out of work due to the pandemic. They are concerned about their finances for September. At the same time, they are concerned about what going back to school will look like for their kids. They are concerned about getting child care for their family. They are concerned about how to return to work safely, and for many of them there is still no job to return to.
Earlier, in response to the NDP leader's question, the minister said that the government has a plan, but the problem is that Canadians do not know what it is, so they cannot make their own financial plans for September. When exactly is the government going to announce its plan for the end of the month, since it has said already that it is going to be wrapping up CERB?
Carla Qualtrough LiberalMinister of Employment
Mr. Chair, since the beginning of the pandemic our efforts have been on ensuring Canadians get the support they need, particularly Canadian workers who have not been able to work because we asked them to stay home.
I can assure the member that the details will be coming soon. As the Prime Minister said, we will leave nobody behind. We will have many people transition into EI without disruption of benefits. We will have a parallel benefit. We will have a caregiving aspect, a sickness benefit aspect. Everybody will be taken care of.
Daniel Blaikie NDP Elmwood—Transcona, MB
Mr. Chair, how can Canadians expect to plan for that when they are getting less than two weeks' notice? The Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives has estimated that people transitioning from CERB to EI, on average, will be receiving about $750 less per month. Maybe that is not the case, maybe the government has a plan, but how can Canadians be expected to plan for September? We are talking two weeks away and they do not know what the government will provide with respect to income support come September.
Carla Qualtrough Liberal Delta, BC
Mr. Chair, as I have said, and as the Prime Minister announced the week before last, we have a robust plan. We will be giving Canadians the details of that next week. We have already explained to Canadians that they can rest assured that the EI system is ready to ingest the number of people it will have to.
On Monday, we announced a uniform unemployment rate across the country, which sets a minimal eligibility threshold for EI recipients. That should give comfort to many Canadians who are worried about their levels and hours they have to get into EI. We are putting a caregiver aspect to it, a sickness benefit aspect to it, as per our promise.
Canadians can be assured with what we have said, and we will give further details very soon.
Leah Gazan NDP Winnipeg Centre, MB
Mr. Chair, the lack of affordable and accessible child care is keeping women with young children out of the workforce. Thousands of families, many that are single-parent households led by women, are struggling to make ends meet during COVID-19. We need a universal child care now more than ever.
Why is the government refusing to help Canadian families and invest in a universal child care for all?
Ahmed Hussen LiberalMinister of Families
Mr. Chair, I thank the hon. member for raising this important issue. This year alone we are investing $400 million in bilateral agreements with provinces and territories to reinforce the sector. In addition to that, in recognition of the challenges this sector has experienced with COVID-19, we are transferring $625 million to enable this sector to not only survive but actually emerge stronger out of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Leah Gazan NDP Winnipeg Centre, MB
Mr. Chair, first nations have gone above and beyond to keep their communities safe during the pandemic. With school starting soon, the government must ensure children are safe. Instead, the government is playing jurisdictional games and telling on-reserve first nations schools to talk to provincial governments about their health guidelines.
Could the Minister of Indigenous Services explain why first nations are not getting the support they need from the government?
COVID-19 Pandemic and Other MattersGovernment Orders
Ville-Marie—Le Sud-Ouest—Île-des-Soeurs Québec
Liberal
Marc Miller LiberalMinister of Indigenous Services
Mr. Chair, I too am very concerned about the reopening of schools, particularly as it pertains to first nations, and more so for children who are asked to go study off reserve, which is also a lived reality.
The reality of the situation is that there are provincial guidelines, but those are not necessarily maximums or minimums. We are working directly with communities for their specific needs and we will be there every step of the way.
The member will also well note today that we announced another $305 million in direct community support for first nations, Inuit and Métis, on a distinctions basis.
Leah Gazan NDP Winnipeg Centre, MB
Mr. Chair, two days ago I attended a vigil of a young man in my riding, the latest murder in Winnipeg Centre. As the pandemic goes on, individuals are becoming increasingly financially strained and mental health is rapidly declining.
When will the government stop financing its corporate friends and increase its investments into accessible, affordable social housing and front-line organizations?
Ahmed Hussen Liberal York South—Weston, ON
Mr. Chair, we have demonstrated federal leadership by introducing the national housing strategy. We have ambitious targets, on which we have delivered and we continue to deliver. We will partner with provinces, territories and NGOs in the private sector to build a safe, affordable and accessible home for each and every Canadian.
Dan Albas Conservative Central Okanagan—Similkameen—Nicola, BC
Mr. Chair, for months the Conservatives have been asking about new and expectant parents who will not have enough hours to qualify for EI parental leave due to COVID-19 and still the government refuses to address the problem. It has said over and over again it will be solved, but parents are having children now and are being told by Service Canada that they are not eligible. One person I heard from was eight hours short. A solution sometime in the future does not help them.
Why is the minister refusing to get parents the certainty they need?
Carla Qualtrough LiberalMinister of Employment
Mr. Chair, we understand how concerned a number of individuals are with the number of hours they have with respect to EI eligibility. It is definitely one of the issues that has been top of mind for me as we have rebuilt the system to ensure it is ready to ingest the millions of people it will need to. We will definitely address this issue in our broader conversation around this next week.
Dan Albas Conservative Central Okanagan—Similkameen—Nicola, BC
Mr. Chair, being top of mind does not help these parents one iota and this is not a problem that can simply wait. We have been asking for months.
Another issue is that those who were on the CERB, but did not want to go to work under an EI work-sharing agreement are being told that they cannot and will have to wait for the minister to sign an order allowing them to work. Why has the minister failed to sign that order?
Carla Qualtrough Liberal Delta, BC
Mr. Chair, I can assure you that I am working on that. I understand that Service Canada and my officials are working hand in hand to ensure that problem is addressed. Honestly, I want to ensure that everything we do is done well and done properly. I will not do a situation halfway. This is going to be solved. Retroactive payments will be made. This will be solved.
Dan Albas Conservative Central Okanagan—Similkameen—Nicola, BC
Mr. Chair, people are sitting at home and not working when they want to work, and there are jobs for them. The only delay is the government is refusing to solve the problem. It could be new parents or people wanting to go back to work and over and over the government refuses to lift a finger to help.
Why does the government not just make the changes and get it done today?
Carla Qualtrough Liberal Delta, BC
Mr. Chair, in some ways the CERB was a very blunt instrument that we had to implement during a time of crisis, and it has benefited over eight million Canadians. I make no apologies for doing that.
Transitioning people back to EI allows us to use our more sophisticated system, which will have in place elements of work sharing, working while on claim, access to training. All the things that people need in order to return to work and transition back to work will be in place for them. We are weeks away from making that transition. I thank the officials at ESDC—
Dan Albas Conservative Central Okanagan—Similkameen—Nicola, BC
Mr. Chair, on the transition, I got a briefing last spring from ESDC staff. The officials told me the best-case scenario of updating EI would take 10 years. Now the minister says they can fix it all in time for the end of the CERB, which is fast approaching.
Will the government commit to having zero Canadians lose their benefits they are entitled to as part of this rushed process?
