Debates of Sept. 29th, 2020

COVID-19 Response Measures Act

[Richard Lehoux, Conservative, Beauce, QC]

Madam Speaker, in my riding of Beauce, dozens of businesses are at risk of closing down or are being forced to slow down production.

This is not because they cannot sell their products, but because they are in need of workers, and factories are not the only ones with this problem. For example, Giovannina Pizzeria in Sainte-Marie has been a family-owned business for over 50 years. It has to close at least three days a week now.

How will Bill C-4 help in this case?

[Jagmeet Singh, NDP, Burnaby South, BC]

Madam Speaker, the labour shortage is a big problem, and it has come up a lot on my visits to Quebec.

That said, we did manage to do something important with this bill. A number of workers are afraid to work because they do not have paid sick leave. With this paid sick leave, they will now know that if they become sick, they will be able to stay home. This makes workers more confident about returning to work. They will have this assistance, this support, which can give them more confidence.

I know that there is still a lot of work to be done. I am prepared to do what it takes to move forward on this issue. It is a big problem in many regions of Quebec and across the country.

[Mona Fortier, Liberal, Minister of Middle Class Prosperity and Associate Minister of Finance]

Madam Speaker, I am pleased to rise this evening in support of Bill C-4, an act relating to certain measures in response to COVID-19.

This is a very important bill. It will allow us to build on the measures already set out in Canada's COVID-19 economic response plan so we can protect Canadians during the next wave of the pandemic and, more importantly, continue to support them as the economy reopens.

A number of my colleagues have already spoken eloquently about the new measures this bill proposes, such as the Canada recovery benefit, the Canada recovery sickness benefit and the Canada recovery caregiving benefit. I will also talk about them in a few minutes, but I would first like to talk about the importance of passing Bill C-4 quickly. Time is running out.

As we know, the legislation we are debating here today would, among other things, extend the Public Health Events of National Concern Payments Act to the end of this year. It is a very long title for a very important act that is otherwise set to expire. As hon. members may recall, it was enacted in March as part of Bill C-13, adopted by the House. It allows the government to spend the money needed to protect Canadians and address the public health crisis of the global COVID-19 pandemic. It has been a cornerstone of Canada's COVID-19 economic response plan, a plan that has been critical to supporting Canadians and Canadian businesses.

I know I have spoken about this many times, but I cannot understate the extent to which Canadians have relied on our economic response to get them through these extraordinary times. Through this plan, our government has delivered on programs, such as the Canada emergency response benefit, that have helped millions of Canadians. The CERB has ensured that millions of Canadians have not had to make impossible choices between putting food on their tables and paying their bills when they have lost their jobs or seen their incomes reduced as a result of the pandemic.

The CERB has helped nearly nine million Canadians since March.

Given how many Canadians lost their jobs this year, it quickly became apparent that many of them would need financial support until they could get back to work. However, the existing income support programs were not designed to deal with a crisis of this magnitude. That is why we created the Canada emergency response benefit, or CERB, and made sure that many Canadians would be eligible, for instance by allowing workers to earn up to $1,000 per month while still receiving the CERB.

The Canada emergency response benefit has been a key program, supporting millions of Canadians unable to work because of COVID-19. It has had a tangible impact on the quality of life of millions of families from coast to coast to coast, in every constituency in this country, and that is thanks to the Public Health Events of National Concern Payments Act. The Public Health Events of National Concern Payments Act also paves the way to support businesses across this country, especially our small businesses.

Canadians have worked their whole lives to establish businesses that serve their communities and provide good local jobs. Small businesses not only are the backbone of our economy, but define our neighbourhoods. They give our main streets their character, owners become community leaders and they become the places we rely on to connect to one another.

The list goes on. It is largely thanks to the Public Health Events of National Concern Payments Act that we are able to help Canadians, support our businesses, and protect everyone's health and safety. However, there is still more work to be done. The increase in COVID-19 cases across the country and the arrival of the second wave clearly show that we are still grappling with the pandemic. We must not let our guard down. We must continue to protect the Canadians who need us most. We must continue to support them, but first we must give ourselves the means to do so, and we must do it now. When Parliament passed the Public Health Events of National Concern Payments Act in March, the date of repeal was set for September 30, 2020. This means that the act will expire tomorrow, but COVID-19 will not expire. We must extend the act. We owe it to Canadians.

The limited extension of this act would allow the government to continue to do a lot of the things we have been doing to support Canadians and businesses that are most in need. For example, this act would allow the government to keep buying the necessary personal protective equipment to help essential workers. It would also crucially continue support for the public health, social and economic response in indigenous communities. We understand that indigenous communities are vulnerable to the impacts of COVID-19, which is why we acted quickly to provide nearly a billion dollars to support public health and community-led responses in these communities.

Extending the Public Health Events of National Concern Payments Act to December 31 would ensure that there are no needless interruptions to several programs, especially since a second wave of the pandemic is imminent and has already hit some regions. The extension would enable the government to continue to support the provinces and territories and improve the capacity of our health care system. Take, for example, the federal government's investment in testing and contact tracing. We are talking about a legislative framework that has been essential to our assistance plan.

Extending the act would also enable the government to help small businesses and maintain support measures for farmers, food companies and food supply chains. It would ensure that there is no interruption to the final payments under existing programs, such as the CERB, while we begin to transition to the new assistance programs.

We are now six months into the worst health and economic crisis in Canadian history. COVID-19 has affected all aspects of Canadians' lives, from their health to their livelihoods. We will overcome this pandemic, but this will require the work of every order of government, every community and every one of us. For our part, we will support people and businesses through this crisis as long as it lasts. Let me be absolutely clear with the House and with all Canadians: We will do whatever it takes to get through this pandemic.

We are trusting science to lead the fight until a safe, effective vaccine becomes available. Until then, we must remain vigilant and use the tools available to us, such as testing, treatment and physical distancing. The government will continue to be there for Canadians, just as Canadians are there for each other. We will do whatever is necessary.

Canadians are counting on their government to be there for them when they need it. We know that too many are still unable to work because of COVID-19, including many women, many newcomers to Canada and many people who are self-employed. As we have said previously, and the Minister of Employment, Workforce Development and Disability Inclusion said earlier this evening, we will continue to support these vulnerable Canadians. Those who have been receiving CERB will be supported by the employment insurance system. Let me be clear on something: We will not let down those who do not qualify for EI.

Bill C-4 would ensure that the workers impacted by COVID-19 have the support they need by creating three new transitional benefits to ensure that Canadians can continue to support their families and make ends meet.

First, under the Canada recovery benefit, $500 per week for up to 26 weeks could be available to those individuals not working due to the pandemic and who do not qualify for EI, including the self-employed. This would also be available to those individuals working reduced hours who have lost 50% or more of their income due to the pandemic.

Second, the Canada recovery sickness benefit would provide $500 per week for up to two weeks to workers who are unable to work for at least 50% of the time they would have otherwise worked, either because they contracted COVID-19, think they might have it or because they isolated because of the virus.

Third, the Canada recovery caregiving benefit would be available to those who cannot work because they are caring for a close relative or because their child cannot go to school or day care because of the pandemic. These Canadians could receive $500 per week for up to 26 weeks.

These transitional benefits are proposed as part of the government's plan to support Canadians, as we work to build a stronger, more resilient economy. All three would be available for one year. We know this crisis will not pass this week or next.

This pandemic is the worst public health crisis Canada has ever encountered. Canadians of all ages everywhere in the country have been hit hard. Millions of Canadians lost their jobs or had their hours cut along with their income. Job losses may be the most obvious effect of the global economic shock we have all had to withstand, but the shock also highlighted a whole range of quality-of-life issues, such as mental health, family violence and social ties.

We firmly believe that policy development must be guided by prosperity and quality of life for all Canadians. That is what will help us build a stronger, more resilient country, and that is what guides us as we develop the pandemic recovery plan.

This is not the time for austerity. As Canadians continue to weather the consequences of the pandemic, we must maintain certain assistance program and launch others. Bill C-4 will enable us to round out many of the existing measures. It will also help us make our COVID-19 economic response plan more effective. In the medium and long terms, we will also have to recover from the pandemic by building a stronger and more resilient Canada.

Canada entered this crisis in the best fiscal position of its peers. For the past six months, the government has been using that fiscal firepower so Canadians, businesses and our entire economy have the support needed to weather the storm. The same firepower can also help us to overcome this crisis and build back as a stronger, more resilient country.

It is critical to ensure that the Canadians who need it the most continue to receive the support they need. It will help to ensure that Canadians and the businesses where they work continue to receive the support they need.

I will end by saying this. Our government's first priority is addressing this pandemic and ensuring Canadians are healthy and safe. We are getting them the help they need today, while finding solutions which will improve their quality of life over the months and years to come.

Our government's priority is to fight this pandemic and make sure Canadians stay healthy and safe. We will give them the help they need now, and we will come up with solutions to improve their quality of life in the months and years to come.

The measures contained in this bill would help us to do exactly that. I urge every member of the House to do the same.

[Richard Lehoux, Conservative, Beauce, QC]

Madam Speaker, dozens of businesses in my riding of Beauce are at risk closing down or are being forced to slow down production due to a labour shortage. It is not that they cannot sell their products, it is that the labour shortage is a serious problem locally. Factories are not the only ones with this problem. In my riding, Giovannina, a restaurant in Sainte-Marie-de-Beauce, has to close three days a week because they are short-staffed.

How will Bill C-4 help in this case?

[Mona Fortier, Liberal, Ottawa—Vanier, ON]

Madam Speaker, I want to thank my hon. colleague for his question and for his concern about his constituents.

We know that we are all working to find solutions and help workers and businesses during this pandemic. From the start, as we have seen, the emergency wage subsidy was a very important solution that allowed more people to continue working.

This bill, Bill C-4, will also allow workers and Canadians to continue to be supported during this crisis. We know that their health and safety are a priority during this period. In addition to providing this support to Canadians and Quebeckers, we will continue to work hard to create more than one million jobs, returning us to pre-pandemic levels. We will also work with the provinces, territories and parliamentarians to find ways to—

[The Assistant Deputy Speaker, Carol Hughes]

I apologize, but others want to ask questions. Answers should be about the same length as the questions.

The hon. member for Saint-Hyacinthe—Bagot.

[Simon-Pierre Savard-Tremblay, Bloc, Saint-Hyacinthe—Bagot, QC]

Madam Speaker, the minister told us that it was not going to last a few weeks, but a full year. I would like to ask her why we are once again being presented with a temporary measure when so many changes could have been made to employment insurance.

After the EI program was ransacked for years and the EI fund plundered, why is the measure temporary? Is it so that they can have an excuse to get rid of it in a year?

[Mona Fortier, Liberal, Ottawa—Vanier, ON]

Madam Speaker, I thank the hon. colleague for her question and comments.

In my opinion it is important is to demonstrate adaptability despite the uncertainty of these times. At the start of the pandemic, we truly wanted to help Canadians who had lost their jobs or could not work. The CERB supported millions of Canadians.

We are going to transition to the EI system. We will improve our EI system by developing these supports. With Bill C-4, we will give Canadians and Quebeckers ways to obtain support so they can subsequently return to work.

[Gord Johns, NDP, Courtenay—Alberni, BC]

Madam Speaker, the minister talked about having the backs of businesses, but the government's flawed commercial rent assistance program has been a boondoggle. This morning we learned from the PBO that it only will have spent half the money budgeted because it made it a landlord-driven application process.

The minister of small business said we should stay tuned three weeks ago. We are looking at this. The government keeps saying that it is listening to small businesses, but small businesses are saying that this program is only going to save businesses two days from now.

Businesses in Quebec will be closing their doors because the second wave of the virus is hitting us. The lockdown will affect restaurants, cinemas and other businesses. They cannot wait to stay tuned any longer. They need the minister and the government to fix that program.

The government keeps pointing its finger at the provinces, but the provinces are saying that it is the federal government that needs to lead on this. These businesses are counting on the federal government. Will the minister fix this?

[Mona Fortier, Liberal, Ottawa—Vanier, ON]

Madam Speaker, I am grateful to the member for sharing what I have heard across the country since the beginning of this crisis. Many businesses have asked for support. That is how we know that thousands of small businesses have been hard hit. It is why we brought many programs forward: CEWS, the Canadian emergency wage subsidy; the Canadian emergency response benefit; and the Canadian emergency business account. As of September 28, commercial rent assistance has helped over 120,000 Canadian small businesses, representing over a million jobs, over $1.68 billion in support.

Our government is actively exploring options to further support small businesses as they face the ongoing challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic, including the challenges of fixed costs and rent. This is at a time when health concerns and precautions prevent many businesses from operating at full capacity.

We will continue to work with businesses to ensure they have a bridge through this pandemic.

[Elizabeth May, Green, Saanich—Gulf Islands, BC]

Madam Speaker, there is an issue clearly looming as we look at where we are in terms of the deficit and our debt. I was recently looking at an article by our former parliamentary budget officer, Kevin Page, pointing out that we really cannot continue spending without looking at the revenue side of the ledger.

As the minister looking at middle-class prosperity, when will we look at a wealth tax? We need to find new sources of revenue. The Green Party has been advocating for a wealth tax. I wonder if she has had a look at it. The PBO has costed it and it is viable.

[Mona Fortier, Liberal, Ottawa—Vanier, ON]

Madam Speaker, I want to thank my colleague for her leadership on many files. By working all together, we will find ways to make sure we get through this pandemic. She has encouraged us to all work together, and it is important to do that.

I want to recognize that the PBO has done important work on behalf of Parliamentarians and all Canadians. As we entered as a country into this crisis, we had a strong fiscal position relative to our G7 peers. By using this fiscal firepower, we will continue to ensure Canadians, workers and businesses get the support they need. We have a well-deserved international reputation for small and prudent fiscal management. Our plan continues to be fiscally sustainable, and we will continue to be responsible.

Canadians are counting on our government to be there for them. We have done, and will continue to do, exactly that.

[Gord Johns, NDP, Courtenay—Alberni, BC]

Madam Speaker, I want to go back to the commercial rent assistance program. I have outlined that many businesses have not received the support they need. The minister spoke about the other programs. What we are hearing from small businesses, and CFIB again this morning, is that many of these businesses simply will not survive without commercial rent assistance. They have closed their doors for public health reasons to do the right thing, and they should not be on the hook when their landlord does not apply or if they do not meet the threshold and only lost 60% of their business. Trying to survive losing 50% or 60% of business is going to be nearly impossible. They need help. They need the government to fix this program.

Will the minister reassure those small businesses that she can help them and fix this broken program?

[Mona Fortier, Liberal, Ottawa—Vanier, ON]

Madam Speaker, it is important to say that since the beginning, we have developed and implemented many programs to support businesses. I mentioned this earlier. The CECRA program has had its difficulties, but we have been working really hard to make sure we work with provinces and territories to find a way to encourage owners to use the CECRA program that was developed and offered.

As I said earlier, over 120,000 Canadian small businesses, representing over a million jobs, had access to commercial rent assistance. As we continue to face COVID-19 challenges, we will continue to find ways to support the fixed costs of businesses, including rent, and we are working on this as fast as we can.

[Michelle Rempel, Conservative, Calgary Nose Hill, AB]

Madam Speaker, I will be splitting my time with the member for Barrie—Innisfil.

Before I came here at this late hour, I watched something that I am having trouble processing right now. That is the coverage of the death of a first nation woman, Joyce Echaquan. It should trouble all of us. We are sitting in this place tonight, debating this bill, and I am reflecting on the Prime Minister's comments. I actually agree with him for once. I do not agree with his overall response, but he made some comments earlier this week around the Speech from the Throne, and how the pandemic had exposed cracks in our society. It has, but it has exposed the cracks to people in Canada who have such privilege that they do not have to live in those cracks on a daily basis.

I worry about our capacity to address these issues because we have such a divide. There is a privilege in making the statement, “This pandemic has exposed cracks in our society” like a revelation, because there are people living this so profoundly day to day. What we saw tonight in the death of this woman should shake us all, regardless of political stripe. It should shake us into realizing that there is much more to be done, and statements of sympathy and caring down a path that is set one way or the other is not going to address this in a pluralism. It just is not.

That is where I would like to frame some of my comments tonight on the bill. How do we address these cracks? We are ostensibly addressing a bill tonight, given that closure was invoked on it. That is a signal often given by the government to say it is an important piece of legislation that is going to fix a bunch of problems. I think it is a missed opportunity. The process we are going through here, the time that we lost in prorogation, at this moment in our country's history, is a missed opportunity for us to look past our individual dogmas and actually chart a course forward that can address some of these fundamental inequities, the systemic racism, the systemic misogyny, the class divide that we see widening in our country.

I wanted to come in here and talk about this issue from the perspective of the people who live this reality in my community, because they have experienced the situation of the pandemic in a unique way. We already had a severe jobs crisis going into the pandemic.

I am hoping everyone can put their partisanship aside for a minute tonight, and understand what it is like to be living in a community that has no hope of getting back to work. We are here debating a bill tonight that is not tied to a plan for long-term economic viability or tied to measures that will get us through the pandemic beyond lockdown. That is the failure of the bill.

Of course, I think everybody in this place, including me, wants to ensure that Canadians have the benefits they need through the pandemic. There is no question of that. I know people in my community who need the CERB to make ends meet. That is the reality. For them it is like, “You guys have shut down my job. I need to eat, and you as government have made a decision to do this, so where is it?”

I was going to give a huge speech about how prorogation cost five weeks that we could have continued their benefits in.

Members have to understand what it is like to not only be told that one's job is dirty, but to have it disappear and then have no plan for what comes next.

I will speak from a woman's perspective tonight. The women in my riding have gone through so much. They are trying to keep marriages going throughout the downturn of the energy sector, and they hear that their jobs are dirty and that they just need to diversify the economy. These are women who care about the planet. They care about climate change, but they also work in an industry where they know that our energy is part of the solution to a transition to that clean economy and there is no plan, beyond government handouts, to restore their dignity and work. It is just take away jobs, take away dignity, take away marriages and take away their houses.

I just feel that the bill before us is a continuation of that spirit of the paternalistic attitude, the misogynistic attitude that is pervasive in this place. It is pervasive in our approach to legislation. It is pervasive in our messaging and our paternalism, be it “everybody just do their part,” or “we just need to give you more benefits.” There is dignity and beauty in self-determination that our systems, and the government's response to current events, have removed from people. So, yes, cracks in our society have been exposed to those who benefit from the power structures of systemic racism, of systemic misogyny, of systemic regional alienation, but they are apparent to everyone else. They are apparent to people who live this day to day. They are apparent in every part of our society, and I just feel like the bill fails it.

Of course we want benefits to be continued for people. I want the people in my community to work, but I want them to have an answer for their kids when they ask about Halloween, about holiday dinners, or when they wonder if they can go and see their mom in a long-term care facility after it has been shut down. It is not sufficient to say that an entire society should be dependent on the government. It is paternalistic, and it is misogynistic, to say that the government should be the only answer to this situation.

I guess I am pleading, after nearly 10 years of being in this place. I have tried the fight. I have tried the bombast. I do well at that. I am proud of the fact that, over the last two weeks, a small group of feisty people in Room 600 Valour got the government to admit to rapid testing, and I thank Bari, Julia, Sean and Jill. Those guys got her done. However, I am tired of this attitude that is so disconnected that some of the people in my riding feel that they cannot be Canadian anymore. That breaks my heart, and it breaks my heart to watch what we saw on TV tonight.

It is such a late hour, and I did not come with a prepared speech, but we can do better. The government has to do better, because our country is failing. It is not about politics anymore. It is about doing something bigger than that, and the bill before us could be so much better. It could do so much more. It could inspire Canadians. It could get us through this, but instead it is being rammed through in four hours. I cannot speak in 10 minutes to everything I talked about tonight, but Canadians need us to do that, and that is why this place matters. That is why each of us matters in here.

It is up to each of us, regardless of political stripe, to reclaim that power that every Canadian has and to make democracy matter again, especially with what we saw tonight south of the border. This is not entertainment, folks. These are people's lives, and what is happening here with the bill, with prorogation, is not enough. We need to do better. I call out of desperation and with a plea for hope that the government can do better than this. It is not enough.

I am happy to answer questions.

[Kevin Lamoureux, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the President of the Queen’s Privy Council for Canada and to the Leader of the Government in the House of Commons]

Mr. Speaker, I appreciate my colleague's comments this evening. They remind me of a tour I had earlier this month of an organization called LITE, Local Investment Toward Employment. She is right that there is a certain segment of society which far too often we overlook. I do not think it is intentional; I believe unintentional things take place that unfortunately cause some people to fall through the cracks as the Prime Minister made reference to and the member just spoke to. It was Tyler Pearce who provided me with a tour of the facility. This organization does some incredible work which COVID–19 has had an impact on. The people who are being serviced in many ways are completely dysfunctional and need the assistance and the opportunity to put in a few hours and get some cash. There is a willingness to do that.

In good part, I agree with what my colleague across the way is saying and maybe government needs to be more involved in directly supporting those individuals who are finding it so difficult to—

[The Deputy Speaker, Bruce Stanton]

We will go to the hon. member for Calgary Nose Hill.

[Michelle Rempel, Conservative, Calgary Nose Hill, AB]

Mr. Speaker, I think it is deliberately intentional that we overlook that stuff because, to be honest, the plight of people who suffer only comes to this place when it becomes politically inconvenient. That is what is wrong with our system in Canada right now. We are at a place in our nation's history where people have actually forgotten the power they hold because they have been conditioned to think what we are getting here is sufficient, that a daily ration from the government is what Canada is capable of. It is not. It is much more than that.

The country my family came to and worked in was one where anything was possible. I am not sure that it is the same country for the people who are coming to Canada today or live here. It is arrogant to say it is not intentional because the choices we make here have intent and our choices in this bill mean that we do not have a plan going forward to deal with the pandemic in a way that is beyond that daily handout from the government. I believe there should be more. I wish there were more—

[The Deputy Speaker, Bruce Stanton]

Questions and comments, the hon. member for Saint-Jean.

[Christine Normandin, Bloc, Saint-Jean, QC]

Mr. Speaker, my colleague made a passionate plea on behalf of those who are falling through the cracks during this pandemic.

I may digress a little from the main topic, Bill C-4, to speak on the same issue. In the middle of a pandemic, the Bloc suggested amendments to the throne speech, to make sure it did not leave out seniors aged 65 to 75, for example. We suggested immediate health transfers so that no one in Quebec's health care system would fall through the cracks. However, the Conservatives voted against our amendment.

Does my colleague think that the government is letting other people fall through the cracks right now?

[Michelle Rempel, Conservative, Calgary Nose Hill, AB]

Mr. Speaker, I worry about seniors in Canada. I worry about my mother. I worry about how I am going to be a caregiver to my parents as I do this job. I worry about so many people and what has happened with the long-term care facilities in Canada right now during the pandemic.

What we should be doing here is having a discourse of thought on how we can solve these problems for Canadians. I feel like my power is being eroded, that I do not have the chance to meet with my colleague. We have never had a chance to have wine and talk about the areas we agree on and do not agree on because we have not been together.

Tonight I hope we realize the sanctity of this place and its ability to keep peace and bring prosperity and do not let that power go away. Of course I am open to talking about ways to help our seniors. I hope to have that glass of wine with her, but we need better than what we have here and we should have time to discuss that and come together as a country rather than accepting the status quo.

[John Brassard, Conservative, Barrie—Innisfil, ON]

Mr. Speaker, I want to thank my hon. colleague from Calgary Nose Hill not just for splitting her time with me tonight and giving me an opportunity to speak to this bill, but also for her passion, her empathy, the respect that she has for this institution and the respect that she has for this country. She affected me and I think she affected a lot of Canadians tonight.

Now, I am an emotional guy by nature. Those who know me know that it does not take much for me to get emotional. I cry when I watch Uncle Buck. That is just the way it is. That scene at the end gets me every time.

I get emotional about this place as well. I have said many times in this House, and now even more so as the shadow minister for veterans affairs, that I think of the lives that have been lost. I think of the blood that has been spilled. I think of the families that have been decimated by war to allow all of us the privilege to sit in this place, to sit in our symbol of democracy, because of the fights that have gone on over the course of not just Canadian history but the history of war and other things. It is something I respect, and it is something, quite frankly, that I treat with the reverence that it deserves.

It is a place where Canadians can come together through their elected officials to have discussions, to have debates, to talk about how we can make the lives of Canadians better than what they are now. Canadians have been suffering greatly over the course of the last six months. We can all acknowledge that. Any of us who have been on the front lines, and we all have, know the types of calls we have had to our offices, with the level of despair, the level of anxiety and the level of anguish, and we have been there trying to help them.

We have taken that team Canada approach over the course of the last six months. To me, this was never a partisan thing. It was all about helping my constituents who were dealing with issues like the CERB and the Canada emergency wage subsidy. When the Canada emergency business account came out at 10%, I was getting phone calls from business people. They were crying on the phone with me. Many of them were crying because it was not enough, not just for them to keep their businesses but to keep the people employed.

We all went to work, all of us, not just Conservatives, not just NDP or Bloc or Greens. All of us worked together to recognize the issues that existed with the legislation that was being proposed, whether it was the emergency business account, the wage subsidy, the CERB, rent relief program, or repatriation. I worked directly with the Minister of Foreign Affairs, because there were lots of people from my riding in Costa Rica. Again, there was anxiety and anguish for the families who were in Barrie—Innisfil but also the families that were stuck there. We worked together on this stuff to try to help Canadians who were stranded abroad.

I gave credit publicly to the Minister of Foreign Affairs, as he deserved, because he worked very well with us to repatriate those Canadians who were stuck. Many of them were from opposition ridings.

On the long-term care centres, I was getting phone calls. My family was directly affected. My mother-in-law was stuck in a long-term care facility. We have seen the decline in her mental capacity over the course of the last six months. Talk about anguish, my wife is dealing with that every single day.

When we come to this place, because of the sanctity of it, because of the respect and reverence that we have for it, the least that we can expect is the ability to deal with legislation and not have it rammed through like the Liberals are doing. There are things within this legislation that all of us can improve on. I said it yesterday. There are stakeholders. There are people who are going to be directly affected by this, just as business owners were affected when the Canadian business account was announced, when the wage subsidy was announced and other programs. They were calling us telling us that it was woefully inadequate. The rent relief program was another example.

There are things that we can improve on with this piece of legislation, but we cannot do it in four and a half hours. We cannot do it unless and until we get the input from not just parliamentarians but also those people who are going to be impacted by what this legislation calls for.

It is a $57-billion bill and we are being given four and a half hours to deal with it. I can be bombastic and say that the government and the Prime Minister prorogued Parliament to save their political skin. They had every opportunity over the course of the last month to deal with this piece of legislation so that we would not be in the situation where we are trying to ram it through. There is no question that Canadians need it, because many Canadians are still feeling that anxiety. They are still feeling that anguish and they are wondering what the future holds for them.

It is easy for people to become cynical of government. When I look back at the 2015 plan of the government, the real plan, the Liberals talked against the very things that they are now doing. Maybe it was the newness of a government; maybe it was the naivete of a government that they thought that they could do all these things. That is what got them elected. That is why people voted for them.

They said that the government “will not interfere with the work of parliamentary officers; and it will not resort to devices like prorogation and omnibus bills to avoid scrutiny.” They also said, “And to give Canadians a stronger voice in the House of Commons, the Government will promote more open debate and free votes, and reform and strengthen committees.”

The Liberals are not doing that. They are not doing that at all. The very thing that got them elected in 2015 is the very thing they are moving away from now, and this is not the first time. I can go through the history of Motion No. 6. I can go through the history of earlier this year with the piece of legislation where the Liberals were trying to effectively seize control and power of Parliament for spending purposes for a period of a year and a half. That is not an indication of a government that respects this place, that reveres this place for those who have given so much to allow us to be in it. It is not an indication of that at all.

The thing that disturbs me most is, how can we not support this? How can we not support giving help to Canadians when they need it the most? However, this could have been done earlier than today. It could have been done with a lot more scrutiny and a lot more input, not just from parliamentarians but also stakeholders and individuals across this country who are going to be impacted by this.

The last thing I would say about this is that earlier tonight, John Ivison wrote an article in which he said:

The Liberals have signed a Faustian pact with the NDP that they seem intent on honouring until they have a large enough lead in the polls, at which point the New Democrats will be cut loose and patronized as being erratic and unreliable.

I will say this for my colleagues in the NDP. The Liberals are going to wrap the New Democrats around their finger. They are going to chew them up and then they will eventually spit them out. They know right now that they need them because they cannot win a majority government, but when they get to that point, unfortunately, the New Democrats will be irrelevant to them.

This is what the Liberals do. This is all about power for them, and it shows very little respect. In fact, it shows a lack of respect for this place that it so richly deserves.

[Gord Johns, NDP, Courtenay—Alberni, BC]

Mr. Speaker, I first want to thank my colleague from Barrie—Innisfil for his passion. He gets emotional because he cares, and I do want to thank him for that. I do want to let him know, when he talks about the Liberals and the NDP, that we are here for people. We are not here for power. We are here to help get people the help they need. That is what we are here to do as New Democrats.

One thing I appreciate about my friend is that he cares deeply about veterans, and many veterans, throughout this pandemic, have not been able to get the help they need. They have been waiting for the help they need. In fact, they were not even mentioned in the throne speech. My friend also voted with his caucus for my motion, an NDP motion to end lapsed spending, two years ago in this House. Both the Prime Minister and the leader of the official opposition voted for it. It was a unanimous motion.

Last year the Liberals left $103 million in lapsed spending. We then learned from the PBO that if they hired people to fill some of the jobs that were cut by the Conservatives in the Harper government, at $23 million a year for the next five years, the backlog would be gone.

Does my friend support using lapsed spending, hiring those workers back, and ending the backlog once and for all, so the government meets all those service standards it is not meeting?

[John Brassard, Conservative, Barrie—Innisfil, ON]

Mr. Speaker, I also want to thank my friend for his passion and advocacy on the part of Canada's veterans. I know just how sincere he is in that advocacy. We did support the motion from a few years ago that called on the government to use lapsed spending to improve the case loads, which were already mounting two years ago. Of course, we found out from the Parliamentary Budget Officer just yesterday that the case load is now at 50,000. That is 50,000 veterans, and their families, who are waiting for adjudication and for those claims to be processed.

Part of my responsibility, since I was named three weeks ago today, has been to reach out to those families, and many of them are quite concerned about the status of VAC claims. We absolutely, 100% supported it then, and we continue to support the use of that lapsed spending to hire people to help veterans and their families with those claims.

[Kevin Lamoureux, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the President of the Queen’s Privy Council for Canada and to the Leader of the Government in the House of Commons]

Mr. Speaker, I do take some exception, and I totally disagree with the member when he makes reference to process and expresses his disappointment.

I have been a parliamentarian for 30 years. Most of those years, more than 20, were on the opposition side of the benches, and I am very familiar with opposition tactics. I am very familiar with being in government, opposition and a third party. I can tell members, with the experience I have, I would have no problem whatsoever going to any university, whether it is here in Ottawa, Winnipeg or the member's riding, speaking with the member and doing a comparison of how this government has provided accountability and transparency, and has been true to democratic principles. I would invite my colleague to take me up on it.