House of Commons Hansard #49 of the 43rd Parliament, 2nd Session. (The original version is on Parliament's site.) The word of the day was broken.
Julie Dabrusin Liberal Toronto—Danforth, ON
I apologize. I am going to try it again here, and then, if not, if you are okay with running across, I can try to connect somewhere else.
Is it working now?
Economic Statement Implementation Act, 2020Government Orders
Julie Dabrusin Liberal Toronto—Danforth, ON
Madam Speaker, I apologize for the complications with interpretation.
I was giving shout-outs because it has been a hard time for everyone. I also wanted to recognize the stress that a lot of people are under and highlight the Wellness Together website, wellnesstogether.ca, as well as Kids Help Phone. Those are amazing resources that people should know about.
As we are talking about the fall economic statement and supports, I want to talk a bit about some of the existing supports, including the Applegrove Community Complex in my community. It has received federal funding. The staff are making calls and checking in on seniors. It is a really important time to be checking in on one another.
Today I would also like to focus on our local businesses. I talked with hundreds of local business owners in the community. They have been resilient and tough, but they need our support. One example of resilience is a local business, Looking Glass Adventures, which is an escape room. Imagine an escape room in the time of COVID. It has pivoted to offering its service online. Someone is inside, and they use a camera to show people around the place. It is amazing.
The most amazing thing is that not only has it been innovative, but it has been supported through federal programs, such as the wage subsidy and other programs. I want to highlight the importance of government programs working with communities and local businesses and providing the support that they need.
Our government cares. Since the beginning of the pandemic, our government has invested $322 billion in direct measures to fight the virus and to help people. That includes $85 billion in tax and custom duty payment deferrals. Throughout this pandemic, I have seen government programs to support businesses that have been responsive. The programs have been evolving to respond to what local businesses have been highlighting as issues as we go along. That has been very important as we have been addressing it all.
Federal programs have stabilized the economy, provided direct income support and bridged businesses through this difficult time. This will continue deep into 2021.
One program that I do not think has had enough attention supports live music. I love live music and our live music venues. There was $500 million in emergency support to the creative industries and sports. This included a live music support fund, which funded venues that would not normally receive funding, including here in my home community, the Dora: a bar that has great live music. In Toronto, there are Lee's Palace, the Horseshoe Tavern and all sorts of amazing venues.
There is more to do. That is where the fall economic statement comes in. Tourism, hospitality and entertainment are vital parts of our economy. Our main streets, with the restaurants and cafes, are hubs. They are the employers in our community. Our neighbours own these businesses. Many of them have faced regular and deep shutdowns, especially where I live in Toronto. These pandemic restrictions have taken a toll.
In addition to the existing wage subsidy, the Canada emergency business account, and the rent support program, the fall economic statement brings more to continue the response. One program that I would like to mention is the highly affected sectors credit availability program, or HASCAP fund.
This is really for the hardest-hit businesses: tourism, hospitality, arts and entertainment. It will provide 100% government-guaranteed financing for the hardest-hit businesses. There will be low-interest loans of up to $1 million with terms of up to 10 years. The interest rates will be below market rates.
This is in addition to the regional relief and recovery fund, which supported more than 2,800 tourism-related businesses, and the Canada emergency rent subsidy, which combined with lockdown support can provide up to 90% of rent and commercial mortgage interest when public health orders cause a lockdown, such as is happening in Toronto.
The fall economic statement will also do more to support our local businesses. For the Canada emergency business account, the deadline to apply is going to be extended to March 31. That is important. When I talk with businesses that are navigating their different needs, they say having that extra flexibility to be able to apply is important.
Another important piece, which I hear about all the time, is the wage subsidy. This will be extended to June 2021, and the fall economic statement will increase the amount paid for the period to 75% until March. That was the kind of predictability that local businesses were asking for when I was talking with them, and it helps support jobs. I can see the jobs that are supported right here in my community.
In addition to the wage subsidy and the other programs, I want to highlight the Canada summer jobs program. It provides employment to young people, who are among those who have been the hardest hit economically during the pandemic.
The Canada summer jobs program will be increased by up to 40,000 jobs, which will help local organizations, local businesses and young people who are looking for work. Also, there is going to be an increase in funding for skills and training and employment support across the board, and there is specific funding for the youth employment strategies. This will pay off not only for local businesses and different organizations but also for young people across our communities.
When talking about young people, I also like to mention the Canada child benefit. One piece I have heard from people in my community who are the hardest hit is that the Canada child benefit has a tremendous impact. In fact, it has had a huge impact on child poverty rates across the board. This year, there will be a temporary increase of up to $1,200 for families with children under the age of six, which is going to be an important piece.
The final piece is interesting for me, as I am a woman who has spent a lot of time balancing work and children. I had a hard time finding child care and managing to work from home while my kids were running around. I would feed them cookies while on telephone calls just to keep things going. I was really happy to see, in the fall economic statement, that a framework is being put in place for a national child care system, something that truly will make such a huge difference to so many families right across our country. It is an important place to start with in our fall economic statement as we come out of this pandemic. I have talked with a lot of people who have felt the strain, and I have seen how hard it is. In Toronto, child care is still expensive and is often really unattainable.
While the federal early learning and child care funding to date has helped to provide 40,000 affordable child care spots across our country, I can see the need for more. The fact that we are supporting an increased program that will help to build on that and create a universal child care system across our country is something I am really excited to see.
I am running out of time, but I am happy to answer questions because I am really excited about how we will build back from this pandemic and how we will continue to support our businesses and individuals.
Louise Charbonneau Bloc Trois-Rivières, QC
Madam Speaker, I thank my colleague the parliamentary secretary for listing all of the programs offered by the government. However, I would like to know whether I am mistaken about this update.
Does this array of programs include any assistance for seniors who are also facing financial hardship during the pandemic? Could my colleague tell me if I misread?
Julie Dabrusin Liberal Toronto—Danforth, ON
I am glad we talked a little bit about seniors, because it is important. At the beginning of my speech, I talked about the programs that exist in my riding where there is funding to support organizations like Applegrove, which helps seniors in our community. It is not the only such organization, but it is the first example that came to mind. In particular, funds have been distributed to seniors throughout the year and during the summer.
Should there be more? I think so. In fact, I spoke with my colleague from Scarborough-Rouge Park about what we should be doing to help seniors properly. A lot of work has already been done, and I am very happy to be able to contribute.
Rachel Blaney NDP North Island—Powell River, BC
Madam Speaker, one of the realities I have seen in my region is that small businesses have had to be extremely innovative to meet the specific challenges. Some businesses have been able to use innovation to find stability during this time, and other small businesses have really struggled because of the nature of their work.
My question is really about fairness. One thing I know, which I think we have seen very clearly throughout this period of time, is that our tax laws simply need to be reformed and changed to fit the realities we are seeing. Right now, companies and businesses that use tax havens are taking advantage of government subsidies specifically for the COVID pandemic. They are getting an extra benefit, while small businesses are struggling every day just to make ends meet.
Is there a commitment from the government to really look at reforming tax laws to make sure there is more fairness for all businesses so that big businesses do not take advantage when small businesses need supports desperately?
Julie Dabrusin Liberal Toronto—Danforth, ON
Madam Speaker, one of the first pieces to note when we talk about fairness on the basis of income taxes is that back in 2015 and 2016, we raised taxes on the top 1% while reducing them for the middle class. Many in the member's party did not support this, but it does increase fairness.
One piece in the fall economic statement that adds to fairness is about web giants paying the GST again. Many people have said they are in favour of this and want to see that kind of fairness, and it has been committed to.
There are steps toward greater tax fairness, and that is definitely something we should all be working toward.
Philip Lawrence Conservative Northumberland—Peterborough South, ON
Madam Speaker, thank you for the opportunity to rise virtually on Bill C-14, which would enact certain components of the fall fiscal update. At the outset, I would like to inform the Speaker that I will be sharing my time with a member to be disclosed the next time I get up to speak.
The legislation has a number of great steps that could help Canadians during these difficult times. Enhancing the child care benefit was a recommendation, an idea, by the leader of the official opposition. It will no doubt help parents and women as they struggle through the additional child care challenges created by the pandemic. Granting a one-year break in interest on student loans will help students as they struggle to obtain part-time or full-time jobs during the pandemic.
I support these measures and I want to make that clear on the record. However, as important as the relief is, these are band-aids. They are painkillers meant to ease the pain, as they do not address the underlying illness. Canadians need a plan that allows them to return to work and really addresses the underlying illness and cures it once and for all.
The pandemic has brought millions of proud Canadians to their knees. We have seen millions of Canadians lose their employment and millions of business owners lose their livelihoods and even their life savings. The pandemic has cost thousands of lives. It has created substance abuse problems. It has exacerbated our opioid crisis and has created an epidemic of suicides across this country.
We need a plan that will expertly eliminate COVID-19 from our shores forever and make us prosperous once again, which we have always enjoyed in the past.
What are the steps to this plan? It starts with testing. Our plan must include rapid testing. Rapid testing needs to be ubiquitous across this land, not just in every province and every town, but on every street in Canada. Canadians need to have easily accessible COVID testing in their local pharmacies, their workplaces and our schools so we can identify immediately or shortly thereafter who has COVID, treat the sick and isolate them so that others do not fall ill to COVID-19. This would allow healthy Canadians to return to school and work and get on with the work of making Canada a prosperous nation once again.
Unfortunately, Bill C-14 will not make rapid testing ubiquitous in our nation. It will be leaving Canadians behind.
This pandemic will ultimately end when every Canadian who wants a vaccination has a vaccination. As our entire economic outlook depends on when Canadians are vaccinated, the acquisition of vaccines should be an absolute obsession for the government. It should be the first thing we think about when we wake up in the morning and the last thing when we go to bed.
However, the Prime Minister is letting us down. He did not even bother to call Pfizer until he was shamed into making calls by the Ontario premier and the media. The Liberals will no doubt regale us again and again with their stories of unlimited vaccines, the most vaccines per capita. However, in life, and even more so in a pandemic, timing is everything. We need 37 million-plus Canadians vaccinated now, not 100 million Canadians vaccinated 20 years from now. That will do us no good. We are currently below many countries in terms of vaccination rates. Israel, the United Kingdom, the United States, Bahrain and the United Emirates have at least double our vaccination rate, and now we are going an entire week without any vaccinations when many countries are continuing to receive their vaccines.
Canada's vaccine program needs to be expedited. Canadians are literally dying because the Prime Minister has failed to deliver the vaccinations Canadians need for staying healthy. We need to return Canada to the freedom and prosperity that we have previously taken for granted.
Economic Statement Implementation Act, 2020Government Orders
The Assistant Deputy Speaker Carol Hughes
The hon. member will have five minutes and 37 seconds the next time this matter is before the House.
Keystone XL PipelineEmergency Debate
The Assistant Deputy Speaker Carol Hughes
The House will now proceed to the consideration of a motion to adjourn the House for the purpose of discussing a specific and important matter requiring urgent consideration, namely the Keystone XL pipeline.
Erin O'Toole ConservativeLeader of the Opposition
moved:
That this House do now adjourn.
Madam Speaker, I am privileged to be joined by my colleagues here tonight, those who we can have in the chamber. I will be dividing my time with the Conservative shadow minister for natural resources, the member of Parliament for Calgary Centre.
I am here today for thousands of Canadian oil and gas workers, thousands of Canadian families that are affected by the decision of the new U.S. administration, thousands of Canadians who work hard for their families. They are losing their jobs as a result of the first decision by the new U.S. President at a time when thousands have already lost their jobs in this pandemic.
I am here today for the five first nations in Alberta and Saskatchewan that are seeing their equity investment in the Keystone XL project evaporate because of the inaction of the government. These first nations are seeing their plans for their youth and citizens evaporate because of inaction by the government.
I am here for Canadians from coast to coast to coast who rely on our world-class energy sector to provide for their families, manufacturers, subcontractors, food providers, hard-working men and women who are being abandoned in the midst of a pandemic.
Canada has been dealt a serious blow with the cancellation of the Keystone XL pipeline extension. Thousands of Canadians have just been laid off. Thousands more are counting on even serious upset. Thousands of Canadians have just been laid off. They were counting on employment opportunities at a time when our country is already shaken to its foundations from an economic crisis related to COVID-19. They are now being laid off when Canada is already suffering from some of the highest rates of unemployment in the G20 as a result of the COVID-19 crisis. The province of Alberta is already suffering from other misguided policies of the government, whether Bill C-69 or others, that have already had tens of thousands of people out of work, that have empty office towers in Calgary. These are Canadians, thousands of them, being totally forgotten and left behind by the government.
The cancellation of Keystone XL means that companies are going to leave Canada, but most of all it means the loss of thousands of jobs across the country. It means that families will have trouble making ends meet. They are the ones that I am talking to in this emergency debate.
We are in the middle of the greatest economic crisis we have faced in modern times as a nation. It is essential that we get every Canadian back to work in every sector, in every corner of the country and as quickly as we can.
The government is afraid to have a budget because it does not want to show Canadians the incredible economic challenges the country has. We need to pull together, the people in the west, in the east, in Quebec and Ontario. We must value the ability for us to work together to recover from this COVID-19 crisis and, therefore, we need our energy sector to be successful. That is why Conservatives have been pushing so hard for months for the government to develop a clear plan for our economic rebuilding and our vaccine rollout.
The government spent months on a CanSino Chinese vaccine debacle when it should have been preparing the regulatory process and negotiating with companies like Pfizer, Moderna and others to manufacture in Canada or to secure a stable supply. This week, with thousands of cases daily across the country, Canada is one of the few countries in the world to receive zero vaccines.
However, if there is one area that this decision leads to a catastrophic failure of confidence, it is the disdainful way that the Prime Minister has attacked our energy industry for the past five years, beginning with his first trip abroad when the Prime Minister of Canada mocked an entire sector of our economy, a sector that has provided so much to Canadians, to our way of life, to our prosperity. He said that the last prime minister talked about resources. He said that Canada was more than resources, that we were resourceful now, with one word, swiping away tens of thousands of jobs, thousands of examples of innovation, productivity and technology that is world-leading, a prime minister who is not proud of our industries because he does not understand them.
In fact, this is the second time the Prime Minister has failed to make the case for Keystone XL under two separate U.S. administrations. Every time the Liberal government has a chance to promote Canadian energy, it sides with activists over science. It sides with foreign protesters over first nations that are invested in the project. It sides with trendy slogans over smart policies to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
Hard-working Canadians in all corners of the country deserve better than a prime minister who does not understand them let alone one who looks down on them, as the Prime Minister has on many occasions. We need the federal government, particularly now in a crisis, to stand up for workers in every corner of the country. Jobs for Canadians are the only way we will secure our future and rebuild our economy, which has been ravaged by this pandemic. The Liberal government should have done more for our world-class energy sector than its record of indifference and incompetence.
For Canadians who are watching this debate, particularly in Alberta and Saskatchewan, the Prime Minister has once again let them down.
When we have a government that attacks the natural resources industry, we have a government that is hurting all Canadians. Canadians across the country all benefit from spinoffs from the natural resources industry. Those spinoffs help us to pay for our hospitals, our universities and the protection of our environment.
The energy sector is also the biggest partner in the development of the regions of Canada when it works with first nations. Five first nations placed their hopes in the Keystone XL project. Canadians deserve better.
Canada needs a prime minister who will respect hard-working Canadian families and work hard to secure opportunities for all of them. We deserve a prime minister who understands hard work and what it means to get his or her hands dirty to provide for his or her family. We deserve a prime minister who will champion Canadian energy as the most ethical, environmentally conscious and most socially responsible in the world. The world is looking for investments with strong environmental and social governance, or ESG. Canadian resources offer ESGI, environmental and social governance with indigenous partnerships and participation. Canadians should be immensely proud of that. The Liberals' failure on Keystone will be felt in our country for years to come.
Let us add to the list: job-killing policies like Bill C-69, the carbon tax, tanker bans, illegal rail blockades and endless regulations. That has led to $160 billion of capital leaving Canada. Those investments mean jobs. How can we convince the world to invest in Canada when the government is not even proud of what we do in Canada?
Instead of reimagining the economy, as the Prime Minister wants to do in the middle of a pandemic, he should stop reimagining millions of Canadians without jobs, because that is what his policies are leading to. Indigenous communities on both sides of the border were planning their futures based on projects like this. Chief Alvin Francis said that this would “create intergenerational jobs and benefits.”
I will end as I started. Tonight the Conservatives are here for working families from coast to coast to coast that need opportunities, inspiration and hope that we can have jobs and get our country moving.
Visual DisplaysPoints of OrderEmergency Debate
January 25th, 2021 / 6:40 p.m.
St. Catharines Ontario
Liberal
Chris Bittle LiberalParliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Transport
Madam Speaker, I rise on a point of order. It is disappointing that the Leader of the Opposition is not wearing a mask, but I have a concern about props being used.
Chris Bittle Liberal St. Catharines, ON
Madam Speaker, if I can finish my point of order, we would not let members wear buttons emblazon with a political slogan, so the masks—
Visual DisplaysPoints of OrderEmergency Debate
The Assistant Deputy Speaker Carol Hughes
The hon. member has the floor. It is not a point of debate from what I can gather. I will let the member finish.
Chris Bittle Liberal St. Catharines, ON
Madam Speaker, the political messages on the masks are a prop. We would not permit that in the House Commons if they were buttons or stickers, so we should not permit them on face masks.
Visual DisplaysPoints of OrderEmergency Debate
The Assistant Deputy Speaker Carol Hughes
The hon. parliamentary secretary is correct that we do not allow for props in the House. If there are messages on the masks, they are considered a prop. I would ask members who are wearing masks that have sayings on them promoting a specific item that they not use those in the House.
Gérard Deltell Conservative Louis-Saint-Laurent, QC
Madam Speaker, I rise on a point of order.
I challenge that view because members often wear buttons that send a certain message here in the House. Members on both sides of the House do it all the time, and to my knowledge, it has never been the subject of debate before.
I would like you to review your position.
Elizabeth May Green Saanich—Gulf Islands, BC
Madam Speaker, I am surprised that any member in this place would dispute your ruling. It is clear as a bell and it has been the honoured procedure of this place for a very long time. Buttons and slogans are not allowed on any part of our apparel or on any part of a prop during debate.
Warren Steinley Conservative Regina—Lewvan, SK
Madam Speaker, I know some members have worn “I love oil sands” buttons. Some members have stuff on their laptops and material all over it. I would ask you to take a few minutes to see if this is an actual point of order. I have seen many colleagues wear buttons and pins to celebrate things in their ridings. Therefore, I would say that this would not be a point well taken.
Visual DisplaysPoints of OrderEmergency Debate
The Assistant Deputy Speaker Carol Hughes
I really appreciate the points of orders and comments that have been made. I want to indicate that in the past there have been issues raised with buttons. Whether they say “oil sands” or not, I can tell members that those buttons have been raised and the hon. members have been asked to remove those buttons. In other instances, there have been opportunities for ribbons or different things to be used to mark specific days and events.
I am going to review the comments that have been made again. In the meantime, I would ask that members not wear anything that can be seen as a prop, especially when we are debating that specific issue.
I will discuss this further with the Speaker as well and we will come back to the House on this matter.
The House resumed consideration of the motion.
Mark Gerretsen Liberal Kingston and the Islands, ON
Madam Speaker, I appreciate the intervention by the Leader of the Opposition today.
I want to address something. I realize this is on Keystone specifically, but the member was talking about unemployment rates at the beginning of his remarks and how Canada's unemployment rate is so high. It is true that we have the second-highest unemployment rate in the G7. One thing the Conservatives do not talk about, and I have heard this said a number of times today, is where we are with respect to deaths per million people, namely that we are rated second best in the G7 countries. When we compare ourselves with a place like the U.S., just to the south of us, its unemployment rate is 2 percentage points lower than ours, but its death rate per million people is 2.5 times ours. This government took strong, decisive action to keep and encourage people to stay at home to save lives.
Would the Leader of the Opposition not agree with me that a small temporary increase in unemployment is a good return on saving hundreds of thousands of lives.